The best Fire Emblem games, ranked from best to worst

How do you take a series that has been riffing on fantasy warfare for decades and turn it into something remarkably fresh? Why, turn it into Harry Potter, of course! Fire Emblem: Three Houses is split between the traditional combat missions and sections that take place in a monastery, where the protagonist works and develops the abilities of his students. The changes of pace keep the incredibly long game from feeling stale, and the conversations and storylines you find are actually worth exploring. Three Houses also gives you far more control over how you develop your party. Characters typically start as low-level commoners who can essentially be trained to take on any class role, and though you are initially limited to just the characters in the house you’re leading, you can eventually recruit those from other houses to round out your squad. It all adds up to the most personalized Fire Emblem game yet, and one that is certainly worth playing more than once.

Path of Radiance was apparently too large a game to tell in just one go, so Intelligent Systems made the uncommon choice to create a direct sequel to it on the Wii. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn once again puts players in the boots of Ike and his mercenary team, but also introduced a new protagonist – a citizen of the nation Ike had helped defeat in the last game. The Wii is largely viewed as a system aimed at more casual players, but Radiant Dawn was anything but. Its story’s examination of post-war political strife and what it can mean for innocent citizens of a defeated country gave players one of the only morally ambiguous stories in the series’ history. It also happened to be a brutally difficult game, which unfortunately ensured that many of them would never actually see the ending.