Fire Emblem Fates brings the strategy franchise Westward once again, and at this point, the series is getting really long. So where do you start if you want to give it a try? What do you play next if you try Fates and love it? We’re here to help you answer those questions.
The must-plays
Fire Emblem: Awakening
2012, Nintendo 3DS (Intelligent Systems)
Originally planned as a farewell for a series that had seen lagging sales, Awakening throws in everything but the kitchen sink: dual-unit attacks, generations, super-hard modes, way-less-hard modes and a lot of other little ideas that had popped up in a game or two over the franchise’s history. The result is, well, a game that revitalized Fire Emblem, bounding it from the brink of ruin to the top tier of Nintendo properties. Oh, and the localization from 8-4 is just stellar. If you play just one game, make it this one; not only is it the best option, but it’ll also help you decide what you like and don’t, which will be very helpful in deciding which of it to go play more.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
2015, Nintendo 3DS (Intelligent Systems)
The runner-up to Awakening here is Fates‘ friendlier side: a tale of defending against evil and adhering to a black-and-white morality. It’s designed to be an easy game to grasp, with straightforward objectives and relatively simple character classes. That doesn’t mean it’s too easy, though; it uses these restraints to great effect. (Though it does let you grind for experience a lot, so you can brute-force it if you’re ever stuck.)
Fire Emblem
2003, GBA (Intelligent Systems)
Available on Wii U Virtual Console
If you’re interested in getting a sense of what the series has been for the past two and a half decades, your best option is the first English-language entry. Even though it sports none of the characters found in Super Smash Bros., it’s a well-regarded classic and a test of your tactical precision. Lyndis, Eliwood and Hector work together to unite their kingdoms against evil, and they do so with what may be the most strategically intriguing maps in the genre. It’s not too forgiving, but unlike the other classic entries, it at least does a good job of explaining itself in early missions.
The next steps
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
2005, GameCube (Intelligent Systems)
Ike’s Radiance games are large, exacting and frustrating in the way that will have you hammering on that reset button, but that’s a large part of their charm for many players. Being on a console allows them to adopt a scale that a handheld just can’t match, and also not worry so much about making you settle down for a while. The games aren’t cheap to find, but if you do manage both, start with this one (and play above Normal difficulty) so you can import your save file to the second entry.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
2007, Wii (Intelligent Systems)
What Path of Radiance did, Radiant Dawn essentially just multiplied. The maps are larger. The story is sprawling and split in a satisfying way. Ike is even more of an unstoppable force, and it’s still okay because it doesn’t really help you keep everyone else alive any easier. This game really rewards multiple plays by letting you anticipate enemy moves and better compensate for them ahead of time, something that’s less effective in games with fewer personnel options.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
2015, Nintendo 3DS (Intelligent Systems)
Conquest is no worse a game than Birthright, but it’s designed for those with a bit more of a familiarity with the series. Since you’re covertly operating from within a corrupt empire to right wrongs, your objectives are more complex. The Western-style character classes have some trickier abilities and require a little more thinking to use effectively. It’s an olive branch to fans of the earlier, harder games who didn’t so much like Awakening, but still manages to be a lot of fun for the more reasonable among us.
Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
1996, SNES (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
It’s not the easiest thing to play one of the pre-localization releases, but if there’s one that’s worth it, it’s this one. It’s known for implementing the largest maps in series history, and for playing out its conflicts over three — count ’em, three — generations. There are forts to defend, large fields to cross and all sorts of battle trickery. Even without the language barrier, it’s the trickiest release to decipher, but that can be cool in itself.
Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo
2010, Nintendo DS (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
Remember when I said Awakening was the result of low sales of the franchise? Well here’s how bad it got: its predecessor wasn’t even released in English. The sequel to Shadow Dragon, Shin Monshou no Nazo remade the second half of Marth’s story and integrated a few other cool things along the way. It’s fun to go back to it after Awakening, though, and see the clear ties: you could grind for levels in a similar way, and you created and controlled a custom avatar in battles.
The deeper cuts
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
2008, Nintendo DS (Intelligent Systems)
The second remake of Marth’s tale and his first appearance in English, Shadow Dragon has… problems. Most of them stem from the dated source material: the maps are bland, because they were an NES first-attempt, and the characters are flat, because there wasn’t much room for nuance and depth in a limited box of characters. Still, though, it’s very much playable, and a good look into how much has been done since the first game to make things better.
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
2004, GBA (Intelligent Systems)
Available on Wii U Virtual Console, 3DS Ambassador Program
It’s not that The Sacred Stones is a bad game so much as that it doesn’t have a great selling point these days. At the time, it was created as an easy-to-play entry for those unfamiliar with the series, implementing a way to grind for experience and creating standalone characters for its tale. The 3DS entries are much more accessible and the characters less flat, but hey: Sacred Stones is still a good game, if lower on the priority list. It’s best played twice, seeing the story from both of the protagonist siblings’ perspectives.
Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation
2015, Nintendo 3DS (Intelligent Systems)
The third, download-only Fates campaign is built from the ground up for fanservice. It removes the shades of gray of the other two in favor of a “unite against a common enemy” approach, and manufactures situations to get the fighters from each side interacting in new and amusing ways. As such, you really shouldn’t play it until you’ve played both core adventures, and even then, it may be good to step away for a bit and let it serve as a lighthearted return trip.
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
1999, SNES (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
If you’re interested in the evolution of Fire Emblem‘s mechanics, Thracia 776 is a great one to study: it begins many of the changes that made the franchise accessible in the GBA years, while inhabiting the environments of Seisen no Keifu. Actually getting your hands on the game, though, is a bit messier: its super-late release meant it was mostly made for SF Memory rewritable cartridges, and even those can be pricy.
Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi
2002, GBA (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
“But Roy?,” you say. “Where is Roy?” Here. Here is Roy. The one who many Smash Bros. players consider to be their boy leads armies in the first portable installment of the series, and it’s… well, a lot like its follow-up: the prequel that would be known simply as Fire Emblem in the West. With near-identical maps and mechanics, this one’s easy enough to play even without a localization.
The rest
Fire Emblem Gaiden
1992, NES (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
Gaiden was developed on a small budget, recycling most assets from the first game and constrained in its ambitions. Within those restrictions, though, it experimented with base mechanics, implementing a lot of new ideas and removing some things that seemed integral to the experience. Subsequent releases totally abandoned these ideas… you know, until they gradually brought a piece back here and there until now, when the modern series bears a lot more resemblance to Gaiden than anything else. Playing the game’s still a bit rough, but it’s a fascinating conversation piece.
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi
1990, NES (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
Hey! It’s the first Fire Emblem game! If you’re simply looking to see how everything started, you could play this, but the same maps and characters are featured in the DS remake, so most can probably skip it.
Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo
1994, SNES (Intelligent Systems)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
You can probably skip this one, too. Monshou no Nazo was a remake of the first game followed by a second act of new maps to continue characters’ stories. That second half became the basis for Shin Monshou no Nazo.
Fire Emblem: Akaneia Saga
1997, Satellaview (Intelligent Systems)
Not Available
Looking for the most obscure entry in the series? Look no longer! Akaneia Saga was a series of maps broadcast through Nintendo’s system, with voiced conversations and a weird transfer system. These skirmishes do live on in one form: as extra maps in Shin Monshou no Nazo. Some tweaks had to be made to adapt them to a non-broadcast format and those voices are long gone, but still: Fire Emblem‘s about the maps, anyway.
Genei Ibun Roku #FE
2015, Wii U (Atlus)
Not Yet Released Outside Japan
This project, a collaboration between the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem franchises, is… well, it’s not a Fire Emblem game, really. We’ll judge it for what it is when it releases in the West — it could be quite good — but its connections to the series are minimal.
Tear Ring Saga / Berwick Saga
2001, PlayStation; 2005, PlayStation 2 (Tirnanog)
Import-Only, Fan Translation Available
Longtime Fire Emblem creator Shouzou Kaga left and started his own team with publisher Enterbrain and made two very similar strategy titles for PlayStation systems. The first, Tear Ring Saga, is basically a carbon copy, while Berwick Saga incorporates a hexagonal grid and a few new ideas. Still, if you like the older titles more than the new ones, these are games you should play.
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