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Rate The Stories Of The Games You've Played


The Lord Of Gems
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I'd like to know what other people think of the story of every game. Post your list!

My List Is.

1. Genealogy Of The Holy War

2. Path Of Radiance

3. Blazing Blade

4. Radiant Dawn

5. Gaiden/Shadows Of Valentia

6. Binding Blade

7. Mystery Of The Emblem/New Mystery Of The Emblem

8. Shadow Dragon And The Blade Of Light/Shadow Dragon

9. Sacred Stones

10. Awakening

11. Fates

(I have not played Thracia 776, so it is not listed.)

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1-Shadow Dragon

2- Mystery of Emblem

3- Thraia 776

4- New Mystery of Emblem

5- Radiant Dawn

6- Genealogy

7- Path of Radiance

8- Blazing Sword

9- Birthright

10 - Awakening

11- Sacred Stones

12- Shadows of Valentia

13- Shadow Dragon and Blade of Light

14- Revelations

15- Binding Blade

16- Gaiden

17- Conquest

only real special note I have is that I think SoV has the best Cast in the series, but I have to put it low despite that because I had zero investment in the  Plot of the game.

FE11 - Shadow Dragon clearly benefits from the Lord's written since the Super Famicom- SD Marth has elements of Eliwood, Sig, and arguablly even Ike in him. He can be both headstrong and self doubting, and the transition is always natural and not jarring as it would be in other games. Only a handful of charathers are given story time, but those are all that is needed.

FE5- This game benefits from its condensed setting and more limited conflict. Leaf's struggle in his own country is fantastic partly because of establishing that the battle is uphill in both story AND map design, but even without having this unity over other games it is quite solid. Sety rises above Athos/Boah/Levin as a Proppian "benefactor", as the Magi group are pretty pro-active on their own.  The game does lose some closure when one of Leaf's main political enemies (Blume) is taken care of by Celice offscreen and Trabant is allowed to wait until Genealogy. The game does have  its share of cartoon villians, but between Rhinehart, Hannibal, and even minor people, it  has other who are easily the equal and even surpass Shiharam and Selena as more or less symphathetic.

Paulus:
“…Perhaps not. I was never in favor of the attack on Tahra. My hesitation has led to many soldiers to their deaths. …It’s my responsibility. Laugh at me, Baldack. Laugh at this old coward.”

Baldack:
“Commander…”

Paulus:
“But I won’t hesitate any more. I am a warrior of Freeji, I must fulfill my duties. Will you help me, Baldack?”

 

FE3 - Mystery of Emblem has a nice premise in Hardin, an ally of Marth from the first game and the  man to unite Arachnea after the war depicted in that game, has ever since his coronation as Emperor felt himself compared to Marth and even has to come to terms with his wife. Marth for his part struggles briefly with whether it is more right to remain loyal or if rebellion is justifed. 

FE12 -  Many people on this forum think this game is too radical, but the light/dark underworld thing is an established sub-genre, and honestly Marth still does the bulk of the achieving in this game. Also has some good bits from FE3.

FE10 - Part 2, in particular Elincia's conflict with Lucia, is easily among the strongest writing in Fire Emblem. Part 1 is fairly good on its own, although it does opt for melodrmatics with the POR charathers and it is problematic in retrospect (come P3) when we meet the Begnion sentaors behind it. But the army in residence- who have only a tenuous, although still loyal, connection with their masters, IS appealing as is the reconstruction effort in Daien. Part 3 itself is okay for 11 chapters to its credit- The rest of the game takes a disappointing turn, but it's possible to see what the developers were going for. 

FE4 - I mainly rate FE4 based on the interconflict between different antagonist forces, and the story is best in chapterss 7-8. There are as many "niggling" problems with this game as Radiant Dawn, if not more, including, how is it a possible for a charather to claim atheism in setting, the repeat structure of 3 countries in gen 1 all being "the old peaceful ruler is threatened by uncles with a shaky claim to the throne being supported by lopto" , the terribleness of Jedah, and then a lot of personal problems with gen2 and Levin. Genalogy is definitely an ambitious 

FE9- In retrospect it's iconoclastic that my favorite lines are Geoffrey to Ike and the assurance that the Crimeans will be allowed to be the vanguard of the assault on the capital. Characters are generally tied to the game's overal themes and even the setting more strongly than in other games with Jill being the best example. Sanaki and Oliverkind of act unnaturally awful at times, but it's supposed to be cathartic seeing Ike stand them down / fight them, even if that itself is a little irresponsible. 2 of the antagonists come out to torment the players instead of waiting in their castle, and we even get to see how receptive our eventual ally (Begnion) was to Daien's attempt to ally with it shortly before our own. Game has small problems and "remember to be a decent human being" kind of weakens some of its big themes.

FE7 - It's a more straightforward story, but for all that it's pretty enjoyable. Eliwood is adorable, Hector is a nice contrast in his willingness to use practicality and the underworld (or at least espionage) and besides, has a nice excuse for being "gruff and barbarian like" in using it to conceal his intelligence. Zephiel's parent's being at each others throats also clicks with me, and I enjoy the morph trying to be human, although Nino and Jaffar do take the tone down. The game is usually criticized for its sentimental ending;  A: The player's knowledge of FE6 and Athos's warning should prevent us from over-celebrating  B: it isn't really necessary to hold the specter of their eventual fate and what realistic. Death does not prevent people in this setting from living in a life affirming way, as we see from Athos's hopes for the future generation, it would be morbidly revisionist to end with a minor tragedy because of the implied major tragedy about to happen and the unity of the story demands a happy ending of some kind. (The one we got was admittedly too much but it had aeshetic reasons for existing at least)

Edited by Reality
Swapped FE4 with FE10. Also FE8 with Bir.
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my list is

11 Birthright (so you join the hoshidians, who're the one trying to defend themselves from the nohrians... but then you completely obliterate the ones that a few moments before you were calling "family")

10 Revelation (at least the kingdom of valla was esthetically nice)

9 Awakening (a barely decent retelling of SD's story)

8 Conquest (being european, and having studied tons of philosophers who questioned themselves on a lot of bullshits, i actually liked how corrin had mixed feelings on what he was doing)

7 Shadow Dragon (and FE1) (a solid and appreciable story, even though you can actually feel how old-school it is)

6 Shadows of Valentia (and Gaiden) (we have some twists here, that's why i like it more than SD)

5 Binding Blade (here we have a psycopath that wants to destroy the whole mankind, very very interesting, even though the story itself actually nothing new)

4 Sacred Stones (again, the main villains is what makes this story something precious, but i felt every character was much more involved in the story than in other titles)

3 Blazing Sword (lyn's story arc's ending made me cry, just saying...)

2 Genealogy of the Holy War (the darkest and saddest story, definitely one of the best in the whole FE saga)

1 Path of Radiance AND Radiant Dawn (yes, these two titles cannot be taken into account separately, since they're extremely interconnected)

i have to finish thacia and mystery, (and new mystery) so i can't judge them yet

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That'll be easy, given how few of them I've actually beaten.

  1. Mystery Book 2: I beat New Mystery, but much prefer the original's story; one of the only games that had a villain I felt sympathetic towards, and it just feels like a great long quest to save the continent
  2. Awakening: I used to have wavering thoughts on this, partially due to how negative people were towards it, but I've come to the conclusion that for what it is, I actually like the story well enough; sometimes overplays the "friendship is power" theme, but it's nice enough, and Future Past lends itself well to the story
  3. Shadow Dragon: I thought it had a decent enough story for the time; the remake sort of fleshed it out, gave Minerva and a few others some more lines of dialogue, but it still left a lot to be desired
  4. Fates - Birthright: People knock on this story for being "bland", and I agree that a certain stretch of this path does get dull, but I was legitimately invested the first time through, which I can't say for the other paths really, and I'd say that on its own it's a fairly solid FE experience
  5. Echoes/Gaiden: Mostly about Echoes since Gaiden was unsubstantial; I've said many times that it's a new standard for storytelling, but I think that it's very flawed in almost every aspect, and I can't deny that even Rudolf and Mycen - two favorite characters of mine - aren't without flaws either
  6. New Mystery: That's right, the inclusion of the avatar was so bad that it knocked an otherwise superb story down to below one of the Fates paths and Echoes; I liked the added subplot about the assassin orphans, I liked that the exposition was made to be optional base convos, and I liked that everyone got at least a little bit of a story to them through supports, but I hate how the avatar seemed to diminish Marth's role in the story from a narrative standpoint; I even think the way Robin was done would've been better, and if that doesn't give you an idea of how bad Kris is in this game, I don't know what will
  7. Fates - Revelation: It's a real toss up between this and Conquest, but I can at least say that there's a somewhat satisfying ending here; that being said, this game's story ruins the entire point of the path split, it focuses way too much on Corrin, and things go stale really fast once you reach the Hidden Kingdom; it is, by no means, an interesting story, and I'm confident it all comes down to the game being a blatant cash grab
  8. Fates - Conquest: This story just sucks in general because it promises so much - moral ambiguity in the story, a chance to play someone more "villainous" maybe, political intrigue - but then not even halfway through it craps on all of that just so it can make the avatar out to be a little goody-two-shoes; there's more moral ambiguity in the characterization of two characters in BR than there is in the entire second half of this path, so this choice becomes less about "should I try to reason with my adoptive father" and more "should I let scores of innocent people die just so that my siblings who are too cowardly or stupid to fight an obviously evil man won't end up dying in the end"; the "moral musings" of Corrin and the others are just empty air that's never actually applied to what they're doing; and on top of it all, the ending left me quite dissatisfied, having known that I willingly killed or let others kill people who were just trying to live their lives peacefully or protect their home and loved ones from a psychotic king, and the people who let it all happen (myself included) are celebrated as heroes just because they eventually killed the big bad

Additional things to note:

  • Plot quality isn't nearly as important as other elements with FE; supports and strategy encompass a majority of what I enjoy about these games, though there are times where the story can significantly impact the way I receive the game overall
  • Supports are somewhat included in the equation, but for the purposes of the list, I made them a rather small factor
  • Above all else, I just prefer when a story remains consistent with its own themes; the worst of these, in my opinion, break from what they're supposed to be, and the best remain fairly true
  • One might notice that the stories higher up are the "simpler" stories; I strongly feel IS are better at making simple stories than complicated ones these days, because whenever they try something "new" or "innovative", it goes extremely south
  • It's very rare for a game in the series to leave me with enough disdain for it that I'm reluctant to come back to it
Spoiler

BONUS ENTRIES:

9. Different Dimensions Ostian Princess: It's hilariously inconsistent with the entire plot, having Hector still alive after the events of FE6 (where he obviously died) while being both old and young at times, Zephiel show up as a kid in the same era and breaks the fourth wall with confusing ramblings about not showing up in FE6 because he got killed, and wonderful moments where the characters will scream "My anus is bleeding!" simply because the author couldn't find a way to change how many text boxes show up or how to better write shit; it's a glorious experience, and I'd recommend it as highly as I'd recommend people watch "The Room"... or the Disaster Artist

10. Gheb FE: It fucking sucks; don't ever get it; this hack is an assault on anything good, and it's a shit meme

11. Waluigi's Two-Bedroom Apartment With a Leaky Faucet: Wait, this isn't Fire Emblem; actually, it isn't even a game!  But it most certainly should be, and it's this low on the list because it isn't.

 

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From worst to best

Fates: Revelation: It's nice for Supports (and Fates as a whole has decent Supports tbh) but it completely ruins the point of Conquest and Birthright.

Fates: Conquest: The thing is, Conquest's story was actually pretty decent up until Ch.15, in which everything went downhill faster than my faith for humanity. While the gameplay is probably the best in the series, everything about the story past Ch.15 sucks. The only reason it's above Revelation is because, again, the first 14 chapters of Conquest were actually alright.

Fates: Birthright: It's bland but it's simple and it's not a mess like the previous two

Awakening: Awakening was my first game. And while Awakening had some great Supports and great characters, the story was inconsistent at times. It's not like, terrible or anything, but it could've definitely been improved upon. The Valm arc kinda just came out of nowhere and Grima resurrected himself because why the fuck not? But overall, the story is pretty alright.

Shadow Dragon (FE3 Book 1): I have played the Shadow Dragon remake on the DS, but i stopped playing it because DS emulators suck. So i went and played the FE3 Book 1 version. Shadow Dragon's story is pretty standard. It's not super interesting but it's not terrible either.

Mystery of the Emblem: Like Shadow Dragon, i played FE12 but DS emulators suck. So i played FE3 instead and i found the story to be pretty enjoyable. Shadow Dragon's conflict was mostly black and white, while i found FE3 to be morally gray in it's story telling. Especially since Marth essentially becomes a rebel against the Empire in the first few chapters. 

Blazing Blade: I liked the more personal approach. While it had some issues such as Nergal's power level and Ninian ex machina, the story as a whole was alright.

Binding Blade: The story is essentially a sort-of retelling of FE3, but i find it to be better. Main reason being that Zephiel is a better villain than Hardin, and there's no generically evil sorcerer *cough* Gharnef *cough* in the plot. I also like Idoun. While she sucks as a final boss, i actually felt sorry for what happened to her.

Sacred Stones: While the plot is fairly standard, what did it for me was the relationship between the Renais Twins and Lyon. Lyon is one of my favorite villains in the series because of it.

Shadows of Valentia: While the plot did have it's flaws (c'mon guys, no plot is perfect), i found the storytelling to be quite good, which got a boost thanks to the amazing voice acting. Everyone felt truly alive. Again, the plot has it's flaws like Rudolf's plan but, because at it's core, it's a retelling of an NES game, i'm more forgiving on that front.

Genealogy of the Holy War: While i despise Genealogy of the Holy War with a passion, i can't deny that it has a good story. It's definitely the darkest FE story out there and it shows how political corruption can truly fuck up a continent. I also liked how time actually passes in this game. The plot does have it's flaws, mainly Sigurd, but overall, FE4 has the best story (of the games i've played all the way to the end).

Of course, that's just me rating the plot. If we were to take everything else into account, this list would be very different.

 

I've also played Thracia 776, and as mentioned before, FE11 and 12, along with Gaiden, but i never finished them due to various reasons (Thracia had too much bullshit, FE11 and 12 were plagued by my shitty DS emulator, and Gaiden was dropped after SoV's announcement).

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1 hour ago, Armagon said:

From worst to best

Fates: Revelation: It's nice for Supports (and Fates as a whole has decent Supports tbh) but it completely ruins the point of Conquest and Birthright.

Fates: Conquest: The thing is, Conquest's story was actually pretty decent up until Ch.15, in which everything went downhill faster than my faith for humanity. While the gameplay is probably the best in the series, everything about the story past Ch.15 sucks. The only reason it's above Revelation is because, again, the first 14 chapters of Conquest were actually alright.

Fates: Birthright: It's bland but it's simple and it's not a mess like the previous two

Awakening: Awakening was my first game. And while Awakening had some great Supports and great characters, the story was inconsistent at times. It's not like, terrible or anything, but it could've definitely been improved upon. The Valm arc kinda just came out of nowhere and Grima resurrected himself because why the fuck not? But overall, the story is pretty alright.

Shadow Dragon (FE3 Book 1): I have played the Shadow Dragon remake on the DS, but i stopped playing it because DS emulators suck. So i went and played the FE3 Book 1 version. Shadow Dragon's story is pretty standard. It's not super interesting but it's not terrible either.

Mystery of the Emblem: Like Shadow Dragon, i played FE12 but DS emulators suck. So i played FE3 instead and i found the story to be pretty enjoyable. Shadow Dragon's conflict was mostly black and white, while i found FE3 to be morally gray in it's story telling. Especially since Marth essentially becomes a rebel against the Empire in the first few chapters. 

Blazing Blade: I liked the more personal approach. While it had some issues such as Nergal's power level and Ninian ex machina, the story as a whole was alright.

Binding Blade: The story is essentially a sort-of retelling of FE3, but i find it to be better. Main reason being that Zephiel is a better villain than Hardin, and there's no generically evil sorcerer *cough* Gharnef *cough* in the plot. I also like Idoun. While she sucks as a final boss, i actually felt sorry for what happened to her.

Sacred Stones: While the plot is fairly standard, what did it for me was the relationship between the Renais Twins and Lyon. Lyon is one of my favorite villains in the series because of it.

Shadows of Valentia: While the plot did have it's flaws (c'mon guys, no plot is perfect), i found the storytelling to be quite good, which got a boost thanks to the amazing voice acting. Everyone felt truly alive. Again, the plot has it's flaws like Rudolf's plan but, because at it's core, it's a retelling of an NES game, i'm more forgiving on that front.

Genealogy of the Holy War: While i despise Genealogy of the Holy War with a passion, i can't deny that it has a good story. It's definitely the darkest FE story out there and it shows how political corruption can truly fuck up a continent. I also liked how time actually passes in this game. The plot does have it's flaws, mainly Sigurd, but overall, FE4 has the best story (of the games i've played all the way to the end).

Of course, that's just me rating the plot. If we were to take everything else into account, this list would be very different.

 

I've also played Thracia 776, and as mentioned before, FE11 and 12, along with Gaiden, but i never finished them due to various reasons (Thracia had too much bullshit, FE11 and 12 were plagued by my shitty DS emulator, and Gaiden was dropped after SoV's announcement).

so basically you just shafted PoR and RD because they're too bad to even be present in the list X'D

just kidding

Edited by Yexin
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i like path of radiance's story the most, echoes' slightly less, and i'm generally fine with shadow dragon's. the rest are pretty much interchangeably under those two

there are some I have more opinions on than others (i like lyn's story a lot, i love chrom as a lead character, everything past part 2 of fe10 is awful)

but they're generally balanced out by something else (fe7's actual plot isn't very good, i don't care about any of the other characters in awakening's story, and i thought part 2 of fe10 was pretty much the best fe got in terms of story and writing)

Edited by unique
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1. Shadow of Valentia - I've never played the original Gaiden, and I managed to stay away from spoilers, so I went in near enough blind. Just...wow. For what it is, it's pretty freaking good, considering its age. I don't know, there's something about the whole Rudolf-Alm thing that gets me, Berkut too. ...And warring dragon gods of course.

2. Shadow Dragon - Do I have a thing for old stories? I think I do. Shadow Dragon has some of the best writing in the franchise, it really does feel like a war epic. I really like the whole narrative perspective they went with, and the fact that Archanea has so much lore...mmmm yes please. There's also something thrilling about the whole 'exiled Prince' thing.

3. Blazing Blade - So we start with a girl seeking revenge on bandits. Not an actual army, bandits. That's a first. Then we get a young lad who just wants to find his father. I'm a sucker for the family tropes so I was hooked. It's emotional, it's adorable (I'm looking at you, Eliwood and Ninian) and it's engaging.

4. Path of Radiance - There's one thing that kept me engaged with the Tellius duo, and that's the laguz. The whole Duke Tanas arc was fantastic, and it introduced Reyson who is one of my favourite characters. The racism aspect is fantastic, and...well, there's not a lot to say. Can we have a game focused on the laguz please, like, during the Serenes massacre?

5. Awakening - The first 11 chapters are solid, you've got a ragtag band of soldiers, and an amnesiac tactician. Chapter 9 in particular is heartwrenching, and the build up to it is quite nice. The Valm arc seems a bit filler-ish, but it does showcase Robin's tactics, and brings in Tiki, so that's fine. The Grima arc, while a bit rushed, is still enjoyable. But I think Awakening truly shines with the Future Past DLC. The kids are just fantastic, and while they, like their parents, suffer from 'friendship is magic', it's still lovely to see, because it's the type of thing you need to conclude a story set in such a dark world.

6. Radiant Dawn - RD...was a mess. They had so much potential with the Dawn Brigade, but they just pandered to Ike. I just really like Micaiah. I love how flawed she is, and she realises it - and it comes to a head when Tibarn pretends to drop Sothe off a cliff. I feel like it's Micaiah who drives the story, and it's nice little change.

7. New Mystery of the Emblem - See? I'm not entirely biased towards Archanea. The one thing that ruins NMotE is Kris. Screw Kris. He adds nothing, but he takes away a whole lot. Soooo...screw Kris. And it's a shame because NMotE has a really nice story for its age, what with the betrayal and all that, but Kris just makes it unbearable.

8. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - Oho, what a surprise. I really love TMS, but its plot is a little lacklustre, which is why it's quite low. It doesn't matter thiugh because it truly shines with the music, dungeons and characters (I will fight for these beautiful idol babies)

9. Heroes - Okay, you might be thinking, Lau, what the actual hell are you on?! Now hear me out! I'm an incompetent pest, who is a sucker for masked men. I just want to know more about this damn curse and wtaf is Loki? I bet he's actually Xane It helps that it's progressing sooooo slowllllyyyy so I'm not rushing through it.

10. Conquest - It's saying something when two spin-offs are above all three paths of Fates. Conquest wins out due to Nohr just generally being better than Hoshido, and I like seeing the absolute fear and shock on Xander and Leo's faces when they clme face to face with their father...Gooron.

11. Birthright - Birthright is...really boring. Its story wasn't engaging, and they randomly kill off one of my favourites if you don't reach an A support with them, like, no. You don't just do that. I honestly don't remember much of Birthright, because I have no motivation to play through it again.

12. Revelation - Its plot is just god awful. Nothing more to say.

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12. Birthright: Um, what story? I don't recall anything happening until you reach Garon's castle. While it doesn't have its own story Birthright still has to carry the ball and chain of Fates writing to some extend. Its the worst of both worlds. 

11. Conquest: Unlike Birthright the story actually exist so it gets a higher spot then birthright. Its just a shame the story is complete trash. I can respect that it at least tries but its just such a trainwreck about it. 

10. Shadow dragon: Um, what story? Never saw anyone say or do anything of interest nor a villain with decent presence or screentime. Its got Marth and some pretty excellent map narration at least. It has an absence of a great many things and not nearly enough positives to overcome that. So the balance strikes very easily to the negative end of the spectrum. 

9. Binding blade: The story is okay but I'd say its a little bit below average when it comes to Fire emblem stories. I think it really hurts from borrowing the archaic shadow dragon style to much. To often the cutscenes are just Roy, his adviser and the plot important princess. Its got some decent villains, even if I don't like Zephiel and the world building is good, excellent even if you add what Blazing sword brought to the table.

8. New mystery: It does a lot of things Shadow dragon failed to do. Archenea gets some lore, we got better villains and even some supports. Its still held back by an archaic style but its okay.

7. Awakening: The story of Awakening is problematic but it also does a lot of good. The kids are handled well enough, the main characters are all very charming and its got some really good moments like Emyrin's death or Lucina's reveal. But its all so rushed. Villains come and go so fast its hard to find them threatening and the world building hardly exists.

6. Sacred Stones: Sacred stones does plenty of good things. Its villains are all an interesting bunch, the main lords are good main characters and enough things of interest happen. On the negative end of the spectrum it probably has the worst world building of the series and the demons are to generic to really take the prominent role the game needs them too. 

5. Shadow of Valentia: Its got its problems but its just told really well. Nothing more to say about it really. 

4. Radiant dawn: There's a lot of bad stuff like the blood pact, the black knight and characters disappearing for no reason but a lot of the things that don't work come from the same place as a lot of good stuff, RD's ambition. RD is a very ambitious game with a great scale. Sometimes the ambition is TOO big and the game suffers for it. 

I can respect that. At least it tries to do something interesting, unlike Birthright and Shadow Dragon and unlike Conquest it manages to try without becoming a total trainwreck about it. 

The ambition also pays off a lot of the time. RD nails it sense of scale. It really feels like a war partly because the cutscenes show us a lot of strategy. The little bit of political drama is well executed and while somewhat generic part one is also good enough. The world building is the best of the series and the barrack conversations ensure everyone can show off their personality even without supports. Aside from the Black Knight a lot of villains miss presence but they make up for it by being well written or hatable enough to do their job. 

3. Blazing sword: Just a competent game. It doesn't try to do that much original but because it says safe and conventional I don't think it really screws up much either. Unlike other Fire emblem games it stays safe and conventional while still actually having a story.  Thank to having three lords the story is told in a more engaging way then just having the lord talk to his adviser and the world building is probably only second to Tellius. 

2. Genealogy:

Genealogy is unique. Its much darker, on a much larger scale and spawns two generations. Arvis remains the best villain of Fire emblem and he's joined by colorful villains of all sorts. Its hardly any less ambitious then RD and unlike that game doesn't make as many mistakes. Despite being on such old hardware a lot of characters have a clearly defined personality and I really respect that. This is something pretty much all games in the Kaga era struggle with but put someone like Azelle next to any shadow Dragon, (Pre echoes)Gaiden or Tracian character and we see a sizable difference. 

I want to give it the top spot....but I can't. Its to handicapped by its age for that. Its great story is still somewhat archaic and while a lot of people have clearly defined personalities....a lot of them also don't, especially in the second generation. Who were Delmud and Lester again? 

The world building also isn't entirely up to snuff because of how the maps work. Its great that we can have a stage the size of a country but this causes a lack of distinct landmarks. 

1. Path of Radiance: Like Blazing sword its a simple, safe and conventional story that actually has stuff happening in it despite its simplicity, but unlike Blazing blade it has the benefit of being set in Tellius which immediately gives it the best world building. Unlike RD it doesn't drag around any mistake around as a ball and chain. Its got the Amazing black knight without his RD persona dragging him down.

Path of Radiance isn't the most impressive story but its the best. Its got enough in it so that things are always happening, it doesn't get to big for its bridges, it doesn't lack world building or supports and it doesn't make any huge mistakes. 

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From worst to best:

Birthright: Starts out promising, but becomes stagnant. Corrin is just a bad MC in general, but at least they had some chemistry with the Nohrian siblings. With the Hoshido siblings, it was just very awkward at times. Also, even though overall, CQ may have a weaker story, there's just some things in Birthright that piss me off to no end mainly because of how stupid the characters were being. I can't take dramatic moments seriously mainly due to the idiocy behind them. So much stuff could've been avoided. I'm harsh on this because the people in charge of these events are ROYALS, and I assumed they would've had the education to know better in some of these events. Hell, even their personalities contradict what they actually do. Due to my bias, it's a no from me dog. 

Conquest: Very ambitious in what it set out for. I at least will give it props that it tried NOT to be safe. However, it was executed like a hot mess. It starts out promising, but crashes and burns. I put it over BR because it doesn't infuriate me as much. Luckily, its gameplay is really good. But we're not talking about gameplay today.

Awakening: The Valm arc is literally FILLER. WHYYYYYYYYYY?! It's a shame, because the Valm arc has the better villains, imo. That said, the Gangrel arc was nice, and the Grima arc is meh, but at least things were explained for the most part. That, and children were better explained than the aforementioned 2 games.

Sacred Stones: SS does a lot of things right, and the story is cohesive for the most part, however, it really suffers from poor world building. There is a lot of lore that went undeveloped. Also, Ephraim has some Gary Stu tendencies at certain moments.

Shadow Dragon: It's inspired by the first, and it's a relatively safe story. It's a good story for the most part, although a lot of parts of it were unmemorable. My main issue is that a lot of the time it was Marth and his strategist talking, with no other characters getting that much word in.

Binding Blade: It's very similar to Shadow Dragon in terms of presentation, but it does have livelier cutscenes. Also, it has more of an emphasis on humanity's relationship with the supernatural, rather than just have corrupted entities. There's more religion and motivation, from what I can remember. BB also has SD's problem of just being Roy and Medeus talking most of the time, but there are at least more deviation than SD.

Radiant Dawn: Ok, truth be told, I think SD and BB may be more cohesive, but damn RD is so enjoyable to me. It's my first FE, so clock my bias. But RD has one of my favorite presentations of a FE game. It just sounds epic. I need that narrator again. First 2 parts are well written, the last 2 not as much, however they still do a lot of things right (lots of villain screentime, world building, base conversations).

Shadows of Valentia: Well written for the most part, but I do have some gripes. It tends to rely on a couple of deus ex machinas and that pisses me off. I don't like these types of literary tools, mainly because I feel like they're a lazy way to resolve a problem. That being said, the presentation is fantastic. The VAs did a wonderful job and I like the fact that it wasn't just the lord and their strategist talking. Rather, the majority of the cast was actively involved in the story in one way or another.

Genealogy of the Holy War: Now I know this is listed as my favorite, and for good reason. But there are a couple of things I can't ignore. First off, FE4 is a lot darker story than other FEs, and it takes a lot of storytelling risks. While it doesn't pass all of its goals with flying colors, it does a lot of things well. There's a good amount of world building, political intrigue, thematic events. The story itself is really engaging and different from other FEs. However, I can't ignore the fact that some details are known due to them being present in the guidebook, rather than the game itself. Also, it has a habit of "spoiling" a villain's secret plan. Like RD, it gives the villains a lot of screentime, however, some lines could have been more ambiguous and not completely obvious. That said, if FE4 does get a remake, if it remembers to include the guidebook details and maybe some from the Oosawa manga, then it will be a much clearer story. It has the potential to be the best if they do fix up some of the script to leave it more ambiguous and have more decisive reveal moments.

Path of Radiance: Not much to say on this one, despite it being my #1 for the best story. While it is safer than Genealogy, I cannot remember any significant faults within the story. Everything is cohesive and well explained, multiple characters develop gradually over the story, it has a wonderful presentation, has a lot of the things I liked about RD. All in all, it's pretty solid. However, I doubt it's place as #1 is going to be permanent in my heart. I may change my mind sooner or later if I bother to replay it.

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