I have never played a Fire Emblem, and I have heard of the good reviews, and I really like tactical RPGs.
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.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.
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.Andrew Giarrusso said:I have never played a Fire Emblem, and I have heard of the good reviews, and I really like tactical RPGs.
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.Quicksilver_Phoenix said: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.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.
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.