82 replies to this topic

[xblade]

i liked them all but fe8 gets my vote because it was just more enjoyable. it acutally would have been fe7 but having to start over and over again makes me sad. escipally killing lloyd.

[Geriba]

The Serenes community tends to overthink- and, as a result, overestimate- Fire Emblem 8. At the end of the day, it's just a horribly broken and imbalanced mess with an awful story and a complete lack of any character development. Every unit is a superhero, and the lack of a ranking feature basically means that the only way to enjoy the game is to go for breakneck efficiency runs. Just no redeemable features whatsoever.

6 and 7 are both great choices, however. I'm partial to 7, but 6 has difficulty and unit variety in its favor.

[TheBritishEltshan]

I'm certainly finding it hard to vote. FE6 is what I haven't played, it wasn't released outside of Japan, has a somewhat boring story (with some good support conversations), I hear it doesn't add as much to the series as say, FE2 or FE5 (which I haven't played).

FE7; we get to see Zephiel

Spoiler - for those who haven't played FE6, look away

before he went mad

, we get a fleshed out tutorial for beginners (if obvious at times), support endings for more than just the pimp, Roy, we get a look at Hector in his awesomeness as a youth as well as the more competent unit than his son Eliwood. Not to mention two branching stories, though only branching to a minor extent but one does give more depth to the antagonist than the other (Lyn's story doesn't count really as much of a story in my opinion). Who could forget Sain? Legault was a very cool character, giving more story and emotion to the story of the Black Fang. We get a another tragic villain (my favourite kind next to being evil for the sake of being the biggest douche on earth), Nergal along with his kick ass battle theme. We also find out Roy is Dragonborn (possibly) and that Gonzales is going to die horribly in battle due to the Armads (possibly).


FE8; Creature Campaign was a fun (if very easy) distraction that had great rewards (namely EXP), we get Seth the ultimate Oifey and a nice romance of Eirika and Seth (as well as a Shakespearian (if Shakespeare was a dumb ass) love between Eirika and Lyon), we get one of the most broken FE Lords in history behind Sigurd and his son Celice; Ephraim. Sweet branching promotions. We also get (Yer A Riyt) Dozla (who is unfortunately one of the least usable units in the game) and L'Arachel.

Well actually now that I take all this into account, I think FE7.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that FE8 has branching paths which each have a more designated story giving separate details and perspectives, but that still doesn't make up for how I find the story to be lack luster.

Edited by TheBritishEltshan, 14 April 2012 - 12:03 AM.

[The_Purple_Knight]

I like fe8 the best . The branch promotion was cool and I loved the playable cast .p 6 is okay, but I really hate fe7 it basically has everything I don't like about fire emblem games and nothing I actually like. I disliked the characters especially , and the weapon weight really irked me as well .Everything was so freakin heavy .

Edited by The_Purple_Knight, 13 April 2012 - 04:42 PM.

[Writing Little Dragoness]

My vote goes to FE6 becauss I found it in my opinion that it had the best story out of all of the GBA FE games.

[Blues003]

FE8 is fun for those looking for a game to absolutely dominate the enemy forces. Almost every character can solo every map (Pirate Ship being the exception), and the story isn't the best I've seen. While I believe it's the game with the best maps overall, I also think it's the one which gets more uninteresting towards the end story and gameplay-wise; I'm not fond of gamebreaking abilities such as Slayer, or awesome-characters-on-Ch-1-that-never-stop-being-awesome such as Seth. Also, post-game could've been far more interesting than "Hey, go through these 20 maps three times to get overpowered characters!"

FE6 isn't necessarily hard, but rather annoying. The story is a bit more interesting than FE8's, I guess. Maps are unecessarily large, and you do have to think your way through if you want to progress. It's a game for those who value tactics, rather than overpowering your opponent. Characters are alright and have some decent development to them.

FE7 had a nice story, memorable characters with good background development. Maps aren't as good as FE8's, but aren't as annoying as FE6's. It had decent variety of missions too. I still find it easy overall (too many good characters), but it is, out of the three, my favourite.

Edited by Blues003, 14 April 2012 - 12:21 PM.

[BrightBow]

Well, I wanted to write down a few of the things that bugged me about FE7 but the whole thing ended up being way too long.
Let's just say, it's my least favorite game in the series by a long shot.

FE8 was okay. Nice story, Nice characters, good fun. Nothing spectacular, though.
Fighting monsters got tiresome, however. They aren't very interesting foes.

Creature Campaign could have been a lot better, though.
I mean, it's an endless game but there is lot's of stuff you can't replace so you end up not using it at all. Why not just make Repair staffs buyable?
And you usually loose more money by fighting random encounters then the loot is worth.
Normally grinding can be quite relaxing for a while in most games. But because you have to constantly pay attention that you don't get broke it's really just annoying.

And whose idea was it, that the player shouldn't be allowed to save in the ruins? It's like a less extreme form of Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded Avatar mode.
You know: "All 100 floors in one go without saving or dying to get a Limit break you will never use."
Took me a week or so, if I remember. Maybe that same guy in question is working for SquareEnix these days.
Oh well, at least in FE8 you can quicksave.


FE6 is the best of the bunch. The maps are diverse. The game is challenging and the story works for the most part.
But one problem with the story is that we find out that sword of Seals is not a divine weapon... and that's it. It doesn't lead anywhere. So what is the Sword of Seals?

And way more importantly I just can't get over the worship the Divine Generals get.
They committed genocide, for gods sake!
But the game treats the dragons are the bad guys because at the verge of extinction through a war the humans started, they brainwashed a divine dragon.
And the Divine Generals are good because they decided to spare that one single dragon.
They wiped out a whole sentient species but because they spared a single one, they are the good guys?
Are they nuts?

And this got even worse in FE7.
Athos never had to answer to this whole mess. If a supposed sympathetic character committed genocide I would like to know his story.
Is this really too much to ask?


So FE8 wins because I can actually play it without it pissing me off. Those games weren't the glory days of the series.

Edited by BrightBow, 14 April 2012 - 02:58 PM.

[Duff Ostrich]

Sword of Seals is my favorite by a considerable amount for having respectable enemies and a huge cast of characters. You didn't get one or two knights, you got four. Three dark mages instead of one. Three berserkers, two valkyries, SEVEN Paladins. Sure, a lot of them were terrible but at least they existed.

My other favorite games in the series are so for similar reasons. Radiant Dawn and Dark Dragon had a zillion characters. Thracia had challenging level design (despite the average enemy having zero stats). The DS games had variable difficulties that gave series veterans a reason to play. The worst thing with Path of Radiance or Sacred Stones is that you steamrolled everything in between story bits. The worst thing about Mystery of the Emblem is it cut out a lot of playable characters from FE1 and resurrected a bunch of pretty boy villains until it felt like an anime. I'm really not there for the story. I want a challenge to overcome, and I want to do it the best way I can.

[Gen Xinthos]

Might just be my bias but I honestly say Fire Emblem 7.
I never really liked FE8 [looking at you Eirika] and I got really annoyed at the easier difficulty due to the Tower of Valni. ... Plus, some of those monsters creeped me out back then. Of course, the story line was stable and who can't resist Ephraim?
FE6 was also good, but the holes in story kind of made it... iffy. Plus, this might just be me being petty, but I never really liked Roy's fragility, Lilina not being a lord and how the thieves couldn't promote.

And FE7 was a nice thing to have a tutorial prologue. The characters in the game were unique and all had connections. Let me tell you how many times I pulled a Kent whenever Sain flirted. Let me tell you the shrieks I conveyed at Uther and at Eliwood.
The music was definitely a plus. Contributed very well, and I always hate having to turn the volume off. I remember at one point I turned on my DS just to listen to FE7's Sound Test.
The maps also weren't ridiculous or too easy. It was a challenge that I fully accepted. Trying to attempt HHM on some of them though... -shudders-

All in all, I feel FE8's difficulty wasn't up to my standards of HNM. Plus, Ephraim's mode left a hole in the story when

Spoiler -

Joshua suddenly became King out of the blue.

At least in Eirika's mode, you find out why and even help him.
FE7 has more character development and the story was pretty great in my opinion. It has a stellar soundtrack and a nice diversity of characters. Plus, it holds the one axe-using lord before promotion!

[crazyclown94]

I don't know which fire emblem is 6, 7, or 8 but definatly Sacred Stones. I've played the one, before the sacred stones with lyn, and eliwood, but I choose sacred stones as the best.

[☠Crush☠]

Mine would be Sacred Stones, but Fire Emblem 7 wasn't that bad. Sacred Stones is shorter, features a tower and ruins that you can explore as extra content. Win.

[General Banzai]

FE6 and 7 are both fairly awful in most regards, while FESS has some of the best characters and writing in the series.

The only points I can even give FE7 are for trying, which is more than I can say about FE6. Its plot is a mess and thoroughly unnecessary in all regards, its characters are the least interesting and likable in the entire series, it reeks of JRPGiness more than any other game in the series, and its crammed full of filler to give it its supposedly great length. When I try to find things to like about it I can usually count them on one hand.

FE6 meanwhile is an extreme slap to the face, dumbing down the gameplay mechanics of its predecessor to an almost insulting degree. Meanwhile its plot is devoid of any life whatsoever and its art style is bleck. Easily my least favorite game in the series.

Meanwhile, FESS manages to be concise and well-placed. It's plot isn't anything particularly original but its presented excellently and it has a surprising amount of depth and subtlety. Its characters, especially its villains, are great and its the first game in the series that can give us lords with agency without devolving them into typical animu teenagers like FE7 does. One of my favorite things about FESS is how in the flashbacks Eirika and Ephraim often act similar to how the lords in FE7 act, but their behavior is then set in contrast to the serious, determined characters that they are in the present. FESS manages to convey a feeling of drama all while underpinned by a starkly Gothic tone.

[dondon151]

FE6 meanwhile is an extreme slap to the face, dumbing down the gameplay mechanics of its predecessor to an almost insulting degree. Meanwhile its plot is devoid of any life whatsoever and its art style is bleck. Easily my least favorite game in the series.

ok, but it has the most satisfying challenge, so that basically cancels everything out

[General Banzai]

ok, but it has the most satisfying challenge, so that basically cancels everything out

To you.

[dondon151]

ok what's your point

wasn't your long-winded post just an opinion too

[General Banzai]

ok what's your point

wasn't your long-winded post just an opinion too

Yeah. Dunno why you replied to it at all.

[bottlegnomes]

Yeah. Dunno why you replied to it at all.

I'm guessing to prove a point.

[SeverIan]

Tactics Universe ehehehehehehehehehe

And way more importantly I just can't get over the worship the Divine Generals get.
They committed genocide, for gods sake!
But the game treats the dragons are the bad guys because at the verge of extinction through a war the humans started, they brainwashed a divine dragon.
And the Divine Generals are good because they decided to spare that one single dragon.
They wiped out a whole sentient species but because they spared a single one, they are the good guys?
Are they nuts?

Well,
we know that some dragons escaped through dragons gate, and some were in Arcadia. Ninian and Nils's mother was in Ilia for a time.
Jahn (sp?) survived. Possibly others.

It is true that FE7 says that the scouring began with a sudden human onslaught, which ended a long age of human and dragon coexistence. Other than that I know of nothing in FE6-7 about who started The Scouring. On the flip side, Jahn considered the idea of human and dragon coexistence "foolish" when Roy mentioned Arcadia, suggesting muddled ideas on this issue (if anything, I would go with a faced character in fe6 over an opening narration in FE7). There's also

Athos: The dragons' libraries were a dream come true to us. We studied their language and history with unbridled passion. A century, then two… Time passed in an eye's blink. And yet, slowly, our thoughts turned down different paths.

If dragons and humans coexisted for a long period, then why would the dragons' libraries be such an amazing resource for Athos and Nergal? You'd think that the human civilizations would have some of the texts in common, honestly.

And finally, because of the "war dragon" thing, we really have no indication that, when at war with the dragons, the divine generals killed a single innocent. They did take advantage of the ending winter, but that was against dragons that had been trying to kill them. Even if I committed xenocide by killing another species, IF that species was unified in its attempts to kill my species, would that be a terrible thing?

I'm not saying that humans were the good guys, but depending on when the divine generals entered the war, and the composition of the manakete forces (it seems like all the dragons opposed to the war were divine dragons who fled, except Idoun who wasn't even killed), I don't think you can say that they are villains, and it seems safe to conclude they were heroes, too.

And I really think calling them genocidal is ridiculous.

Edited by Jet Black Gunner, 27 April 2012 - 11:19 PM.

[Mirron]

It's a tough pick between 7 and 8, but in the end 7 is the one that has me the most. It's the one I started with (got me into the series, even if 8 helped too), and it's the one I have the most fond memories of. 8 simply doesn't hold as many characters I care about, whereas 7 has many. Mechanically speaking (at least in some ways) I prefer 8 though. Branched promotion, postgame content, things like that really were nice. 6... well, holds nothing for me. I intend to beat it someday, but it's not a game that I can say I care about currently. It has some things I like, but many things about it are still... just really annoying. Gameplay seems to have lots of bad luck (which doesn't seem to be just me), I dislike Thieves being unable to promote, things like that. Small things, but they add up.

[I don't play for turns]

Probably gonna get burned for saying this, but I liked FE7 'cos th levels were just more fun for me.

Never played FE6 (Inset link to music for born in the USA here)

FE8 was great too, I just didn't like how it seemed so much shorter, and even though I liked a lot more characters, I didn't love as many characters. (FE8 does get extra points for the tower. If FE7 had that, you'd be able to train Nino without babying her for the first ten levels.)