Recommendations?

[Enone]

So, I have finished Awakening. And the dear-friend-google kindly suggested a whole bunch of other installments. Currently, I am leaning towards the newest one 3 houses, but is it worth it? Did you try/enjoy it? It's a bit on the costly side, but the graphics look great! And I just don't want to waste my time investing in something that might backfire. 

Or maybe Path of Radiance is better? 


{I will be perpetually resisting the discord till it swallows me alive!}

[Andy]

I strongly recommend either Fire Emblem 7 (that'll be the one with three Lord characters) and/or Fire Emblem 9 & 10 (that'll be the ones with Ike in them).

[WyvernSlayer]

If you want a title with no monetary investment to sink your teeth into, the GBA titles are a safe bet. FE7 is my personal favorite, but FE8 is probably an easier entry into the GBA titles as a whole.

Also, be advised - getting physical copies of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn is hella expensive now.

[Enone]

Ah, thanks so much! I am slow with this, but let's pretend that it's my super-cool youthful spirit at fault, not that I get distracted easily!

I see that people prefer older games... I assume that the gameplay got worse with times? Like the prettier it looks, the more shallow it is?

[Andy]

(08-13-2019, 09:05 AM)Enone Wrote: Ah, thanks so much! I am slow with this, but let's pretend that it's my super-cool youthful spirit at fault, not that I get distracted easily!

I see that people prefer older games... I assume that the gameplay got worse with times? Like the prettier it looks, the more shallow it is?

More like FE7 was an extremely well-written character-driven narrative in addition to well-implemented tactical strategy. That was the game where the Fire Emblem series found its groove. FE8 had polished mechanics and introduced a varied promotion system that was fairly well received. It experimented with skills upon promotion, and featured a story with a varied, branched path mechanic, where the meat of the story played out differently dependent on which sibling you followed after chapter 8. I can also recommend Binding Blade, also for the GBA, though things are radically different there since it was the first entry on the GBA. Timeline-wise it's a sequel to FE7 (Blazing Blade), following Eliwood's son Roy.

They experimented with various game mechanics for the next, what, 4 games? 5? Then Awakening came out, as the sum of all the things they'd learned during their experimentation, plus some new experiments, and it became wildly popular, and IS and Nintendo learned all the wrong lessons from their success. Following Awakening was Fates, which I don't have a high opinion of based on story, art design, and separate writing teams not communicating effectively leading to several instances of character dissonance. After that, they hearkened back to Fire Emblem Gaiden with the story 'Fire Emblem Echoes,' which is a good entry in the series, I think. Do go try that one out if you've got the hardware.

[Sui-kun]

I think people prefer the older games simply because many of the fans here grew up with them. The newer games are all good in terms of game play, if not better. Games like Fire Emblem 7 didn't even have skills, or class changing. Or pairing up.

So no, it definitely didn't get shallower. It got more complex.

Fire Emblem Echoes is my current favorite in terms of Modern Fire Emblem. Extremely well-produced, classic Fire Emblem, with some twists and new mechanics. It lacks the series staple weapon-triangle, but I don't consider that a detriment. More of a way to change things up.

[Enone]

It's just a bit tricky for me since I don't have GameBoy (I can borrow it, but it gets uncomfortable fast...). It's probably ruining my experience, but I am mostly leaving towards the newer title because they are accessible for me. However, since 7 got such a vote of confidence, I will try the 7th! It surely is worth it! (I mean, it's definitely better than mobile version ^^ )

[Andy]

(08-20-2019, 10:44 AM)Enone Wrote: It's just a bit tricky for me since I don't have GameBoy (I can borrow it, but it gets uncomfortable fast...). It's probably ruining my experience, but I am mostly leaving towards the newer title because they are accessible for me. However, since 7 got such a vote of confidence, I will try the 7th! It surely is worth it! (I mean, it's definitely better than mobile version ^^ )

Emulators will be your friend.

[Alusq]

I've been thoroughly enjoying Three Houses so far. It's not perfect (my units became OP in normal mode even more quickly than they did in Awakening), but it's been a joy to play. There are plenty of new gameplay concepts (your units are the main character's students, whom you can educate into almost whatever class build you want) and lots of worldbuilding if you're into that.

If you want a pre-3DS recommendation, I suggest The Sacred Stones. I'm biased since modding FE8 is my hobby, but it's a great experience that refines the FE6/7 gameplay while also having its own self-contained story and a great esthetic. Playing the beta version of FE8 where the interface and stuff is still the same as FE7's is weird, yo. I do wish I'd gotten the chance to play Echoes before my 3DS was stolen back in the day; I'm still amazed whenever I think about how we actually got a remake of FE2, and released outside of Japan to boot.

[Musketeer]

So, it honestly depends on what you're looking for in a Fire Emblem game.

Do you like giant maps where cavalry are king, mages are OP and the story is great? Then play Genealogy of the Holy War (FE4). Do you like smaller maps and don't want to have as many outright useless units or to have to fiddle with eugenics, but otherwise want the qualities listed above? Play Blazing Sword (FE7). Do you like branching promotions and the ability to grind indefinitely, or think those other games are a bit too hard? Play Sacred Stones (FE8). Do you want to solo the entire game with your lord character? Path of Radiance (FE9) is for you. Do you want to see the only example of a mage lord we had before the Avatar system? FE10. Do you main Marth in Smash Bros? FE3. Do you main Roy and want to play a worse version of FE7 in almost every way? FE6. Do you hate yourself? Play Fire Emblem Fates and see the mangled skeleton of what could have been a much better game.

I haven't played Echoes or Three Houses yet so I can't judge them. I also haven't played FE5 all the way through, but I hear it's good if you like high difficulty and the ability to have anybody steal weapons.

[Enone]

Okay, so I climbed out of Three Houses hell and while it has its downs, I loved the story. Don't know if it's the fantasy geek at me, or if it's the tragic stories with a lot of pain in them, but I truly got invested... ah well, it's over now, time to weep!

On the other hand, I will be getting some of those emulators, just to sink my teeth into more good stories. There's just something deeply fascinating about this entire series and I love it!