Which Fire Emblem game should I play next?

Which Fire Emblem game should I play next?

  • Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

    Votes: 11 30.6%
  • Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

    Votes: 2 5.6%
  • Fire Emblem: Fates (Conquest)

    Votes: 5 13.9%
  • Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia

    Votes: 16 44.4%
  • Another Fire Emblem game (please specify)

    Votes: 2 5.6%

  • Total voters
    36

Lichtsang

Goddess of Bravery
Pronouns
She/Her
As you can probably tell from my avatar, I really loved my time with Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Now that I'm done with Metroid Dread and await SMT V I'm thinking of playing another FE game I haven't beaten yet. Preferably one with good story and characters. Gameplay is second for me in this case.

I have access to the following games:

  • Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
  • Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
  • Fire Emblem: Fates (Conquest)
  • Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia (I only played around 5 hours of it years ago and got distracted by other stuff at the time, would restart.)

There are rumours about a remake for next year. It's not one for the GBA games, right? I think it's either the Wii games or an unlocalized SNES game? So I should be good to go to play any of the ones I named, right?
 

Ramune

Piranha Plant
Pronouns
he/they
Shadows of Valentia is great. Lovely soundtrack and beautiful character art by Hidari too. The only caveat is that the maps are perhaps a little lacking as I don't think they really updated them.
 

b00t

FFXIV Addict
Pronouns
He/Him
Shadows of Valentia is great. Lovely soundtrack and beautiful character art by Hidari too. The only caveat is that the maps are perhaps a little lacking as I don't think they really updated them.
Yeah, the maps are huge and can become a slog very easily. I'd say Valentia as well though, of the games listed it's probably the most consistent for story, characters, imo? Fates Conquest has great gameplay but an absolute mess of a story. Sacred Stones is okay on both fronts, not a bad runner-up.
 
OP
OP
Lichtsang

Lichtsang

Goddess of Bravery
Pronouns
She/Her
Sound like I will dive into SoV again soon! It is also really a plus that it is that extensively and well voiced.
 

iag

Rattata
I have not played any of the titles you listed, sadly. I'm currently on my third play through of 3H (azure moon). Hope we had some way to play the radiance games on Switch :/
 
OP
OP
Lichtsang

Lichtsang

Goddess of Bravery
Pronouns
She/Her
I have not played any of the titles you listed, sadly. I'm currently on my third play through of 3H (azure moon). Hope we had some way to play the radiance games on Switch :/

It's a shame that with NSO we have not a single platform on it with localized Fire Emblem games they could threw on there.
 
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enempi

Rattata
Pronouns
He/Him
The Blazing Blade is perhaps my favorite game ever. I would just say if your only experience with the series is 3H that the older GBA games are a little different and you might not enjoy them. Other than Sacred Stones there is no map or things to do in between missions. It’s not like 3H where you have ways to train units in between missions, you just go chapter to chapter until you beat the game. This means that there is a finite amount of experience that comes your way over the course of the game, you can’t just grind forever. Personally I think this makes the game more interesting and you have to think more carefully about which units to invest in. There is also still a Support system but the GBA games have way less of an emphasis on the social link aspects of the newer games and pairing units off romantically. I love the GBA games, but I haven’t really enjoyed any of the 3DS games and I didn’t get too far into 3H before I got tired of the all the academy stuff.
 

Galgavias

Rattata
Glad to see many here recommending Valentia. It's an odd FE but has some really great characters if you like that side of things, plus the story does go to unexpected places. People can find the dungeons a bit of a chore but I enjoyed them, they serve almost as challenge gauntlets where resource and troop management really become of utmost importance.
 
OP
OP
Lichtsang

Lichtsang

Goddess of Bravery
Pronouns
She/Her
The Blazing Blade is perhaps my favorite game ever. I would just say if your only experience with the series is 3H that the older GBA games are a little different and you might not enjoy them. Other than Sacred Stones there is no map or things to do in between missions. It’s not like 3H where you have ways to train units in between missions, you just go chapter to chapter until you beat the game. This means that there is a finite amount of experience that comes your way over the course of the game, you can’t just grind forever. Personally I think this makes the game more interesting and you have to think more carefully about which units to invest in. There is also still a Support system but the GBA games have way less of an emphasis on the social link aspects of the newer games and pairing units off romantically. I love the GBA games, but I haven’t really enjoyed any of the 3DS games and I didn’t get too far into 3H before I got tired of the all the academy stuff.

I really loved all the academy and side stuff in 3H, but I also played Awakening and a bit of SoV, so I know those aspects are unique to 3H. I don't have a problem with the older formular, I think!
 

Ozzie

Cappy
Echoes 100%. The story, music and characters is so freaking beautiful. That Act 4 world map theme brings me tears. Oh and the voice acting is literally SSS tier. Seriously so good.

The downside...the map design is the worst in the series lol. Gameplay mechanics are really interesting too, you also got exploring dungeons and so much post game content, lore that links to FE awakening and Shadow Dragon as well as very flexible class customisation like Three Houses.


On the other hand, if you value amazing gameplay, FE Fates Conquest is your game. Terrible story however the map design, objectives and the rest of the gameplay is the best. In fact, it is still the BEST FE game in the whole series in terms of gameplay. Oh it also has amazing Celtic soundtrack.
 

Joedev

Rattata
I would vote Fates: Conquest. I think it probably has the best map design and objective variations of any of the Fire Emblem games I've played. The story isn't particularly great, but I think everything else is pretty good.

I wouldn't recommend Echoes. I know some people like it, but outside of the character art, which I thought was great, everything else felt subpar.
 

Ozzie

Cappy
Is the story of Fates (Conquest) really that bad? Or just bad in comparison to other FE games?
VERY bad. The story is full of plot holes, lots of contradiction and really bad writing. The marketing for the game back in 2016 had more hype and story. To give you an example, in Fates, we actually don't even know the name of the continent that they live on whereas every single FE game does. It's really poor unfortunately. But the soundtrack and gameplay is so good, it makes up for it.
 
OP
OP
Lichtsang

Lichtsang

Goddess of Bravery
Pronouns
She/Her
Okay, I think I'll go for SoV first and will see if I have time for the GBA games before other games hit.
Thank you all for your thoughts!
 

Josh5890

Moblin
Founder
Pronouns
He/Him
Out of that list, play Shadows of Valentia. Fates is ok for me, but I know it is less loved among the faithful fanbase. Shadows was great all the way around.

If you ever get a chance, play Awakening. That was my intro into the series and I loved every moment of it. A lot of memorable characters were created that live on in Nintendo lore.
 

FrostyLemon

Rattata
Founder
Anyone who's played the older Fire Emblems would tell you that Conquest has some of the best gameplay and map design in the series. Who gives a fuck about the story, the strategy is the important part and the challenge in Conquest is one of the best.
 

Caviar

FFXIV Goodwill Ambassador
Pronouns
He/Him
Conquest has a ridiculously dumb story and Corrin is a frustratingly stupid character.

But Conquest also has the best gamplay in the series.

Play Conquest.

I'll say Sacred Stones as runner up because it's just a solid game all around. Pretty good story, fun gameplay, and pioneered a lot of the more modern conventions of the series such as branching promotion paths and explorable/repeatable areas between chapters. Awakening in a lot of ways feels like Sacred Stones 2.
 
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McNum

Rattata
Pronouns
He/Him
Shadows of Valentia is a gem in the rough. Gaiden should really not have had the material to become that good a remake.

It's a 3DS game, but I would easily argue it does some things better than Three Houses on Switch, mainly combat animation, but also a surprising tour-de-force of voice acting combined with some sometimes amusing and sometimes surprisingly creepy writing. Also Berkut. Berkut is a remake exclusive character and he is just fantastic. Also the music, but it's a Fire Emblem game, so that's become standard. Still when Shadows of Valentia wants to, it just goes all out.

Gameplay-wise, it shows that it is the second Fire Emblem and generic enemies all over the place is a thing here. And Witches. On the bright side, the main story missions don't have a deployment limit, really, you can bring everyone.

I will say, Celica is a character who gets a mixed reception, but I like her. Do take extra care to examine every single cat you can find in towns with her when playing her route. It doesn't do anything, it's just funny to see how distracted she gets by cats.
 

Samurai Goro

Sushi Kamakaze Fujiyama Nippon-Ichi
Hmmmm

Trying to put aside my personal favorites and key in on what you're actually saying, OP.

From your answers, I actually think you'll like Fates more than people are giving credit. If you really dig the side-stuff in 3H, Fates is the only game that gives you a "home base" ("My Castle") of the list, which is the most similar to the Academy as it gets in other games for the series.

SoV really digs more into lite-dungeon-exploring as it's main gimmick, which is very different from 3H's style of progression overall.

The problem with Fates' Conquest storyline is that it has large cognitive dissonance for one of it's main conceits (no spoilers). But it also does give you the multi-route element of 3H if you enjoyed that, which is pretty easy to add-onto with the DLC if you feel so inclined. And if you lean more towards characters than plot, it does have some very memorable ones.

One thing with Conquest to note is that it is fairly restrictive with level-up opportunities, so be prepared for a bit more stiff of a challenge than 3H. If that turns you off, sister-game Birthright is recommended for a more grind-friendly alternative (and less story-based cognitive dissonance).

Either way, SoV's main story is pretty unremarkable too, imo. It holds together a bit more logically, but it's pretty straight-forward and cliche.

I don't think either game should be ventured into primarily for their story, so don't go in expecting too much and you should be able to have a fun time.
 
OP
OP
Lichtsang

Lichtsang

Goddess of Bravery
Pronouns
She/Her
Hmmmm

Trying to put aside my personal favorites and key in on what you're actually saying, OP.

From your answers, I actually think you'll like Fates more than people are giving credit. If you really dig the side-stuff in 3H, Fates is the only game that gives you a "home base" ("My Castle") of the list, which is the most similar to the Academy as it gets in other games for the series.

SoV really digs more into lite-dungeon-exploring as it's main gimmick, which is very different from 3H's style of progression overall.

The problem with Fates' Conquest storyline is that it has large cognitive dissonance for one of it's main conceits (no spoilers). But it also does give you the multi-route element of 3H if you enjoyed that, which is pretty easy to add-onto with the DLC if you feel so inclined. And if you lean more towards characters than plot, it does have some very memorable ones.

One thing with Conquest to note is that it is fairly restrictive with level-up opportunities, so be prepared for a bit more stiff of a challenge than 3H. If that turns you off, sister-game Birthright is recommended for a more grind-friendly alternative (and less story-based cognitive dissonance).

Either way, SoV's main story is pretty unremarkable too, imo. It holds together a bit more logically, but it's pretty straight-forward and cliche.

I don't think either game should be ventured into primarily for their story, so don't go in expecting too much and you should be able to have a fun time.

Thank you for your in-depth answer, I really appreciate it!
I think I'll have fun with both 3DS games (I already played Awakening)! I'll just boot up which speaks more to me in the moment I have time to start.
 

YoboD

Cappy
If you're looking for good story and characters specifically I would say go with Shadows of Valentia. The GBA games have great, engaging characters, but the stories are a little more basic and straightforward. Not to say they're bad, they're fun enough and get the job done. Also, if you really enjoy support conversations, they're much harder to unlock in the GBA games due to characters having to spend turns standing right next to each other.

However, if you do care about the gameplay, the GBA games have better map design and so are probably a better overall package. Blazing Blade is generally seen as the better game and I'd agree with that.

Play Conquest if you want really good map design (easily some of the best in the series) and are happy to ignore a terrible story and characters.
 

CaptainNuevo

McDonald's Maniac
Anyone who's played the older Fire Emblems would tell you that Conquest has some of the best gameplay and map design in the series. Who gives a fuck about the story, the strategy is the important part and the challenge in Conquest is one of the best.

While I can see this argument, OP specifically mentioned that gameplay came secondary to Story. With that in mind, I'm not of the opinion the gameplay is that much better to save the story given the weighting here.


Blazing Blade or Shadows of Valentia are better bets IMO. Blazing Blade has some good characters and is fun, Valentia has a bit stronger of an overall story from what I remember, though the gameplay and maps in it miss a bit more than Blazing Blade IMO.
 

Snow Halation

Rattata
Pronouns
He/Him
I don't remember Conquest's story being THAT bad. There were just some wonky justifications for being on the "bad" side. That said, I haven't played the game since launch and perhaps I'm not remembering it correctly.
 

Ghostsonplanets

Ghost in the Sales
Pronouns
He/Him
Play Shadows of Valentia and them after Fates Conquest. Conquest story is bad, but the gameplay and maps are peak FE. Going from Conquest to Echoes is jarring imo.
Also, there's another game that is heavily rumored to be remade: Binding Blade/Fuuin no Tsurugi. AKA: Roy game. It's unlocalized in the west and the producer from Nintendo side said it interested him doing a remake of FE6.
 

uncleoptimus

Rattata
Allow me to third (or fourth) suggestions to play thru Blazing Blade.

This is where it started in terms of localized entries and in a way I consider it just about the perfect length. A great "touchstone" experience before diving back into the more complex follow-ups.

Straightforward gameplay, enjoyable characters. Plus, if u have played Heroes, finally you can see why Hector and Lyn just keep on popping up in the FE-verse as well as understand why everyone just adores Nino šŸ˜€

Id love for the next remake (that they will surely announce in the Winter or Spring Direct... Right?!) to be a Binding Blade + Blazing Blade abridged epic.
 

lol

capybara girl
Pronouns
She/Her
My personal favourite is Thracia 776 though, I would not recommend it haha.

I'd recommend Fates OR Blazing Blade.

Despite all of its flaws, especially its awful story, Fates is honestly one of the most fun FE games in my opinion! I would definitely recommend Fates. Of the three routes, Birthright is the easiest, Conquest has more 'difficult' maps and limited grinding and Revelation is just full of 'gimmicky maps' Revelation is intended to be played last. Very fanservice-y game. Also, weapon durability doesn't exist in this game. (except for staves)

As for Blazing Blade, it's not a 'difficult game' though, since it's an older game, there is no casual mode. The first few chapters serve as a tutorial, explaining basic Fire Emblem mechanics though, most of these mechanics would've been learnt from Three Houses, either way, it's a nice tutorial for beginners.

There are rumours about a remake for next year. It's not one for the GBA games, right? I think it's either the Wii games or an unlocalized SNES game? So I should be good to go to play any of the ones I named, right?

There have been remake rumours for a long time, nobody knows for sure which game is going to receive a remake or even if there will be one but even so, Genealogy of the Holy War makes the most sense for a remake.
 

lightning16

Rattata
I've played FE7, Fates, and Shadows of Valentia of the ones in your poll and if you're playing for story and characters then I'd probably recommend SoV. If you only prefer story/character focus but do still care about gameplay then that completely changes things because I think SoV plays far worse than any other localized game in the series by a very large margin.

The dungeons add extremely little to the game and don't have their impact felt until the very end, in which case it's really not a positive impact and I felt the fatigue system was just obnoxious at that point, the designed "chapter" maps (as opposed to the many randomized battles against jobbers you'll be put through) are the worst of the localized games, and most of the core gameplay mechanic differences between it and most of the series are not for the better (the exception being the character progression for spells/magic because that was pretty fun).

And to be clear, the story/characters are fine in SoV but not great, they are simply better than FE7 (both I forget most details about already and I played the game 3 years ago) and Fates (the story is horrendous but I think the cast is likeable outside of a few obnoxious ones). SoV's main selling point is that it has the best character design in the series with Hidari's fantastic art and it has a great soundtrack. FE7 and Fates are much more fun games and Conquest has the best gameplay in the entire series (except maybe Three Houses if you really love the unit customization aspect of it like I did).
 
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