Hardware to start the "real" FE

[mampfoid]

Hi Fire Emblem enthusiasts, 

I'm playing Fire Emblem Heroes since March and would like to start the real Fire Emblem, because a little more story and character depth would be nice. Since I've not even heard about this series before FEH, I'm open to any suggestions. 

The kind members of the Heroes Sub forum already told me that Awakening, Echoes or Fates would be good points to start. They should be good games, but new enough to have some in-game comfort. 

Now I'm without idea on what hardware I should play. Ideally I would play on my Android phone or tablet, since I wouldn't need to buy new hardware. Also my old Windows PC would be fine, but it's less mobile/flexible. Anyway, both seem to be unlikely to happen (please correct me if I'm wrong). 

Actual Nintendo hardware are 3DS and Switch. If there would be the possibility to play 3DS titles on the Switch, the choice would be easy. But I couldn't find anything about this. To buy the Switch for only one FE title (and to use mostly the mobile part) would be a little exaggerated in sense of monetary investment, but I'm also hesitant to buy old hardware. 

I hope this was the right place to ask. Any advice or hint to find my way to start FE is highly welcome. 

[De Geso]

I recommend getting a Gameboy Advance emulator on either your phone or your computer (I use My Boy's free app for my android and I use visualboy advance on my PC) and emulating Fire Emblem 7 (just called Fire Emblem in the West). It's probably the best starting point.

Regardless of whether or not you have a 3DS or Switch I recommend starting with this game.

 

[EricaofRenais]

I would say get a used "new" 2DS ( I know the "new" part is confusing but those are what the latest 2DS and 3DS are called) since they are pretty cheap and that way you can play Shadow Dragon since it will also play DS games, as well as Awakening, Fates, Echoes and FE Warriors.  

Edited October 27, 2017 by EricaofRenais

[Zapp Branniglenn]

2DS can be pretty cheap, and gives you access to the four latest main series games. The only other hardware choice you could make is a Wii U, but those are quickly becoming collector's items, and only give you access to Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Sacred Stones. Both GBA games offered on the eshop. Shadow Dragon is there too, and it's worth mentioning that the 10USD download price will be cheaper than finding a physical copy. I'm not a fan of Shadow Dragon on that format. Even with the multiple display settings, they're all pretty unflattering compared to DS hardware. So I would still recommend going for a 2DS.

No word yet on whether classic Fire Emblem games will arrive on Switch. It's reasonable to assume Virtual Console is coming in the future, but nobody can really speculate which of the Fire Emblem games will appear. Since it's not a dual screen system, I wouldn't get your hopes up for the DS/3DS games to appear there.

[Punished Dayni]

If you're looking for legit methods, sadly the WiiU VC (for the international GBA games + SD) or the 3DS are pretty much the only games in town unless you want to be trawling online for carts.

Emulation is far easier though, and so long as you can find good roms (which can't be legally discussed here), you're halfway there. For emulation on computers, I'm going to recommend VBA for GBA titles, Desmume for DS and for NES/SNES either Higan or ZSNES. I don't emulate on my phone, so I'm not too familiar with the options there.

As for where to start, there are plenty of options, and everyone has their response ready (barring me). I'm going to suggest BS for if you're going to emulate and Awakening if you're going to get a 3DS.

[mampfoid]

Hi everybody, thanks for your replies so far!

With all that new information I got, I'm tending to buy a 2DS/3DS system. I'm unsure which model though. Are they all compatible to the same FE titles? Is there a lemon to be avoided?

I also have some questions regarding software purchase (see below, in reply to @Glennstavos).

On 27.10.2017 at 6:02 PM, YouSquiddinMe said:

I recommend getting a Gameboy Advance emulator on either your phone or your computer (I use My Boy's free app for my android and I use visualboy advance on my PC) and emulating Fire Emblem 7 (just called Fire Emblem in the West). It's probably the best starting point.

Regardless of whether or not you have a 3DS or Switch I recommend starting with this game.

Do you recommend FE7 to start the story from the beginning (more or less) and because its one of the better titles of the series?

I got it to run on my smartphone, ClassicBoy is easy enough to set up. While its a great advantage to have it on my smartphone, I'm not sure if I will stay with it for long (perhaps if the story catches me fast). I considered the newer titles primary for the QoL improvements in modern games, also the Audio quality suffers a lot in Emulators.

On 27.10.2017 at 6:22 PM, EricaofRenais said:

I would say get a used "new" 2DS ( I know the "new" part is confusing but those are what the latest 2DS and 3DS are called) since they are pretty cheap and that way you can play Shadow Dragon since it will also play DS games, as well as Awakening, Fates, Echoes and FE Warriors.  

That's what I thought in the beginning, more of the modern titles on one platform. While I wouldn't mind to miss the 3D effects, I fear to have a screen of lower quality with the 2DS devices, or is it the contrary? Also used mobile devices suffer in terms of battery life.

Warriors is perhaps the least appealing FE title for me so far.

On 27.10.2017 at 6:42 PM, Glennstavos said:

2DS can be pretty cheap, and gives you access to the four latest main series games. The only other hardware choice you could make is a Wii U, but those are quickly becoming collector's items, and only give you access to Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Sacred Stones. Both GBA games offered on the eshop. Shadow Dragon is there too, and it's worth mentioning that the 10USD download price will be cheaper than finding a physical copy. I'm not a fan of Shadow Dragon on that format. Even with the multiple display settings, they're all pretty unflattering compared to DS hardware. So I would still recommend going for a 2DS.

No word yet on whether classic Fire Emblem games will arrive on Switch. It's reasonable to assume Virtual Console is coming in the future, but nobody can really speculate which of the Fire Emblem games will appear. Since it's not a dual screen system, I wouldn't get your hopes up for the DS/3DS games to appear there.

Ok, so the Switch is out (for now), the Wii U as well.

The eshop offers older and newer FE titles for the 2DS/3DS, or only for Wii U? Is the eshop something you can find only on the devices, or is it the same you can find on the nintendo homepage? Checked the nintendo.de page and searched for downloadable FE titles for 2DS/3DS, but found only Shadow Dragon, not Awakening and the likes. Would I have to buy a physical copy?

I found used copys on amazon for a good price, but is that even possible? Can they be "undocked" from another account to be sold legally?

Are there recommended ways to buy FE titles, to have everything (also DLC, alternate stories like Birthright and so on) in one bundle?

On 27.10.2017 at 6:45 PM, Dayni said:

If you're looking for legit methods, sadly the WiiU VC (for the international GBA games + SD) or the 3DS are pretty much the only games in town unless you want to be trawling online for carts.

Emulation is far easier though, and so long as you can find good roms (which can't be legally discussed here), you're halfway there. For emulation on computers, I'm going to recommend VBA for GBA titles, Desmume for DS and for NES/SNES either Higan or ZSNES. I don't emulate on my phone, so I'm not too familiar with the options there.

As for where to start, there are plenty of options, and everyone has their response ready (barring me). I'm going to suggest BS for if you're going to emulate and Awakening if you're going to get a 3DS.

Like I wrote above, ClassicBoy is easy to set up for emulation on Android phones. While its nice to check some older games, it's nothing I would consider to use for a longer period.

Seems I' going to buy a Gameboy 2DS/3DS. :-)

Edited October 28, 2017 by mampfoid
Typo

[Punished Dayni]

1 hour ago, mampfoid said:

With all that new information I got, I'm tending to buy a 2DS/3DS system. I'm unsure which model though. Are they all compatible to the same FE titles? Is there a lemon to be avoided?

Do you recommend FE7 to start the story from the beginning (more or less) and because its one of the better titles of the series?

I got it to run on my smartphone, ClassicBoy is easy enough to set up. While its a great advantage to have it on my smartphone, I'm not sure if I will stay with it for long (perhaps if the story catches me fast). I considered the newer titles primary for the QoL improvements in modern games, also the Audio quality suffers a lot in Emulators.

That's what I thought in the beginning, more of the modern titles on one platform. While I wouldn't mind to miss the 3D effects, I fear to have a screen of lower quality with the 2DS devices, or is it the contrary? Also used mobile devices suffer in terms of battery life.

The eshop offers older and newer FE titles for the 2DS/3DS, or only for Wii U? Is the eshop something you can find only on the devices, or is it the same you can find on the nintendo homepage? Checked the nintendo.de page and searched for downloadable FE titles for 2DS/3DS, but found only Shadow Dragon, not Awakening and the likes. Would I have to buy a physical copy?

I found used copys on amazon for a good price, but is that even possible? Can they be "undocked" from another account to be sold legally?

Are there recommended ways to buy FE titles, to have everything (also DLC, alternate stories like Birthright and so on) in one bundle?

I'll go ahead and try to give some responses, apologies if I repeat myself. The 3DS will work with any title from the DS or 3DS (So SD and the 3DS games), but nothing else. When it comes to FE, I think it's a bit more subjective what someone considers a great and what can be considered a lemon (for example, I don't think any of the games is on the level of FF2, an equivalent from another series).

BS (aka FE7) gets mentioned a lot because it's a pretty accessible title and because it's got a tutorial that can annoy quite a few people as it's unskippable the first time playing it (so get it out of the way is the idea). There's no one timeline as is though, so long as you know what's linked to one another you don't have to worry too much.

You can skip animations in the GBA games onwards, but you can't skip a turn like in more recent titles, so I do get the sentiment.

I haven't heard about the 2DS having issues with graphics besides the lack of 3D (which isn't needed imo). I'd keep an eye out on sales, there might be a good price drop in the next month or two.

The older titles are only available on the WiiU eShop, while the 3DS titles are on the 3DS eShop. You can't buy SD on the 3DS eShop, but it will run on the 3DS if you find a cartridge of it. Taking a look on the UK region's site, it looks like you can pay for download codes on a browser, but I've never done it.

This one I can't answer. I doubt there's an undocking option, and finding copies on the cheap certainly could be possible (SD wasn't exactly a popular title), but I don't really have an experience with that.

Sadly no. The DLC can be bought in bundles, but I waited for a sale myself. Fates had a special edition with all the paths, but that was bought up fast and I doubt you'll find a low price for it online. You also have to buy the DLC in game, which was weird and annoying. I hope I don't see it again.

[mampfoid]

53 minutes ago, Dayni said:

I'll go ahead and try to give some responses, apologies if I repeat myself. The 3DS will work with any title from the DS or 3DS (So SD and the 3DS games), but nothing else. When it comes to FE, I think it's a bit more subjective what someone considers a great and what can be considered a lemon (for example, I don't think any of the games is on the level of FF2, an equivalent from another series).

BS (aka FE7) gets mentioned a lot because it's a pretty accessible title and because it's got a tutorial that can annoy quite a few people as it's unskippable the first time playing it (so get it out of the way is the idea). There's no one timeline as is though, so long as you know what's linked to one another you don't have to worry too much.

You can skip animations in the GBA games onwards, but you can't skip a turn like in more recent titles, so I do get the sentiment.

I haven't heard about the 2DS having issues with graphics besides the lack of 3D (which isn't needed imo). I'd keep an eye out on sales, there might be a good price drop in the next month or two.

The older titles are only available on the WiiU eShop, while the 3DS titles are on the 3DS eShop. You can't buy SD on the 3DS eShop, but it will run on the 3DS if you find a cartridge of it. Taking a look on the UK region's site, it looks like you can pay for download codes on a browser, but I've never done it.

This one I can't answer. I doubt there's an undocking option, and finding copies on the cheap certainly could be possible (SD wasn't exactly a popular title), but I don't really have an experience with that.

Sadly no. The DLC can be bought in bundles, but I waited for a sale myself. Fates had a special edition with all the paths, but that was bought up fast and I doubt you'll find a low price for it online. You also have to buy the DLC in game, which was weird and annoying. I hope I don't see it again.

Hey, thanks for the fast and detailed answer! 

On the software side I think I got it. I'll look out for sales in the eshop (and for download codes in other shops) and try to buy a used Awakening copy first. Until I have everything assembled together, I will give Lyn a chance on my smartphone. 

I meant to avoid to buy a hardware lemon (sorry for mixing up things), to avoid a model that got an annoying issue. Would it be safe to just buy the newest 2DS model? 

Never been a Nintendo kid, therefore I'm kind of new in this world. Thanks again for the help, very much appreciated. 

[EricaofRenais]

50 minutes ago, mampfoid said:

Hey, thanks for the fast and detailed answer! 

On the software side I think I got it. I'll look out for sales in the eshop (and for download codes in other shops) and try to buy a used Awakening copy first. Until I have everything assembled together, I will give Lyn a chance on my smartphone. 

I meant to avoid to buy a hardware lemon (sorry for mixing up things), to avoid a model that got an annoying issue. Would it be safe to just buy the newest 2DS model? 

Never been a Nintendo kid, therefore I'm kind of new in this world. Thanks again for the help, very much appreciated. 

2DS are pretty good, don't own one my self but my honorary nephew has one which he used to play a lot before he lost the charger and it ran very well.  I would go with the newest model you can find for the price you want to pay.  Nintendo systems tend to be designed to take some abuse, I live next to a farm field and my systems get a lot of dust on and around them and I have never had a problem with them even my Wii still runs perfectly after several years, and I have dropped all my hand held systems and they all still run fine.  The batteries are really good too, even when I ran them completely out they still hold a charge.

[mampfoid]

1 minute ago, EricaofRenais said:

2DS are pretty good, don't own one my self but my honorary nephew has one which he used to play a lot before he lost the charger and it ran very well.  I would go with the newest model you can find for the price you want to pay.  Nintendo systems tend to be designed to take some abuse, I live next to a farm field and my systems get a lot of dust on and around them and I have never had a problem with them even my Wii still runs perfectly after several years, and I have dropped all my hand held systems and they all still run fine.  The batteries are really good too, even when I ran them completely out they still hold a charge.

Sounds very good. I like durable and reliable hardware. Guess I'm set, next week I'll check the local stores.

Thanks! 

[eclipse]

While the GBA games can be irritatingly slow, you can at least speed up map movement speed (IIRC) and skip combat animations.  Starting from SD, you can skip enemy movement/phases (depending on your taste).  Don't worry about missing out on the sound - I usually play my FEs with the volume off.  It's still fun!

Speaking of. . .if you decide to try SD, it's going to feel really different, and probably not in a good way.  I suggest giving it a whirl after playing all of the titles everyone else recommended.

[De Geso]

5 hours ago, mampfoid said:

Do you recommend FE7 to start the story from the beginning (more or less) and because its one of the better titles of the series?

I got it to run on my smartphone, ClassicBoy is easy enough to set up. While its a great advantage to have it on my smartphone, I'm not sure if I will stay with it for long (perhaps if the story catches me fast). I considered the newer titles primary for the QoL improvements in modern games, also the Audio quality suffers a lot in Emulators.

I recommend FE7 because it's a good Fire Emblem game that's simple and easy to pick up at first, then grows more complex as you progress. I'll give you the QoL stuff but I just don't think any of the DS or 3DS games make great starting points (admittedly I'm biased because I think Awakening is terrible, otherwise it would probably be fine), since Fates is a little different from the rest of the series and can be a bit overwhelming with the sheer amount of content across the 3 games, and Echoes is even more drastically different from other entries in the series. Awakening is an okay starting point but it could rub you the wrong way in terms of design (this is just my opinion, though, loads of people like Awakening).

If you're looking for recommendations based on story, I wouldn't be the person to ask since it's the least important part of the games for me.

Edited October 29, 2017 by YouSquiddinMe

[mampfoid]

5 hours ago, eclipse said:

While the GBA games can be irritatingly slow, you can at least speed up map movement speed (IIRC) and skip combat animations.  Starting from SD, you can skip enemy movement/phases (depending on your taste).  Don't worry about missing out on the sound - I usually play my FEs with the volume off.  It's still fun!

Speaking of. . .if you decide to try SD, it's going to feel really different, and probably not in a good way.  I suggest giving it a whirl after playing all of the titles everyone else recommended.

Ok, SD is scheduled for later. I'll check the options of FE7 if I can speed up things. I also play most of the time muted, since the most people in trains don't enjoy this kind of strange sounds ("The enemy!"). 

It's unfair to compare GBA games to newer ones (like Heroes), but the sprites on the map in FE7 are exceptionally ugly. ;-p

4 hours ago, YouSquiddinMe said:

I recommend FE7 because it's a good Fire Emblem game that's simple and easy to pick up at first, then grows more complex as you progress. I'll give you the QoL stuff but I just don't think any of the DS or 3DS games make great starting points (admittedly I'm biased because I think Awakening is terrible, otherwise it would probably be fine), since Fates is a little different from the rest of the series and can be a bit overwhelming with the sheer amount of content across the 3 games, and Echoes is even more drastically different from other entries in the series. Awakening is an okay starting point but it could rub you the wrong way in terms of design (this is just my opinion, though, loads of people like Awakening).

If you're looking for recommendations based on story, I wouldn't be the person to ask since it's the least important part of the games for me.

I wouldn't mind a slightly faster progress, since I already have got an idea what all this is about (WTA and some other stuff are present in a "light" version in Heroes) and also some more story wouldn't hurt. But I can't judge, since I didn't finish the tutorial yet. 

Awakening and Fates seem to be quite controversial titles, but that's often the case if many new elements are introduced into a long going franchise. 

I like good story elements in games, but if they are highly unlogical (ie fast change of motivations of a character), they can destroy the gaming experience. 

[eclipse]

11 minutes ago, mampfoid said:

Ok, SD is scheduled for later. I'll check the options of FE7 if I can speed up things. I also play most of the time muted, since the most people in trains don't enjoy this kind of strange sounds ("The enemy!"). 

It's unfair to compare GBA games to newer ones (like Heroes), but the sprites on the map in FE7 are exceptionally ugly. ;-p

You haven't seen ugly until you've seen SD's battle animations.  Hoo boy. . .

[mampfoid]

11 hours ago, eclipse said:

You haven't seen ugly until you've seen SD's battle animations.  Hoo boy. . .

Got curious and checked SD on YouTube, these animations have an own style, that's for sure.