Rate the Fire Emblem games

[GrySun]

From 1 to 5, give your rating to each Fire Emblem game that you've played. Explainations are not necessary, but write them down if you want to. These are not general statements, but rather personal opinions.

FE2 Gaiden: 3/5 Not because of old graphics. The game really had less work in it that the others. Many maps are quite bad, and there is a lot of tedium(3 Summoners that summon from 0-8 Monsters each every turn. Not fun at all. All units not called Alm were rather crappy, making the game last longer as well. There were grind opportunities, but they are unnecessary to win the game. Still, great music and a pretty great last chapter got the rating to 3.

FE6 : 5/5 It's a 4/5 if played without FE7 knowledge, and a 5/5 if you played FE7 before FE6. If you played FE7 before, you will be way more immersed in the characters(which some are the children of FE7 chracters) and the plot. Add many great and unique chapters, holy weapons that are pretty much perfectly executed in both availability and usage, and the biggest feeling of "war" in a fire emblem game for me.

FE7: 4/5 It is a good game with many good and memorable characters, but I found the story to be rather wanting. There is a bad guy, you travel around the world goofing around and trying to stop him. Not as great of a plot as other fire emblem games. It does make FE6 much better, which is pretty good of a thing.

FE8: 5/5 Another great fire emblem. Amazing plot, amazing characters, it also doesn't need another game to make it better. It also gives an amazing feeling of relevance to every chapter, some more than others. Definitely one of, if not the best fire emblem game imo. The only downside is that there are less chapters than in other FE games, but quality > quantity in this game.

FE9: 4/5 While Path of Radiance was pretty good with many memorable characters, it also had many things going against it. The bonus xp, if you want it, you need to check online what the requirements each chapter are. Would it have been so hard to add that information at the preperation screen? And if you want the bonus xp, your playstyle will be quite forced in most of the missions. The plot wasn't too great either, with only the last chapters being the ones where things are actually happening. There are also no S rank weapons other than tomes, which quite confused me during my playthrough. Or maybe I just missed them?

FE13: 5/5 Probably the most biased of all for me. It was the one that introduced me to the series and as such will always hold a special place for me. I also found the characters very lovable and the support system and marriage were making sure that you get the most enjoyment from YOUR favorite pairings, and they even had children. Quite a game for people that "ship" a lot, I must say.

[Anacybele]

I think there was a thread like this before, but that was a looong time ago, so this is fine. :P

The Blazing Sword: 3/5. Honestly the worst game in the series that I've played so far. The story and most of the characters just bored me. What kept me playing though, was Eliwood, Sain, and the gameplay. Plus some funny interactions between Hector and Lyn. But other than that, I wasn't particularly entertained by the game. It's a good game overall, just not a good FE game, imo. I don't even want to finish it though, the story just didn't keep me interested enough.

The Sacred Stones: 4/5. Now we have an awesome story! It's just so intriguing what with Ephraim and Eirika's best friend getting possessed by a demon king and stuff and Grado suddenly invading its long time ally Renais. I love the split paths, overworld map, and Ephraim rocks hard too. I also liked several of the other characters, namely Seth, Franz, Kyle, Tana, and Joshua. I wish I could get around to finishing it, but I just keep feeling like doing other things more.

Path of Radiance: 4.8/5: The only reason I don't give this one a perfect score is because a bunch of supports got cut from it and could've potentially made this better. But otherwise, perfect story, awesome gameplay, great cast of characters, the best lord in the series by far (I love Ike I love Ike I love Ike ), and my favorite video game ending ever to top it off! Definitely one of my favorite games of all time. ^^

Radiant Dawn: 4.9/5. The lack of a good ending and good support system is what prevents this game from getting a perfect score. There are also character availability issues, but I believe that once again, the awesome story overshadows it, and the great cast from PoR remained great! Especially Ike, what a sexy as hell badass he became! The DB wasn't so awesome, imo, but that's likely due to a lack of a good support system to give them any depth or development. I didn't even see much with Micaiah, and that was one reason I disliked her a lot. But the gameplay, awesomely fun chapters and objectives, and everything else just stole me. It remains my favorite game of all time. ^^

Awakening: 3.5/5. The story really really really hurts this game. It just...sucked compared to past FE stories, even FE7's, imo (that's Blazing Sword). It felt rushed and hastily thrown together. I didn't like the lords either, aside from Avatar, and even then, Avatar still had more potential and got too much ass-kissing by the rest of the cast. The gameplay was fun though, and I enjoyed a lot of the cast (especially a certain Jagen butler knight who stole my heart. Freddyyy ). The DLC was nice too, as was being able to see what your units stats would look like before making a final decision on a promotion and being able to grind up your characters for the tougher DLC maps. I still felt that the main story was too short and rushed though. It felt more like it should've been RD length rather than less than PoR length. :/

I've also played Shadow Dragon, but barely, so I can't properly rate it. I haven't played any other title in the series because they're Japan only and I choose not to emulate.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Anacybele

[James McCloud]

FE7 5/5 Great game, with many fleshed-out characters and a pretty good plot. Better if you play through all the routes and side-chapters. Goes well with FE6. The first game in the series released in English, and the first Fire Emblem game that I played.

FE8 4/5 A solid stand-alone game in its own right. The many bugs and lack of villains that you can relate to prevent it from being a truly amazing game.

FE9 4/5 A pretty good game that introduced some new mechanics, but not as good as its counterparts. Leaves many questions unanswered until FE10.

FE10 4.5/5 Not as bad as people say it is. No, seriously. Its missing support conversations, but added some new things like crossbows, knives with weapon levels, and skills that raise critical hit percentages. Some people say that it is impossibly hard, but it's just the length of the game that makes it seem that way. Play FE9 before this.

FE11 5/5 Had (almost) everything that a Fire Emblem game should, plus online shops and multiplayer. A great game overall.

[NinjaMonkey]

Path of Radiance: 3.5/5

Radiant Dawn: 4.5/5

Shadow Dragon: 0/5 (and that's being generous)

Awakening: 4/5

[sarinomu]

FE7 4.5/5 The story itself feels very typical of a Fire Emblem game and quite bland actually if you only play the game ONCE (this includes getting some supports, doing sides, etc.). However, if you play the game MULTIPLE times and obtain more supports, the story has great depth with all the speculations and characters that become someone that you never knew. An example would be Renault who comes at the very end for almost no reason but if you chance upon giving him some supports, he creates a whole new backstory, heck I think someone could make a ROM hack (albeit short) on his story alone.

FE8 4/5 I personally enjoyed the story because of how human-like Eirika is. She is trusting of her childhood friend whom is already lost because of her long time relationship with him. I also liked the ColmxNeimi because it was just so cute <3. It was also interesting to see Joshua and L'Arachel have their own tiny bits as well. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable experience.

FE10 .1/5 Gave the poor game some credit because it was the first FE game I played and didn't really like it. I came from a traditional RPG background so leveling up wasn't too bizarre but the random chances were, especially with the tactics. Tried to do some shenanigans with Marth only and killed off everyone but THE REPLACEMENTS. WHERE DO THEY COME FROM AND WHY.

[Anacybele]

...Huh? Marth isn't in FE10. FE10 is Ike's second game, Radiant Dawn. o.O

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

FE11: 4/10- It's boring. I can't even give a detailed review of it because it's so boring.

FE13: 8/10- Horrific story, but some good characters and fantastic gameplay. Also lots of replayability.

FE8: 8/10- Great characters, great traditional FE gameplay, but it's really short and didn't have enough replayability to me.

FE6: 8.5/10- I used to really love this game, but playing through it again gave me some different thoughts. I love the characters, gameplay, and different personal challenges keep me coming back, but there's just this frustrating aspect to it that just makes me not want to play it. I still love it though, just not as much.

FE12: 9/10- It's like Shadow Dragon, but good. Characters actually develop, and every aspect of SD is made good.

Now for the big three:

FE9: 9.8/10- I love everything about this game. Ike is a cool lord, yet I find myself having times of not liking him. He's usually pretty cool. Anyway, the characters are all fantastic, the gameplay is amazing, and it has one of the best stories I've seen in a video game, something FE usually doesn't do as well in. The -.2 is for the animations, they kinda suck.

FE7: 10/10- EVERYTHING. Characters are all amazing. Story is not as good as PoR, but still better than most other FE stories. The level design is probably the best in the series. Actually, the design in general may be the best in the series. Also, the replayability. It's like FE6 with the huge amounts of personal challenges, but (mostly) without that frustrating aspect. Also, for the most part levels are shorter than in FE6 which also helps its replayability. I love this game, but one more FE game is either tied, or barely beats it...

FE4: 10/10- Words cannot describe. Basically, the characters are amazing. The story is amazing (may actually beat PoR. It's the only FE that gives a really interesting look into political corruption). The level design is great, and shows a pretty good representation of what I would think battles would be like in those times. The animations are fluid and look great. Lots of people complain about the huge maps, but I think that's a good thing in the game. It adds charm, uniqueness, and creativity to the game that no other FE has. Another thing is the game's soundtrack. I can't think of a word to describe it. Every level has a different theme, and they all reflect on the level setting, and the events taking place. The battle themes are fast paced and catchy, and the conversation themes give more meaning to the interactions between characters. It's also the most in-depth FE game. The inheritance system and the altered items system add new levels to the strategy needed for this game. If you haven't played FE4, you need to. It's a great experience, and in my opinion, the best FE game.

[Draco]

Ooh, lemme try.

I'll try to list 'em in the order I played 'em:

FE11: 2.8. The first one I played, and kicked off the series for me. I played it when I was still young; 7 or 8-ish, probably (If this surprises you, you must not know how old I am right now).This entry has some decent gameplay. It's the same you expect from all the games. I feel that it's a little... easy, though. One of the things that makes this entry more notable is how... expendable the units are. For most of the game, you get 3-4 new units every chapter on average. IIRC, there's one where you get six! In fact, to access the gaiden chapters, you have to kill your units. Most of them are very bland and boring. Some of them don't even have 1 line, outside of their death quote. The story is kinda boring, I won't go into it. At least the weapons are weirdly unique here and fun to mess around with. This was the one to introduce online multiplayer and online shops, and these were both fun to mess around with. Still kind of boring though :(

FE13: 2.5. And this is being pretty generous. The story is just... garbage. All of the lords are boring as hell (At least Lucina is kinda cute), and Robin... oh boy, Robin. He (I'll be referring to it as a He) is the most... unique self-insert we've had yet. He's overpowered as hell and the whole cast kisses his arse. In the ending, even if you never use OR SUPPORT the characters you recruit, they're all basically like "O mai gawdz, rawbin was sooooo kool omg were all gunna miss him he wuz da bess ting evar omg cri cri". Ugh. He's able to reclass to all classes that aren't Lord, any other unique class, or gender-specific ones that aren't his. Oh, also? As if the asskissing wasn't enough to make the player feel special as hell, you can marry whoever the hell you want! Good for you! Yes, this includes WALHART if you wanted to. Which brings me to two other points: I'll start with this. The supports are... bad. I get that there's a lot of them and that it would be a lot of work, but damn. Stuff like FRobin x Priam is terrible. THEY FALL IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER OVER LAUNDRY OMG11!!!!1! Oh, and remember when I said the story was bad? Yeah... they did a decent job making the player care that Emmeryn died in Chapter 9 or whatever it was. The next chapter has one of the saddest themes in the game as the BGM; AND IT'S RAINING! THE ATMOSPHERE IS GREAT! But then they just up and decide to flip everyone off and bring her back to life in the Paralogues. OH AND GUESS WHAT? SHE HAS AMNESIA NOW, YAYYYYYY. Oh, and Pair-ups. There's almost no strategy here, it's more of a matter of choosing "Hey, which couple should I pair up and place in the middle of the map to wreck anything and everything?". At least the music is good. The visuals are... indescribable. The portraits are pretty and colorful, but OH MY GOD EVERYTHING ELSE IS HIDEOUS. Almost all of the sprites are unnecessarily... bulky. And most of the classes are pretty hideous. Examples? Warrior, Berserker, Fe!Cav, Knights, Taguel, Great Knights, Fighters, Barbarians, Sorcerers... ugh.

[spoiler=LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT IT! IT'S HIDEOUS, OMG!]

I could go on about this, but I'd be typing a lot longer and I have stuff to do.

FE9: 4.3. This marks the first time that the lord isn't of noble blood, yayyyy relatable protagonists. The gameplay is pretty solid, and more mechanics were brought back, like Fog of War and Skills. I've heard some gripes with the supports, but I don't think it's that big a deal. It is pretty frustrating when I want Boyd to support someone, but none of his options are on my Elite Team. The story is meh, I didn't pay much attention to it. It's got some elements I like though, I like the beginning of the game and having only the Greil Mercenaries at your disposal. I started to like the game a little less after Ike promotes though, for some reason. I just feel like it takes a different tone. Overall, I enjoyed the experience.

FE10: 4.6. It's got some difficulty, and that's good. I actually liked the Availability system; it made you choose more about who you wanted to use and why. I do think they should've given the DB more attention, though. I think this is the entry where Skills really shined the most. It was fun to tinker around with them, and I liked how certain units came pre-equipped with their own skills and how you could changed them at will. Bonus XP was also at a high here; a guaranteed 3 stats? Yes, please. I don't like what they did with Supports and the lack of attention to the DB, though. The music, though. This entry has the most favorite tracks for me. Like some wonderful map themes like Dark Traveler and Unending Task. Both were pretty dark and conveyed the dim-lit alone feeling. Too bad they both only played in, like, 2 chapters.

FE7: 4.2. A fun game with a decent story, good characters (Mostly displayed in the supports), and great gameplay. I'm pretty sure this has the second most favorite tracks for me, too. This one has a lot of chapters and a pick between 3 tales, so it's solid in the content department. The Link Arena was fun to mess around with, too.

FE8: 3.5. By no means a bad game, I just didn't really like it as much as some of the others. The gameplay is decent, the story is great, and the characters are decent (there's not really a lot of them, actually). I say that the gameplay is decent because it's ONE OF THE EASIEST GAMES IN THE SERIES, OMG. Going to one of the last chapters, seeing a LVL 10 Swordmaster with 6 STR and 4 DEF is just pitiful. I even remember seeing a WARRIOR with, like, 9 STR. Christ. Not very replayable, kind of short.

Currently playing FE12 and might play FE6 if Glac can convince me to, or FE4 if Ash can conince me to.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Anguis

[Roivann]

I'll only review games I've completed.

FE2: 65%. It's a great game, with a lot of interesting ideas. Having enemy reinforcements show up on the map screen really made you feel like you were fighting a war rather than going through a series of skirmishes. Three-tiered promotions are really neat, and I'm upset it took until FE10 to see it return. However, with its positive additions came several missteps. Casting spells with HP is a weird one. The game's slow pacing turns me off, too, and it hasn't aged very well, as the absence of common mechanics introduced in later games of the series is very apparent, especially for people used to the more modern FE titles.

FE4: 95%. A stellar game all around. Great writing, great gameplay, great systems (the inheritance system is a particular favorite of mine). Its biggest flaw is that it can get tedious at times, having to backtrack from castles, and certain sections of crossing large stretches of desert. The relatively small unit pool also makes losing a playable character more punishing than in other entries in the series.

FE5: 90%. Arguably better designed mechanically than FE4, but Thracia lacks the epic feeling that Genealogy had. Additionally, the escape chapters could have done with a better explanation in-game. The only real clue that having Leif escape would leave the others behind is like, one line of dialogue that Leif has.

FE6: 70%. Pretty good, but very barebones. It's a pretty good entry point into the series, actually. There's an imbalance of hitrates (you know what weapon type I'm talking about), but it's not a huge deal because axe users (oh, well, I guess I kind of gave it away) hit hard, just not as frequently as sword users. It's only a big deal with classes like Heroes, who end up rarely using axes over swords due to hit rate issues. Idenn is probably my favorite final boss in the series.

FE7: 80%. Improves upon its predecessor in most every way, but doesn't change all that much. It did a good job of tying its narrative to FE6's. I do miss the Manakete enemies from FE6, but the rebalancing of the weapons make axes more viable, which is think is a fair trade. Its tutorial is something I can see as probably being useful for first time players, and it makes sense that this would be in the first game released outside of Japan, but I played FE11 first, so I already knew for the most part what I was doing, so the option to skip the tutorial without playing through the game first would be nice. I'm kind of nitpicking about that, though.

FE8: 75%. Some may criticize Sacred Stones for being more casual than its series is known for, and that's probably correct. While the difficulty is missed, I relish the branching promotions, the multiple routes (another thing from FE2 I wish we'd see more of), and the compelling narrative.

FE11: 55%. I love the art style in this game (and FE12 by extension). I think it got a lot of unnecessary hate, especially the gaiden chapters. The game clearly didn't want you to run out of units, so I think the gaidens were meant to supplement your army if you lost a lot of troops, rather than how they functioned as rewards for completing optional objectives in other games. However, I recognize that a lot of the criticism leveled at this game is deserved, as this remake was, as far as remakes go, was pretty heavy-handed. Systems were updated without much thought as to how the old map design and enemy placement would affect (and be affected by) these modern systems.

FE12: 85%. I really love this game. The art design (as I said before) is fantastic, along with the sound design. The gameplay is solid, and the new systems, for whatever reason, seem to mesh better with FE3 book 2 than with FE1. I think this was overall the better use of the My Unit system out of the two games that used it, but it does do a good job of shitting on Marth's accomplishments during the War of Heroes by shoehorning Kris into everything.

FE13: 85%. Outstanding. Aside from its godawful narrative, the game is very well-made. It really does feel like a "greatest hits" collection of Fire Emblem. Whether that's a good thing or not is up for interpretation. And while the narrative as a whole might be bad, the writing, when looked at in a vacuum, is actually pretty good. My only complaint, aside from the story, is that there's a lack of variety. Every chapter was basically the enemies bum-rushing you in waves, and there weren't any objectives other than "defeat boss" or "rout the enemy". At the end of the day, though, numbers don't lie, and I've sank some 700+ hours into this game.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Rovan

[Baldur45]

FE4: 5/5 This is the game in the series, with an awesome script, awesome sprites, and the soundtrack is amazing. The characters have well rounded stats.I really like the lover and inheritance systems, and it is overall an enjoyable game.

I also love the back story of the game. Overall, an awesome game! :)

FE6: 5/5 I had some doubt's about this game when I first downloaded it, but with FE7 knowledge, this is an awesome game. The characters have really interesting supports and stories, and I really like the characters. I also like that at the end, you were able to save Idoun.

FE7: 3.5/5 I personally like FE6 better than this one. The game had a great story, but some characters had terrible stats. In my play through, Erk is a terrible sage, Guy is a terrible swordmaster, and don't get me started on Eliwood. Worst lord ever, stats wise. But the final chapters were great.

FE8: 4.5/5 This game was not bad. Myrhh is a great manakete. And I liked the final boss. He was not too hard, not too easy. He was the right amount of difficulty. The game was overall enjoyable. The lords also have great growths. And many of the other characters.

FE9: 5/5 I like this better than Radiant Dawn. The game had the right amount of difficulty, and this game has one of the best lords in Fire Emblem history. Like. Ike is the best Lord I ever trained. The characters were also well rounded, and fun to train. The forge system, is pretty neat, and the animations are the coolest in the series.

FE11: 4.8/5 I like this one. To me, the story was not bad, but some of the characters were too weak. Gordin is pretty useless. And some others, too. But some , like Draug, Marth, Abel and Linde are amazing characters. But the final boaa was too easy to beat.

FE12: 4.5/5 I loved playing along my fellow team mates in this game.

The stats of the avatar are amazing, and characters have way better growths. An dthe story was interesting.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

My opinion of these completed FE parts:

6

+ challenging difficulty

+ good story

+ interesting maps

+ possible to train and promote every character

- axes and lances are absolutely nerfed compared to other FE games

- Roy's promotion is way too late

- very weird RNG

- always seize missions

In total: 8 / 10

7

+ very good story

+ three lords

+ different mission types

+ good maps

+ great final map (map before Nergal)

+ different stories playable

- disappointing final boss

In total: 8,5 / 10

8

+ different mission types

+ possible to train every character

+ two routes playable

- main story too short

- low difficulty

In total: 8,25 / 10

9

+ fantastic story

+ great game mechanics

+ great maps with different mission types

+ possible to train every character

+ great character design and development

- low difficulty without maniac mode

In total: 9 / 10

10

+ great story (however weird for people, who didn't play FE9 first)

+ best game mechanics

+ great bexp. system

+ challenging difficulty (especially DB chapters)

+ great battle animations

+ great maps with different mission types

+ most creative final boss

+ skills are removable

+ very many chapters

- mastery skills are overpowered

- imposssible to use every character because of totally unbalanced availibility

- no weapon triangle on hard mode

- part 4 (excluded endgame) is a little boring

In total: 9,25 / 10

11

+ goes back to basics

+ good weapon level system

+ many different difficulties

- almost no plot

- no supports

- some units are unusable because of bad growths

- always seize missions

- you have to sacrifice your units to recruit new ones

In total: 6 / 10

12

+ much improved story compared and character presentation compared to 11

+ baracks

+ creating of an avatar

+ supports

+ many different difficulties

- always seize missions

In total: 8,25 / 10

13

+ pair up feature

+ possible to train and promote every character at least on lower difficulties

+ great battle animations

+ good skill system

+ very creative support conversations

+ fantastic soundtrack

+ very many maps (including sidequests)

- boring maps including final boss (always rout missions, defeat boss)

- disappointing story

- unbalanced difficulties

- too much fanservice

In total: 8,25 / 10

Edited October 29, 2014 by The Taninator

[lazydoggamer]

FE 6 5/5 Best GBA game. I was told beforehand that the story was boring but I actually really liked it and I loved how the gaiden chapters were set up to fit in with the story rather than being some random sidequest. I found the maps to be really fun since it gets really chaotic at times while also being at a really large scale. The true ending boss is my second favorite FE final boss.

FE 7 3/5 I would like this game a lot more if on your first playthrough it didn't force to you go through the utter abomination that is Lyn's mode. Once Lyn's mode is over I found it to a okay game with some terrible map designs(Battle Before Dawn can go to hell).

.

FE 8 1/5 Too easy and the story bored me. Only redeeming factor is having some of my favorite characters in the series.

FE 9 5/5 Best story in series along with my favorite cast of characters and my favorite lord.The Greil Mercs have great chemistry with one another and the script actually changing to acknowledge the ones that died is amazing. Despite it being easily abused I thought the Bexp system was a great idea since it rewards people who don't turtle and although it might seem a minor thing to others I loved how units don't need a promotional item to promote in Tellius. Only complaints are that's it's a little too easy and that the map animations take too long.

FE 10 5/5 Best gameplay of the series as they took everything from PoR's gameplay and made it so much better while adding more stuff like ledges and 3rd tiers(loved how overkill mastery skills were). The parts system with the switching P.O.V.s of multiple armies was brilliant and while I hated part 1 and most of part 4, parts 2 and 3 were so good it redeems the game in my eyes. Also Ashera is the best FE final boss.

FE 13 5/5 Yep 5/5 come at me. Yes the story is terrible, but the game is so much fun. There is so much more content in this game compared to other games in the series plus lots more replay value.

Edited October 29, 2014 by lazydoggamer

[Dijon Mustard]

Rather than saying, "The story was bad, but bad in a way that 98% of video game stories are bad" for each game, I'll say it once. I don't think one game's story is meaningfully better than any of the others, and I rolled my eyes roughly equally through all of them (while still being glad the stories are what they are). So story doesn't really move the needle for any of my scores.

FE6: 4.5/5. I happened to like a good chunk of the cast, so an un-arbitrary bonus .5 or so there, and the map designs were memorable and good for the most part. The aesthetics are generally nice for the GBA, although a couple of the colors assault the eyes every now and then. It would be nice if the game explained more about the gameplay; I was a vet who didn't need a tutorial, but there is something... off... about that. Both difficulty levels feel like they're in a good place.

FE7: 4/5. Pleasant. I didn't like any of the main lords, and the cast on the whole was meh (with a few exceptions). I don't mind Lyn Mode that much. The light, playful vibe and aesthetics added a lot to the game that the other GBA games didn't do quite as well. If you have limited pixels to work with and decide to make a dark, gritty world, well, good luck, person-who-is-screwed. Fun, playful, and solid.

FE8: 3.5/5. Good, but it has a little bit of a "fresh off the conveyor belt because PoR isn't ready yet" feel to it, or maybe it's just FE8's shorter, weirder sibling (not that those are mutually exclusive). Having a world map is very nice; this should be a permanent feature of the series IMO, as should skirmishes. Having to pick between two paths served to highlight each path's weaknesses more than strengths, at least in my experience. I don't dislike the game, but I could see myself going back to FE6 and 7 in the future, and I don't have that feeling about FE8.

FE9: 3/5. I would find the cast relatable if I thought real-life humans just spout foolishness until an emo uke-lookin' fellow swoops in to impart the concept of rationality to them; if only he thought to use stone tablets! Being interesting does generally appeal to me more than being relatable does, but the base convos were neither, so w/e. The aesthetics are poor in the sense that there's no general feel to the environments, but the character designs and dialogue portions have a nice sense of style, especially in terms of color. As long as the game functions and tactics are tactics, a score can only reasonably go so low.

FE10: 3/5. The additional characters made the cast slightly better than its sister game, to some ends or other. I was really put off by the hopping around in mission objectives, and I tend to find straightforward this-is-large-scale-war FE more effective in terms of achieving the series' broader goals. This game felt very rushed in a way the game didn't convince me to shake, and the visuals really should be better. Despite that, it felt like it was trying harder than FE9 in some ways that I value, so that makes up the lost ground, even though I'd give it a lower score than FE9 if I were doing an objective, professional review. The few additions to tactics (double the trinities of magic, you guys!) have no macro impact.

FE11: 2.5/5. Bland. Marth is likable, but I felt like I was playing more out of a sense of history and appreciation than actual emotional impact (like looking at some of man's first cave paintings and going, "Aww, neat," except a less mean example). Rose-colored glasses, bad graphics, other things Shadow Dragon fans are probably tired of hearing, etc. etc. The cast doesn't get the chance to be as actively bad as Tellius's, but that's no way to be.

FE12: 4.5/5. What SD should have been, IMO. There's more talking, the aesthetic is, while certainly not great, much more vibrant, and I just had much more fun this time around. Adding flashbacks is something future FE games should do as a permanent device, even in ones that aren't direct sequels.

FE13: 5/5. The character design is somehow my favorite, even though I dislike anime (it's not like other FE games aren't barking up that tree, I guess). In any case, it's nice to see an FE game that isn't lacking visually. I like that I'm given many opportunities to form opinions about characters. The longer support convos are nice, no matter how wince-inducing almost every support convo in every FE game is, and the game does non-convo characterization well in some minor ways. The FE series' goals are given greater deference here, which leads to obvious trouble spots while being a net plus. The increased control is the sort I wanted when I first started playing the series with FE7. Good replay value (drink). Some quality DLC.

[Odyssey]

FE6: 8.5/10. Great cast/plot, difficulties were spot on. Maps could have been smaller to make Knights more desirable to play, Roy promotes pretty late and Idoun was a little too easy.

FE7: 9/10. Great cast/plot, difficulties were spot on, badass Lords (Hector and Blade Lord Lyn ftw), most nostalgic FE for me, it just holds a special place in my heart ^^. But Lyn arc dragged on too long considering it was a tutorial especially if you haven't unlocked HM.

FE8: 8/10. Fun maps/growth rates. But not a fan of the EXP tower because I don't like how you have the option abuse it and make the game a breeze. The game is also a little too short and the cast/plot are pretty forgettable (besides for Ephraim/Lute/Joshua).

FE9: 10/10. Best cast/plot, difficulties were spot on, has the best Lord of the series IMO, great final chapter/boss (cool little bonus on HM) liked how you fight actual humans and not risen/demons/dragons. But could have made Laguz actually get EXP to make them fun to play, and didn't like how you needed to use Occult scrolls to get class-specific skills considering there was only 4.

FE10: 9.5/10. Best cast/plot, best/most epic final boss. Best looking FE aesthetically, fixed all the cons in 9. But a very slow beginning (Elincia arc put me to sleep) and HM was really annoying especially Fog of War maps >.>.

FE11: 2/10. Only got to Chapter 12 simply because I hated it. Horrible growth rates, hated how any unit could be any class, terrible graphics/design; I don't know why this was even on the DS, they should have just made it on the GBA making it look like the GBA games, it would have made it look much nicer. Gave it 2 points for being a FE game and having Marth in it.

FE13: 8.5/10. Best growth rates, best support system, great artwork, quite refreshing to say the least after playing garbage dragon. But it does have an incredibly cliche plot with extremely generic characters (besides for Lucina/Anna/Owain). Worst final boss/chapter ever, dangerous for perfectionists as it will be a tedious and almost pointless grind (unless your playing Lunatic/Lunatic+) making the best possible children. Lunatic mode was even more annoying than RD HM, and was fun only after I could use other units besides for Frederick to fight. Although I did farm the Exponential Growth DLC map as soon as It was available, don't think I have the patience to do Lunatic+ nor Lunatic for that matter ever again.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Odyssey

[EricaofRenais]

FE7; 4.5/5 Really good and I would probably have given it a 5 if I had played 6

FE 8; 5/5 the game that got me in to the FE series and got me really in to JRPGS

FE 9 4.8/5 I like this one but it is the easiest FE game for me to beat and the one I speed run

FE 10 4.9/5 my favorite FE game I just love it but playing it again dropped a point because the supports are not as good as they could be and yes there are SS rank weapons for all the weapon types

FE 11 3.5/5 I need to beat this one but it just can not keep my interest long enough for m to find the time to beat it

FE 13 4.5/5 I like it but I never have had the money for all the DLC so I will probably never 100% this game

[Fire Emblem Fan]

FE7: 5/5

Perfect. Amazing. One of my favorite games of all time. The story is awesome, the characters are awesome, the gameplay and music is awesome. Everything about it is awesome. The best FE so far, in my opinion.

FE8: 5/5

Again, awesome. I like 7 slightly more, but this one is also great. I love the emotion in the story with the tragic tale of Lyon almost as much as Nergal's tragic tale.

FE10: 4/5

Good game. Don't like how difficult it can be at times, though. I also think the Dawn Brigade is severely underdeveloped. But otherwise, good game.

FE11: 4/5

I think I like this one slightly more than 10. Marth's characterization is great, but the supporting cast is, for the most part, underdeveloped. And the graphics aren't as good as they could have been. But from a gameplay and a story standpoint, I like it more than 10.

FE13: 5/5

I know the story suffers in this one, and I know the main characters (Chrom, Lucina, Robin) are said to be boring as heck by most people, but I still love this game. And while I do agree that Chrom is dull and the game worships Robin, I actually like Lucina quite a bit, The music is really good, too. And the replay value is just amazing.

[Aizenberg]

fe4: 5/5

fe6: 4/5

fe7: 4/5

fe8: 4/5

fe9: 5/5

fe10: 4/5

fe13: 4/5

Edited October 29, 2014 by Aizenberg

[Knight]

4 4

6 3.5

7 5

8 4

9 4

10 4

11 3.5

13 4

I might elaborate when I'm not as tired. A lot of them have equal ratings but they receive them for different reasons. (ie I wouldn't necessarily recommend 10 to someone who likes 8)

[Ishi]

FE 4 4/5 While it was truly amazing and one of my favourites the generic as hell bosses and reused sprites really disappointed me other than that the uniqueness was amazing.

FE 5 6/5 Truly the best in the series a great difficulty and mechanics that add to the experience like the capture or dismounting and the first game with the famous fog of war the black made everything tougher and the story was beautiful the portraits were the best here.But uh xavier was the real big challenge in the game.

FE 6 5/5 this game has a great story and challenging chapters at times the different endings were great and is something that FE needs again

FE 7 4/5 This one has a meh story especially including lyn's however they experimented with multiple lords and modes and it was great the growths were really high however which sparked a chain up until shadow dragon of easily being over powered the reinforcements were also changed to appear on player phase which added to the easiness however there were more difficulties which made the game better

FE 8 3/5 While it tried to make things more fun it also made things way more easier such as level grinding and the demons in the game were just silly it felt unique but also strange i didnt enjoy it overly much but the route split was a good addition unlike the map which allowed unlimited shopping.

FE 9 4/5 The first 3d in the series and it still is great (better than awakening) the game granted bonus exp but to much which easily broke the game the laguz were a interesting concept they were powerful and way cooler than manaketes

FE 10 5/5 This game improved graphics over FE 9 and added two lords to it which made it interesting the story was amazing possibly the best and the split routes are a personal favourite feature although micaiah's army really got screwed by the end. Also they took out support conversation while not a big deal it kinda made me mad.

FE 11 2/5 It removed so much stuff that it seems pathetic almost im shocked they left in the weapon triangle the character were bland as hell however the growths were appropriate and added difficulty the difficulties were interesting however the story never changes from it boring generic self

FE 12 4/5 This took the missing features of FE 11 and brought some back my unit was interesting but broken as hell support convos returned kinda and the sidequest were way better they didnt need genocide and had a connecting story the entire story was really interesting unlike shadow dragon

FE 13 1.5/5 the game that got me into the series i used to love it now i kinda hate it the story is a pathetic screw up with time travel the generation system was complete crap why couldnt they kill Chrom and make it split like genealogy also the avatar is really stupid it was a gateway to the god damn waifu kingdom in fire emblem the only good thing it did was its good soundtrack also the DLC was really bad it sparked unfamiliar fans to now think that ike is from awakening which really pisses me off i honestly dont know how this gets all its praise.

[Xator Nova]

FE1: 7/10

FE2: 6/10

FE3: 6.5/10

FE4: 7.5/10

FE5: 9.5/10

FE6: 7.5/10

FE7: 6.5/10

FE8: 7/10

FE9: 8.5/10

FE10: 7.5/10

FE11: 6/10

FE12: 8/10

FE13: 8.5/10

outside of FE5, the ratings don´t represent my actual tastes

Edited October 29, 2014 by Xator Nova

[TFJ]

Sure, why not.

FE3: 3/5 Extra point for having 2 campaigns. Compared with the rest of the series, I would say it's the definition of an "standard" FE game, but it's somewhat unplayable by today's standards.

FE4: 2/5 Great plot and soundtrack marred by terrible gameplay all around. Very poor balance and map design make for a tedious experience.

FE5: 5/5 The best in the series in pretty much every gameplay aspect. Has the best art direction, character design and in game battle presentation. Underrated OST. Best character balance, which doesn't say much, but still. Best chapter / level design. Skill system could be better, but it's the best in the series. Areas of improvement would be a better plot / character development and a better explanation of in-game mechanics. Every following FE game followed its steps, but not one came close.

FE6: 3/5 Gets more hate than it deserves, but after FE5 the drop in quality was gigantic. Still, there are some interesting level design here, mainly the gaiden chapters. Bonus points for having optional routes. Weak points include very poor unit balance, the maps being a bit too big and only one type of objective.

FE7: 4/5 Mainly because of Hector mode, which was an enormous improvement over the default campaign. It's more tightly designed when compared to FE6 and a bit better balanced. Levels are interesting, with different objectives and for the most part of the right size. Oh, and whoever at IS thought of having a gaiden inside another gaiden chapter, congrats. You know what's up.

FE8: 3.5/5 Another underrated FE game. The world map doesn't bother me that much, and the character development is pretty interesting. There is some solid level design here. Actually, it has the best desert chapter map in the series. This should account for something.

FE9: 4.5/5 Now this is an interesting game. It's actually the one most similar to Thracia, while being the only post-Shozou kaga FE game to actually introduce new good ideas. Mainly, the bonus exp system and fixed mode. Fixed mode is like the best thing modern IS has done and they never brought it back. This tells a lot on the current state of their design team. The game is a bit on the easy side, but the character balance is decent, and there are some intriguing levels, such as Solo. The skill system is OK. If only we had got Maniac mode...

FE10: 4/5 It pains me to give this game 'just' 4, since there's clearly a lot of work put in this game. But it seems like the design team got lost during the process. There is a lot of strange things in this game: the leadership system seems to be a complete afterthought (no stars for Micaiah, lots of characters with stars never become commanders); no fixed mode; a much worse support system; the balance is a mess, with some characters barely being playable; a poorer skill system when compared to FE9; a broken difficulty curve; level design tends to fall apart in part 4, after a promising beginning. The world building and OST are great though, and FE10 is the last "good" game released in the series.

FE11: 1/5 Poor art direction, balance is terrible and class-change was one of IS' worst ideas in a while. Things that should have been fixed from the original weren't. I could go on... The only redeeming quality is the OST.

FE12: 2/5 An improved FE11. Enough said.

FE13: 1/5 Terribad gameplay in general. Pair-up is completely broken and diminishes the strategical depth of the game. Very poor difficulty balance. Very grindy in lot of aspects. Terrible skill system, the worst in the series yet. Worst level design in the series together with FE: Gaiden. Poor character / armor / clothing design. Amateur plot and world building. The good points include an improved interface, good OST with dynamic transitions and other quality of life improvements. But since I value gameplay much more than other aspects, a 1 it is.

[Draco]

FE13: 1/5 Terribad gameplay in general. Pair-up is completely broken and diminishes the strategical depth of the game. Very poor difficulty balance. Very grindy in lot of aspects. Terrible skill system, the worst in the series yet. Worst level design in the series together with FE: Gaiden. Poor character / armor / clothing design. Amateur plot and world building. The good points include an improved interface, good OST with dynamic transitions and other quality of life improvements. But since I value gameplay much more than other aspects, a 1 it is.

I agree with pretty much all of this. Very well put, sir. I probably should've mentioned more in my review :(

[Astromime]

Here are my very biased thoughts.

FE4: 5/5 Great. The story and the mechanics in this one are spot on. Inheritance system took me a while to fully grasp but thats on me. The plot is fantastic, lots of political intruige and some really dark stuff happens/are implied. Overall one of the best i've had the pleasure of playing.

FE6: 3.8/5 The story was nice, really helps to play 7 before this one I think, the support system was good but it was still pretty mild compared to the other two gba fire emblems. Roy just promoted really late for my liking. Some of the characters where really cool and had great synergy (Rutger, Dieck, Clarine triangle supports,come at me world). The gaiden chapters here were actually one of my favourites in any fire emblem.The plot/characters/feel of the game is very well complimented by playing fe7.

FE7: 4.5/5 Personal bias to this one as it was my first FE. I got it when I was still in grade school and played it alot. Thats also the problem with this game sadly. You need to play it more than once to get the full experience I think. This one has a great cast of characters that you really get to know and like after getting several supports. The story was decent enough to keep me interested. The tutorial is very tedious(10 chapters) but the other difficulties and especially the inclusion of hector mode really makes this game one that is easy to go and replay. (Hector is the manliest lord)

FE8: 4/5 Didn't like it as much as I did 7, but still a great title. It had a great story and a fun cast. The inclusion of the twins and branching paths are a welcome comeback (slightly touched upon on 6). I really liked both the lords in this one. Eirika's innocence was a nice contrast to her badass one man army of a brother. It was on the easy side because of the world map and gave you lots of grinding opportunities. The cast really benefited from a very fleshed out support system, and with several endings depending on who your units had A supports with also encouraged multiple playthroughs.

FE9: 4/5 This was a fun title. The story was very solid. The cast was nice for the most part, Ike is a pretty cool lord, but I don't share the hype surrounding him.(shinon is my personal favourite greil mercenary) The battle system is what you would come to expect but the laguz units were a welcome change of pace. I really liked some of the maps here, the first defend map where you get ilyana got me really tense the first time around. However, the main antagonist was just really evil to the point where it made very little sense. Which is a shame, because the black knight was the most threatening figure throughout the game and I wanted to see more of him. The animations here where pretty lame sadly.

FE11: 3/5 I didn't hate this title. It was very bare bones compared to the others i've played. It had no supports conversations and had one of my least liked gaiden chapters in any fire emblem. One can argue that they really emphasises the urgency of marth's quest where he won't deviate from his path unless absolutely necessary. Marth is my favourite lord, a quote from this game ("I am a prince before I am a son or brother") really made me like his character. Sadly the rest of the cast here barely gets a line of dialogue. The story is really bare. Some of the mechanics like being able to change classes to anything was a really strange decision. It wasn't bad, but it kinda made the wolf guard guys really strong. The sprites here are really bad compared to the other handheld titles.

FE12: 4.9/5 My absolute favourite game, the supports where nice, the self insert character was fun but not overly important to the plot. I personally prefer this to the way robin was handled in awakening. Playing it after 11 really makes it even better, it makes playing through 11 worth it. The sprites are still ugly but by this time you're kinda used to it. The plot is much better than 11. The side chapters here were pretty good as it gives some insight and background on one of the characters' past. The addition of supports here really flesh out the characters and actually made up for how they where in 11.

FE13: 3/5 The story for this one is just really, really bad, it hurts the game a lot. The marriage and children system was not as well executed, but thats probably because of the already absurd plot. I wish they handled it as well as they did in fe4. I really didn't like the Lords here, chrom choosing his best friend over the fate of the world really made me hate his character. Lucina was okay, she just faded into irrelevance after a certain point in the game. The way they handled some of the paralouges here, especially emmeryn's one was really annoying. The pair up system was quite broken and made the game too easy, as did its grindy nature. However, I enjoyed the colourful cast of characters, the supports really helped me like them more. Animations where pretty great and I liked the UI in this game. It was very clean and easy to navigate.

[Junkhead]

Opinion may vary, I haven't played most of them (at least, to completion), in a while.

FE4: FE4, is pretty unique. The gameplay is rather complex, has some interesting mechanics. However, the game sure is pretty unbalanced, tending to show favoritism among those with a horse (first and foremost, pretty much) and those with Adept/a Holy Weapon. The story itself goes pretty dark, but it can take it a bit far, by FE standards.

Not my cup of tea, considering the game's length (then again, I haven't given it much of a chance, yet). But, I've had a good share of fun with it, and am considering it again. I just seriously wish the pace wasn't so tedious. I do not enjoy having to speedskip through games. It builds impatience on you.

7.5/10

FE5: Much like FE4, it has pretty nice, interesting gameplay mechanics, including the Capture system. The maps are reasonably-sized, the gameplay is pretty fun, great map designs. Can be a little harsh at times (I recall it being glitchy here and there). If you have experience with the game, it won't be an ass to you. Don't really remember (or payed much attention) the story.

It's among my favorites. (:

8.5/10

FE6: I haven't played this one very much...but, as a GBA game, I think it gets an automatic solid score on my list. The Hard Mode difficulty is pretty challenging. Only downside are those silly hitrates and I've still yet to play it more, to notice more flaws/strengths.

8/10

FE7: I think it's a little easy. HHM's difficulty, in my opinion (and, sadly), is pretty much the only mode worth playing. Otherwise, I have to admit, I get a little bored. The supports are pretty nice in this one, and I feel that I've gotten more familiarity with the characters, thanks to it. The story isn't incredibly interesting, but I think it's getting to me a bit. Being the game that started it all, and on the GBA, it just can't get a bad score.

8/10

FE8: Like FE7, I think it suffers from being a bit too easy. More easy than FE7, even. And (thankfully), once again, it also has good support conversations, a decently fun cast and even the gameplay is fun despite being a little easy, thanks to the replay value promotion branches allow you (I'm looking at you, little trainees). Also, I forgot to mention the post-game campaigns. That just makes it really fun.

8/10

FE9: ...and they just keep getting easier from FE7, don't they? Well, keeping MM in mind, I think this game is pretty amazing. The supports just keep getting better, the story is rather fresh, something a bit different and new from what we're used to, from the FE series. The gameplay's pretty fun, and it just gets a ton better with Maniac Mode (in the JPN version). Adding skills and BEXP add new things to the table, allowing you to redeem your weaker characters without having to sacrifice turns and getting in the way, in general.

9/10

FE10: Kind of like FE9, but even better. And without support conversations. The gameplay got even better, significantly harder (unless you count MM, which, could be on par with HM), skill customization got even better (now you can recycle them!), balancing BEXP use (makes BEXP slowplaying capped stats much more fun to use) and a toooon of characters to use from, further expanding replay value. I've yet to use a few of them (Skrimir, Tauroneo, Kyza, Meg, etc.). Also, the story is definitely fresh and innovative. I also reeeeaaaally love what they did to Shinon. Why isn't he the main character.

I think the only reason I don't give it a perfect score is PROBABLY because of the (lack of) actual support conversations. I don't really give that much importance, could be something else (...make it a slightly bid tad harder? Balance the cast, more? Blade Lord Shinon!?)

9.5/10

FE11: Alright, let me say something. This has got to be my least favorite FE. But...by sole virtue of being an FE game, it just...can't be bad. Not even, "not good" or "it's ok". I guess it would have to be, for me...a "not really my cup of tea". In my opinion, the story felt rather dull. The characters? Same. Even the colors felt rather dull...however, it had plenty of good things to it, that make it at least, SOLID. It had many ranges of difficulty to choose from (excellent), RE-CLASSING (fantastical) and even the graphics and character are were quite something.

Seriously, this game isn't my kind of thing. And I do wonder why OTHERS hate (?) it. But, in my case, it's mostly that it just doesn't draw me into it. I think it deserves a spot at others' heart, as it's also the introduction of the thing that started it all. I hope it gets the appreciation it deserves.

Biased score: 6.5/10

Trying to be un-biased: 8/10

FE13: To be continued.

[Nobody]

FE4: 4.5/5 despite being quite easy, the history is good and the gameplay is really fun. The big maps are a bit annoying if you're not used to them, but after a while, i started enjoying them. The fact that gen 2 playes really differently depending of the pairings you did give the game a lot of repleyability, which is a plus.

FE6: 3.5/5 good but sometimes frustrating gameplay. Nice history and memorable characters IMO. Some maps are terribly frustrating, though, and the balance is quite bad, with Percival, Miledy and Rutger being WAY better than any other character.

FE7: 5/5 favorite in the series. It's just so easy to pick up this game and just play it! Love the maps, the way the units are designed (their growths, join time, etc), and HHM is IMO a great difficulty, with the game being actually relatively balanced. I LOVE THIS GAME

FE8: 4.5/5 great game, my favorite characters in the series. The maps are fun to play, and i like the fact that it has two routes. A bit too easy and short, but that's not really that bad for me, really. Has my favorite soundtrack in the series (<3 distant roads <3)

FE9: 4.5/5 even easier than FE8 (i really need to play maniac mode), but i like it. It has nice maps and history, and added some great new mechanics, like shoving, that amazing fantastic spectacular support system that actually made them usable in efficient play and the fixed growth mode, a blessing for unlucky people like me.

FE10: 4/5 a mixed bad. I find the hard difficulty great, being challenging enough without being frustrating, and taking thought in order to be beat. Part 1 and 3 have some great maps, but part 2 is the worst thing I've ever seen on Fire Emblem. Part 4 and the endgame aren't exactly great, but are decent enough.

FE11: 4/5 I took a while for this one to grow on me, but I like it. The map design is good, and making shiida destroy everything is cool. I think that is the only fire emblem that I think has a more enjoyable second half than the first half

FE12: 2/5 I really dislike this one. I just find it boring. The maps aren't enjoyable with some exceptions. Kris is terrible, boring, doesn't add anything to the history, take screen time from other characters and just sucks marth's balls (marth that is a way worse character than in FE11, BTW).

Every time Kris or Katarina open their mouths I get the urge to punch a kitten and kick a puppy.

FE13: 4.5/5 I actually really like awakening. The maps aren't that well designed, true, but there's just something about it that made me love it. The game play is fun. I really like playing it as if it was an old FE game (no pair up, no tonics, etc) and it's an enjoyable experience.

Edited October 31, 2014 by Nobody