Best Fire Emblem games

In my opinion, Path of Radiance and Mystery of the Emblem are the best. While Genealogy is definitely a close third, I feel it was bogged down by too many things. To me, Path of Radiance and Mystery of the Emblem are the epitome of what the series should be, and what it stands for. In addition, both have generally good writing, good characters, and refreshing gameplay that offered new twists for their time, while still remaining true to the core series. Also, Mystery of the Emblem actually did a player created avatar well; Which proves they actually CAN do it, so Fates and Awakening had no excuse.

The same way it flunked everything else; terrible writing and poor design. Creating a character with absolutely no personality or character development whatsoever and then placing them in the very center of the plot is writing on Elementary school level. It's entirely possible to make a Player Avatar who actually has some semblance of- Surprise!- character and still tie them into the story, and that's what Mystery did. Now, granted, the PC in that game was still connected to Marth, and his character was still typical FE style- but it was executed a hundred times better than Awakening or Fates.

I disagree with Kris being done well. In actuality, he is the worst Avatar besides Corrin.

He is what fans of SoV don't want to happen for the older games. Crafting an Avatar in an existing story and taking all the attention away from the main character.

There was no reason for him to exist for much the same reason it was for Corrin being an avatar instead of his own fully-fleshed out character. The fanbase despises Kris except for a select few. It can even be compared that the hatred for Corrin is the hatred for Kris. Both twist the worlds they are in and make it revolve around them, with people doing the stupidest things for them for no reason other than admiration or faith.

For Corrin, it's the constant "You didndu nuffin'," and for Kris it's his very existence. He renders Marth's accomplishments moot, when the original was all about Marth bringing himself to the forefront of history. So much that by the time Awakening comes around, people still utter his name in sheer respect that befits a Hero-King.

Robin isn't much better, but he walks the fine line between being important and not too important. He does not overshadow Chrom except for the final story.

If Awakening's level of writing is elementary, then New Mystery of the Emblem's is garbage. It's as though someone plopped their OC into an existing story. Funny, because that's exactly what it did. The gameplay itself is improved over Shadow Dragon, but beyond that it's not a great game by any stretch of the imagination.

Awakening had more potential than it it terms of concept. It was just pacing and poor execution that held Awakening's story and characters back. A lot of people like to pretend Awakening and Fates characters are the start of the series decline, but FE characters with the exception of some of PoR's have never been groundbreaking.

PoR is Fire Emblem's holy grail to the fanbase for recent FE. It's due to the way FE handles characters in a game where anyone can die. A lot of them fade to the background once they are recruited. And the ones that do stick around—minus the main cast—receive little to no character development at all.

Genealogy is an easy game, with it allowing you to save in the middle of a chapter, and the holy weapons are broken. It's a case of lore and story being integrated rather than you being told these weapons are powerful. The gameplay enforces it. Forseti and Naga will shred through a lot of things.

I want to avoid using "best FE game" because a lot of the FE games are great, doing their own things. It's more or less each installment tweaking things or attempting to innovate the design. Opinions vary.

Genealogy's strength is it's plot and characters; it has no supports, which didn't come into existence until FE6. The twist is predictable now, but back then it was a real shocker I imagine. Now it's blasted all over the Internet, so it's easy to spoil yourself.

It deconstructed a lot of things for FE. It's world is fleshed out in a lot of Kaga interviews when it comes to him discussing his decisions on certain things, whether it be family trees and history. He even explained the religions in Jugdral and how they formed or split off from another.

His game design might not be stellar, but I respect him for his worldbuilding. I'd say Tellius eclipsed it, but other FE in my opinion don't come close to these two in terms of worldbuilding. And Magvel is practically non-existent.

The things that make Sacred Stones stand out more than Gaiden—which Awakening and Fates also borrowed from in terms of grinding and maps—is the tone. Unlike the other FE...it's pure fantasy. It's difficult to explain, but Magvel is as though FE was written as a fantasy book instead of a game.

It enforces the setting of fantasy more than the other FE. Monsters, ruins, heroes going on a great journey to defeat the big bad or seal it. Of course, FE shares the last point, but Magvel hit the nail on the head with it. It seems more like an adventure than a war.

Its crippling weakness is worldbuilding.

PoR offers the fanbase something new. Ike is not nobility nor royalty. In a series where the main characters are royalty or nobility, he stands out. It's a bit of a spoiler, but it can be argued he is. But that involves going into his heritage, which is spoilers for a lot of people.

PoR makes you feel as though there's a war going on, but instead of you seeing it through the eyes of royalty, you're seeing it through the eyes of mercenaries. In terms of plot and characters, this is also PoR's strength.

Genealogy and PoR are my vote, but Magvel would be a close third despite lack of worldbuilding.