Which Fire Emblem should I start with?

Rack

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They are individual stories ala Final Fantasy so you may as well start with the most recent one, Awakening. If you play on newcomer you can then see if the random decay into obsolescence of certain characters coupled with either a need to constantly reload or accept the permanent loss of others is something you can manage.
 

Arrogancy

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I'd say Sacred Stones if you still have a way to play GBA games. Like Rack said, the games are almost all independent stories, so it doesn't much matter as far as that's concerned. Sacred Stones is relatively lax, and is the only other one aside from Awakening that has a training zone, which is kinda necessary in games like this, at least as far as my playstyle goes.
 

TWEWYFan

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I'd probably say Awakening. It's the newest game and one of the better designed ones in my mind.
The only one I might avoid for now is Shadow Dragon; since it's a remake it doesn't really reflect the series as it is now.
 

Kurenaino

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Awaknings for sure. It's easily the most accessible. You can ease into the game by turning off permadeath until you get the hang of it. That always killed me when I first started way back when, it was really nice of them to include that for the uninitiated.
 

puff ball

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it depends on what system you have if you have the 3ds go for awakening if not it will be fine to start at one of the earlier ones i myself started with path of radiance which coincidentally is my favorite (i just really like the characters). just don't start with radiant dawn its the only none stand alone entry and the weakest entry to come to America imo.
 

Quicksilver_Phoenix

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Kurenaino said:
Awaknings for sure. It's easily the most accessible. You can ease into the game by turning off permadeath until you get the hang of it. That always killed me when I first started way back when, it was really nice of them to include that for the uninitiated.
I'd personally argue that you don't even need to do this. Awakening was my first FE game and, after a rather rough start, I got the hang of how the game works. Perma death adds a lot of weight to your decisions, regardless of whether you're reloading if someone dies or not. It's personal preference of course, but it's all the more rewarding when you get a lucky crit or dodge if that character would have died (and possibly you have to start the battle all over) otherwise.

Oh, and if you do get Awakening, here's a tip: Level up Donnel. It's hard to do at first and may not seem worth it, but trust me; he is amazing once higher level.
 

madwarper

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I'd say either Sacred Stones (GBA) or Awakening (3DS). I've played Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance (GC) and Radiant Dawn (Wii), but not Awakening. Though, I recommend those 2 because they allow you to grind some levels in between chapters.

In PoR and RD, they don't allow you to grind. You only get a finite amount of exp from the battle and some bonus exp to allocate from meeting certain unspecified goals per chapter. Thus, it's pretty hard to get some weaker characters to level up some without risking their death. So, you're almost limited to playing the entire game with nothing but Jagens.

Captcha: you rock!
Yes, captcha. I do rock!
 

tippy2k2

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I have played "The Sacred Stone" (GBA), "Shadow Dragon" (DS), and "Awakening" (3DS).

I personally think that's the order from good to not so good.

Maybe it's just myself getting better at it but I thought that Stone had the best AI and Dragon had very good AI. I'm very surprised at how critically acclaimed Awakening has been with fans and critics for I found that it was painfully easy to win due to just how bad the AI was. It's not a bad game but I found it average at best...although making your units go at it like a bunch of coked up rabbits is stupid-levels of fun :)

Awakening is probably the easiest to get into but if you've played Tactic games (Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactic Ogre, etc.), I would skip Awakening or wait for it to drop in price. If you're new to the tactic scene (which I presume you are not based on your OP), I'd skip Awakening or leave it to the end.
 

Etteparg

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The original Blazing Sword imo has some of the best characters but Sacred Stones and Awakening both have outside training areas to level up someone who might not be as good as you think, but with a little extra training become unstoppable killing machines. For a first time experience I personally would stay away from Shadow Dragon. If you level up inconsistently it could become very difficult in the end.
 

Yopaz

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I'd say start with Awakening. Playing on casual you wont have permanent death which might work better for someone new to the series and gives you a much easier time getting into the series.
 

Fox12

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Andrew Giarrusso said:
I have never played a Fire Emblem, and I have heard of the good reviews, and I really like tactical RPGs.
Start with the newest one, Awakening. I think it's the best one so far, and they made it more approachable to new players, without sacrificing difficulty or style. Permadeath is optional, so you can turn it off if you want. I never did though. The difficulty spikes are also crazy difficult, so it never stops being challenging. It's really a coming together of everything that makes Fire Emblem great (since it was almost the last one ever made, it's the most "epic" of them, it was almost the series finale). The Gameboy Advance games were good too, so if you can track down Sacred Stones or the others, they're good to start with.
 

Kurenaino

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Quicksilver_Phoenix said:
Kurenaino said:
Awaknings for sure. It's easily the most accessible. You can ease into the game by turning off permadeath until you get the hang of it. That always killed me when I first started way back when, it was really nice of them to include that for the uninitiated.
I'd personally argue that you don't even need to do this. Awakening was my first FE game and, after a rather rough start, I got the hang of how the game works. Perma death adds a lot of weight to your decisions, regardless of whether you're reloading if someone dies or not. It's personal preference of course, but it's all the more rewarding when you get a lucky crit or dodge if that character would have died (and possibly you have to start the battle all over) otherwise.

Oh, and if you do get Awakening, here's a tip: Level up Donnel. It's hard to do at first and may not seem worth it, but trust me; he is amazing once higher level.
Agreed on all points. I would never turn permadeath off. For someone very new to the series, though, it's really intimidating for some people to go into a game that will seriously kill you like that.

Donnel is a beast, by the way.
 

saintdane05

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I would say you play Shadow Dragon. It does a good job of describing the game mechanics, and you finally find out where the hell Marth came from.
 

Sniper Team 4

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I'm going against the crowd here and saying you should start with the original Fire Emblem for the GBA if you can find it. I think it has the best story and characters out of all the ones I have played. And the support conversations, and the alternate endings they can unlock, gives the game massive replayablity. True, most of the Fire Emblem games do that, but these endings felt different each time.
Also, it gives you the ability to replay the entire game from a different hero's perspective, which changes the story considerably. Thus yet another reason to replay it. I just feel that, out of all the Fire Emblem games I've played, that one gives you the most for your money in terms of story.

Sacred Stones was pretty good, and if you want to get the hang of the battle tactics (or just powerlevel your characters to the point where they become gods) it does come with a training ground, but I found the story to be lacking when compared to the first one. Same with the Game Cube and Wii ones. Haven't played the DS ones, so I can't really say on them, but I would probably still say you should play Fire Emblem first.
 

Seracen

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[Gary Oldman voice]: ALL OF THEEEEEEMMMMM!!!!

In all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoy the series. I any of the console or newer DS versions are worthwhile. If you don't mind a more classic look, the older GBA games are nice too.

Personally, I tend to prefer playing on the TV. If money's a factor, just get what's on sale. My first foray was Path to Radiance on Gamecube, so it holds a special place for me.
 

Jinxzy

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Try Awakening, I never played a fire emblem but my friend kept telling me about it and how amazing the series is. I found a copy and fell in love with it. It even has a mode for first time players where is one of the characters dies, they don't really die off in the story. I must say playing it threw on that mode first and then playing the original mode where characters die, they die. It made me super sad to lose them.
 

Hades

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I would suggest 7, the blazing sword. It strikes a fine balance between to hard and to easy and I find it to be one of the better Fe's, especially with its story and villains. But the real reason to start with that game is because it comes with a handy tutorial. I admit its quite a chore when starting a second game but if you never played a fire emblem the tutorial gives you a good overview of all the features.

I agree with Awakening as well. A play through without permadeath may be a godsend for those not very familiar with the game.


I would suggest not to start with Radiant dawn, or jugdral games.

Radiant Dawn isn't very newcomer friendly and also a sequel of a game that came before so i'd wait with that one for a bit.

The jugdral games are quite a bit harder then your average fire emblem, especially Tracia. They are also different with many features not being present in other fire emblems.