If you live in North America, you may have not heard of the Fire Emblem series until characters like Roy and Marth joined the roster in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Once they appeared in the SSBM, the tactical role-playing series was introduced to a larger audience.
Today, the games have been released on many different platforms and even the modern releases follow the classic strategy formula that made Fire Emblem great in the first place.
If you are interested in getting started in the series or have played some before and don’t know where to go next, we are going to make it easy for you. This is the
List Of The Best Fire Emblem Games
Fire Emblem Heroes (IOS, Android)
I know what you’re thinking, but forget the platform for a minute and remember it is developed by Nintendo. This is a game that is free to play and it was the first Fire Emblem game to appear on mobile phones.
It is a tactical RPG on the go, with all of your favorite characters. It is a little more casual than a traditional Fire Emblem game but that just adds to its mobile appeal. Being mobile, it does also suffer a bit in story and graphics.
The downside with Fire Emblem Heros as with most free-to-play games is that it comes with microtransactions. The large FE universe opened the door to a variety of warriors. Luckily this is not Pokemon so you don’t need to catch them all. If you are on a budget, you can be a bit pickier about the units on your team.
Score: 72/100
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn on Wii
This game continues the story started in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on Gamecube, as you control Ike and his team of mercenaries. The game conceptualizes what it could be like for citizens of a country that lost the war and had political struggles.
The release definitely holds up as a sequel, and features all the positive traits of the previous game and giving true fans of the series more of what they want.
While the Nintendo Wii aimed to get people who normally didn’t play video games to give it chance, this game was meant for hardcore Fire Emblem fans.
Even though the story is deep, involving, and could be interpreted multiple ways, many gamers skipped this one over due to its high commitment level.
Score: 78/100
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon on DS
This was a remake of the first-ever Fire Emblem game. This also was the only Fire Emblem game to come out on the Nintendo DS in North America. This is sad because the touchscreen was perfect to handle turn-based strategic combat.
This game also introduced “Casual Mode” so people who never played a Fire Emblem game before wouldn’t feel like they were at a big disadvantage. What made this game easier for newcomers also made this game duller than other games.
Because this is a remake of the first game the design may feel a little limited going back to it if you have played others in the series. It is still fun to play, and a great place to start for anyone wanting to jump into the franchise.
Score: 81/100
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia on 3DS
Shadows of Valentia is a remake of Fire Emblem: Gaiden which came out on the Famicom in Japan. It seems fitting that Nintendo start porting titles from Japan as the franchise gained additional popularity in the west.
Shadows is full of dangerous dungeons, that contained more than a few secrets. The cutscenes had gorgeous retro style visuals that hit home and excellent voice acting as well.
Sadly there is no weapon triangle as appeared in previous titles which eliminated a lot of decision-making. This increased the difficulty of the game. Even with these problems, it is still worth checking out, especially if you want to see the history of the Fire Emblem series.
Score: 81/100
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on Game Boy Advance
This was the perfect sequel for Fire Emblem. It was the third game released on the GBA and built on everything the past titles got right. A large focus on choices made by the player leads to a more “customized” adventure.
When you earned upgrades, you could choose which upgrades you instead of specific upgrades being given out at specific times.
What may help you in one level could end up hindering you in the next level so it is important to choose different upgrades based on what you needed.
Score: 85/100
Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance on Gamecube
This was the first Fire Emblem game released in North America for home consoles. This is the best game in the franchise to experience battles and storytelling.
Path of Radiance was a unique turn for the series as the narrative threw you into the role of a mercenary in a low-class standing, and introduced topics that would be considered dark like prejudice against different ethnic groups, and mass extermination.
Several nations are at battle with each other which is causing the entire world to fall into chaos. It’s up to your character Ike to bring those responsible for this situation to justice.
On top of improved mechanics and combat, there were additions to the classes that were already available. Even with these additions present, this game was not any easier than the fans of Fire Emblem came to expect from games in the series.
Score: 85/100
Fire Emblem Fates: Special Edition on Nintendo 3DS
Did you ever want to play a Fire Emblem game that allowed your character to turn into a dragon? Of course you didn’t, but I bet you do now.
Fates would stray away from overused genre elements seen in other role-playing games and provide you more systems to train your party since there wasn’t such a heavy focus on management.
Just like Pokemon, the story is separated between three different games but all three are available on the Special Edition. The game you choose to play will decide which group are your allies as well as the tasks that you set out to complete.
Score: 88/100
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade on Game Boy Advance
This was a prequel that took place before the original Fire Emblem which never came out in the United States. So people who played this game first might have different ways of describing their first experience with the Fire Emblem series.
The story here is that three people are going to be fighting against a dragon with everyone depending on their success. A prequel where a band of adventurers has to track down and slay a dragon? Hmmm.
The graphics are as good as they come for the GBA including a soundtrack to match, this is the perfect spot for any newcomers to the franchise to begin their journey.
Score: 88/100
Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Switch
Most games that have numerous sequels run into the problem of doing the same thing over and over again. This game has the same difficult combat that you would expect to see but some of the game takes place in a monastery where you train your disciples.
Since some of the gameplay is new and some of the gameplay is familiar, that kept the game from feeling stale.
Also, the story is intriguing enough to keep you paying attention to what happens.
You can decide what skills your party will be experts in. Everybody starts with the possibility of being trained for any role and later in the game you will be able to expand your party. With all the choices, there isn’t any reason not to go back and play again through multiple paths.
Score: 89/100
Fire Emblem: Awakening on 3DS
Some people credit this entry for the reason Fire Emblem still exists today. It is also another great introduction for newcomers who want to try out the popular series.
The difficulty was no longer unfair to beginners since you could turn off permanent deaths and download more characters.
While it might be more beneficial to attack together or defend against an incoming attack together, this game kept the same formula that people were familiar with from other Fire Emblem games.
The character development alone is enough to make you want to keep playing. Some protagonists come from a royal background, another suffers from amnesia, and a time travel aspect helps make the connection to previous games in the series.
Fire Emblem: Awakening is not only the best Fire Emblem game, it might be one of the best video games to come out on the Nintendo 3DS.
Score: 92/100
These are the choices for the top ten Fire Emblem games ranked from worst to best. Nintendo has done an excellent job growing and expanding the franchise in all aspects. Many entries won’t scare off new gamers and experienced players don’t feel like their game changed to something unrecognizable. I can only imagine things will continue to get better, and I can’t wait
