Touya Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 This question came to me as I was starting up a playthrough of FE4. The game's noted for its huge map sizes and how necessary cavalry are to play the game. Across the whole series, what are the maps that stick with people in Fire Emblem? Both what you'd consider the pinnacle of Fire Emblem's gameplay and design, and the maps that you just remember most strongly. I know of a few people that would say Cog of Destiny is their most memorable, and it's certainly one that jumps to mind for me, but that also made me wonder if Cog of Destiny was specifically designed in response to a strong reception for The Sword of Seals back in FE6. Pirate Ship is another one that stuck in my mind because of the setpiece--you're fighting aboard several moving ships, which was really creative at the time even though it was effectively an indoor map. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) A lot of defend maps come to my mind. They are kinda dull but tend to have a great scenario and atmosphere to make up for it. "Elincia's Gambit" from Radiant Dawn and ch20 "The Child of Light" from Thracia 776 come to mind. But my favourite is ch14 "Open Fire" from Thracia since it contains some optional goals to make things more interesting. I also always fondly recall Chapter 13 "A guiding Wind" from Path of Radiance. It's such a cool ship combat scenario, and I just love how massive the boats look in general. It feels really good playing on those maps. Also, Chapter 5: Mother and Child from Thracia 776. This is the first time when you get to hear "Adversity", the most intense map theme in Fire Emblem history. And it plays for good reason. There is a great sense of helplessness and disorientation here, as there isn't anything obvious you can do here. All you can do is to progress as fast as you can and to keep Eyvel alive for as long as possible and hope the drama in the arena won't reach it's peek before you get there. Of course, the entire Manster sequence is VERY memorable. Tear Ring Saga has Map 18: The Dark Forest and Map 36: Streets of Love and Sadness, as well as the final chapter. Map 18 was very memorable since you are dealing with a very well fortified fortress here. Lots of siege weapons, towers, Summoners, Arvanrests... So many ways to approach this map, none seem optimal. Shoot over the walls, charge through the front door, destroy the door and lure them out, attack from the back... Not sure if the map is very well designed but it is a pleasant break out of the ordinary. "Streets of Love and Sadness" also oozes atmosphere. A battle in the ruins of the formers capital, a monument of the sins of days long past. Oh, and you have to deal with a Holy Dragon once again. They are always bound to leave an impression. The final chapter is also a case. There are some things that are really creative and engaging but some of them end up being unintentionally funny and some parts that are really badly designed. The final boss is only statistically impressive yet it somehow still feels so damn good to take it down. It's a very mixed bag and very memorable for it. And I think some honorary mention should go to Map 37: "Seiken Reeve". Not very atmospheric, not that interesting of the map, ...but man, I will never forget how you are expected to take down an entire army of Zombie Dragons. You can cheese your way through it with the Anti Evil Staff or Aura Rain but the intended method is absolutely hilarious. Also, even though I get nothing about the story, the Epilogue was definitely the best of any Fire Emblem game, or even any game for me. At the very least, I can say that I have never seen anything quite like it. I am not really spoiling anything concrete about the story here, just how they did it to make it stand out. For starters, like in Gaiden you have the limited option of reviving fallen party members, using an item with limited charges. After the Final Chapter, if you have any charges left and if some of your comrades are still dead, you will be given the opportunity to use the remaining charges to revive your fallen comrades. It's great that they were putting this in there. There is absolutely no game left at that point, but fuck yeah I want to revive whoever I can so that they can return home. Afterwards, you are travelling manually backwards on the map, from one location to the next, always leaving some of your comrades behind on each location after one final exchange. There are also some variables about how the conversations go, depending on who survives and what events happened during the game. Some of them can hit you quite in the gut. The war might be over, but it's made obvious that not everything has changed for the better, at least not for everyone. The fact that you have to move manually and can see your character list shrinking little by little makes for a very touching way to reflect on your journey. Edited July 10, 2015 by BrightBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuvillo Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Mhmm... There's a few stages I'll never manage to forget, for good or for bad. Battle Before Dawn is one of the largest battles in FE7 and quite a hard fight when it's your first Fire Emblem game. FE7 Endgame as well, since it's such a simple layout with a bunch of feels. I also really like FE10 Part 3-Endgame, where everything just accumulates into one giant explosive finale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyea Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 I remember a lot of FE7 maps rather well. Probably because it was my first. But I remember some FE10 ones too. But I figured I'd make a list of memorable maps from the games I've played. (Except FE 11-nothing really resonated with me for whatever reason.) FE6 Chapter 21: Sword of Seals FE7 Chapter 4: In Occupation's Shadow Chapter 27: Cog of Destiny (As mentioned before) Endgame: Light (1 & 2) FE8 Chapter 5x: Unbroken Heart FE9 Chapter 5: Flight! Chapter 22: Solo Chapter 23: The Great Bridge FE10 Part 2 Endgame: Elincia's Gambit Chapter 3-13 Blood Contract Part 4 Endgame: Rebirth 1-5, with extra emphasis on 2 & 3 (BK showdown and taking down dragons). FE13 None of the regular maps, but... Xenologue 22: Apotheosis Xenologue 23-25: Future Past (I just really enjoyed this short story and its feel) It looks like I remember a lot of defending type chapters. Then some epic/grand scale chapters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sithys Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 One stands out in my mind, FE10 4-2, Silent World. When two flying units fight each other the battle takes place against my favorite backdrop in any Fire Emblem game. They float in the sky above a dark forest and you can just make out the distant mountains through the thick falling snow. Here are some screenshots: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madamebrasidas Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 I'm just going to drop Phantom Ship (FE8 Eph 11) for sheer annoyance factor. FE8 is an easy game I know, but even on my fifth playthrough of this game I had to settle for letting L'Arachel kick it in order to move forward.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Sage Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Gonna mostly give shout outs to FE6, FE10 and FE12, the most underrated games with the best maps: FE6: Chapter 2, Chapter 7, Chapter 10B, Chapter 11A, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 16, Chapter 21, Chapter 22 FE10: Chapter 1-6, Chapter 1-8, Chapter 2-3, Chapter 3-3, Chapter 3-4, Chapter 3-9, Chapter 3-11, Chapter 4-E-1 FE12: Prologue 8, Chapter 2, Chapter 6, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 FE1/11: The first chapter. This is the first ever map in Fire Emblem, and I find the small little island of Talys to be very memorable. FE3/12: That one map in the desert with the Wyverns. I forget whoch chapter it is, but it's incredibly memorable for me due to how difficult and frustrating it is. Unlike others on this list, I hate this map, but I hate it with such a passion that it's very memorable for me. FE4: The prologue is pretty memorable for me, probably because it's the very first map, and I've played FE4 many times, with several of those runs going unfinished, so I've played it more than any other map in the game. As is chapter 3, which has my favorite music in the game, and it's where you finally get the last of your first gen units. FE7: I find the final chapter to be very memorable, with its doors and such and its difficulty. FE13: Chapter 24 definitely, simply due to how beautiful the map is. It's got lovely green meadows and forests, in addition to what I think is the most memorable aspect, the rainbow in the background. It's also where the titular "Awakening" of the game happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gradivus. Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) FE6 21-24. The former 3 maps have the best background music in the series, are canonically epic battles, and I like the wyvern rider spam in 21 and 23 and the way C22's throne room switches work. 24 gets credit for having so many thrones and for being so huge. FE7 Cog, pretty much the same reason as the OP. It also gets points for being at the same place (roughly) as FE6 C21. I also kind of like Victory or Death, which involves a similar concept by being largely covered with spawnboxes and also being sort of a decisive battle story-wise. FE11 Final. It's easily the toughest map in H5 warpless, you have to split up into 4 teams, which is pretty memorable considering most maps where you split up are just divided into two groups. You can also cheese quite a decent part of the game with Generals, which this map just shits on. FE12 19, 20, 21 and Final. 19 and 20 for being epic battles canonically, involving one of FE's best villains, having great BGM and being pretty hard, as well as having pretty overwhelming reinforcements. For 21, there's no canon reason, but I really like the map design, since a lot of enemies overlap, which makes it pretty hard to pull them seperately, and if you spend too much time doing so, the village will get ransacked, and Starlight is too crucial to be passed up on. What makes me like Final is the way the Dragon swarm is pretty much impossible to hold out against for long, it basically forces you to rig a crit on Medeus, which is pretty hilarious and unique in the series. H3/4 Medeus is the only enemy (from what I recall) that is impossible to oneshot too. It also allows Marth to stand out as the one hero that killed Medeus, which makes me find it better than FE13's final (which has a similarly-working enemy swarm). FE12 20x for being so annoying. FE13 22 and FE7 Final because they have multiple "bosses" that are so much stronger than mooks, which fits pretty well into FE7 and FE13 gameplay-wise, because both games have various units that are great at steamrolling generics, but will have difficulty going up against these powerful enemies. Edited July 12, 2015 by Gradivus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jagen Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 The most memorable map to me would probably be chapter 20, Camus the Sable, from Shadow Dragon. The final battle against Camus, armed with Gradivus, only for Nyna to run out in the middle of the battlefield is something I will never forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 FE5 chapter 4. Just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonFlames Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I think many maps are pretty memorable (at least from the Fire Emblem games that I've played so far.) Here are my personal favourites, if anyone's interested: FE7: Blazing Sword Chapter 16x(E)/17x(H): The Port of Badon Final Chapter: Light FE8: Sacred Stones Chapter 7: Waterside Renvall Eirika Chapter 14: Queen of the White Dunes Ephraim Chapter 13: Fluorspar's Oath Chapter 19: Last Hope Chapter 20: Darkling Woods FE9: Path of Radiance Chapter 7: Shades of Evil Chapter 11: Blood Runs Red Chapter 20: Talrega Chapter 23: The Great Bridge Endgame: Repatriation FE10: Radiant Dawn Chapter 1-8: Glory Unwanted Part 2-Endgame: Elincia's Gambit Chapter 3-5: Retreat! Chapter 3-7: Rivals Collide Chapter 3-13: Blood Contract Part 3-Endgame: From Pain, Awakening All of Part 4 FE13: Awakening Chapter 6: Forseer Chapter 14: Flames on the Blue Chapter 18: Sibling Blades Endgame: Grima Paralogue 23: The Radiant Hero Xenologue 12: Rogues & Redeemers 3 Xenologue 22: Apotheosis Xenologue 23: The Future Past 1 Xenologue 24: The Future Past 2 Xenologue 25: The Future Past 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Banzai Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Thracia Ch 22, aka the Cyas Reinhardt leadership star extravaganza Actually Thracia is chock full of memorable maps, really went above and beyond on level design there, shout out to Murder Hollace for the most made up name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrman Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 FE4 Chapter 9. Wyverns here, wyverns there, wyverns everywhere! We start the level. "Oh great Leaf's one space out of range!" So I have to rig a Sleep Sword hit on Altenna. ARGH! Later on, I have to rig Hannibal to sleep, run through the starting area quickly, and then send a few guys to the northwest. BAM 20AS TORNADO ATTACK! I had to do so much craziness. I even resorted to savescumming to slay that guy. "Alright, now dodge- ULSTER DON'T ASTRA THOSE ENEMIES!!" I think I just had Fee as a magnet for that. Then I sent Seliph to the first castle, then I recruited Hannibal and auto-captured the castle. Then a crazy battle happened as the mega ambush happened. We took forever, and repelled the wyverns very slowly. I think I got sick of resetting and just let Tinny die, and I marched on. Then I finally got to Thracia Castle, then Mr Immune to Arrows shows up. Rigging and savescumming a-plenty happened. "Rig Forseti hit here, take down as many wyverns as possible, oh wait someone died." The whole chapter was infuriating. Stupid Thracian ambushes. I hate that place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sadisticorc Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Personally, I LOVE chapter 10 of Awakening, not so much from a gameplay perspective, but because of the circumstances surrounding it. After the events of the previous chapter emotions are high, both on the Shepards' side and on the Plegian side. The rain, the music, the dusty hills, they all just radiate this feeling of tragedy. And while the envrionment isn't as visually beautiful as, say, Chapter 24, it's the atmosphere and how it all comes together that really sells this chapter for me. I just kinda wish that the characters didn't say their sometimes cheesy victory lines after a battle. Kinda breaks the atmosphere in some cases. Also Paralouge 23 because it really feels like you're clashing to armies together (Although Wireless King Marth can practically solo the whole thing, at least on normal :P). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark the Tactician Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 For me, the most memorable maps are as follows... FE1/11 Ch. 1: It's the very first map of the very first game. How could I not forget this one? Ch. 17: It's the moment you finally take back Altea after being forced out. It really felt satisfying to complete this mission. Ch. 20: Facing such a powerful opponent like Camus. It really made for an interesting (if tragic) story seeing Nyna want to see him live.... but hey, at least I get Gradivus out of it. FE3/12 Ch. 8: Aside from being a bit difficult (for me at least), it's when you realize one of your old friends is no longer who he once was. Ch. 14: When you learn that the foundation of the greatest kingdom/empire on the continent was all based on one big lie. (Well, in FE3 at least) Ch. 15 and 16: See Ch.17 in the FE1/11 section. Ch. 20: Seeing that one Earth Dragon in the lower left corner made me realize something was up, even as I approached the emperor to take him out. FE6 Ch. 10 and 11: I swear... getting all of the treasures that you can in the villages, recruiting new units, AND keeping their subordinates alive so you can get more goodies.... it was a freaking nightmare. Ch. 13: Seeing the king in action for the first time really tells you what you're eventually going to go up against.... Ch. 16: Taking down that smug snake of a wyvern general never felt so good.... Ch. 21 to 23: From facing the best and brightest of what Bern had to offer, all the way to the last remnants of a beaten kingdom.... lots of action to be had! FE7 Ch. 10: Fond memories of boss abuse. Ch. 16x: It's where I learned the joys of arena abuse! Ch. 19xx (Hector): It was when I learned there may have been more to Nergal than I thought.... Endgame: An intense boss rush, and later a clash with a massive dragon. That was going to be one for the memories! That's all I got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obsidere Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 The map I will never for get is chapter 10b of fire emblem binding blade, Caught in the middle on hard mode. This chapter is just nuts. In order to get all the promotion items you need to visit every single village before they are pillaged by brigands and keep both Tate's and Klien's squad alive by the end of the chapter. You also have Gonzales to recruit with Lilina. He isn't nearly as good as he is on chapter 10a due to his higher level. I remember this chapter kicking my ass over and over again on my physical copy of the game with no save states. But it is doable, it just isn't very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 (edited) The most memorable (not the best, I actually dislike some of them) IMO are: FE1/11: The first chapter, the chapter in which Tiki joins and chapter 20 FE3/12: Chapter 3, Chapter 19 and prologue 8 when it comes to FE12 FE4: Prologue, the chapter in which you fight eltshan/recruit Briggid (i think it's 3 but I'm not sure) and chapter 7 FE6: Chapter 4, 7, chapter 14 and chapter 21(all of those because of the rage they bring) FE7: The defend chapter in which Isadora and Heath join, Living Legend, Battle Before Dawn, Cog of Destiny and Victory or Death FE8: The chapter in which Syrene joins FE9: Day Breaks FE10: The chapter in part 1 in which you fight pain and agony in the treasure room; from pain, awakening and Geofrey Charge because it's impossible for me to forget my least favorite chapter in the series. FE13: Chapter 2, Chapter 9, Chapter 16 I haven't played Gaiden or Thracia Edited July 30, 2015 by Nobody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCaptain Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 The second to last map of FE6 (right before the final boss). Maybe not the map itself, but you had Jahn telling you the back story of the dragons and whatnot as you progress through the level, which really heightened anticipation for the final boss. It just has a really epic atmosphere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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