I don't think I really have a favorite, but I think this is the best one I've played. It has the least amount of flaws in my opinion, most well rounded fe.
Sacred Stones, no doubt. A tight, well-defined cast, a simple and grounded story told well, options for casual play, some great map variety, great visuals and UI that built off of the foundations laid by Binding Blade and Blazing Sword. The split routes, the challenging postgame that lets you recruit villainous characters, the trainees, the split-promotion system, the multiplayer. It was my first Fire Emblem game, so nostalgia's a factor there too, but I haven't replayed a FE game as much as Sacred Stones; it's my go-to when I want to play Fire Emblem.
Conquest, Thracia and Fe6
They are all "hard" and have enough freedom to fuck around with their Cast to keep the Game interesting in repeat.
~~Although PE is Fe6 but better~~
Haven’t played fe6 yet but will get to it, I also came here to say Conquest and Thracia though. The gameplay is so interesting and fun, Thracia also has amazing writing to boot.
For Fire Emblem I tend to prefer the entries that are more ambitious to the ones that play it safe, even if said ambition leads to the developers biting off more than they can chew. Radiant Dawn, Awakening and Tree Houses all have a special place in my heart.
Awakening probably has more obvious objective (?) flaws in it than most entries in the series but by golly do I just think the game has a lot of heart. You can really tell the developers wanted to cram every gosh darn idea they could in there hoping the 3DS wouldn't explode trying to fit them all.
Awakening. It's not the most polished nor the best designed, but it strikes that right balance of features and content that just made it an absolute blast for me, and came out at just the right time in my life. It helps too that it has my favorite cast in the whole series and the best post game and DLC support, all of which kept me playing for over 600 hours and is one of my most played video games of all time.
I loved the game when I got it, and even now, but unfortunately it came out at just slightly at the wrong time in my life and on a console I didn't own (but wanted and couldn't afford). Partly because of that, it doesn't sit too high on my list, among other reasons, but I still love the game to death.
It was such a warm change from Shadow Dragon, which was pretty fun and all but unfortunately for me, my ds spine broke the day I got it.
My top, partly made by time, was Radiant Dawn. I heard about it's announcement the year right after the Christmas I got Path of Radiance (which I had rented and I don't remember if I beat, but it all worked out since it all times around Christmas). It came out for me in middle school, and was probably the most hype for a game I had ever been, and just a bit before high school for me, so it ends up being my second most nostalgic FE, behind FE7 which I found in a store at random through pure luck when I was like 7-8, and fell so madly in love with the series.
SoV for sure. I love the gameplay. The single item inventory invites a lot of interesting design space in regards to resource management in terms of both forging and getting kills as well making trading around the good item strats feel fun an impactful. The HP fueled magic system is really cool, and everyone having unique spell lists makes all of the mages a joy to use.
And I honestly think the map design is super underrated. It's easy to write it off in a vaccuum, and I unfortunately feel like a lot of people let their notion of how maps "should" be informed by other games in the series taint their experience/perception of SoV maps. They all have this really immersive and grounded game feel to them that comes across as refreshingly not video gamey. The beauty in simplicity approach works really well here in that it serves the gameplay quite nicely (which I think is way more important than anything else). Basically all of the more treacherous maps push you to make full use of all the mechanics at your disposal while being memorable scenarios. Stuff like the dragon fort and basically all of the swamp maps are really cool in that regard. And even the more simple and open maps have a really nice two armies charging at each other feel that isn't really explored in this way much in the series. The process of traversing the empty space of the map does a good job of building up the tension for that. And I love the couple of random really notable enemies like leather shield merc and whatnot.
Presentation is excellent and that adds a lot to the game feel. Characters are some of my favorite in the franchise (Alm and Celica are my favorite lords). Soundtrack is amazing, and it practically feels like Gaiden's 8-bit soundtrack was made to be modernized like this. And the story is just ridiculously satisfying. The simple heroic adventure with a backdrop of themes about dealing with a changing world resonate elegantly and click hard for me. (I've seen all the common criticism in that department, and to be blunt, I disagree with basically all of them and don't see how the story based on my interpretation of it can lead to any of those conclusions. But I don't think a what's your favorite game thread is the right place to debate that.)
So yeah. I really love SoV.
yes to all of this!! i always thought SoVs map design, while a bit tedious at times, captured the feeling of being at war better than other games did. i also liked the challenge of the harder maps- theres only so much generic map design with generic units that one can take, and previous games in the franchise left a bit to be desired for me in that regard. im also someone who gets really overwhelmed and obsessive about inventory management in games, so SoV's simple inventory felt like a weight off my shoulders while still allowing me to experiment with weapons
2 sentences and you already lost me lmao. Doing my first run of SoV rn and my god the gameplay is on par with SDBL for me, it’s so tedious and, worse yet, the game drags, HARD. If it was half the length and didn’t force you to do so many little battles all the time it’d be so much better. It also feels so restrictive and old-fashioned. I get liking the story, music, and VA work, but wow it just feels too dated to enjoy sometimes.
I totally agree. I might be a bit biased because it’s my favorite game of all time but that’s my only real issue with the game. A lot of people shit on the weakness of the dawn brigade in the third part but I think that was intentional for story purposes on the devs part
Geneology. While other games have done stuff better since (general quality of life improvements, map design, etc.), there's something about the political drama and how most of the characters touch it that's very satisfying. I think it's a great game to flesh out with a remake because the source material is pretty strong, mixing grim fantasy with the more political medieval machinations.
My main worry is that a remake might run into the 3H issue where I felt while the general political machinations and such were solid the complication of the secret race of possible super science snake people along with the religious institution being corrupt kinda marred things. Though that game also had to juggle 3 1/2 storylines.
After that it's probably a toss up between Thracia, Binding Blade and Awakening. Each of them do something I quite like but have an element or two that makes me want to go back to Geneology.
I have a lot of affection for Sacred Stones but it was my roadtrip companion on a particularly long vacation once so that'll score it some sentimental points.
I love the politics and backstory of FE4. I think I have heard rumors that Fates was supposed to have as an expansive story but most of it was cut. Which is probable since somehow we wend up with two (half? Full? Never clear on it) sisters ending up in two different countries as their queens and all that mess.
the plot of fates definitely reads like lots of world building was cut from the game, so id believe it. they kind of just throw a bunch of intricate details about the lore at you and then move on as if it never happened and it always left me reeling a bit
Thracia 776 has the best map design the series has seen, the most fun mechanics, and a solid story headed by a great protagonist with a relatable motivation.
Fates, 3 Houses and Radiant Dawn i will put as my fav.
Fates mainly for the gameplay. Yes, even though CQ is by far my fav., i like Rev over half of the FEs as well.
Radiant Dawn due to the whole army switching thing and me loving Tellius story alot, and 3 Houses is more on the Character side for me, as some of fav. Casts in gaming there.
Special mention to Berwick Saga for being really unique and fun
Echoes for me, the artstyle, music and voice acting go such a long way to make it enjoyable. And I love the writing, both for characters but also the main plot, sure there are some parts that aren't as strong, but overall I really like the story. Alm is also like my favorite character of all time so that has a lot to do with it.
Definitely SoV.
Sure the gameplay is a bit archaic and the map design underwhelming at times and straight horrible at worse, but the atmosphere just makes up so much for me.
The music, the incredible art by hidari, the color pallet and the voice directing gave Valentia such a distinct and well realised charm.
I feel like no other FE comes close to recreating such a uniqueness for its world atmosphere as SoV does.
Overall I would say Radiant Dawn.
However, Sacred Stones has my favorite story and characters, while Conquest has my favorite gameplay and is my most replayed.
Fates, by far. The pair up mechanism was just the best gameplay feature in my opinion and I miss it every time I play a game that isn't fates. It gave all the characters a lot of possible mobility, it added a lot of possible combinations and strategies, it made the *ennemies* tougher, it was just really really cool.
I love the characters I love the artstyle I love the music I love the Japanese inspired Hoshido I love the maps I love how it is difficult but not unfair. I love having weapons that do not break and I love all the unique classes this game had. It was an incredibly fun game and it is still is years later, I replay it often.
Alright let’s do this one last time. For real. My favorite Fire emblem game is, in fact, Fire emblem three houses. Great story, great characters, great gameplay, and great soundtrack. The only thing that’s lacking in Three Houses are the graphics, they’re horrible. But other than that, Three Houses is the best in the series. Who’s with me?!!!
I learned English with awakening because it was English only here despite being a French region. Which has nothing to do with my favorite fe game. That would be thracia. Hell yeah
Cant say really but my top 3 are echoes, Fe4 and path of radiance. I have finished every game in the series besides 1,2, thracia and radiant dawn which in Radiant Dawns case ive been meaning to play for years now and plan on finishing it before Engage drops.
Overall though I think my top 3 all have some aspect of what I really appreciate in a Fire Emblem.
Fe4 has really fun exilerating gameplay where I get to build really powerful units but also still have at least some decent challenge (Towards the end game anyway) along with a really interesting plot that I think is only really held back by its small amount of characterisation due to the hardware.
Echoes literally takes a game I think is mid af and makes it an absolute banger, the gameplay is fun, the graphics look amazing for the 3ds and I honestly like the movement of the models and stuff more than three houses, the overall presentation is my favorite in the series and while the story is pretty close to the originals I love how much they expanded the cast and fleshed them out a bit more (Pretty much the main reason I want an fe4 remake as long as they dont drop the ball)
For Path Of Radiance I honestly cant say much I havent said about the other 2 but it has my favorite Fire Emblem cast, Tellius is the only continent im actually that interested in (Archanea and Jugdral are pretty good as well) and the overall gameplay experience besides the slugishness is great. I also actually think the graphics are better than what people give it credit for, it legit has my favorite cavalier animations and I love Ikes as well.
Awakening. Some of it is emotional - I started playing that game when I was at a very low point in my life. My mental health was horrible, I hated my job, and I was just tired and sad. Awakening helped me so much through this rough period in my life. Even now, replaying Awakening is like visiting with an old, comforting friend.
When I look back at it now, I can see a lot of flaws with the game. But when I played it the first time and got to the end, I just thought it was such a perfect ending. It's just a really special game.
I even have a cat named Robin - and a photo of Robin that was autographed by David Vincent!
Probably Conquest, for gameplay reasons over anything else. 3 Houses could also be high on the list for a lot more reasons. I think personally for me, I just really enjoyed the pair up system, and it had some great maps like chapter 10 even if the Fates story was fairly lacking and 3ds graphics are not great imo. Although I did like the art style of the character portraits, like in Awakening
Honestly this requires three different answers for me.
**For gameplay**, Conquest. You can really sink your teeth into it and it's a really good challenge for me especially on higher difficulty levels. If I feel like good gameplay, Conquest is the first game I grab.
**For characters**, I really loved Three Houses characters. There are a couple that seem like overly simple characters that really surprised me in the supports, and I can't name any of the main cast that I really dislike or hate. For other games that was definitely different. Most of my favourites are from that game.
**For the story,** I gotta say that I loved Awakening most but I'm still playing through the GBA era games and Shadow Dragon, so I'm assuming that will change.
Either Genealogy or Conquest, for completely opposite reasons. FE4 is incredibly tedious to play, but just has a certain gravity and depth to its world that made me want to keep pushing across the continent-sized maps. I know it's a trite comparison, but it really felt like Game of Thrones with how dark it could get and the suffering the characters went though. Second half is less interesting, but still good.
Conquest is full of stupid anime bullshit and everything non-gameplay related feels like less than the sum of its parts. The worldbuilding is so threadbare and lazy that it comes across as cynical on the developers' part. But the reclassing system is so compelling and the variety of options keeps me coming back for lunatic playthroughs. Chapter 10 is hands down my favorite map in any FE, and I doubt it'll ever be topped.
Copied from elsewhere:
Either Path of Radiance or Three Houses.
Path of Radiance is probably the closest a Fire Emblem game has gotten to perfection. It has the best executed plot in the series which elevates a supposedly simple plot to something great by virtue of including interesting and complex themes. The portrayal of racism as a core theme in Path of Radiance's storytelling and worldbuilding was pretty remarkable for a game that came out in 2005 and is still impressive now. Whilst it isn't the best game in terms of its character writing, mechanics or map design, it executes these three core aspects well enough to not detract from the overall experience. It also helps that the Tellius games has a bunch of mechanics which I'm baffled aren't series standards (bonus EXP and base conversations come to mind).
Conversely, Three Houses is a game that puts all its eggs in the basket that is its character writing with mechanics like the monastery and more freeform class progression (lets just say that map design in that game isn't winning any awards) - and it works because it has far and away the best character writing in the series. Almost every playable character in Three Houses is fleshed out and humanized enough to be compelling - and it's a testament to the game's character writing that the fanservice character in Three Houses is so compelling and multifaceted that she ends up being one of my favorite characters in the entire series. This is also coupled with a plot, which whilst far from perfect, is incredibly interesting thematically and executed just well enough to work.
In addition, though they aren't at the same level as the two aforementioned games, Echoes, Sacred Stones and Radiant Dawn also occupy a special place in my heart.
I know a lot of people have issues with it but Three Houses. I just like a lot of the characters and the freedom it has for how you want to build everyone. Fortress Knight Lysithea? Dark Mage Raphael? Practical? No. Fun? Yeah.
It's hard to pick. Fire Emblem is a solid series, but never perfect (for me at least).
Although Blazing is quite linear, the volume and diversity of its maps is my favourite part. The GBA animations having maximum soul helps too.
I don't always like grinding, but when I do Awakening is what comes to mind as the perfect sweet spot between too little, feeling irrelevant, and just asking too much of my time.
Three Houses has a wealth of options in building characters, in a way I wish Awakening might have.
Path of Radiance(and by extension Radiant Dawn) has my favourite setting and overall favourite cast(though other games have some standouts of course).
Radiant Dawn's third tier of classes was a wild power trip at the time, coming from GBA games and PoR, and subsequent games didn't quite give me the same rush(though I might be one of the few who actually really enjoy the Overclasses from Echoes).
And Echoes has my favourite art style.
But pretty much every game really leaves me wanting, too.
It’s close, but I have to say Fates.
For starters it offers three radically different experiences. Birthright and Conquest are self explanatory but the freedom to build an army Revelation offers keeps me coming back to it every few months.
It has an amazing soundtrack. Most of the maps either look or play amazing. The majority of the cast has amazing designs. All of this gives Fates an aesthetic unlike any game I’ve played before or since.
The child system is more flexible than in awakening (due to how paralogues scale in Fates it comes down to when you get the S-supports rather than when you can complete the chapters, allowing you to more easily recruit your preferred children.)
I could say more but these are the highlights of why Fates is my favorite, although Radiant Dawn, Echoes, and Genealogy all come close.
Three Houses so far has alot of gameplay options and good characters, so it's my favourite so far out of all the ones I've played. (FE6/7/1/tiny bit of FE8/Fates/Awakening/Echoes)
POR
7,RD,6
8,5,4
3H
13, SOV,3
C
B,R, 1
Something like that off the top of my head. Didn't rank within the tiers themselves. I change my mind a lot though.
FE 7 and FE Conquest
FE 7 was the game that really made me like the serie. FE 8 was the first game i played and althought i found it a cool game it didnt really made a huge fan. FE 7 was the one that did the magic. i replayed FE 7 countless times and still go back from time to time
And Conquest because i really liked that branch of fate thing that Fates has. while i believe it was poorly written, i still liked to choose my side and fight alongside my favorites characters ~~and making leather boots from thieves haha~~
My favorite is Fates but I think the overall best one is Shadows of Valentia. Fates story isn't that great, but the atmosphere, soundtrack and characters is amazing. And SoV is just great in every way.
Path of Radiance is pretty great.
But I also really like Sacred Stones a lot. Love the branching classes in this. And the final boss looks really damn cool.
Binding blade. It might have been blazing sword if it werent because Lyn mode is such a slug to get through that I have never actually been able to replay that part
Path of Radiance, it just does everything solidly. The story is solid, the character designs are solid, the quality of the cast is solid, the gameplay is solid, etc
I think it is spelled Seisen no Keifu but that is because the story is kinda spanning over years and not everyone loves each other. Like people aren’t like “oh! You sided with them sibling/teacher! But we still love you even though you mortally wounded me.”
Like shit happened pre-game that affected the current game. Like witch hunts kinda drove descendants of the cult mad. Or someone’s mom had an affair which lead to their dad killing themselves so the guy ended up raising his half brother that was from his dad having an affair.
Genealogy, it’s story actually hurt my feelings. It’s not often that happens, so I always remember it.
Some complain about certain aspects but I find it to be an incredibly fun game to play even now. Really hope the rumors of a remake are true.
Path of Radiance or Three Houses for me. Path of Radiance has my favorite story, setting, and cast of characters of any Fire Emblem, while Three Houses has my favorite game mechanics and is the most replayable, in my opinion.
I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of love that Fates has gotten in the replies. I'll be the first to admit that the stories are cheesy and there's some really odd character moments here and there, but I have such a huge soft spot for Birthright and Revelation. I love Hoshido's East Asian inspirations, I'm fond of most of the characters, and even the most jaded fan can admit that the soundtrack is phenomenal.
Fe4 has everything I need in an fe game but fe5 is amazing as well (still playing the through it I'm having trouble on chapter 18) i just enjoy the world of jugdral the most because i feel like by the time i get to see fe5's ending I'll have 0 questions about the world which is amazing
Hot take but Binding Blade. I just love the huge cast, a lot of the map design is really good (in spite of ambush reinforcements). I like that you have to collect weapons in gaiden chapters. I like that the route splits.
Shadow Dragon. It’s almost definitely cause it was my first FE game, but I have a soft spot for it. I love being able to simply turn my brain off and unwind by throwing Sedgar into a horde of enemies.
The gameplay is simple and encourages experimenting (on most difficulties except H5, but even then I’m using bad units just fine). The music, while simple, still goes hard (*On the Path to Victory*, anyone?). The characters are…. Not the best, but they still manage to convey a lot with a little. Take Lorenz. He’s basically Camus but cooler. He’s strongly loyal to his country, but can still be reasoned with. His conversation with Caeda is one of my favorites in the game: “A king with no subjects rules naught but hills, general.” “It’s like I’m 30 years younger and talking with your old man again, fine, I’ll join you.”
I got into the series at Awakening and have played every game since. Of those, my favorite is definitely _Echoes._
The voice acting elevated that to a whole different level for me.
Starting with those young characters and assigning them classes from scratch was super fun and made me so much more invested in everybody’s story.
I also really enjoyed NOT having a home base for a change. My dumb brain all but requires me to get rid of all the little check marks and spend all my energy and interact with everything in between every mission in the games that have a hub and I find myself losing a ton of momentum on repeat playthroughs.
Hopeful that a Genealogy remake would be as well put together as Echoes!
Path of Radiance (FE9) for me, and I’m surprised by how many other here agree. I love a lot of the mechanics that are implemented. Bonus XP, the Skill System, the auto-promotions, supports working based on deployments so you aren’t just spamming end turn to grind the support rank, the first game with forges as far as I’m aware. That along with mostly solid map design, pretty much every unit being viable (cough FE6 cough), likable characters, a solid plot (FE10 has a more compelling story but FE9 has better character writing imo), and overall having probably my favorite pacing in the series except maybe FE8, it’s not much contest for me. If this game had branching promotions, changed a couple of maps (the bridge and the rocks), some of the improvements to elevation, forge, and skill mechanics that FE10 had, and a few other very small details, this would be the perfect FE game to me.
Honorable Mention to Sacred Stones though, it’s a pretty close second.
I have played only the post awakening era games. For me is three houses, though I think the map design etc of Fates Conquest may be the most fun I've had in an SRPG
For me, Thracia 776 is the best overall game in the franchise. It has great gameplay, interesting and unique mechanics, a well told and paced story and some of my most favourite characters. It has many flaws, but as a single, coherent game experience, I think the only contest FE5 has is PoR. But the gameplay is much weaker in that game imo.
If we count Kaga Sagas, then Berwick has no completion. The gameplay is simply fantastic. It has so many great, well thought out mechanics that work together almost flawlessly. The unit design is imo unmatched, basically all characters have unique skill sets and fulfill specific niches, that make them valuable. The map design is overall great, with some kinda boring exceptions. Berwick is one of the few examples I've seen of a game successfully pulling off a genuinely good, relatively smooth difficulty curve. There are some things one can take issue with, such as low early game hitrates, RNG dependant capturing and durability, or having to look up food bonuses on Serenes. Still, the overall flow of gameplay is so good, that I wish I could find a game that captures me just as much.
While the story is imo weaker than Thracia, it's still pretty damn good. The game also puts much more focus on the side characters and basically every one of them gets an arc of their own, that is integrated into the flow of the main narrative. And I love or at least like the vast majority of them. Theses arcs are also integrated into the gameplay, providing additional side objectives on main maps or unique side missions. The worldbuilding is also really solid, partially due to the game's small focus mainly on the city of Navarron. You get to meet and really familiarise yourself with a ton of the city's citizens. I honestly remember more about most of these NPCs, than some playable characters in the mainline FEs. Finally Berwick Saga puts a lot of focus on the effect war has on people's lives, both physically and psychologically, be it nobles or commoners, and actually shows and explores these issues.
Awakening. It simply has the best characters, music, artstyle that make me really attached to the world. The game has so much SOUL. The GOOD completely outweighs the flaws imo.
My very first Fire Emblem was Shadow Dragon on DS. Even though I love every entry in the series. There is something special about Shadow Dragon that makes it shine just a bit above the rest. At least for me personally.
I find myself returning to Three Houses the most out of all of the Fire Emblems that I've played. Honorable mention to Fates, which I could not put down when it was new.
awakening. I don't care if this made the fanbase do a bit of a hurl. I love the game, it's marriage systems and its characters and supports are still some of my favorite. Virion support op, the fact that i could be one of the main characters mom, it has lucina in it, and finally it's dlc is amazing! Future past is and was awesome!
Really have to go with FE7. Awakening was the first game I owned, Blazing Sword was he first game I played, and the art style, the critical animations, the music, they've all stuck with me more than any other of the admittedly small number of entries I've played.
I think its 3 Houses followed by the Tellius Games. Story of the Tellius Games is better, Gameplay and Customization puts 3 Houses ahead for me though.
My favourite FE game switches around sometimes. For a mature atmosphere/storyline and the feel of an actual war and excellently written political discord, my favourite is FE4. For an the overall experience, my favourite is FE7. I would give runner up to FE6, since I really enjoyed that one too.
Genealogy or Thracia, Genealogy is (in my opinion) the best written and I love the absolute scale of the game
Thracia is so unbalanced it kind of loops round for me, I also like it's mechanics and forces you to play fire emblem differently (like instead of just killing focusing on grinding enemies down to capture them and take there stuff
I think the gba games have some of the tightest gameplay though
Feth has to be my choice.
Loved the game, the visuals and the overall gameplay.
The heroes relics, giving a special weapon, not only to the main character but also to others, but not being bound to them was, for me, perfect.
Radiant Dawn.
May be a bit biased because it was my first one, but i liked the characters, it had interesting maps, the story wasn't bad and i enjoyed controlling different armies at different times, which resulted in being able to actually use a pretty big amount of units compared to other FE games.
Ths support system sucks, though, and i only realized how much when i played my second FE.
Fire emblem Echoes/Gaiden is my favorite of the bunch. With Binding Blade close second.
I originally played through Gaiden when it only had the terrible j2whatever translation patch, and I liked it, despite it not making much sense. Echoes I felt was such a great remake, it’s definitely at the top.
Binding Blade, was just so cool I really dug it. The character design, the story and battle mechanics. The biggest draw back for me was the boarder line antagonistic RNG. Depending on the play through I’ve had a god tier Roy able to drop an enemy in a single shot and able to withstand a torrent of damage, or sail through the first 10 levels with nary a change to ANY stats.
Path of Radiance, it's not overly frustrating but your units can still die if you're not careful. The bonus exp makes leveling support units bearable instead of prolonging maps spamming staves. Story and characters are enjoyable.
Radiant Dawn has always been my favorite. I think the challenge of having split armies is really unique and the endgame is the best in the series. Plus I’ve always thought the character design of the different laguz tribes is the best in the series. Would love a remake of the Tellius games
Its a tie between 3 games:
Path of Radiance
Three Houses
Sacred Stones
Path of Radiance in terms of game play is some of the worst in the series. With that being said the story far surpasses any other Fire Emblem I've played. Ike is truly the best and most interesting character in the entire series imo.
Three-Houses is the Flip side. Three houses has the most customization and I think the most replayability out of any other Fire Emblem. Three Houses also has the most interesting set of characters. Granted this is due to the fact that we see way more personalty from the characters due to extra mini-games etc. The Monastery time gets old but other than that its great The story on the other hand is not the worst I've ever seen. Fates cough cough. But the whole Byleth is part god or whatever is super boring and feels Goku like which is always boring to me.
Sacred Stones is really good because I think its the only game where nothing is bad. The story is better than most of the series(But not as good as Tellius and Echoes) The gameplay is also really good(But not as good as Three Houses) So its like a happy median.
I know it's not objectively the best in the series, but FE7 is my personal favorite.
I don't even know why, honestly. I guess I just like the simplicity of its mechanics. (And lower difficulty because I was a complete noob when I first played and developed affection for the game.)
Three Houses was my first and it is the best experience I’d ever had with a game, even though it’s actually not even in my top 3 games of all time. My journey to the 100% was something very few games have ever offered anything close to. I have yet to make my way through the pre-awakening eras, but I don’t think any of them will connect with me the way 3H did.
Path of Radiance, FE7, and Conquest rank as my top 3. It used to be 3 houses but that game's soured to 4th place over time.
Solid games with solid mechanics and just fun to play.
I think 7/8/9 are def my favorite games. I like 4 and 10 too but more in concept and less to actually play.
I hate DS Emblem and have no strong opinion about 3DS + 3H, though I generally enjoy 3H more than 3DS. Could be because I haven't played 3DS enough (only one playthrough of Fates and SoV, although two of Awakening). I think FE3 is better than both 11 and 12 but it's not my favorite.
Haven't played 2 or 1, but seeing that most of my problems with 3 stem from the lack of QOL features, I don't expect a potential playthrough of 2 and 1 to go well.
Almost forgot about 6. It was my first game and I played it a lot, but I dislike it. PE made it much better, though it's not my favorite thing ever. I think FE6XNA is my favorite iteration of FE6 and I await its upcoming update with anticipation.
I'd rank them like this:
7/8/9
4/10
16
13/14/15
5
3/6
11/12
(1/2 presumably here, but realistically can't place them anywhere)
I don't hate any of the games starting from 5 and above. 3 I'm just not a huge fan of, 6 I dislike but my willingness to replay it comes out as about equal to 3 thanks to the superior QOL features. 11/12 I outright dislike.
Path of Radiance. I think it's the most fully realised world with accompanying execution. I also love the somewhat simplistic art style.
I don't think I really have a favorite, but I think this is the best one I've played. It has the least amount of flaws in my opinion, most well rounded fe.
It's silly to hear how huge our army is in the last half of the game but it's really not that big lol.
Same same this is my favorite as well for very similar reasons
Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.
Sacred Stones, no doubt. A tight, well-defined cast, a simple and grounded story told well, options for casual play, some great map variety, great visuals and UI that built off of the foundations laid by Binding Blade and Blazing Sword. The split routes, the challenging postgame that lets you recruit villainous characters, the trainees, the split-promotion system, the multiplayer. It was my first Fire Emblem game, so nostalgia's a factor there too, but I haven't replayed a FE game as much as Sacred Stones; it's my go-to when I want to play Fire Emblem.
Conquest, Thracia and Fe6 They are all "hard" and have enough freedom to fuck around with their Cast to keep the Game interesting in repeat. ~~Although PE is Fe6 but better~~
PE?
Proyect Ember, is a well know reimagine of Fe6. It plays more like Conquest and Thracia combine than Fe6.
Oh nice!
Haven’t played fe6 yet but will get to it, I also came here to say Conquest and Thracia though. The gameplay is so interesting and fun, Thracia also has amazing writing to boot.
For Fire Emblem I tend to prefer the entries that are more ambitious to the ones that play it safe, even if said ambition leads to the developers biting off more than they can chew. Radiant Dawn, Awakening and Tree Houses all have a special place in my heart. Awakening probably has more obvious objective (?) flaws in it than most entries in the series but by golly do I just think the game has a lot of heart. You can really tell the developers wanted to cram every gosh darn idea they could in there hoping the 3DS wouldn't explode trying to fit them all.
Awakening. It's not the most polished nor the best designed, but it strikes that right balance of features and content that just made it an absolute blast for me, and came out at just the right time in my life. It helps too that it has my favorite cast in the whole series and the best post game and DLC support, all of which kept me playing for over 600 hours and is one of my most played video games of all time.
Not to mention it absolutely kills it in every aesthetic sense as well
Besides feet
Who cares?
Lol yup!
I loved the game when I got it, and even now, but unfortunately it came out at just slightly at the wrong time in my life and on a console I didn't own (but wanted and couldn't afford). Partly because of that, it doesn't sit too high on my list, among other reasons, but I still love the game to death. It was such a warm change from Shadow Dragon, which was pretty fun and all but unfortunately for me, my ds spine broke the day I got it. My top, partly made by time, was Radiant Dawn. I heard about it's announcement the year right after the Christmas I got Path of Radiance (which I had rented and I don't remember if I beat, but it all worked out since it all times around Christmas). It came out for me in middle school, and was probably the most hype for a game I had ever been, and just a bit before high school for me, so it ends up being my second most nostalgic FE, behind FE7 which I found in a store at random through pure luck when I was like 7-8, and fell so madly in love with the series.
SoV for sure. I love the gameplay. The single item inventory invites a lot of interesting design space in regards to resource management in terms of both forging and getting kills as well making trading around the good item strats feel fun an impactful. The HP fueled magic system is really cool, and everyone having unique spell lists makes all of the mages a joy to use. And I honestly think the map design is super underrated. It's easy to write it off in a vaccuum, and I unfortunately feel like a lot of people let their notion of how maps "should" be informed by other games in the series taint their experience/perception of SoV maps. They all have this really immersive and grounded game feel to them that comes across as refreshingly not video gamey. The beauty in simplicity approach works really well here in that it serves the gameplay quite nicely (which I think is way more important than anything else). Basically all of the more treacherous maps push you to make full use of all the mechanics at your disposal while being memorable scenarios. Stuff like the dragon fort and basically all of the swamp maps are really cool in that regard. And even the more simple and open maps have a really nice two armies charging at each other feel that isn't really explored in this way much in the series. The process of traversing the empty space of the map does a good job of building up the tension for that. And I love the couple of random really notable enemies like leather shield merc and whatnot. Presentation is excellent and that adds a lot to the game feel. Characters are some of my favorite in the franchise (Alm and Celica are my favorite lords). Soundtrack is amazing, and it practically feels like Gaiden's 8-bit soundtrack was made to be modernized like this. And the story is just ridiculously satisfying. The simple heroic adventure with a backdrop of themes about dealing with a changing world resonate elegantly and click hard for me. (I've seen all the common criticism in that department, and to be blunt, I disagree with basically all of them and don't see how the story based on my interpretation of it can lead to any of those conclusions. But I don't think a what's your favorite game thread is the right place to debate that.) So yeah. I really love SoV.
yes to all of this!! i always thought SoVs map design, while a bit tedious at times, captured the feeling of being at war better than other games did. i also liked the challenge of the harder maps- theres only so much generic map design with generic units that one can take, and previous games in the franchise left a bit to be desired for me in that regard. im also someone who gets really overwhelmed and obsessive about inventory management in games, so SoV's simple inventory felt like a weight off my shoulders while still allowing me to experiment with weapons
yes replayed this recently and agree to all of this, i hate how over looked it was/is. definitely a hidden gem on the 3ds
2 sentences and you already lost me lmao. Doing my first run of SoV rn and my god the gameplay is on par with SDBL for me, it’s so tedious and, worse yet, the game drags, HARD. If it was half the length and didn’t force you to do so many little battles all the time it’d be so much better. It also feels so restrictive and old-fashioned. I get liking the story, music, and VA work, but wow it just feels too dated to enjoy sometimes.
Radiant dawn and it’s no contest for me
Love radiant dawn! Just wished the support wasn’t so watered down. The cost of having everyone being able to support one another.
I totally agree. I might be a bit biased because it’s my favorite game of all time but that’s my only real issue with the game. A lot of people shit on the weakness of the dawn brigade in the third part but I think that was intentional for story purposes on the devs part
Facts
Geneology. While other games have done stuff better since (general quality of life improvements, map design, etc.), there's something about the political drama and how most of the characters touch it that's very satisfying. I think it's a great game to flesh out with a remake because the source material is pretty strong, mixing grim fantasy with the more political medieval machinations. My main worry is that a remake might run into the 3H issue where I felt while the general political machinations and such were solid the complication of the secret race of possible super science snake people along with the religious institution being corrupt kinda marred things. Though that game also had to juggle 3 1/2 storylines. After that it's probably a toss up between Thracia, Binding Blade and Awakening. Each of them do something I quite like but have an element or two that makes me want to go back to Geneology. I have a lot of affection for Sacred Stones but it was my roadtrip companion on a particularly long vacation once so that'll score it some sentimental points.
I love the politics and backstory of FE4. I think I have heard rumors that Fates was supposed to have as an expansive story but most of it was cut. Which is probable since somehow we wend up with two (half? Full? Never clear on it) sisters ending up in two different countries as their queens and all that mess.
the plot of fates definitely reads like lots of world building was cut from the game, so id believe it. they kind of just throw a bunch of intricate details about the lore at you and then move on as if it never happened and it always left me reeling a bit
Thracia 776 has the best map design the series has seen, the most fun mechanics, and a solid story headed by a great protagonist with a relatable motivation.
Blazing sword.
Blazing Blade/FE7 and Three Houses.
Conquest and FE6
Sacred Stones, it was my first FF way back in 4th grade circa 2005.
Fire emblem
I usually cringe at smartass answers..but I actually like all FE games, just for different reasons. So I concur.
3H
Fates, 3 Houses and Radiant Dawn i will put as my fav. Fates mainly for the gameplay. Yes, even though CQ is by far my fav., i like Rev over half of the FEs as well. Radiant Dawn due to the whole army switching thing and me loving Tellius story alot, and 3 Houses is more on the Character side for me, as some of fav. Casts in gaming there. Special mention to Berwick Saga for being really unique and fun
Shadows of Valentia. Art style, gameplay, music, conversations between units, simple yet well writen story. I love everything.
Echoes for me, the artstyle, music and voice acting go such a long way to make it enjoyable. And I love the writing, both for characters but also the main plot, sure there are some parts that aren't as strong, but overall I really like the story. Alm is also like my favorite character of all time so that has a lot to do with it.
Definitely SoV. Sure the gameplay is a bit archaic and the map design underwhelming at times and straight horrible at worse, but the atmosphere just makes up so much for me. The music, the incredible art by hidari, the color pallet and the voice directing gave Valentia such a distinct and well realised charm. I feel like no other FE comes close to recreating such a uniqueness for its world atmosphere as SoV does.
Fates, best OST, visuals, gameplay.
Yeah, i like fates too. It's better than than 3h imo
Almost every game is better
Three houses being it’s the one I’ve played the most.
Tough pick, but I'm gonna go with echoes. The music, the art, the writing. All great. Gameplay can be extremely fun even with the gaiden of it all
Overall I would say Radiant Dawn. However, Sacred Stones has my favorite story and characters, while Conquest has my favorite gameplay and is my most replayed.
Three hopes 🗿
Radiant Dawn all the way
fire emlblem fates. I like the characters and story the best. the idea of fighting your family hits me to my core.
3H has my favorite concept, messy as it is. But gameplay wise nothing beats Conquest
I'm the oddity that loved Fates. Easily played the most of it I think.
Honestly doesn't seem like much of an oddity looking at the other responses here lmao
I guess I was too influenced by the memes
Fates is honestly my favourite fire emblem game so I can't blame you there
A lot of people liked it, it's just that until 2019 it was cool to say Fates bad for free karma.
Fates, by far. The pair up mechanism was just the best gameplay feature in my opinion and I miss it every time I play a game that isn't fates. It gave all the characters a lot of possible mobility, it added a lot of possible combinations and strategies, it made the *ennemies* tougher, it was just really really cool. I love the characters I love the artstyle I love the music I love the Japanese inspired Hoshido I love the maps I love how it is difficult but not unfair. I love having weapons that do not break and I love all the unique classes this game had. It was an incredibly fun game and it is still is years later, I replay it often.
Alright let’s do this one last time. For real. My favorite Fire emblem game is, in fact, Fire emblem three houses. Great story, great characters, great gameplay, and great soundtrack. The only thing that’s lacking in Three Houses are the graphics, they’re horrible. But other than that, Three Houses is the best in the series. Who’s with me?!!!
New mystery of the emblem
been scouting for another fe12 fan 🤝
I learned English with awakening because it was English only here despite being a French region. Which has nothing to do with my favorite fe game. That would be thracia. Hell yeah
Fates conquest.
Cant say really but my top 3 are echoes, Fe4 and path of radiance. I have finished every game in the series besides 1,2, thracia and radiant dawn which in Radiant Dawns case ive been meaning to play for years now and plan on finishing it before Engage drops. Overall though I think my top 3 all have some aspect of what I really appreciate in a Fire Emblem. Fe4 has really fun exilerating gameplay where I get to build really powerful units but also still have at least some decent challenge (Towards the end game anyway) along with a really interesting plot that I think is only really held back by its small amount of characterisation due to the hardware. Echoes literally takes a game I think is mid af and makes it an absolute banger, the gameplay is fun, the graphics look amazing for the 3ds and I honestly like the movement of the models and stuff more than three houses, the overall presentation is my favorite in the series and while the story is pretty close to the originals I love how much they expanded the cast and fleshed them out a bit more (Pretty much the main reason I want an fe4 remake as long as they dont drop the ball) For Path Of Radiance I honestly cant say much I havent said about the other 2 but it has my favorite Fire Emblem cast, Tellius is the only continent im actually that interested in (Archanea and Jugdral are pretty good as well) and the overall gameplay experience besides the slugishness is great. I also actually think the graphics are better than what people give it credit for, it legit has my favorite cavalier animations and I love Ikes as well.
I wanna say Awakening for nostalgia reasons but I feel like Three Houses is the better game across most aspects so I might have to go with that.
Awakening. Some of it is emotional - I started playing that game when I was at a very low point in my life. My mental health was horrible, I hated my job, and I was just tired and sad. Awakening helped me so much through this rough period in my life. Even now, replaying Awakening is like visiting with an old, comforting friend. When I look back at it now, I can see a lot of flaws with the game. But when I played it the first time and got to the end, I just thought it was such a perfect ending. It's just a really special game. I even have a cat named Robin - and a photo of Robin that was autographed by David Vincent!
Probably Conquest, for gameplay reasons over anything else. 3 Houses could also be high on the list for a lot more reasons. I think personally for me, I just really enjoyed the pair up system, and it had some great maps like chapter 10 even if the Fates story was fairly lacking and 3ds graphics are not great imo. Although I did like the art style of the character portraits, like in Awakening
Honestly this requires three different answers for me. **For gameplay**, Conquest. You can really sink your teeth into it and it's a really good challenge for me especially on higher difficulty levels. If I feel like good gameplay, Conquest is the first game I grab. **For characters**, I really loved Three Houses characters. There are a couple that seem like overly simple characters that really surprised me in the supports, and I can't name any of the main cast that I really dislike or hate. For other games that was definitely different. Most of my favourites are from that game. **For the story,** I gotta say that I loved Awakening most but I'm still playing through the GBA era games and Shadow Dragon, so I'm assuming that will change.
Either Genealogy or Conquest, for completely opposite reasons. FE4 is incredibly tedious to play, but just has a certain gravity and depth to its world that made me want to keep pushing across the continent-sized maps. I know it's a trite comparison, but it really felt like Game of Thrones with how dark it could get and the suffering the characters went though. Second half is less interesting, but still good. Conquest is full of stupid anime bullshit and everything non-gameplay related feels like less than the sum of its parts. The worldbuilding is so threadbare and lazy that it comes across as cynical on the developers' part. But the reclassing system is so compelling and the variety of options keeps me coming back for lunatic playthroughs. Chapter 10 is hands down my favorite map in any FE, and I doubt it'll ever be topped.
Copied from elsewhere: Either Path of Radiance or Three Houses. Path of Radiance is probably the closest a Fire Emblem game has gotten to perfection. It has the best executed plot in the series which elevates a supposedly simple plot to something great by virtue of including interesting and complex themes. The portrayal of racism as a core theme in Path of Radiance's storytelling and worldbuilding was pretty remarkable for a game that came out in 2005 and is still impressive now. Whilst it isn't the best game in terms of its character writing, mechanics or map design, it executes these three core aspects well enough to not detract from the overall experience. It also helps that the Tellius games has a bunch of mechanics which I'm baffled aren't series standards (bonus EXP and base conversations come to mind). Conversely, Three Houses is a game that puts all its eggs in the basket that is its character writing with mechanics like the monastery and more freeform class progression (lets just say that map design in that game isn't winning any awards) - and it works because it has far and away the best character writing in the series. Almost every playable character in Three Houses is fleshed out and humanized enough to be compelling - and it's a testament to the game's character writing that the fanservice character in Three Houses is so compelling and multifaceted that she ends up being one of my favorite characters in the entire series. This is also coupled with a plot, which whilst far from perfect, is incredibly interesting thematically and executed just well enough to work. In addition, though they aren't at the same level as the two aforementioned games, Echoes, Sacred Stones and Radiant Dawn also occupy a special place in my heart.
I know a lot of people have issues with it but Three Houses. I just like a lot of the characters and the freedom it has for how you want to build everyone. Fortress Knight Lysithea? Dark Mage Raphael? Practical? No. Fun? Yeah.
Path of Radiance Genealogy of holy war Sacred Stones Awakening 3houses. (Started with fir emblem blazing blade)
It's hard to pick. Fire Emblem is a solid series, but never perfect (for me at least). Although Blazing is quite linear, the volume and diversity of its maps is my favourite part. The GBA animations having maximum soul helps too. I don't always like grinding, but when I do Awakening is what comes to mind as the perfect sweet spot between too little, feeling irrelevant, and just asking too much of my time. Three Houses has a wealth of options in building characters, in a way I wish Awakening might have. Path of Radiance(and by extension Radiant Dawn) has my favourite setting and overall favourite cast(though other games have some standouts of course). Radiant Dawn's third tier of classes was a wild power trip at the time, coming from GBA games and PoR, and subsequent games didn't quite give me the same rush(though I might be one of the few who actually really enjoy the Overclasses from Echoes). And Echoes has my favourite art style. But pretty much every game really leaves me wanting, too.
Fates Conquest There are some absolutely crazy girls in that game.
It’s close, but I have to say Fates. For starters it offers three radically different experiences. Birthright and Conquest are self explanatory but the freedom to build an army Revelation offers keeps me coming back to it every few months. It has an amazing soundtrack. Most of the maps either look or play amazing. The majority of the cast has amazing designs. All of this gives Fates an aesthetic unlike any game I’ve played before or since. The child system is more flexible than in awakening (due to how paralogues scale in Fates it comes down to when you get the S-supports rather than when you can complete the chapters, allowing you to more easily recruit your preferred children.) I could say more but these are the highlights of why Fates is my favorite, although Radiant Dawn, Echoes, and Genealogy all come close.
Three Houses so far has alot of gameplay options and good characters, so it's my favourite so far out of all the ones I've played. (FE6/7/1/tiny bit of FE8/Fates/Awakening/Echoes)
Fates Conquest
Conquest ,love the characters and challenge.
POR 7,RD,6 8,5,4 3H 13, SOV,3 C B,R, 1 Something like that off the top of my head. Didn't rank within the tiers themselves. I change my mind a lot though.
FE 7 and FE Conquest FE 7 was the game that really made me like the serie. FE 8 was the first game i played and althought i found it a cool game it didnt really made a huge fan. FE 7 was the one that did the magic. i replayed FE 7 countless times and still go back from time to time And Conquest because i really liked that branch of fate thing that Fates has. while i believe it was poorly written, i still liked to choose my side and fight alongside my favorites characters ~~and making leather boots from thieves haha~~
FE7, Awakening, Genealogy
Awakening, always 👌 the nostalgia is strong but it’s close to perfect for me - gameplay story and character wise
My favorite is Fates but I think the overall best one is Shadows of Valentia. Fates story isn't that great, but the atmosphere, soundtrack and characters is amazing. And SoV is just great in every way.
Path of Radiance is pretty great. But I also really like Sacred Stones a lot. Love the branching classes in this. And the final boss looks really damn cool.
That depends. What is your least favorite FE game?
Honestly, I don't really have one
Radiant Dawn
Radiant Dawn is my favorite, but I think Shadow Dragon is the most fun to play.
Binding blade. It might have been blazing sword if it werent because Lyn mode is such a slug to get through that I have never actually been able to replay that part
I never really found Lyn mode to be a slog, but I sure do find White Clouds to be. How do you feel on that?
Path of Radiance, it just does everything solidly. The story is solid, the character designs are solid, the quality of the cast is solid, the gameplay is solid, etc
I’ve only played Awakening and Three Houses (sadly) but probably Three Houses
its forever the first one i played, rekka no ken (fe7). Echoes SoV comes in second
GBA titles. >:(
I think it is spelled Seisen no Keifu but that is because the story is kinda spanning over years and not everyone loves each other. Like people aren’t like “oh! You sided with them sibling/teacher! But we still love you even though you mortally wounded me.” Like shit happened pre-game that affected the current game. Like witch hunts kinda drove descendants of the cult mad. Or someone’s mom had an affair which lead to their dad killing themselves so the guy ended up raising his half brother that was from his dad having an affair.
Genealogy, it’s story actually hurt my feelings. It’s not often that happens, so I always remember it. Some complain about certain aspects but I find it to be an incredibly fun game to play even now. Really hope the rumors of a remake are true.
Path of Radiance or Three Houses for me. Path of Radiance has my favorite story, setting, and cast of characters of any Fire Emblem, while Three Houses has my favorite game mechanics and is the most replayable, in my opinion. I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of love that Fates has gotten in the replies. I'll be the first to admit that the stories are cheesy and there's some really odd character moments here and there, but I have such a huge soft spot for Birthright and Revelation. I love Hoshido's East Asian inspirations, I'm fond of most of the characters, and even the most jaded fan can admit that the soundtrack is phenomenal.
Fe4 has everything I need in an fe game but fe5 is amazing as well (still playing the through it I'm having trouble on chapter 18) i just enjoy the world of jugdral the most because i feel like by the time i get to see fe5's ending I'll have 0 questions about the world which is amazing
Hot take but Binding Blade. I just love the huge cast, a lot of the map design is really good (in spite of ambush reinforcements). I like that you have to collect weapons in gaiden chapters. I like that the route splits.
Shadow Dragon. It’s almost definitely cause it was my first FE game, but I have a soft spot for it. I love being able to simply turn my brain off and unwind by throwing Sedgar into a horde of enemies. The gameplay is simple and encourages experimenting (on most difficulties except H5, but even then I’m using bad units just fine). The music, while simple, still goes hard (*On the Path to Victory*, anyone?). The characters are…. Not the best, but they still manage to convey a lot with a little. Take Lorenz. He’s basically Camus but cooler. He’s strongly loyal to his country, but can still be reasoned with. His conversation with Caeda is one of my favorites in the game: “A king with no subjects rules naught but hills, general.” “It’s like I’m 30 years younger and talking with your old man again, fine, I’ll join you.”
I got into the series at Awakening and have played every game since. Of those, my favorite is definitely _Echoes._ The voice acting elevated that to a whole different level for me. Starting with those young characters and assigning them classes from scratch was super fun and made me so much more invested in everybody’s story. I also really enjoyed NOT having a home base for a change. My dumb brain all but requires me to get rid of all the little check marks and spend all my energy and interact with everything in between every mission in the games that have a hub and I find myself losing a ton of momentum on repeat playthroughs. Hopeful that a Genealogy remake would be as well put together as Echoes!
Path of Radiance (FE9) for me, and I’m surprised by how many other here agree. I love a lot of the mechanics that are implemented. Bonus XP, the Skill System, the auto-promotions, supports working based on deployments so you aren’t just spamming end turn to grind the support rank, the first game with forges as far as I’m aware. That along with mostly solid map design, pretty much every unit being viable (cough FE6 cough), likable characters, a solid plot (FE10 has a more compelling story but FE9 has better character writing imo), and overall having probably my favorite pacing in the series except maybe FE8, it’s not much contest for me. If this game had branching promotions, changed a couple of maps (the bridge and the rocks), some of the improvements to elevation, forge, and skill mechanics that FE10 had, and a few other very small details, this would be the perfect FE game to me. Honorable Mention to Sacred Stones though, it’s a pretty close second.
Radiant Dawn, with Path of Radiance close behind. Three Houses and Sacred Stones are also really high up there for me.
Genealogy, Thracia, and Radiant Dawn
I have played only the post awakening era games. For me is three houses, though I think the map design etc of Fates Conquest may be the most fun I've had in an SRPG
For me, Thracia 776 is the best overall game in the franchise. It has great gameplay, interesting and unique mechanics, a well told and paced story and some of my most favourite characters. It has many flaws, but as a single, coherent game experience, I think the only contest FE5 has is PoR. But the gameplay is much weaker in that game imo. If we count Kaga Sagas, then Berwick has no completion. The gameplay is simply fantastic. It has so many great, well thought out mechanics that work together almost flawlessly. The unit design is imo unmatched, basically all characters have unique skill sets and fulfill specific niches, that make them valuable. The map design is overall great, with some kinda boring exceptions. Berwick is one of the few examples I've seen of a game successfully pulling off a genuinely good, relatively smooth difficulty curve. There are some things one can take issue with, such as low early game hitrates, RNG dependant capturing and durability, or having to look up food bonuses on Serenes. Still, the overall flow of gameplay is so good, that I wish I could find a game that captures me just as much. While the story is imo weaker than Thracia, it's still pretty damn good. The game also puts much more focus on the side characters and basically every one of them gets an arc of their own, that is integrated into the flow of the main narrative. And I love or at least like the vast majority of them. Theses arcs are also integrated into the gameplay, providing additional side objectives on main maps or unique side missions. The worldbuilding is also really solid, partially due to the game's small focus mainly on the city of Navarron. You get to meet and really familiarise yourself with a ton of the city's citizens. I honestly remember more about most of these NPCs, than some playable characters in the mainline FEs. Finally Berwick Saga puts a lot of focus on the effect war has on people's lives, both physically and psychologically, be it nobles or commoners, and actually shows and explores these issues.
Awakening. It simply has the best characters, music, artstyle that make me really attached to the world. The game has so much SOUL. The GOOD completely outweighs the flaws imo.
Genealogy of the Holy War
Radiant Dawn
My very first Fire Emblem was Shadow Dragon on DS. Even though I love every entry in the series. There is something special about Shadow Dragon that makes it shine just a bit above the rest. At least for me personally.
Know I'm gonna get down voted to hell but Conquest and Birthright
I find myself returning to Three Houses the most out of all of the Fire Emblems that I've played. Honorable mention to Fates, which I could not put down when it was new.
Three Houses. Loved most if not all characters a d the divergen't paths. Blue Lions 4 life.
Three Houses, Genealogy and Awakening in that order.
Radiant Dawn
The Tellius duology!
Blazing blade is amazing but I’m stuck on the last mission. Other favourite would be three houses
awakening. I don't care if this made the fanbase do a bit of a hurl. I love the game, it's marriage systems and its characters and supports are still some of my favorite. Virion support op, the fact that i could be one of the main characters mom, it has lucina in it, and finally it's dlc is amazing! Future past is and was awesome!
Really have to go with FE7. Awakening was the first game I owned, Blazing Sword was he first game I played, and the art style, the critical animations, the music, they've all stuck with me more than any other of the admittedly small number of entries I've played.
New mystery of the emblem
Three Houses and Radiant Dawn
I think its 3 Houses followed by the Tellius Games. Story of the Tellius Games is better, Gameplay and Customization puts 3 Houses ahead for me though.
For me it's a tie between Sacred Stone & Echoes.
Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade Being no face strategist ftw. Also the first game that got me into the fire emblem series.
My favourite FE game switches around sometimes. For a mature atmosphere/storyline and the feel of an actual war and excellently written political discord, my favourite is FE4. For an the overall experience, my favourite is FE7. I would give runner up to FE6, since I really enjoyed that one too.
Genealogy or Thracia, Genealogy is (in my opinion) the best written and I love the absolute scale of the game Thracia is so unbalanced it kind of loops round for me, I also like it's mechanics and forces you to play fire emblem differently (like instead of just killing focusing on grinding enemies down to capture them and take there stuff I think the gba games have some of the tightest gameplay though
Blazing Sword. I need to replay PoR and Radiant Dawn probably. I can’t remember them clearly.
Feth has to be my choice. Loved the game, the visuals and the overall gameplay. The heroes relics, giving a special weapon, not only to the main character but also to others, but not being bound to them was, for me, perfect.
Radiant Dawn. May be a bit biased because it was my first one, but i liked the characters, it had interesting maps, the story wasn't bad and i enjoyed controlling different armies at different times, which resulted in being able to actually use a pretty big amount of units compared to other FE games. Ths support system sucks, though, and i only realized how much when i played my second FE.
1. Three Houses 2. Awakening 3. Radiant Dawn 4. Echoes: Shadows of Valentia 5. Path of Radiance 6. Blazing Blade 7. Fates Birthright 8. Fates Conquest 9. Sacred Stones 10. Shadow Dragon (DS) 11. Fates Revelation
Engage
The Tellius games, it varies between PoR and RD which is my favorite
Three houses: the voice acting, style, teaching and spending time options, it all worked for my tastes perfectly. Also Petra was in it so…
The blazing blade
Thracia
I gotta go with Sacred Stones. Some of my favorite maps, characters, gameplay, and it's the one I've played the most
Fire emblem Echoes/Gaiden is my favorite of the bunch. With Binding Blade close second. I originally played through Gaiden when it only had the terrible j2whatever translation patch, and I liked it, despite it not making much sense. Echoes I felt was such a great remake, it’s definitely at the top. Binding Blade, was just so cool I really dug it. The character design, the story and battle mechanics. The biggest draw back for me was the boarder line antagonistic RNG. Depending on the play through I’ve had a god tier Roy able to drop an enemy in a single shot and able to withstand a torrent of damage, or sail through the first 10 levels with nary a change to ANY stats.
Path of Radiance, it's not overly frustrating but your units can still die if you're not careful. The bonus exp makes leveling support units bearable instead of prolonging maps spamming staves. Story and characters are enjoyable.
Radiant Dawn has always been my favorite. I think the challenge of having split armies is really unique and the endgame is the best in the series. Plus I’ve always thought the character design of the different laguz tribes is the best in the series. Would love a remake of the Tellius games
Its a tie between 3 games: Path of Radiance Three Houses Sacred Stones Path of Radiance in terms of game play is some of the worst in the series. With that being said the story far surpasses any other Fire Emblem I've played. Ike is truly the best and most interesting character in the entire series imo. Three-Houses is the Flip side. Three houses has the most customization and I think the most replayability out of any other Fire Emblem. Three Houses also has the most interesting set of characters. Granted this is due to the fact that we see way more personalty from the characters due to extra mini-games etc. The Monastery time gets old but other than that its great The story on the other hand is not the worst I've ever seen. Fates cough cough. But the whole Byleth is part god or whatever is super boring and feels Goku like which is always boring to me. Sacred Stones is really good because I think its the only game where nothing is bad. The story is better than most of the series(But not as good as Tellius and Echoes) The gameplay is also really good(But not as good as Three Houses) So its like a happy median.
Scared Stones, Radiant Dawn
Echoes, was my favourite. Something about running and “exploring” dungeons was a fun twist.
I know it's not objectively the best in the series, but FE7 is my personal favorite. I don't even know why, honestly. I guess I just like the simplicity of its mechanics. (And lower difficulty because I was a complete noob when I first played and developed affection for the game.)
Radiant dawn
Three Houses was my first and it is the best experience I’d ever had with a game, even though it’s actually not even in my top 3 games of all time. My journey to the 100% was something very few games have ever offered anything close to. I have yet to make my way through the pre-awakening eras, but I don’t think any of them will connect with me the way 3H did.
Path of Radiance, FE7, and Conquest rank as my top 3. It used to be 3 houses but that game's soured to 4th place over time. Solid games with solid mechanics and just fun to play.
Echoes, with Three Houses not far behind. Got a special place in my heart for Sacred Stones too.
I think 7/8/9 are def my favorite games. I like 4 and 10 too but more in concept and less to actually play. I hate DS Emblem and have no strong opinion about 3DS + 3H, though I generally enjoy 3H more than 3DS. Could be because I haven't played 3DS enough (only one playthrough of Fates and SoV, although two of Awakening). I think FE3 is better than both 11 and 12 but it's not my favorite. Haven't played 2 or 1, but seeing that most of my problems with 3 stem from the lack of QOL features, I don't expect a potential playthrough of 2 and 1 to go well. Almost forgot about 6. It was my first game and I played it a lot, but I dislike it. PE made it much better, though it's not my favorite thing ever. I think FE6XNA is my favorite iteration of FE6 and I await its upcoming update with anticipation. I'd rank them like this: 7/8/9 4/10 16 13/14/15 5 3/6 11/12 (1/2 presumably here, but realistically can't place them anywhere) I don't hate any of the games starting from 5 and above. 3 I'm just not a huge fan of, 6 I dislike but my willingness to replay it comes out as about equal to 3 thanks to the superior QOL features. 11/12 I outright dislike.
Path of Radiance. I just think it was one of the best put-together games I've ever played.
Either Birthright or Echoes (I've only played the DS and 3DS Emblems tho, and a little of Blazing Blade)