Electric Playground:
"Fire Emblem and Advance Wars quietly turned Nintendo handhelds into havens for strategists who want their games to be about tactics and not reaction speed. Shadow Dragon continues that tradition, and becomes much more accessible in the process. As before, any unit you lose is lost for good... unless you want to reload that game. However, the game has been made much more accessible for newcomers and people that want to evventually finish the game, instead of giving up on mission 19. There are in-mission saves so your choice isn't always starting from scratch. You can re-class characters so if you lose a vital character, you can appoint another one to that role. If you purists are complaining, don't worry: the game still demands a lot of discipline and sacrifice. There are still plenty of agonizing decisions to be made about reloading or continuing on without your favourite frontline guy. In fact, a whole battle can go in another direction simply because of who you take along. I can't tell you how many times I've said "Damn, if only I'd taken along so-and-so, this guy I'm fighting would be an ally kick ass for me instead of kicking my ass." Fire Emblem games always tend to become an obsession for me, even if they can be tough and frustrating. I found myself wanting to go through every mission and get each one right. If you're a fan of the series, you know exactly what I'm talking about."
BLG writes: "The Fire Emblem games are a storied part of Nintendo’s history. Debuting only in Japan in 1990, it gave the first Nintendo consoles an enjoyable fantasy RPG-strategy experience. With 2003’s Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, the series made its debut in North America (Europe and Australia got a 2004 release). Since then, the franchise has been a mainstay on every Nintendo system."
I still own Fire Emblem POF and RD. Those entries are uber pricey now. I wish they would bring back the transforming units from those games. Radiant Dawn was pretty hard too but at least you could save before each turn. Saved me the trouble of having to redo many a map due to unlucky enemy crits. lol
Thracia 776, Heroes and Warriors are all awful. I ignore them when discussing Fire Emblem altogether
Top 5:
1. Awakening
2. Three Houses
3. Blazing Blade
4. Sacred Stones
5. Path of Radiance.
I've played most of the others, but they didn't really hook me.
Stay away from Shadows of Valencia and the DS remakes.
Alex S. from Link-Cable writes: "...as we get ready to embark on the next journey with Fire Emblem: Three Houses we thought it would be a good idea to look back at the games that helped shape the series into what it is today, at least as far as the west is concerned."
There are a lot of animal-people in the Fire Emblem series! These are different races who transform into actual animals in battle, while occasionally maintaining some of these features while in their humanoid forms. Hearing about laguz or taguel can be confusing, especially since these races are not universal and may only be present in a few select entries.
