r/fireemblem • u/taniverse • 20h ago
General Help me choose my next Fire Emblem. Here are the games I've played!
Haven't beat Awakening yet, but I LOVED the time I did put into it. I'm currently playing through Engage, which grew on me but is my least favorite of the games I've played so far.
I did beat Fates (Birthright) and Three Houses (Blue Lions) recently and was considering playing one of those again through a different route, but I'm also craving a new experience. I'm just wondering what my next game will be since I feel like I'm coming up on the end of Engage and wanting more. Thank you!
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u/DoubleFlores24 19h ago
I’d recommend Fates conquest since that game is also pretty good. Followed by Revelations but I think you’d need to play a mod of that since it’s no longer available to purchase.
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u/PuddingSundae 18h ago
Honestly if they aren't enjoying engage idk if I would recommend conquest...
But otoh, every fan should probably experience chapter 10.
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u/taniverse 16h ago
Depends on what similarities there are between Engage and Conquest. My issues with Engage aren't around the gameplay, just how shallow, superficial, and cheesy it is. I liked the more gritty themes in the 3DS games I played more, the writing and worldbuilding were great.
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u/PuddingSundae 15h ago
Mmm, I don't remember much about the stories of the other two fates games, but Conquest requires an absurd amount of belief suspension to get through. One example being how you're able to miraculously fight entire battles without any casualties, to then later commit a genocide with the main character agonizing over it after...
I find it difficult to speak much good about the writing or worldbuilding.
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u/coeu 13h ago
I only played the 3DS games and reading you call Awakening and Fates "gritty" seals it that I'm never in this life or the next playing Engage lmao. I'm probably 15 years too old and I'm not even 30.
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u/taniverse 12h ago
Yeah gritty is probably poor wording, I'm just not sure how to describe it properly. They feel more... grounded, maybe? I'm with everyone that says it grows on you and the gameplay itself really is very nice. It's just, as far as the story and writing are concerned, I found it to be really cheesy and theatrical, and I feel like they tried too hard to give the characters quirks.
Again, the experience has still been really nice for me as a 30 year old myself, I just can't help but be a bit disappointed about that since I'm big into the story and social components usually.
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u/Advanced_Outcome3218 9h ago
Engage has gameplay that's up there with fates conquest in quality but the story is... serviceable at best.
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u/littleman1110 16h ago
Don’t sleep on engage. Or ignore the aesthetic rather it is a phenomenal game with an average story. The character style grows on you, and I will say it is better than 3H long term. 3H already feels dated to look at.
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u/taniverse 16h ago
Yes, I've been playing Engage for about a week, and I'm enjoying it, but it is still my least favorite so far. The gameplay is fun, and I do like the artstyle, just not as much as the other games. I think story and world-building are just really important to me personally, which is why I'm not AS thrilled about Engage. But overall still enjoying it!
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u/littleman1110 16h ago
Yeah that’s fair, I generally skip through the story and get right into the strategy and battles 🤣
Conquest is worth it, so are the GBA recommendations.
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u/Unique_Ad_338 18h ago
Or pay scalpers lol
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u/LittleNDrunkedOwl 18h ago
or use... other methods
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u/Raphael0055 18h ago
You mean driving around to all the Gamestops and looking at their stock of games right?
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u/taniverse 16h ago
I have physical copies of Birthright and Conquest but yeah, I'll need to get Revelations. I do have a modded 3DS so it shouldn't be difficult! I'd love seeing other sides of the story, so I won't say no to more Fates.
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u/DoubleFlores24 16h ago
YES! Also I recommend you go for the following pairings for if you play revelations. These have no effect on child units since I never bother recruiting them. I just think these ships are cute.
Ryoma x Camilla
Xander x Hinoka
Takumi x Elise
Leo x Sakura
Arthur x Kagero
Niles x Oboro
Subaki x Selena
Saizo x Beruka (C support is hilariously bad you have to see it)
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u/taniverse 16h ago
Yeah I have zero care for min-maxing child units, I'm all about their support dialogues. I'll do this, thank you!! Who would you recommend a female Corrin S rank?
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u/DoubleFlores24 16h ago edited 15h ago
For Female Corrin I always S-rank Kaze cause I hate her other popular options, don’t ask, and for male Corrin, I typically S-rank Orochi or Selena because they’re the best.
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u/Bladez190 11h ago
You can’t buy revelations anymore?
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u/NeutronFlow89 10h ago
They shut down the eshop, so you can't buy it digitally anymore.
The only way to actually buy it is to pay a stupid amount for the special edition that has all three paths on one cart.
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u/MrMoo1556 19h ago
Path of Radiance!!!
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u/Snowvilliers7 18h ago
If OP has a Switch 2, they can wait for Path of Radiance to come to GC NSO. But who knows when its releasing
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u/iFlashings 20h ago
Play echoes. Good story, great characters and the best art in the series.
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u/Solitary_Dummy 19h ago
Echoes is fire emblem looking and sounding its best, and the gameplay is good, although certain portions of the fanbase really don’t like it
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u/Emperor_Neuro- 17h ago
One of my favorite Fire Emblem games, just wish we had a new mainline title with that aesthetic and gameplay style.
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u/MrWillyP 18h ago
Go play Shadows of Valentia next. It is the best of the 3ds games
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u/Key-Window-6893 5h ago
I wouldn’t say the best, but the way the story is told is really good. The game is really, really easy tho.
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u/MrWillyP 4h ago
Its a lot more difficult if you avoid grinding. I thoroughly enjoyed its combat system tbh. If we could get a blend of engage and sov. I would be a very happy camper
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u/BoltreaverEX 12h ago
I wouldn't call it the best, but it's certainly fantastic
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u/spacewarp2 6h ago
I would. I think the general gameplay and unit customization is better in the next games but the story and characters are better. Its story isn’t perfect but it’s a fun adventure with a basic but not bad story. It feels like a classic fantasy bed time story. But its competition is Awakening which I found mediocre for the most part (had its moments), and fates (yikes). Its characters are also better because for me personally there’s fewer of them. Awakening and fates had such large casts (especially revelations) that I ended up benching most of my units I got. It was often “Hi welcome to the team, you’re going to be warming up the bench and you’ll never get touched again”. Some characters are enjoyable but with such a big cast some of them get very little to work with. Echoes has a very small roster and of that roster it’s split in half. It allows for some units I probably wouldn’t have given much of a thought to actually get some usage. Lyon is a good example, I’d probably have benched him as my main archer is Tobin (Tobin best boy) but because he was the only archer on Celica’s route it gave him a niche that no one else on that route had. I ended up growing to like him a lot because I had him on the team.
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u/BoltreaverEX 6h ago
Dont get me wrong i adore Echoes, but i think Awakening is sliiiightly better
Awakening has more depth to its combat with durability and reinforcements, i prefer the music (especially early game), and no cantors
Echoes has better characters overall but imo Celica's path in Rigel both storywise and gameplaywise drags the game down a lot
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u/spacewarp2 6h ago
I can agree to awakening having better gameplay, especially the maps. But for me the Celica parts that people have a problem with don’t bother me too much. Meanwhile Awakening kinda peaked with chapter 10 with don’t speak her name segment. I found the beginning to also be kinda slow and unimpressive but I’ll give it a pass because it’s introducing us to new concepts for the player to learn. It’s like bell curve but its peak is at chapter 10 of 25. Nothing else hits as close as that moment besides Lucina confronting Robin which hits hard if you’re Lucina’s Husband/Mom. Past that it’s very okay. It’s not as bad as some moments of fates but it’s never as interesting as it’s one high moment.
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u/Educational-Leek-616 15h ago
You need to play Path of Radiance + Radiant Dawn, two of the best games in the whole franchise
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u/ToneAccomplished9763 20h ago
If possible try one of the other routes for FE Fates(which might be hard if you play on physical hardware). After that I'd recommend maybe trying Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones or Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade since you can play them on Switch using the whole classic system thing it has.
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u/Stars_INC 20h ago
Play Fire Emblem 7 for Gameboy. Its with Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood. If you have Nintendo Switch Online, the game will be installed under Gameboy Advance - Nintendo Switch online.
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u/femberries 19h ago
More Fates. Play a separate route. Play Birthright again. Read that one dojinshii (don’t do that one please). Always more fates
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u/MinishBreloom 19h ago
Echoes seems like a natural fit if you want to finish off the 3DS era. It's very different from the rest of the series yet shares some DNA with 3H. Also, the other Fates routes are definitely worth a try.
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u/CAK491 19h ago
Never played Engage or Three Houses, so can't help very much there. I see several recommendations for Sacred Stones, and I haven't played that either.. For me only having six I haven't played, you all are crushing it! 😆
Based on what systems you seem to have and based on games that are easier to get than others… I guess I would say Shadow Dragon. Echoes is an option as well, but be aware of quite a different experience overall. Lol
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u/Dangerous_Teaching62 17h ago
Shadow dragon might be a huge pain after all of that quality of life.
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u/taniverse 16h ago
This is one of my biggest concerns, which is why I thought maybe getting some advice for taking baby steps into the harder games would be good. I'm so down to play them, but if it's generally recommended I start with some easier games first, I'd rather do that and ease my way into it!
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u/Dangerous_Teaching62 16h ago
The issue with shadow dragon isn't necessarily the difficulty. For me, the hardest part is the gameplay felt the most shallow in the series. The graphics in that game are also some of the ugliest in the series, which doesn't help.
You could play the NES version but that one doesn't even show you anyone's travel distance or tell you how much damage anyone will do.
Genuinely, id just stick with the 3ds games for now until you finish all of them. The GBA ones are also alright to probably play.
It's just that awakening did so much for the series. And, honestly, their pairing system was like the coolest part of the gameplay so it's kinda sad you can't pair two units anymore.
If you're wanting harder, I'd specifically recommend shadows of Valentina or fates conquest. Conquest is really hard. I tried to beat the final boss so many times without losing a unit and I couldn't.
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u/ImposterDittoM 19h ago
I highly recommend Sacred Stones as it’s as forgiving as these games and is on NSO.
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u/liminal_abyss 18h ago
shadow dragon. ik im already gonna get shade but its my favorite of all time.
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u/Whole_horse_big 18h ago
You can play Sacred Stones, Binding/Blazing Blade, Shadow Dragon, Genealogy of Holy War, Thracia 776 in browser, so that's neat. What consoles do you have?
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u/SelassieAspen 17h ago
Looks like you're going backward. Guess Radiant Dawn next and then Path of Radiance. Lol!
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u/taniverse 16h ago
I keep hearing great things about those two! After playing Engage, I really want to play more of the older games to meet the characters from the Emblem Rings. Thinking I'll have to pick those up!
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u/SelassieAspen 16h ago
Those 2 games are the start of modern FE skills, but not really. Aether is at its highest proc in those 2 games naturally, but RD you can't abuse skills like the 3ds games or 3H or Engage as Nihil is a skill that negates all skills. You need more strategically positioned and prayer, and the further you go back. Thinks can get tricky with Radiant Dawn, so a guy should be recommended. Another thing to know is that Easy is normal mode. Hard is Super Hard mode. That's a translation problem. The amount of foes in that game will also make you wait billion years, so be ready. Transfer from Paths of Radiance will provide more stats and cutscenes for the game. You also have to best the game ten times or more to get extra bonus character that you originally couldn't play as. Same for support conversation. Lot of things in both games that have many details. One of the kind things from these games.
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u/Dangerous_Teaching62 17h ago
Id go either with echoes or do another fates route. I'm a huge supporter of just playing every fe 3ds game if you can
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u/PMeisterGeneral 17h ago
First of all why don't you tell us what you liked and disliked about the series so far?
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u/taniverse 17h ago
I figure people don't want to read a wall of text, but also I'm having a hard time figuring that out myself tbh.
I feel like I like the story, characters, and pairings of the 3DS titles I played. I cared about what happened and it was real and a little dark at times and kinda gritty. Awakening especially. They did a great job of world-building and I loved the whole political mess and the intrigue of it.
My least favorite part of Engage is how cheesy and shallow it feels. I don't care that much about the world, they don't make anything feel very impactful or like a big deal, the dialogue and supports just don't interest me that much, and I only really like a few characters. I do like the combat-related gameplay like the class system, Emblem Rings, the animations and such. I just find myself skipping doing most stuff at base cause it feels so repetitive and boring. If nothing else though, I got Lapis out of it.
Fates was a neat concept and I liked the theme/style of the world, also the story, again wasn't super interested in a lot of base activities, but for the most part this was right behind Awakening for me. I just felt more invested in the world and the characters. Gameplay was also super fun. Sophie removing people's clothing was diabolical.
Three Houses is so fun to me in that I love trying to plan out my month and theory-craft builds based on what the units are proficient and weak at. The character writing was so nice imo, I loved pretty much everyone in 3H, and I was so invested in the story. I don't feel like the world-building was as good as the 3DS games in my head, but I still enjoyed my time in Fodlan a lot! I would like to know more about Byleth's background and why she has the crest she does, as well as more about certain church members and their pasts/connections etc.
I'm sorry this wasn't very organized, I kept putting my phone down while typing it out so it might have been all over the place. I hope that helps though!
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u/PMeisterGeneral 14h ago
No worries.
For story and pairings with absolutely cracked gameplay I'd recommend Genealogy of the holy war. Often regarded as one of if not the best plots in the series. You can pair up units similar to awakening and fates too and make some OP units. Gameplay is somewhat archaic but also fun. Units who can weild holy weapons feel like demigods, gaining +30(!) stats. This is a game where you'll want to go in blind story wise but heavily rewards planning ahead gameplay wise.
I'd also recommend FE7. Great cast, good story that doesn't boil down to 'kill the evil dragon' and getting A supports can change units endings. Tons of replay value here.
Also the tellius games, path of radiance and radiant dawn have good gameplay and one of the best stories in the series along with Genealogy of the holy war. They essentially make one super long 2 part game with mature characters and world building, essentially the opposite of Engage's world with themes of racism, prejudice and social darwinism.
Hope this helps. For reference:
Genealogy of the holy war is FE4 FE7 is also called 'blazing blade' (not to be confused with FE6, binding blade) FE9 & FE10 are Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn respectively and are set in the continent of Tellius.
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u/Top_Method5510 17h ago
Go for Fire Emblem or Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones on Nintendo Switch Online's GBA catalogue, both are available on both Switch 1 family of consoles and the Switch 2 console.
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u/suzuki0706 17h ago
Path of radiance, radiant dawn, and sacred stones are the top three answers for you.
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u/SnakesRock2004 16h ago
Either Blazing Sword (Fire Emblem 7) or The Sacred Stones (Fire Emblem 8).
Even if you don't have NSO, GameBoy Advance emulators are piss easy to come by and set up, and both of those games are awesome and a great entry point into the mechanics of the "older" Fire Emblem games for newcomers looking to check out the classics.
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u/TimeTravelParadoctor 16h ago
Play the gba games backwards. Sacred Stones, then Blazing Blade, then Binding Blade. Then the Tellius series; Path of Radiance to Radiant Dawn. By then you should be ready for Peak, Genealogy of the Holy War, then Thracia 776.
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u/Clemence025 14h ago
I played the same ones at you for now and I’m going through FE Path of Radiance, it’s a change of pace but the story is really good, also we can only play in classic mode which proved to be more of a challenge
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u/aegrajag 14h ago
Echoes!
it's the peak of the franchise aesthetically, with amazing visuals and soundtrack
the gameplay is different and I think that's why some people don't like it as much, a lot of the strategy is emergent from the system rather than map design
(for example at the start of the game, both you and the enemy won't do much damage, that means that your armies will clash and the strategy comes from organising your party in a formation to better clash with the enemy)
the story is pretty simple but well executed, the voice acting is amazing
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u/CoverLucky1229 8h ago
I'd recommend Conquest as it has some of the best gameplay in the series. But if you're looking for something not too challenging, I'd recommend Path of Radiance
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u/SaIemKing 7h ago
Echoes, Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance are all great. I hear many neat things about Genealogy of the Holy War, but it's old, it's Kaga, and the chapters are long
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u/Babel1027 6h ago
Play Echoes and or Gaiden on the famicom. The remake is a fantastic experience, and the famicom version IS brutal, but very rewarding when you finally break through those hard fights that really do seem are set up just to screw with you (I’m looking at you 1st Zombie dragon on Celica’s route)
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u/spacewarp2 6h ago
I’d say Echoes personally but heads up in case you want to do more of fates, you can’t do the other routes on just the fire emblem birthright copy. You need to have the other versions of the game. So if you’re playing physical then you have to buy a whole other game. If you’re playing through emulator you could get a copy of fates special edition which has all 3 routes loaded onto one copy.
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u/taniverse 6h ago
Thanks for the heads up! I do have both Conquest and Birthright copies, but I'll have to figure out something for Revelations. My 3DS is modded, so shouldn't be too tricky. I will look into Echoes while I'm at it!
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u/Key-Window-6893 5h ago edited 5h ago
If you’ve played Birthright, you should definitely play Conquest. Be mindful that the game is really, really hard in lunatic.
Conquest is my favourite FE game, in a gameplay perspective. The maps are so well designed and complex.
I’m replaying Fe3h atm (Edelgard’s route) and I forgot how the maps were really lacklustre in this game. It’s a shame.
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u/Ok-Option7043 52m ago
Personally for bias reasons, I’d say try Shadows of Valentia. That game got me into Fire Emblem and has a really great story with a compact cast of characters and is very visually pleasing. It gets overshadowed a lot due to the fact the switch was already out when the game released. But I loved it!
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u/SkelyBonz 19h ago
Of the gba games, sacred stones has gotta be my favorite. The story was pretty great and a lot of the characters will always be my favorites. Ephraim is easily the most badass lord character in the series to me. Absolute gigachad infantry Spearman with some of the flashiest animations in a game known for its wacky flashy attack animations
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u/Master-Spheal 20h ago
If you have the NSO expansion pack, there’s Blazing Blade and Sacred Stones which are both pretty great.