What was the easiest FE title for you?

[llee1000]

In terms of the easiest mode, Awakening. It's Normal mode can easily be exploited with pair-up, easy access to grinding and very high unit potential.

In terms of the hardest mode, either Sacred Stones or PoR. I haven't finished PoR yet, but I'm doing my first playthough on Hard mode and honestly. it is not that hard, like Sacred Stones. Both games provide the player with a lot resources that make the game easy, whether it be money, experience or characters with high potential throughout.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

On highest difficulty: FE9

On lowest difficulty: Can't say it directly. FE8, 9 and 13 are easy.

[CrimeanRoyalKnight]

Awakening on Normal. Steamrolled by Chrom and Robin.

In fact, if I wanted to, right now, I could start a new Normal playthrough only using F!Robin x Chrom and finish it on the same day. And you could too.

I'd say it's easier than PoR and SS' easy modes cuz Awakening's exploits, imo, are so broken that the game plays itself.

However, the other difficulty modes are probably harder than what PoR offers, at least the beginning chapters where you don't have access to game breaking stuff. And Inigo's paralogue is bullshit (that's why I love it).

SS has some bullshit chapters in Hard mode so I wouldn't call it the easiest. The ship one is not exactly hard but it's rage inducing if you play it blind.

PoR however is never a real challange, ever. Also fuck the Black Knight.

So:

Easiest difficulty ever -> Awakening on Normal.

Easiest overall difficulties -> Path of Radiance.

BY THE WAY, I'm not considering JP PoR's maniac mode. I heard that one is really hard.

Edited November 5, 2015 by CrimeanRoyalKnight

[Original Alear]

Awakening is probably the easiest, but I tend to avoid using pair up all that much so I think it was a bit tougher for me than for most others? If you're looking at the easiest mode, it's probably FE9. My easy run had oscar promoted by something like chapter 8. If you're talking FE on the hardest difficulty, it's probably sacred stones.

[Jedi]

Its definitely Path of Radiance on HM as the easiest game, considering it still feels like its a Normal mode.

Awakening HM and SS HM actually have some annoying areas. But as stated earlier, PoR has no hard maps at all.

[Titamon]

Tie between FE8 and FE9.

[Paper Jam]

Easiest difficulty ever -> Awakening on Normal.

I think Sacred Stones on Easy is easier, myself.

I can see Awakening on Normal-Casual being easier, though; I've never played Casual, so I wouldn't know.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Paper Jam

[Shadow Mir]

I think Sacred Stones on Easy is easier, myself.

Same here - you know something's wrong when even in the final chapter, a good deal of enemies still have only their base stats. FE8 easy mode pretty much plays itself, really.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[CrimeanRoyalKnight]

Oh, but Awakening on Normal/Casual plays itself too, especially if you use mostly Chrom and the Avatar. My friends did it, and they suck horribly at videogames.

I'm not saying they can't play SS on Easy, but SS has permadeath, it's a tad less accessible (Awakening is very accessible) and, IMO, less easy to break. They'd get discouraged, not understand how things work, etc.

My friend, on Normal/Casual, on her very first playthrough, went from Chapter 1 to 21 in one day, using only Chrom, her Avatar and other OP units. She did not have to know any of the specifics to break the game in two (she completely disregarded stats, hit rates, etc, and went straight into action without even looking at the battle predictions), all she needed was pair up with her husbando and the game literally played itself.

Sacred Stones on Easy is sort of similar. You have Seth, grinding, etc, but it still requires more attention since permadeath is not avoidable. Last time I played it on Easy was like ten years ago (thus, I was 10/11): I remember it being very easy, I did not even check enemy stats, but death was not always unavoidable for me back in the day; not to mention there still are status staves and other things that would scare a newcomer. I did refuse to use Seth though.

Edited November 6, 2015 by CrimeanRoyalKnight

[Shadow Mir]

Oh, but Awakening on Normal/Casual plays itself too, especially if you use mostly Chrom and the Avatar. My friends did it, and they suck horribly at videogames.

I'm not saying they can't play SS on Easy, but SS has permadeath, it's a tad less accessible (Awakening is very accessible) and, IMO, less easy to break. They'd get discouraged, not understand how things work, etc.

My friend, on Normal/Casual, on her very first playthrough, went from Chapter 1 to 21 in one day, using only Chrom, her Avatar and other OP units. She did not have to know any of the specifics to break the game in two (she completely disregarded stats, hit rates, etc, and went straight into action without even looking at the battle predictions), all she needed was pair up with her husbando and the game literally played itself.

Sacred Stones on Easy is sort of similar. You have Seth, grinding, etc, but it still requires more attention since permadeath is not avoidable. Last time I played it on Easy was like ten years ago (thus, I was 10/11): I remember it being very easy, I did not even check enemy stats, but death was not always unavoidable for me back in the day; not to mention there still are status staves and other things that would scare a newcomer. I did refuse to use Seth though.

Sacred Stones doesn't have enough status staves in the hands of enemies that'd actually be worth noting, though (the only real instance of status staves in said game that'd really give anyone pause are the Berserk staves on chapter 14 Ephraim route - most other status staves in said game are used by unpromoted units). Anyways, if you could beat Awakening in one day, who's to say you couldn't beat Sacred Stones, or for that matter, any other Fire Emblem game, in one day?

[Lyn]

Sacred Stones was pretty easy. And I might have been playing Awakening on casual.

[henrymidfields]

It's a bit of a toss-up between Sacred Stones and Awakening.

[CrimeanRoyalKnight]

Sacred Stones doesn't have enough status staves in the hands of enemies that'd actually be worth noting, though (the only real instance of status staves in said game that'd really give anyone pause are the Berserk staves on chapter 14 Ephraim route - most other status staves in said game are used by unpromoted units). Anyways, if you could beat Awakening in one day, who's to say you couldn't beat Sacred Stones, or for that matter, any other Fire Emblem game, in one day?

I'm not trying to argue Sacred Stones is not ezpz and can't be beaten in one day. What I'm trying to say is that Awakening Normal Casual is even easier for reasons I've already stated. A newbie in SS might send Cormag in Berserker range and that's a guaranteed reset if you care about keeping your units.

This can't happen in Awakening Normal Casual. You can beat the game without a single thought, just like my friend did. In fact, I keep on hearing the CPU can play the game for you with that option for fast battles (or whathever it was).

The worst that could happen in Normal Casual is having most of your units killed, but even then I'm pretty sure Chrom and the Avatar will carry the team (even more if they are married).

[Shadow Mir]

I'm not trying to argue Sacred Stones is not ezpz and can't be beaten in one day. What I'm trying to say is that Awakening Normal Casual is even easier for reasons I've already stated. A newbie in SS might send Cormag in Berserker range and that's a guaranteed reset if you care about keeping your units.

This can't happen in Awakening Normal Casual. You can beat the game without a single thought, just like my friend did. In fact, I keep on hearing the CPU can play the game for you with that option for fast battles (or whathever it was).

The worst that could happen in Normal Casual is having most of your units killed, but even then I'm pretty sure Chrom and the Avatar will carry the team (even more if they are married).

Then...

In fact, if I wanted to, right now, I could start a new Normal playthrough only using F!Robin x Chrom and finish it on the same day. And you could too.

What was the purpose of this statement? Because I consider being able to finish a game in one day to be a very poor indicator of a game's difficulty. Also, I already addressed the whole status argument (the only instance of status staves worth mentioning is on Ephraim route since most status staves in SS are in the hands of unpromoted units that'd likely struggle to hit much of anything with them).

Bold: I doubt it, since I'm sure the AS (note I did NOT say AI - that should tell you how inept I think the AI is with regard to NPCs) is just as stupid with your own units as it'd be with NPC units. And I would not want them taking chances with my own units.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[Shinehollow]

Awakening for sure.Awakening's Hard is pretty easy as well.It just takes a huge difficulty spike with Lunatic.

SS is pretty easy too,but at least you always have permadeath,a first part final chapter boss with max stats (which Awakeing didn't have on Normal/Hard ),some status staves and enemies with effective weapons like Horseslayers and can actually use them.

Edited November 7, 2015 by ShadowShine

[Thor Odinson]

FE8 Easy Mode does not play itself if you're a newbie

honestly FE has a fairly steep learning curve and even super easy modes like SSEM can create a lot of hangup for a new player, it's a joke mode to us because we actually know how to FE now but yes

you can die

on SSEM

I think a lot of us veterans forget that, honestly.

From a veteran's PoV I feel like both SSEM and Awakening Normal are both such cakewalks it's really a waste of time to discuss which one of them is marginally easier than the other on Classic, anyway. Awakening does have Casual, which is the biggest thing that makes it the most new-player friendly since permadeath is such a huge roadblock for...honestly, a lot of people I know.

although last time I tried to half-ass speedrun Awakening Normal I used classic because letting units die is actually less efficient than just moving them since the death quote takes time

Edited November 7, 2015 by Thor Odinson

[Jedi]

I do enjoy how people are ignoring the true easiest game in PoR. While SS and Awakening on their easiest difficulties are pretty tame, they still give you nothing near the amount of stuff PoR does even on its hard mode which is on par with Eliwood normal mode at its worst. And easier than everything else 95% of the time.

Lumi is right of course, we all used to suck at FE.

This thread is becoming a bit elitist due to the experience some of us have. I suppose.

[CrimeanRoyalKnight]

Then...

What was the purpose of this statement? Because I consider being able to finish a game in one day to be a very poor indicator of a game's difficulty. Also, I already addressed the whole status argument (the only instance of status staves worth mentioning is on Ephraim route since most status staves in SS are in the hands of unpromoted units that'd likely struggle to hit much of anything with them).

Bold: I doubt it, since I'm sure the AS (note I did NOT say AI - that should tell you how inept I think the AI is with regard to NPCs) is just as stupid with your own units as it'd be with NPC units. And I would not want them taking chances with my own units.

But then how is Sacred Stones Easy Mode easier than Awakening Normal Casual? And why are you so hostile on this of all things?

The "one day" statement was to remark how you can play the mode with minimal thinking and still do well. Trust me on this because I have two friends who played Awakening in this way.

----

Regarding PoR easy being the easiest:

It IS incredibly easy. I have a PoR easy file to finish, and I guarantee it's a huge cakewalk. It's good if you want to re-read the story.

I remember though, when I was a child, it looked harder than Sacred Stones Easy to me.

Still, I could be wrong. PoR gives you so much BEXP, and the enemies are really weak.

My vote is still on Normal Casual though: the absence of permadeath does a lot IMO.

If you're a newbie, people will probably die on these easy difficulties(PoR easy, SS easy, Normal Casual), and that will either cost you a reset or a shortage of usable, reliable units, thus making things harder for you.

Normal Casual however has no repercussion if you lose units, and your strongest ones, especially if paired up, will pretty much carry the team until the end of the mission and the game.

Normal Casual lets you be careless (unless you're on very specific missions like Severa's paralogue), while in PoRE and SSE, not only people die, but there also is no thing such as Pair Up. Pair Up makes it all so much easier, especially if you marry Chrom who has that skill which gives him 20% more chance to do a Dual Strike.

Not that I hate Normal Casual, it's alright, good if you want to fool around, and still lays the basics of the main game well. It's just that, trying to see it from a newcomer PoV, it seems the easiest, for the reasons I already stated.

And IMO, if we take Normal Casual out ot the picture, the differences between SS, PoR and Awakening's easy modes will be so marginal, then it would become really hard to judge which one is the easiest.

At that point I'd probably say PoR cuz it gives such huge amounts of EXP that the units you used the most will probably be on steroids very early (unless you have horrible luck). I remember getting Oscar and Boyd promoted at the prison chapter!

[Shadow Mir]

But then how is Sacred Stones Easy Mode easier than Awakening Normal Casual? And why are you so hostile on this of all things?

The "one day" statement was to remark how you can play the mode with minimal thinking and still do well. Trust me on this because I have two friends who played Awakening in this way.

----

Regarding PoR easy being the easiest:

It IS incredibly easy. I have a PoR easy file to finish, and I guarantee it's a huge cakewalk. It's good if you want to re-read the story.

I remember though, when I was a child, it looked harder than Sacred Stones Easy to me.

Still, I could be wrong. PoR gives you so much BEXP, and the enemies are really weak.

My vote is still on Normal Casual though: the absence of permadeath does a lot IMO.

If you're a newbie, people will probably die on these easy difficulties(PoR easy, SS easy, Normal Casual), and that will either cost you a reset or a shortage of usable, reliable units, thus making things harder for you.

Normal Casual however has no repercussion if you lose units, and your strongest ones, especially if paired up, will pretty much carry the team until the end of the mission and the game.

Normal Casual lets you be careless (unless you're on very specific missions like Severa's paralogue), while in PoRE and SSE, not only people die, but there also is no thing such as Pair Up. Pair Up makes it all so much easier, especially if you marry Chrom who has that skill which gives him 20% more chance to do a Dual Strike.

Not that I hate Normal Casual, it's alright, good if you want to fool around, and still lays the basics of the main game well. It's just that, trying to see it from a newcomer PoV, it seems the easiest, for the reasons I already stated.

And IMO, if we take Normal Casual out ot the picture, the differences between SS, PoR and Awakening's easy modes will be so marginal, then it would become really hard to judge which one is the easiest.

At that point I'd probably say PoR cuz it gives such huge amounts of EXP that the units you used the most will probably be on steroids very early (unless you have horrible luck). I remember getting Oscar and Boyd promoted at the prison chapter!

I apologize if I came off as hostile, but I just feel rather strongly that if the AI can't control NPCs with even a hint of competence, I see no reason why in the seven hells I'd feel okay with putting my units under AI control. Anyways, for one, Robin doesn't start off as death, destroyer of worlds. Second, I feel that when most of the promoted enemy units have just their base stats, that's a huge red flag. Also, I never put Normal Casual in discussion for Awakening, so that might have something to do with it.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[Batter the Beast]

I do enjoy how people are ignoring the true easiest game in PoR. While SS and Awakening on their easiest difficulties are pretty tame, they still give you nothing near the amount of stuff PoR does even on its hard mode which is on par with Eliwood normal mode at its worst. And easier than everything else 95% of the time.

This. BEXP and forging made PoR a total joke, and while Titania isn't quite Seth/Avatar tier, she's really damn close. Hell, almost every single unit has good/workable stats so deciding how good a unit is depends on if they're on a horse/flying horse/wyvern. In my first playthrough in PoR I only reset on Ch 10 cause I wanted all that BEXP. Oh and once on the BK fight cause I got trash RNG. The other games mentioned had me reset more often due to units actually getting killed. However, I have heard that Maniac difficulty is a pain in the ass, especially early on. Too bad only Japan got it.

[Glitchy]

Awakening. Some chapters on FE8 Hard Mode actually give me trouble, such as Victims of War, Phantom Ship, Father and Son and Last Hope.

[Thor Odinson]

If we're comparing highest difficulty though, don't FE9 technically have Maniac

I've never played Maniac since it's JPN only, but I feel it should still be considered because it does exist in at least some versions of the game

If we're comparing lowest difficulty, then Normal Casual should be on the table, since that is a legitimate and dev-sanctioned difficulty level. Just because you don't play it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Actually now that I think about it, those of you who played 14, what's easier

13 Normal Casual or 14 Hoshido Phoenix

Just how much can you not die

Edited November 9, 2015 by Thor Odinson

[Paper Jam]

I didn't mean to imply earlier that Normal Casual should not be on the table, only that I personally couldn't make any informed arguments about it.

I guess I can point out that the first time I attempted my first FE (FE8), I did have a unit die and felt compelled to restart. That might not have happened if FE8 had had a Casual mode. But that's hypothetical.

[Shadow Mir]

If we're comparing lowest difficulty, then Normal Casual should be on the table, since that is a legitimate and dev-sanctioned difficulty level. Just because you don't play it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I didn't mention it because I feel it'd only open up a can of worms I'd rather leave unopened.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[NinjaMonkey]

Radiant Dawn's Easy Mode.