Board 8 > Fire Emblem Franchise Playthrough Topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

Played Before:

FE7
Radiant Dawn
Path of Radiance
Awakening
Fates (all 3)
Three Houses

Ongoing:

Echoes

To play:

Shadow Dragon
New Mystery of the Emblem
Binding Blade
Sacred Stones

??? :
FE4
FE5

If there's some mystery FE game I don't know about I wanna hear! I did play all of Three Hopes. I will not be playing Warriors 1.

4 and 5 are undetermined since 4 is likely getting a remake soon and I know(?) 5 is a sequel to 4. Theoretically I could play 4 anyways, or play 5 without 4, depending on feedback. The whole point is to get each story before Engage comes out in case it's relative at all (and I do genuinely want to play them of course), so I still may end up going for these two, though they'll be the last ones regardless.

I believe I am very close to the end of Echoes, unless it's misleading. I have finished Celica chapter 4, and have 2 fights left in Alm chapter 4, and chapter 5 I see is only two fight. I know there's a chapter 6, but my impression is that it's basically a big dungeon dive or something and the story ends at 5, so I won't be proceeding with that if that's the case.

So far I've greatly enjoyed Echoes. My takes are fairly in line with what I've seen around. I didn't know the weapon triangle had essentially been done away with here prior to 3H, and the dungeon exploration has been a unique experience, if not a little...bare bones? It definitely does feel like a Gaiden game, the story is fairly bland, but the characters have been OK, and makijgn a system where leveling to cap before class change is not necessary and is in fact kind of discouraged is a nice change of pace for the series.

Those maps though....not the best. Especially on Celica's side. They're either way too open and empty or they're just funnels. And the SWAMPS. The are such that it actually effects the balance. Knights are just...bad. Like, even if they habe good stats, their movement just means they're total dead weight on these maps.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

4 and 5 are undetermined since 4 is likely getting a remake soon and I know(?) 5 is a sequel to 4

It's set during the latter half of 4 and partially retcons/gives an alternate timeline for a few events

Yeah 5 is like... sort of a midquel/AU to 4.
Like it starts out fitting in with the events of 4 but near the end branches off into its own thing.

Man, what a wierd concept for a sequel.

I guess that explains why I've seen so many people say the expect FE5 may end up as DLC for an FE4 Remake.

If you want to round things out you could add Tokyo Mirage Sessions. It's more of a FE-flavoured Shin Megami Tensei than a strategy game, but it's genuinely good! Better than some mainline Fire Emblems.

The whole FE4/5 remake bundle thing has always been a popular fan theory, but I really doubt it will happen. A remake that features both would have to butcher the gameplay of one or both because they play *very* differently, and as much as I dislike FE5 it's still a full game, not something that would work very well as DLC (the point where its plot eventually joins up with the events of FE4 and then starts replacing them is 75% of the way through, way too long for DLC)

Do you think it could work as a discounted $40ish standalone thing, like Torna is for XB2?

LuisSera posted...

If you want to round things out you could add Tokyo Mirage Sessions. It's more of a FE-flavoured Shin Megami Tensei than a strategy game, but it's genuinely good! Better than some mainline Fire Emblems.

I own TMS! I lost two hours of progress due to the game not auto saving and dropped it, I probably should go back. I'm not sure how far in I was (the dungeon was a bunch of feudal Japan style bridges over a lake or something like that), so I may just restart.

Instant tag.

You've played my three favorites already but I love New Mystery and quite like Binding Blade as well. Thracia is garbage incarnate.

FE5 best game in the series and it isn't even remotely close tbh

FE5 is a full game. It wouldn't be released as DLC for FE4. It will also be priced like a full game if it got a remake.

TeamRocketElite posted...

FE5 is a full game. It wouldn't be released as DLC for FE4. It will also be priced like a full game if it got a remake.

Out of curiosity, would you have said this about 3, because NMoTE is a combination of 2 and 3 isn't it? Or am I misunderstanding that situation?

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Out of curiosity, would you have said this about 3, because NMoTE is a combination of 2 and 3 isn't it? Or am I misunderstanding that situation?

Mystery of the Emblem (FE3) is a combination of a trimmed down remake of 1 and a sequel. New Mystery of the Emblem (the DS remake) is only of the sequel portion, and includes a lot of added content.

FE4 and 5 are much bigger stand alone games than the original FE1 and 3.

I'm not sure you have the numbers right there.

FE1 is Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. That's the NES game that started it all with Marth.

FE2 is Fire Emblem Gaiden. That's the one with Alm and Celica and you are currently in the middle of playing the remake of it.

FE3 is Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem and the first SNES game. It has two parts. "Book 1" is a remake of FE1. "Book 2" is new material and the sequel to Book 1. Both books star Marth.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is the DS remake of FE1. I don't recall if it is closer to FE1 or Book 1 of FE 3. It's been too long since I last played it.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem is a remake of Book 2 of FE3. It does not includes the FE1/Book 1 content.

All that is a long way to say I don't really understand your question. >_>

I had no idea that Gaiden was 2 and not...Gaiden..

They sure don't make it easy, huh??

Thanks for the breakdown!

Shadow Dragon is closer to FE1 than FE3 book 1. FE3 book 1 removed several chapters and characters, as well as massively dumbed down the games difficulty. BUT FE3 book 1 is much more playable than FE1 because of a lot of quality of life changes.

Shadow Dragon is probably the best version despite all of its flaws, given that. It's still not a very good game imo.

New Mystery of the Emblem is just a straight upgrade to FE3 book 2, though. Aside from the art, at least, and is also one of the better games in the series IMO.

The Fire Emblem game numbering scheme is a mess which is partially why it isn't really used foe newer games.

It's kind of a mess but it's also incredibly simple. The 3rd game released with "Fire Emblem" in the title is FE3, and this standard is true for the first, like, 13 games.

But no other series works like this so it feels weird.

I think you played Three Hopes. Did you do all 3 routes?

Also, I would recommend at least experiencing the DLC for Echoes. I liked it quite a bit. How are you liking the characters of Echoes?

FE6 is the 7th game in the series:

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/vi2j/vol1/index.html

9 20023RPG7

The translation I have for this line is:
(9) Sword of Seals: A strategy RPG released for the GameBoy Advance in March 2002. The 7th game in the series.

Translation comes from here:
https://serenesforest.net/2018/04/20/feature-analysing-fire-emblems-numbering-system/

Awakening (FE13) is also considered the 14th game in the series.

The West initially adopted the weird convention of issuing new numbers to remakes because the official Japanese website did that. Then Japan pulled the rug on us and changed up how games are numbered leaving the mess we have today.

SSBM_Guy posted...

I think you played Three Hopes. Did you do all 3 routes?

Also, I would recommend at least experiencing the DLC for Echoes. I liked it quite a bit. How are you liking the characters of Echoes?

I played all 3 routes, yep!

I don't know if I'm going to be able to get the DLC because I'm playing the game by...other means. There's versions that have the DLC included but it's not the ones I got, I don't know whether the saves will work.

There's a few of duds in the Echoes cast, but it's mostly pretty good. Alm and Celica themselves are good. The Villagers are nothing. The only characters that really stand out are the ones that come early, like Clive. The more extensive character interactions of the 2 games before this and the game after do make it feel pretty dry, but considering how old the original is I think it's pretty impressive!

Finished both chapter 4s.

Damn!

Punished Alm CG

You can tell this is an old game because Rinea was a secret villain.

Celica is an idiot.

Oh wow, a point of no return, it really is near the end!

TeamRocketElite posted...

FE6 is the 7th game in the series:

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/vi2j/vol1/index.html

9 20023RPG7

The translation I have for this line is:
(9) Sword of Seals: A strategy RPG released for the GameBoy Advance in March 2002. The 7th game in the series.

Translation comes from here:
https://serenesforest.net/2018/04/20/feature-analysing-fire-emblems-numbering-system/

Awakening (FE13) is also considered the 14th game in the series.

The West initially adopted the weird convention of issuing new numbers to remakes because the official Japanese website did that. Then Japan pulled the rug on us and changed up how games are numbered leaving the mess we have today.

I'm guessing this is because of BS Fire Emblem? I understand why internally they might count that, but being functionally unplayable (and frankly a lot of other reasons too, like not really being a full game) explain why the average person doesn't count it. IIRC FE8 and FE9 numbers are swapped internally too because of when they started development.

Regardless my point is more "if you talk to an FE fan about FE7, you're talking about the seventh FE game released, and that is actually a much simpler system than a series like, say, Final Fantasy has". I'm not making any claims about the current official number system, which is apparently decided by throwing darts or something.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

You can tell this is an old game because Rinea was a secret villain.

Rinea (and Berkut and his whole plotline!) wasn't in the original FE2. <_<

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Celica is an idiot.

My impression was more "Celica is really poorly written in this section of the game" because she was nowhere near that dumb for the rest of it.

Kenri posted...

Rinea (and Berkut and his whole plotline!) wasn't in the original FE2. <_<

Damn, really? He's the best part...and I just killed the hell of him!

Witch Rinea really getting me hot under the collar

lol the game crashed during the credits, thankfully looks like there's nothing after that but an ending card. It was crashing a lot there towards the dungeon at end even though it was fine up until then other than a bunch of visual bugs. More than anything, I'm glad to be done with my phone exploding running this.

I thought it was overall a good experience! I'd still slide into into last of the games I've played, but that's mainly because of nostalgia for FE7, and I've loved every FE I've played so that's still good. A solid 8 or so, maybe a 7.5 at worst?

Really picked up at the end there, for sure. Any sub plot this game has was more interesting that the main villain, and sound like a lot of that was added for this remake.

One big note: with how many random battles there are and such, and mini skirmishes, I can't imagine this game being anything but a nightmare on classic mode. Had to be a good 30 fights or so I auto battled in this game, maybe more. It's completely different feel from a traditional 20 odd chapter FE game.

Oh, and as a note, I've been watching a retrospective and have been intrigued enough to add TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga to this list of games to play.

Keep in mind that TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga follows FE5 more than any other FE.

If you cant play the DLC in Echoes, I would recommend an LP of Rise of the Deliverance. At least just the plot and supports.

I imagine Sacred Stones is next? Thats a fun play. You might as well do both Eirika route and Ephraim route since theyre pretty different experiences.

Actually, with the exception of the ones that are connected, I'm likely going to be going backwards here, Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem. I'm looking forward to FE8 after that, but I DID play that game for 6 or so chapters when it came out to begin with!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Damn, really? He's the best part...and I just killed the hell of him!

The new characters in the remake are these two, Faye, Fernand, and Conrad, so it really runs the gamut of character quality. I'm not a huge Berkut fan but most of that comes down to that last scene with him and Ghost Rinea that's just. The worst. god echoes did rinea sooo dirty.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Oh, and as a note, I've been watching a retrospective and have been intrigued enough to add TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga to this list of games to play.

If these are on the table you should also look into Vestaria Saga!

Yow, it's an enemy ambush!

Kenri posted...

If these are on the table you should also look into Vestaria Saga!

So two things here.

1, it's PC only, which ironically makes it the least accessible to me since I'm playing all of these on my phone.

2....boy does that game not look good! It looks like a high school senior project. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, though.

https://imgur.com/a/44QdkMp

Rinea was hotter when she was literally hot TBH.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

So two things here.

1, it's PC only, which ironically makes it the least accessible to me since I'm playing all of these on my phone.

2....boy does that game not look good! It looks like a high school senior project. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, though.

So it was made in part to advertise SRPG Studio, which means that yeah it looks awful (especially in motion). But it was made by Kaga so it's a straight-up FE game and the map quality is quite good. *shrug* I definitely would not call it a must play but if you finish off the whole series and say "gee, I sure would like more games like FE5, FE6, and TearRing Saga" then this is definitely a solid choice!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

So two things here.

1, it's PC only, which ironically makes it the least accessible to me since I'm playing all of these on my phone.

2....boy does that game not look good! It looks like a high school senior project. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, though.

Those games are hobby projects created on free software and released for free in Japan, so that explains the production value.

Oh, huh, well that explains that! I will have to take it into consideration eventually if I dig the Kaga stuff.

OUCH, experienced my first ever 0 point level up with Gordin here.

Also left Jagen to his doom. It made sense, he's old! He'd definitely be the volunteer!

The infamous broken Pegasus Ride Caeda has arrived, so I have been led to believe.

Lol seems I already missed a Unit.

Sounds like I didn't need him though since apparently he sucks and this game has like 80 units or something.

There are literally a bunch of units in Shadow Dragon you can't get unless you let characters die. It's dumb.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Damn, really? He's the best part...and I just killed the hell of him!

Witch Rinea really getting me hot under the collar

Are you playing with English or Japanese voices? I thought Berkuts English VA did a particularly fantastic job.

SoV doesn't have a Japanese voice option. No clue if patches to fix this exist or not.

Ah its been years since I played it, so I didnt remember. I saw some videos in Japanese when I was searching YouTube and just assumed!

LordoftheMorons posted...

Are you playing with English or Japanese voices? I thought Berkuts English VA did a particularly fantastic job.

English, yeah he was great, it's part of why I like the asshole.

Seeing how many characters are in this is making me...not want to fill my roster up with all of them! I'm never gonna use any of the 3 goons Ozma brought with him!

IIRC Barst is pretty good. Bord and Cord, less so. This also applies to their personalities, what little there is at least.

tcaz2 posted...

There are literally a bunch of units in Shadow Dragon you can't get unless you let characters die. It's dumb.

This is true but I'd encourage anyone playing Shadow Dragon to not worry about it. Those characters only exist to help you not soft-lock yourself if you keep getting large chunks of your team killed. I mean eventually you start getting guys named things like Lucer and Auffle so the game's not even subtle about it.

A friend of mine said their favorite character is Norne who I have to kill a bunch of my own guys to get, lol.

The reqs for Norne aren't bad, you just need one extra dead character beyond the sacrifice (before the end of the prologue). She's arguably still not worth it though. Not much going for her except "cute anime girl".