Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

This is my personal favorite Fire Emblem game. I might be a bit biased since it is the game that got me personally into the series, but I just love this Fire Emblem game in particular. Just like FE7, it has great sprite work, amazing music, great cast of characters, etc. I would argue that, of the Fire Emblem games I've played, it has the overall best map design (I can only think of 1 or 2 levels that are iffy). I like how you actually get to have a choice in your branching path (unlike in FE6 and 7 where the unlock requirements for certain maps are very arbitrary and forced upon you). It's also neat that even when the two paths converge, there are still differences in the story and maps between the two. It's also nice that every character in the game is accessible despite which route you pick, since the two characters that show up on each route during the split will join you when the paths converge. Some argue that the game is too easy, but I think personally that the difficulty is fine and levels up in difficulty at a really nice pace. However, if you are looking for a super hard challenge, the Hard difficulty is no pushover. I would argue that this game is the best one to introduce players into classic Fire Emblem. A couple small nitpicks is that it is definitely on the shorter side (being around 20 chapters when the average FE game is around 25-30) and that the postgame is a bit on the weaker side (though on the flipside of that, FE games hardly have a postgame to begin with, so having a postgame at all is a plus for those who want it); it's really only a novelty for if you want to collect and use the various Creature Campaign exclusive characters. I have personally beaten the game countless times, fully completed the sound test, gotten every single Creature Campaign character, obtained every single last support in this game (remember this is a game that only lets you get up to 1 A support per run) and completed both the Eirika and Ephraim routes on Hard Mode. This game holds a special place in my heart. If you're either an FE fan who hasn't played this one yet or are someone who is curious into getting into FE and wants to play a more classic game, I would highly recommend playing this game.

Sacred Stones is a slightly easier game than FE7, but it does offer more tangible changes that improve upon the formula from the previous game. The ability to choose which class your characters can change into, stages to train in, post game content, and the addition of skills help make Sacred Stones a more robust title to the predecessor.

Another game that is very solid, but I can't appreciate in its entirety because I am bad at it. I always struggled with classic Fire Emblem and its permadeath...

I like it! It is different to the one that came before, but I think it is still enjoyable and replayeable... and the sprite animations are nice.

This is a great tactical RPG from when Fire Emblem was still a great tactical RPG series. With two branching stories, the level of replay-ability instantly doubles to see the events of the game from two different points of view. The customization of units has a little more depth this time around, due to being able to select one of two classes upon a class up. As with the earlier Fire Emblem games, the plot is thick and rich, interesting well designed characters, and geopolitical conflict that moves the narrative forward. If you love tactical RPG games, don't pass this one up, there are a lot of extras and unlockables to achieve even long after the game has been completed!