I have only played Awakening (not finished yet). But I was thinking of getting the only other FE I can get, Shadow Dragon (I own no GBA, GC, or Wii).
From a point if view of playing just FE: Awakening?:
Is it good?
Is it hard? I've grinded the crap out of my units in Awakening and I'm enjoying stomping through the game (I only play 1-2 Chapters a day, I'm at 18 currently).
How relevant is it to this game, game mechanics wise and story-wise?