So I started playing Fire Emblem: Awakening but...

[aweigh]

I'm loving it!

Just wanted to ask about all the other Fire Emblem games on 3DS... is there one that is markedly better than Awakening? Let me give an example:

Say I was just starting to play Shadowrun Returns: DMS, but I know there are two other games out there and that, having limited time, I want to play the best one FIRST.

You guys would then tell me to go play SR: Dragonfall.

Now turn this around to Fire Emblem games and tell me if I can happily continue Awakening or, SINCE I AM ON LIMITED TIME, I should begin playing one of the other ones?

 

[Ventidius]

Conquest is the best modern FE in terms of combat/tactics, but due to the lack of procedural battles it doesn't lend itself to be played that much as an RPG and is more of a straight up tactics game like the oldies. Lunatic mode Conquest is IMO more difficult and better than FE:A's Lunatic +, but the latter comes close. Birthright is simply an inferior Awakening. Revelations can be fun like Awakening in terms of the different squads you can build and the way you can customize (it has procedural battles like Awakening), but for some reason, and despite having arguably better maps, the difficulty curve does not scale as well, and I found it overall easier than Awakening, especially on higher difficulties.

Echoes is alright, but is more of a storyfag game by default as every other aspect of the game is much simpler than the above games. The story is the best of the new games, which makes sense since it is a remake of a game from back when IS could write something non-cringeworthy. It also has some "dungeon crawling", but it is very simplistic.

 

[aweigh]

thank ye kindly sir. btw, only reason i stopped playing (awakening) to post this is because i got careless in a battle and used the Auto-Turn option one too many times and the CPU kamikaze'd one of my heroes and boom insta-game over.

i fucking loved that shit.

I'm removing from inventory FE: special edition now, which says it includes "Conquest". Your description sounds great, as less story/cutscenes and more "classic strats" is exactly what I want, with greater ability to customize units/squads than what Awakening is providing me.

 

[Ventidius]

I'm removing from inventory FE: special edition now, which says it includes "Conquest". Your description sounds great, as less story/cutscenes and more "classic strats" is exactly what I want, with greater ability to customize units/squads than what Awakening is providing me.

Actually customization is worse in Conquest. The latter is superior in the tactical aspect. See, old Fire Emblems didn't focus that much in the RPG aspects, they were more like tactics games, there wasn't as much customization and there were no procedural battles (except in Sacred Stones) to develop your team and focus on that. The games were very tightly balanced to offer challenging tactical combat, and to give the player too many options plus grinding would have made the games harder to balance.

A lot of FE fans complained about Awakening precisely because it broke with that tradition and went for a more RPG route with more emphasis on squad customization. I personally like both the old games and Awakening, and if you play Awakening in Lunatic and + you still get a classic hardcore FE tactical experience with no grinding (IMO actually better than most except for New Mystery of the Emblem and Conquest at their highest difficulty).

If you want more like Awakening, play Birthright, Revelations, or Echoes. Revelations is the best of these, so start there. Conquest is more like old-school FE. Don't get me wrong, Conquest has a good character system based on the newer games, but due to the lack of procedural battles, building up your team is trickier and requires you to do battles in a certain specific way. It is a more challenging but less freeform game overall. Both types of FE are good fun at the end of the day, so try them yourself and see what you make of it.

As for the story, in all of these games you can just skip the cutscenes easily, so it doesn't get intrusive if you don't want it to. The only case in which I recommend not skipping it is Echoes, which has an okay story that adds to the game.

It is a different case from Shadowrun since SR games are mostly of the same type, while Fire Emblem games have two "sub-genres", for the lack of a better term. There is the powergamer FE and the tactician FE. The best of the former are Awakening and Revelations, and the best of the latter are Conquest, New Mystery of the Emblem, Thracia 776, and Radiant Dawn.

 

[aweigh]

i assume "power gamer" branch is the one that allows going to shops/towns in order to buy items (such as the buffing/debuffing/healing items in Awakening) and also I'm GUESSING Awakening's somewhat superfluous weapon-enchanting mechanic is not present in Fates?

Cos that's the shit I was most / am most enjoying about FE: Awakening.

I only wish it allowed the degree of unit outfitting that shit like Tactics Ogre / FFT allowed.

 

[Ventidius]

i assume "power gamer" branch is the one that allows going to shops/towns in order to buy items (such as the buffing/debuffing/healing items in Awakening) and also I'm GUESSING Awakening's somewhat superfluous weapon-enchanting mechanic is not present in Fates?

Cos that's the shit I was most / am most enjoying about FE: Awakening.

I only wish it allowed the degree of unit outfitting that shit like Tactics Ogre / FFT allowed.

The Fates games have all that stuff that you mention, and you even have your own personal castle/town with shops and such. In fact, Birthright and Revelations are virtually identical to Awakening, structure-wise. It is Conquest that is different, and even it has all the specifc stuff that you mentioned.

Where Conquest differs is that there are no optional procedural battles to grind exp for your squaddies, thus you don't get to improve them at your own pace and have to use specific tactics in battle to level up the guys you have prioritized. That makes the game more challenging for sure, but due to the limited exp pool you will probably spend less time messing around with the class changing and generally exploring the character system, hence it is overall less powergamey. Mind you, they could have achieved the same effect with more side-content, without the need for allowing grinding, like, say, the Divinity Original Sin series does, but even though there are a few handcrafted side missions in these games, they really aren't enough to change the overall pace of the game by themselves.

 

[Matador]

It's one of the worst fire emblems. I recommend you the first game boy advance one. And the GameCube and Wii ones.

If you are enjoying this, I think you are gonna adore those 3.

 

[Ventidius]

aweigh

In case you are not entirely clear on how Fire Emblem Fates works, I will simply quote what I said on the FE thread:

The intro is the same for both games[Birthright and Conquest]. However, when you reach chapter 6, you come to a part of the campaign called Branch of Fate in which you have to choose whether to side with Hoshido or Nohr. Naturally, you can only choose the faction that corresponds to the version you are playing, and if you have purchased the other game through the in-game store, you can side with either.

There isn't much in the way of story spoilers as such, as Conquest and Birthright are alternate realities based on the decision made by Corrin/protagonist. That said, some things about the world, lore, and characters will be revealed that are true for all versions.

The only DLC path is Revelations, which is more like another full-blown game/version, in which you choose neither side.

Also if you reach the Branch of Fate on a lower difficulty, you can't pick up the game at the branch and increase the difficulty, but you can do so and lower it, which is why I recommend starting on Hard.

Revelations allows you to recruit most of both the Hoshido and Nohr rosters, so it has the biggest amount of characters to choose from and the most interesting squad customization of the three. It is probably the most spoiler-ish of the lot story-wise, but you can start Fates with it if you want since the story is balls in all of them anyway.

 

[SomeDudeandHisHamster]

Let's hope that Fire Emblem Switch will mix the good qualities of both Old and New Fire Emblems.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I remember liking Awakening a lot more than Birthright/Conquest. I think it's the best one.

 

[Siveon]

While great for newbies, it's honestly one of the lesser Fire Emblem titles, for map design, story, and characters.

The past games are way better. Especially the Radiance series. You should be playing Fire Emblem for the GBA to get a more accurate gauge on the series as a whole, since Awakening is very different from most games in the series.

Let's hope that Fire Emblem Switch will mix the good qualities of both Old and New Fire Emblems.

It's gonna be more Awakening/Birthright crap, I just know it. People just love the crappy waifu -> pair-up -> win thing.

 

[SomeDudeandHisHamster]

While great for newbies, it's honestly one of the lesser Fire Emblem titles, for map design, story, and characters.

The past games are way better. Especially the Radiance series. You should be playing Fire Emblem for the GBA to get a more accurate gauge on the series as a whole, since Awakening is very different from most games in the series.

Or better yet, get a fan translation of the first Fire Emblem.

 

[Vorark]

As already mentioned by others, do give FE12 (aka New Mystery of the Emblem/Shin Monsho no Nazo) a try -- it's great. Pick the translantion and you're all set.

 

[Latro]

just play seizen no eugenics thracia 755 SNES fire emblems