All right, listen up, I know it’s been a little bit…FINE, it’s been a few months since I’ve been back here.
Don’t hold it against me, I’ve been really busy…FINE, I’m not always that busy.
Do you forgive me? Good, we’ve got some ground to cover, a little retreading, and some good links (ha!) for things you can do while we all stay inside, stay safe, and stay sane.
Let’s get right to it:
Everybody here should know by now how much I love The Legend of Zelda series, right? Since we’ve established that, let’s throw it all out the window and talk about why you need to swing your attention to the Fire Emblem series.
For a brief run down of the history of the series and my history with it, take a glance at my previous post:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses became a day at the office
If you want to check out some in-depth retrospectives on the series, especially for the day of its 30th anniversary, check out some pieces from my friends at Zelda Universe.
Okay, if you didn’t take the time to read any of my suggestions, here’s my top five reasons you should be playing Fire Emblem right NOW:
- Seriously? What else are you going to do? Fire Emblem, depending on the entry, can provide deep story, deep customization, and most times, a great combination of the two.
- Despite being typically exclusive to Nintendo systems, Fire Emblem Heroes is available on mobile devices. Of course, I would consider this Fire Emblem lite, but it’s what really hooked me on the series. Best of all, it’s free, so you don’t have any excuses.
- Aesthetic. Yes, I said it. If you have any attachment to manga or anime aesthetic (and even if you don’t), the artwork that is produced for Fire Emblem is phenomenal. So much so, it has prompted me, a relapsed artist, to pick my pencil back up. I mean, look at that banner image…
- Speaking of art, though, if you aren’t into video games…why are you reading this article…I kid, I kid, sort of…may I humbly submit to you, Fire Emblem Cipher. This is Nintendo’s licensed trading card game developed by the actual video game designers.
- Breath of the Wild 2 probably won’t be out for, like, an entire year…so give this series a try.
Number five is a great option in and of itself. Before I went all in on Fire Emblem, my Legend of Zelda habit was pretty much on the slow drip of options that came out every few years. On top of that, the stories that are presented in Fire Emblem tend to carry (dare I say?) a lot more weight than Zelda. This is given to how much Fire Emblem is driven by relationships between the characters, whereas Zelda is very much a solo experience. Granted with Zelda, Nintendo’s been good about remastering/remaking past titles at greater frequency, but it still doesn’t leave a lot of new content to tread over.
If there’s something that Fire Emblem has in droves, it is CONTENT. The amount of merch that is available (albeit overseas), is plentiful. Meaning, if you ever find yourself latched onto a particular character or game in the series, chances are there are plenty of items that are a just an import away (seriously, it’s really not hard to import items, send me a message if you need help).
Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to list out the titles of the series that are available and what platform they’re on. I’ll also list out whether they have a casual option or permadeath, because you know, the previously mentioned weight (see the retrospectives for what casual/permadeath means). I’ll also give you a link to make it easier. Why? Because I like you.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (2008; DS)
This is the game that started it off 30 years ago. It’s a remake of the Famicom (NES) game that introduced gamers to Marth (think Smash Bros.) and his world. Permadeath ONLY.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017; 3DS)
A more recent remake of the second game in the series. The story centers on a continent divided by ideologies and gods. What makes the story truly shine, though, are the characters and how they handle intense situations and trials. Casual and permadeath.
Fire Emblem (The Blazing Blade) (2003; GBA)
Originally titled, Fire Emblem, this was the first of the series to be released in the west for the Game Boy Advance. This is the story of fan favorites Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood (Roy from Smash Bros. father). Permadeath ONLY.
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (2004; GBA)
Eirika and Ephraim of the royal family of Renais set out to halt Grado’s conquest…I’m not going to lie, I really don’t know that much about this one outside of the characters that show up in Fire Emblem Heroes. Permadeath ONLY.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005; Gamecube) and Radiant Dawn (2007; Wii)
These entries are together because they form a duology of stories. These are the stories that made Ike (yes, Smash Bros.) famous. They are incredibly hard/expensive to get physical copies of and there are no digital versions available from Nintendo. I leave to you, good reader, to go from there. Permadeath ONLY.
Fire Emblem: Awakening (2012; 3DS)
This is the entry that saved the series. This is ALSO the entry that first introduced the option to play in casual mode with no permadeath. The story of Chrom and his band of soldiers in a struggle to save the future is best experienced and not told. SPOILERS ABOUND ONLINE. Casual and permadeath.
Fire Emblem: Fates (2015; 3DS)
Fire Emblem: Fates, Birthright
Fire Emblem: Fates, Conquest
Fire Emblem: Fates, Revelation
That’s right, three different games. So to explain that, Birthright and Conquest are the two main paths that you can take to guide the Hoshidan born Corrin, who was raised in Nohr, and brought back to Hoshido…yeah, it’s complicated. A good story, but with some…cultural nuances that some may not quite take to. Also, the true path, Revelation, can only be purchased as DLC after you buy either Birthright or Conquest (that is, until Nintendo took down the eShop). Phew…oh yeah, casual and permadeath.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019; Switch <physical/digital>)
So, the latest entry…I really won’t talk about! No, not because I’m cruel and only partly because…I haven’t finished it myself yet. Anyway, this is a great entry into the series which doesn’t require any prior knowledge and helps guide you through all of the systems. Honestly, it might be easier for new players since some of the previous battle mechanics have been tweaked. The story is great (from what I’ve played and heard), and if you own a Switch, you owe it to yourself to at least play it through once…you’ll see what I mean. Casual and permadeath.
Lastly but not leastly, there is the aforementioned-
Fire Emblem Heroes (2017; iOS/Android)
This is a great starting place for anyone. It has simple to mind-numbingly hard maps that mashup and celebrate the series’ 30 year history. I highly recommend it.
There you have it, that’s the entire series that I can recommend to you…as an English speaker. There are several entries that are not on this list and have never been localized. Once again, I leave it to my intrepid readers and friends to figure out ways to sample those stories that Nintendo still won’t give to us over here…
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get this posted so I can make the deadline of the actual anniversary…
Cheers!
Calamity Gamer 
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