#nj posts

15.) Revelations - beaten on Lunatic

This route pretty much takes all the worst things about Fates, bundles them together, and charges you $20 for it. Rev has some of the most tedious maps in the series (anyone remember the snow shovelling map?) Corrin stands as my least favourite lord even beyond this route. There is some terrible unit balance which makes some units practically unusable, the story is just yikes... beyond getting all the characters, anything there is to like in this route is done infinitely better in Conquest. 

14.) Shadow Dragon - beaten on Hard 2

The Archanea games really did not do it for me, especially this one. The lack of supports, the barebones story… Shadow Dragon is just a bit too simplistic for me. It is not bad by any means (I actually like the gameplay options it offers) but since my favourite thing about Fire Emblem is building an army of characters I love…. Yeah, Shadow Dragons is just not my cup of tea.

13.) Binding Blade - beaten on Hard

I enjoy the cast for this game and the maps have some interesting layouts, but this game mainly feels like a jankier Blazing Sword. The story has similar problems to Shadow Dragon, and I feel like some of the maps are too big for the movement of the units you have, making them feel like a slog. I don’t mind Binding Blade, but this is perhaps the hardest game for me to go back and replay. 

12.) Birthright - beaten on Lunatic

There is nothing wrong with Birthright but there is very little good about it either. For good points, Corrin is less unbearable in this mode in comparison to the other two routes and I do like the Hoshidian cast more than the Conquest cast overall. However, the gameplay cutbacks and unremarkable story make this an entry that I almost forgot to put on this list. 

11.) New Mystery of the Emblem - beaten on Maniac

A big improvement over Shadow Dragon but I feel like I would probably prefer FE3 if I played it. Unlike some people, I don’t hate Kris, but wow do I wish they were not here. While it was nice they added supports for this one, the fact Kris is the only conversation partner for half the cast is a bit sad. The sprite design is as bad as Shadow Dragon, but the maps feel brighter to me than SD. I also enjoyed the story for this one and the maps were fun, at the very least. Overall, I would consider this game a very average Fire Emblem experience.  

10.) Genealogy of the Holy War - beaten on Normal

Okay, I’m probably going to have to justify putting this entry so low. 

I feel like this game gets overhyped because of the... uh... ‘Sigurd BBQ.’ The plot of Gen One is so ambitious and interesting with some of the best plot points in the series. Your entire Gen One army getting killed, Quan and Ethlyn’s deaths, Eldigan getting executed... Gen One really makes you feel like you are in an unwinnable situation. Gen Two though is such a dive in quality. Every cast member’s motivation becomes the same (revenge). Victories feel easily won to the point that it almost invalidates the struggle the Gen One cast went through. Julius could have been interesting if we saw anything beyond him being super possessed… I have heard the point of Gen Two was to focus on the villains but the only villains that are really interesting in this game are Eldigan (who is dead by Gen Two) Arvis, Travant and Ishtar. The Loptyr cult and Manfroy just drag down the Jugdral games every time they are on screen and are an active detriment to the story quality. Also, I’m sorry but the maps are just tedious. Huge maps are really not for me and make this game really hard to play.

However, I really want a remake for this one. I feel like some faster turn speeds, supports and additional dialogue could do a lot for my opinion on this game. 

9.) Sacred Stones - beaten on Hard

Sacred Stones does not contain any of the series’ high notes, nor does it contain any low notes. Everything about this entry is just solid. The story is nothing to write home about but it’s engaging and without any serious bad points (the only things I did not like were Eirika just giving the Sacred Stone to Lyon and how much more interesting Ephraim’s route is in comparison to Eirika’s.) The cast is good but not my favourite. The maps are fun but, again, I feel some other entries have better ones. 

I really enjoyed Lyon as a villain, but I wish we could have seen more of him. I liked Ephraim and Eirika as lords... I feel like this game is the most balanced experience in terms of everything being equal in quality. 

8.) Echoes - beaten on Hard

I enjoy Echoes but it is one of those games where I don’t really have much to say about it. I am more amazed that this game even exists in the first place. 

Really, I have a lot of similar feelings on this entry as I do Sacred Stones. Like SS, it is solid in all aspects, with slight improvements across the board except in map design. I do think this game is a lot more fun on Normal than Hard which is a rare opinion for me. Generally, I think I just prefer an entry to be really good at something than to be just average across the board though.

7.) Conquest - beaten on Lunatic

Speaking of being really good at something...

The story is hot garbage, Corrin is the worst, the cast is really not my taste... but wow, the gameplay is my favourite in the series. I love the map design, how well thought out enemy placement is, the changes to pair up and skills. 

If Conquest had even a mediocre story/cast this would probably be among my favourite games in the series. However, everything else about it is just so bad, I cannot rank it higher than here. 

6.) Three Houses - beaten on Maddening (Azure Moon), Hard (Silver Snow, Verdant Wind, Crimson Flower)

I think this game could have had the potential to be in my top three favourite games for this series if Edelgard’s route was better, Silver Snow was removed, and the monastery was not so prevalent. 

The story was enjoyable in all three routes, though Azure Moon’s hit just the right notes for me. Battalions were something I thought I was not going to like but wound-up loving, especially on Maddening. I really enjoyed the cast this time around and it brought me genuine pain to kill a few of them on replays. Dimitri is one of my favourite lords in the series. I like the reinclusion of same-sex endings and the deemphasis (but not complete removal) of romance. 

It is so close to being amazing. However, it is no secret that Edelgard’s route was done dirty. Silver Snow is pretty much just Verdant Wind but worse. The monastery, while fun before the time skip, just becomes a chore afterwards and the monastery sections are so time consuming it puts me off picking up the game sometimes. Still, a definite step in the right direction after Fates. 

5.) Awakening - beaten on Lunatic

This game being this high is pure bias. Awakening was my first Fire Emblem and although everything about it is done better in other entries, it holds a really nostalgic and comforting place for me. It still stands as the FE game I have put the most hours into (clocking in at 750 hours), most of that being from before I even tried other entries. It was also because of Awakening that I joined Tumblr in the first place so I could look at peoples’ artwork for the game. 

Also, on a more personal note, Awakening genuinely helped me through perhaps the most depressing period of my life when my social anxiety was at its worst. I have a lot to be thankful to this game for. 

However, its gameplay is not the best in hindsight. The plot takes a bit of a dive after the time skip. I really enjoy Robin as an avatar but I’m not sure if that’s just pure bias as well. Chrom is also a very middling lord, and the cast is a bit tropey. 

Still, I will always love this game and this is my list. Top five it is!

4.) Radiant Dawn - beaten on Hard

There are so many good moments in this game. The reveal of playable Black Knight, Queen Elincia’s character arc as queen, the Greil Mercenaries’ reintroduction and the multiple points where your two playable armies clash. The defence maps in this game are the best in the series (and considering defence maps are my favourite map type means I really like the maps here). There is a reason this game is in my top four. 

HOWEVER, there are a few things that drag this game down. Part 4 being both dull and tedious, the blood pact nonsense, the removal of supports leading to the underdevelopment of the Dawn Brigade and other original characters, the god-awful unit scaling (e.g., why does Tormod re-join in Part 4 with the same stats he had in Part 1).

Honestly, I just miss the army building in Radiant Dawn. It is hard to bond with any one army because you switch between them so much. It is no wonder people like the Greil Mercenaries so much in comparison to everyone else because at least you know them from the last game. Yet, I feel like no entry quite offers what Radiant Dawn does - a glance at multiple armies/perspectives across an entire continent. In a way, I like Radiant Dawn because it dared to be different to other entries and I feel like it tied up most of the loose ends of Path of Radiance to create a very satisfying duology.

3.) Thracia 776 - beaten on Normal

I definitely did not expect to like this one as much as I did. I was honestly scared of this game for a couple of years (it was literally the last game I completed besides New Mystery). However, after I finally did bite the bullet and gave this one a go, I found it was not nearly as bad as people suggested it was. It is perhaps the only game in the series where I ever felt the desperation of the main character during certain maps. In this game, when you are told your army is on the brink of defeat, you feel it too. I really loved that. Capturing does a lot to add to this feeling, making your team feel like it is scraping anything it can together to keep fighting (it is also really fun to steal all the cool equipment off enemies).

The cast is also great, even without supports. Leif has become my favourite lord after this entry which also surprised me. I loved the fact that he generally follows the thought process of most lords (” I must save everyone I can”) but unlike with other lords, his naivety has some devastating consequences. 

It is definitely a game that is harsh to completely blind players though. I would really recommend against just turning on the game without hearing at least some prior advice. Namely, advice on avoiding the endgame soft lock where you don’t have enough door keys to defeat the final boss, how to recruit some characters and the gaiden chapter requirements. 

Still, if you were like me and are intimidated by Thracia, don’t be. It is consistently tough, but it never feels impossible. 

2.) Blazing Sword - beaten on Hector Hard

I think some people may be surprised that this game ranks so highly for me. It is just the gold standard for all Fire Emblems. I LOVE the cast here, the maps are fantastic, the difficulty is perfect. The Black Fang are really cool as villains, and I love the dynamic of the three lords. The story gets some flak, but I honestly do not have a problem with it. In fact, I think there are some gut punches in here. Moments like Eliwood killing Ninian, Matthew’s reaction to Leila’s death and everything to do with Nino and Jaffar have stuck in my mind for a really long time. 

I honestly have nothing bad to say about Blazing Sword, beyond the fact that it preludes such a disappointing game for me. Still, as good as Blazing Sword is, there is one game that ranks a little higher.

1.) Path of Radiance - beaten on Hard (Western version)

Path of Radiance! No matter how many FE games I have played after it, nothing has really come close to topping it. 

Everything about it is just my favourite or close to my favourite. Ike is my second favourite lord in the series after Leif - his bluntness and his uniqeness really help him to stand out amongst other lords. The story is by far my favourite; I liked how the villain was a man driven by ambition and not some evil cult or dragon. The cast is amazing with almost every character making a memorable impression (I cannot think of a single character I dislike) with Soren being my favourite character in any Fire Emblem game. Tellius is so interesting as a continent with each location having a distinct flare. I really enjoy the themes at play in this story too. Although tackling racism through fantasy races is never going to be perfect, it was nice to have a fresh topic for a Fire Emblem game. 

There is something almost homely about this game which makes it so comforting to play and so fun to reexperience again and again. I have played this game so much that I have completed the support log (through transfers to RD).