How far back should/can i go?

[mouseno4]

I have a Wii U and N3DS XL.

I have Awakening for the 3DS and Shadow Dragon for the DS that can be played on my portable console.

What other Fire Emblems do i have access to, as of right now, without requiring extra hardware being owned (like a Wii or earlier)?

And what titles are worth playing and what ones should be avoided?

[BrightBow]

You can buy Blazing Sword aka "Fire Emblem" as well as The Sacred Stones on the Wii U Virtual console. Both games were originally released for the GBA. You can also play Radiant Dawn using the Wii U's Wii mode.

They are all worth playing, It's just that you'd get more out of Radiant Dawn if you would play Path of Radiance first. But unfortunately, that one is a Gamecube game.

Edited November 5, 2015 by BrightBow

[Zerosabers]

I'd say go back to Gaiden and continue from there, if you can handle the UI and don't mind emulating.

Otherwise the GBA games on Wii U are great.

[deleted35362]

fe7 ends on a cliffhanger because its a prequel to fe6. fe6 only got released in japan though so you would need to emulate to play it unless you know japanese

[BrightBow]

fe7 ends on a cliffhanger because its a prequel to fe6. fe6 only got released in japan though so you would need to emulate to play it unless you know japanese

This is a bit misleading. The events of that secret ending have nothing to do with the story of FE7. FE7 is perfectly self-contained. In fact, in the PAL version the cutscene was removed altogether.

Edited November 5, 2015 by BrightBow

[Tryhard]

fe1 is the best game ever created

They're all fun, but you'll likely have to emulate if you want pre-FE7.

[Gradivus.]

I'll pull objective evaluations based on percentual measurement of time the player just spends watching repetitive things bias and say that RD isn't worth playing unless you're really patient.

I suggest playing FE6, 9 and 12, you need an emulator for them.

FE7 and 8 are worth playing too. Whether you want to use emulation for them or virtual console is up to your personal standards/preferences, if you have any.

I recommend giving FE5 a shot once you're through some of the other FEs. It too requires emulation + a translation patch.

Can't comment on the rest.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Gradivus.

[Shadow Mir]

I'll play the bias card and say that FE4 isn't worth playing unless you have the patience of a saint. Aside from that... I'd say 7 and 9 are worth playing (however, the latter is a GameCube game; the former can be gotten on Wii U Virtual Console).

Edited November 5, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[maybe]

I'll play the bias card and say that FE4 isn't worth playing unless you have the patience of a saint. Aside from that... I'd say 7 and 9 are worth playing.

or if you don't feel bad hitting that fast forward button

I mean I doubt they're planning on playing it with an actual cartridge

[Thor Odinson]

I'd say at least give every one of them a shot at like, the first chapter, and see for yourself what you like. I can't stand the clunky controls of FE3 and earlier, but people who can stand them often do enjoy it, so you should make your own decisions based on at least the first chapter, or something. If you hate how it plays, then drop it.

Snes9x goes to 1600% speedup, FE4 goes pretty fucking fast with that, if you're unwilling to hold down spacebar that's your own fault

(actually iirc you don't even need to hold it down, it's a toggle? i haven't played 4 in a while but i remember the speedup is pretty incredible)

Edited November 5, 2015 by Thor Odinson

[BrightBow]

FE4 is the first game in the series were you are given a massive amount of customization options, so you can totally speed up the map movement speed. And of course you can turn off the battle animations, although it will still play a little map animation like in PoR.

Speedup is only required in the later chapters for the arena, when you have a large amount of characters. It takes a while for someone like Patty to take down a General.

Edited November 5, 2015 by BrightBow

[Gradivus.]

It either isn't a toggle or there are options for both, since I recently used one where you must hold the button down, but that's off-topic anyway.

[Shadow Mir]

or if you don't feel bad hitting that fast forward button

I forgot the part about needing to be capable of stomaching oversized maps and backtracking. There's also the part where FE4 is quite different relative to most titles in the series.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[Thor Odinson]

Oh, for PoR/RD, if you have a good enough computer, you can also emulate those. They're out of circulation in stores as new games, so you're not losing Nintendo/IS profit by emulating (I would definitely recommend buying instead of emulating IF they were still being sold outside of used games, though, unless you don't have a Wii and can't have a Wii, because it's good to support devs, but since they're not). A used copy of PoR/RD can cost quite a bit, and you're not even supporting the dev with that money.

Dolphin should work on most new-enough computers. Check the specs of your computer against Dolphin's required specs, if you want to emulate PoR/RD. They're actually not that high for modern computers, so it should be fine unless your machine is ancient or really bad.

[mouseno4]

I am sorry to have to ask this guys, but can you dumb it down a bit so i can understand? I dont know acronyms or Fire Emblem numbers.

[Shadow Mir]

I am sorry to have to ask this guys, but can you dumb it down a bit so i can understand? I dont know acronyms or Fire Emblem numbers.

FE3 = Mystery of the Emblem

FE4 = Genalogy of the Holy War

FE5 = Thracia 776

FE6 = Sword of Seals; it's also called Binding Blade

[mouseno4]

FE3 = Mystery of the Emblem

FE4 = Genalogy of the Holy War

FE5 = Thracia 776

FE6 = Sword of Seals; it's also called Binding Blade

Thanks. Now i have to peruse the replies, replacing all the acronyms mentioned with their actual names.

"Shadow Dragon" i already own on DS cartridge. Have almost complete it and am looking for my next 'Fire Emblem fix'.

"Gaidan" did not receive an english localisation so that rules that one out. I have thought of ''english fan made patches'' but the whole process for achieving this is daunting to say the least.

"Mystery of the Emblem" is in the same boat as Gaidan. I refuse to play a game that would require Google translate page on alt-tab.

"Genealogy of the Holy War" suffers the same fate yet again.

"Thracia 776" No english version again.

"Binding Blade" Again, no english.

"Fire Emblem" for the GBA is a winner, as it has an english translation and was at some point released here. Whether i am even capable of playing it on the Virtual Console of my Wii U, i will have to discover.

"The Sacred Stones" is another potential game i might be able to play on the Virtual Console of my Wii U. Still need to see if its possible.

"Path of Radiance" is 100% impossible as i would need a Wii or a Gamecube to play it. And since i have neither and dont want to buy a console for only one game...

"Radiant Dawn'' i have discovered is physical disc only and will be quite difficult to obtain due to region locking and plain scarcity. As much as i would like to obtain this, i think my chances are slim.

Which brings me to the present. I already own Awakening of course, and plan to get If (sorry, i mean 'Fates') when it releases next June.

Edited November 6, 2015 by mouseno4

[Thor Odinson]

Do you have anything against emulation or something? If so then I won't push the issue, but otherwise everything earlier than awakening can be played via emulator on a computer (or hell, android), and most non-localized fire emblems have english fan translations.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Thor Odinson

[mouseno4]

Do you have anything against emulation or something? If so then I won't push the issue, but otherwise everything earlier than awakening can be played via emulator on a computer (or hell, android), and most non-localized fire emblems have english fan translations.

I have toyed with emulation in the past with mixed results and fan translations... i am not a fan of messing around with game files. I say this after reading what is required to obtain Fire Emblem If with english translation patch and the game as intact as possible without the official localisation people ruining the game for those outside of Japan. To be frank, it is a LOT of work involved. A HELL of a lot. And you have to give up a hell of a lot just to make it work.

To be honest, i would much rather buy the game like on the Virtual Console and play it the way it was intended.

Edited November 6, 2015 by mouseno4

[Thor Odinson]

It is not a lot of work at all (though as a programmer I'm more computer savvy than most so I'm not an accurate judge) but I will respect your decision.

Although, if you're willing to skip the story and just go for gameplay, you could just play it in Japanese. FE Menus are simple enough that not knowing the language doesn't really matter anyway.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Thor Odinson

[mouseno4]

It is not a lot of work at all (though as a programmer I'm more computer savvy than most so I'm not an accurate judge) but I will respect your decision.

Although, if you're willing to skip the story and just go for gameplay, you could just play it in Japanese. FE Menus are simple enough that not knowing the language doesn't really matter anyway.

I read most of the guide for playing Fire Emblem If on a 3DS with the english patch. It was a lot of work to get to the point where things work and games can be played. It is so difficult and time consuming (and risky considering you could permanently brick your 3DS if you mess it up) that i didnt even bother finishing the guide.

And no, i dont want to skip the story, which is the reason why Japanese only games are out of the question.

http://pastebin.com/x8QuNKjq

This to me, is a lot of work.

Edited November 6, 2015 by mouseno4

[Thor Odinson]

yeah that's kinda standard for pretty much everything I ever do so haha

[sirmola]

I read most of the guide for playing Fire Emblem If on a 3DS with the english patch. It was a lot of work to get to the point where things work and games can be played. It is so difficult and time consuming (and risky considering you could permanently brick your 3DS if you mess it up) that i didnt even bother finishing the guide.

And no, i dont want to skip the story, which is the reason why Japanese only games are out of the question.

http://pastebin.com/x8QuNKjq

This to me, is a lot of work.

patching a 3DS game is FAR more complicated then patching a rom file for use with an emulator (because the 3ds was explicitly designed to make it more complicated. In the case of fe12(new mystery), it is literally drag and drop), and while you can mess up the file, just make a copy before hand. Heck, many ROM sites have prepatched versions (although using one for fe6 is not recomended, as a vastly better new translation just came out).

[Gradivus.]

Applying patches to FE games is pretty easy and not time-costly, once you've downloaded both the rom and translation patch it takes like 10 seconds with the Lunar IPS patcher, which just needs you to click two files. The translation patches are in a pinned thread in this section of the forum and I didn't have much trouble finding roms for FE3-6 and 12, chances are they're on the first page if you google them.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Gradivus.

[ruadath]

I read most of the guide for playing Fire Emblem If on a 3DS with the english patch. It was a lot of work to get to the point where things work and games can be played. It is so difficult and time consuming (and risky considering you could permanently brick your 3DS if you mess it up) that i didnt even bother finishing the guide.

And no, i dont want to skip the story, which is the reason why Japanese only games are out of the question.

http://pastebin.com/x8QuNKjq

This to me, is a lot of work.

Yeah, definitely don't take that as a benchmark of how difficult it is to translate/emualate games. Like Gradivus said, everything before FE7 (the Japenese-only ones) can be translated with a single program and the two files; that's just 3 downloads and a couple of clicks!

Also, in term of emulating Path of Radiance and/or Radiant Dawn, you can do those pretty easily too if you download Dolphin, which has a relatively straightforward set up process (unlike the PS2 emulator, for example). Though your computer needs to not suck to play them, you'll be just fine unless your computer is like over 5 years old.