Best first time FE Game?

[vanguard333]

46 minutes ago, Benice said:

I get the feeling I should have posted a poll

Yeah; probably. Though I imagine you would've gotten an almost even split. Fans can be very divided on stuff like this. 

[Interdimensional Observer]

As a matter of caution, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are particularly favored on this site compared to elsewhere on the Internet (and I partake of this bias). I'd rather say FE7/Fire Emblem is a better starting point.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Eltosian Kadath]

48 minutes ago, Benice said:

I get the feeling I should have posted a poll

Based on the comments so far here is a tally of what a poll would show:

Best first game:

If only one option poll: (determined by main game mentioned, if two were mentioned equally I gave it to both)

FE7: 6

FE8:  1

FE9: 4

FE10: 1

multi-option poll:

FE7: 6

FE8:  4

FE9: 6

FE10: 1

 

Best Story:

If only one option poll: (Counting those that explicitly answered this question, and people didin't give multiple answers)

FE7: 2

FE8:  0

FE9: 2

FE10: 0

This is based on interpretations of comments, and the poll answers may have had more activity than responses, so results of an actual poll will probably vary, but it gives you a good idea of how one might have turned out.

 

[Benice]

Thank you, that was exceedingly helpful! (Why would anyone vote for a sequel for BEST FIRST GAME???)

Edited October 16, 2019 by Benice

[Francesca]

On 10/12/2019 at 7:53 PM, Ertrick36 said:

I don't think there's any question that what Eirika did was foolish and objectively a bad thing to do.

Also, by "questionable" I meant more on the morality side of things.  That's what I hear, anyway, I've scarcely played or even seen much of Radiant Dawn.

This sounds like someone who just saw that the end boss was a random fire dragon and was like "end boss bad, therefore story boring".

That stupid dragon ain't the main antagonist of Blazing Sword, Nergal is.  You're confusing Blazing Sword with Shadow Dragon.

I played EHM again this week, I can assure you, I'm not mixing anything up. 

From the very beginning you get slapped in the face with one of the oldest tropes in the book, the noble who didn't know it was of noble birth. From there on out the story continues and is not very...engaging. At all. The supports salvage the dialogue but the main story was blegh. 

Also Nergal was downright cartoonish.

[Benice]

On 10/11/2019 at 11:25 AM, SubwayBossEmmett said:

Path of Radiance and Sacred Stones are probably the best stories that are also easy games. 

 

On 10/11/2019 at 11:29 AM, Shadow Mir said:

Personally, I would say Blazing Blade - Sacred Stones's plot has problems, and lots of them.

I guess PoR is the safest bet? No one seems to dislike it. Is SS Bad enough that it will spoil the whole series for us?

[Alastor15243]

11 minutes ago, Benice said:

I guess PoR is the safest bet? No one seems to dislike it. Is SS Bad enough that it will spoil the whole series for us?

Good heavens no it isn't! It's not by any means the worst story in the series, and it's got some really memorable characters, whatever its faults. If you wanted me to actively tell you what kind of first experience with Fire Emblem would completely ruin your impression of the series, I'd say either Fire Emblem 1, or trying to do Three Houses ironman, but mostly the former.

I'm serious. Do not touch Fire Emblem 1 for any reason other than historical curiosity. And preferably not even then. Least of all as a newcomer to the series. It's been rendered obsolete TWICE, in the form of two objectively superior remakes for the SNES and DS, and it's such an outrageous mess of hardware limitations and "we don't know what the hell we're doing yet" that it is nearly physically impossible to wring any joy out of playing it. I managed, for a couple of days, but that was under very extreme circumstances, and it didn't last.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Alastor15243

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, Benice said:

I guess PoR is the safest bet? No one seems to dislike it. Is SS Bad enough that it will spoil the whole series for us?

PoR is a really safe bet. As I said; you can get through the whole game on your first playthrough; the game really eases you into it. The only things you may want to look up online are the character recruitments for some specific characters.

I haven't played Sacred Stones, but I doubt it's the worst given what I've heard about it. The worst game (in terms of plot) is probably Fates, but that game suffered the problem of overreaching ambition, which, as one PoR character would say, invites disaster. 

Stay away from Awakening until you have played at least one other FE game, simply because Awakening is a sort-of Fire Emblem: Greatest Hits Version in terms of gameplay and story aspects. 

[Shadow Mir]

4 hours ago, Benice said:

I guess PoR is the safest bet? No one seems to dislike it. Is SS Bad enough that it will spoil the whole series for us?

No. Not in terms of gameplay, at least.

[Xander]

On 10/13/2019 at 10:20 AM, Benice said:

Thank you, that was exceedingly helpful! (Why would anyone vote for a sequel for BEST FIRST GAME???)

No one voted for the sequel as best first game. My post was unclear, but I was trying to recommend that you, if possible (which you implied it was in your first post) should play Path of Radiance first, followed by Radiant Dawn, as the Tellius series is a fantastic introduction to the series.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Xander