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Should I try Fire Emblem?

Hero of Pizza Time

Pizza Parker
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Hey ZD,

So Fire Emblem is a series of which I have never owned or emulated a game from. However, I have technically played one of the games when someone lent me their Gameboy Advance and their games; I tried one of the Fire Emblem games (I forgot what it was called) and I didn't really know what I was doing, but the art style was appealing to me.

The problem is that I am not too fond of my experiences with JRPGs. I have played FFX and Golden Sun part of the way through and I found (for both games) the combat to be slow, the progression system to be confusing and uninteresting (especially for FFX), and whenever I took a break from either of them I found myself completely lost without an idea of where to go next. Of course I'm sure that they are objectively good games, but not my type. So I was wondering if Fire Emblem would be different.

TLDR: Fire Emblem LOOKS appealing to me, but because of my past experience with JRPGs, I'm concerned about slow combat, confusing progression/equipment systems, and difficulty with figuring out where to go next.

Should I still spend the money to buy one of the games and try it out? If so, which one (if it matters) should I start with?
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2019
If you like strategy games or what to see the stories, then yeah.
I only played echoes and the fates games, so I’m not an expert on the series.
New FE has something called supports, which the characters marry each other and fight alongside.
Echoes is the only new FE that doesn’t have marriage (outside of story reasons), but has supports.
So, if you want to play newer FE I would look into it first. Idk anything about older ones.
 
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Doc

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I have played the Fire Emblem games on the GBA, and really enjoyed them. In my opinion, things move much quicker compared to traditional JRPGs and the perma-death aspect heightens the experience for me. They can be pretty unforgiving if you aren't sure how leveling works, as I was my first time through. I got to a point where I actually couldn't beat enemies because I was so underleveled.

I definitely recommend giving them a shot if it seems interesting. The combat is pretty basic, in the GBA games at least, and its super easy to understand strengths and weaknesses. Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, especially, is really good at slowly introducing you to the mechanics.
 

Shroom

The Artist Formally Known as Deku Shroom™
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I've played a handful of the games, and will likely look into getting Three Houses. Combat is sort of a blend of RPG match-ups and stats, and the movement idea of games like Chess.

I first played Sacred Stones, that's the one on the 3ds Ambassador's program, and it's pretty alright. It has a split campaign, so there's some replay value here too. I think it's probably the closest to the FE formula, and I'd say it's a good point to jump into the series.

Awakening is another one I've gone through a few times. It sort of started the whole waifu craze that seems to be a major part of modern FE, and I find that a little off-putting, but you can truthfully get a lot of mileage and replay value out of pairing up different units, not just to get a better child unit, but just to have powerhouse teams in your army. It's not the most difficult FE, and it offers a casual mode so that you don't have to face the consequences of perma-death. Also pretty solid.

My favorite of the 3 I've really gotten my hands on is Shadows of Valentia on the 3ds. This is a remake of an older FE game with some added characters, voice acting, new art, all that good stuff. It doesn't follow the same formula as other FE, so you don't have breakable weapons, but instead, equip an item and have your stats and abilities change to match the item. I like the voice acting, there's some dungeon crawling elements that I found fun, but others might not enjoy, and the music is really good. I'd recommend this one the most out of all the games on my list, but keep in mind, it's battle system is slightly different.

I don't think this is necessarily a series for everyone, but I think you can find something to enjoy in the games.
 
I think it's worth a try. The 3DS Fire Emblem games are a lot more accessible than past entries due to casual mode, which allows units to respawns after they die. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia has an even nicer compromise: Mila's Turnwheel. So if you're prideful, like me, I definitely recommend Shadows of Valentia the most. You can rewind any mistakes you make a few times, so you don't have to restart an entire chapter, but permadeath is still a threat if you use up all your turn backs on a given map.

I agree with Shroom about Shadows of Valentia being the best place to start. While the maps can feel a bit dated, since it is a remake of an NES game, the presentation feels very modern with full voice acting for the first time in the series and beautiful cut scenes. Also, it's a good bridge with Zelda with some dungeons. These are more exploratory and combat focused, rather than more puzzle heavy like in Zelda, but they break up just grinding maps constantly and add some much needed variety.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
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since fire emblem games are strategy games, the progression is different than regular jrpgs, you're very much actively playing on maps w/ story bits in b/w

I will say that I how I got into it was I randomly decided to emulate one of the games [binding blade, the one w/ roy] and I got super addicted to it and played the subsequent games that followed afterwards, so if you're fine w/ emulation I'd say definitely give the gba ones a shot and maybe see about getting shadows of valentia or something afterwards, I'd recommend trying blazing sword b/c I liked that one the most but you can also try sacred stones
 
Joined
Jun 14, 2011
Fire Emblem is probably my most favourite franchise of all time. I don't play much JRPGs, But with Fire Emblem I feel right at home with it.

I've near enough played all of them (including the Japanese exclusives), but If you were gonna start somewhere, I'd turn to Fire Emblem Awakening or Fates as I think out of the series, those two are great for newcomers because unlike previous games, these two games tell you vital information about how to play the game and help you understand how the mechanics work in the first few chapters.

I'd say Awakening is more ideal as it's more of a retrospect of the entire series and is probably a more traditional Fire Emblem game than fates.

Or if you don't fancy JRPGs, Fire Emblem Warriors isn't a bad entry, good ol' hack n slash action....
 

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