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Hmm, I hadn't considered the field supports. I should have, considering how much I don't like them.
But I do think that I will change my vote for best to Awakening.

You had me at "Chapter 10 fapping."

FE7 is still definitely among the better ones for newbies, though.

Best: FE8 or FE13
I'd argue against FE8 for the same reasons FD gave for FE7-- difficulty in obtaining supports, shopping in battles, etc-- but the plot is relatively easy to follow, the characters are memorable, and the difficulty jump isn't too steep for those who aren't used to SRPGs or games with the character death real switch turned on and then broken off. Say what you will about the plot, the story is more or less complete (there isn't much that's brought up and then abruptly dropped, anyway), the characters contribute to what's going on (probably aided by the fact that you have so many royals in your party), and the characters, while not infinitely memorable, are entertaining while they last.

And having any degree of post-game helps.

I'd offer up FE13 for the same reason; it trades some of the plot interest in favor of easier combat and much easier supports. It'll probably also appeal to a lot of people with the marriage system, Avatar creation, and thus marrying You The Player to the hunk/babe of your choice within the game.

And again, post-game.

Worst: FE10/FE11
FE10 because it's a sequel, it's bizarrely difficult (difficulty rename shifting whoo), and the new characters are largely unimportant in favor of SUPER POWERFUL GREIL'S MERCENARIES WHEE. FE11 because having a game where you're required to keep your roster thin to get Gaidens, especially with a newbie who might need to keep a large roster on hand to buffer possible tactical slips later... Not a good idea.

I don't really see accessibility arguments holding much ground. It's supposed to be about the game. People don't have to buy a game to play it, they can rent it or borrow it- heck even us, the one recommending the game, who probably has it, and can easily let them borrow it. Don't have the game? Well you played it somehow and so can they. Problem solved.

Here we are, We Know it's Too Late.
Hoping only to find some closure..!
Silently waiting, Hear the calling..!
Look into the wanting eyes, my Cherished!

Now we are here, We know its too late!
Hoping only to find some closure,
Silently waiting, Hear the calling!
Look into the wanting eyes, My Cherished!

The game itself is a fairly large chunk of my recommendation, but these days renting previous generation games is out of the question, and with a hefty price tag at even first glance, suggesting something like the Tellius games is going to be a huge deterrent for people hoping to get into the series. Even people willing to make the recommendation might either A. not own the game for said price tag (as they, as you said, rented it at some point) B. might not be willing to lend it out because of how expensive a replacement would be. Accessibility is a large factor in what I recommend to people, especially in this case. As much as I enjoy the Tellius games, even the people I know that are fans around me don't have a copy to just hand out to people wanting to jump on the bandwagon. Accesibility matters, and I'm not about to expect someone to drop 150 dollars just on my word alone.

That sort of thing expects a foundation to go on, which is why Awakening gets my vote on this one.

Well then, it's a good thing this round isn't about price tags and instead about the games then, huh? We're talking about theoretical people. Nobody is actually going out to buy something. My previous points still stand. This round has derailed into deeply irrelevant territory. Let's get back to talking about the actual games like the round is about.

The only accessibility argument that I can think of that holds validity is that Awakening is actually still in stores and being sold on the e-shop, while none others are, but even then, that is super small.

Like I've said and has been ignored; we found a way to play, and so will they. It's just our responsibility to recommend what we think would be the best game to begin with. Regardless of all else, what would be the BEST introduction to the series based on the games themselves? Then if the person wants to talk accessibility, we can do that. But that's not this round.

Indeed. Rath does make a good point. The game should be the focus for this round and not the availability of the pricing of said game. That could be an interesting topic to discuss for the future, but let's leave that for another round.

Still, I can totally see where people are going with awakening. The game itself is still pretty good. There's still a ton of great things about it. I used to be against the whole casual mode thing, but I don't really mind it anymore. It's a good direction IS went with the series. Having to work your way up from casual, and get the confidence to eventually play on classic mode is a good idea. I am fond very fond of the first half of awakening especially chapter 10.(Everyone probably knows that by now.) There's DLC, gaiden chapters are unlocked automatically, a customizable avatar. There's a lot to love for a new fans getting into the series.

But I'm sticking with FE7 as best. Everyone experience things differently. I'm probably the only one that feels this way, but I actually liked getting supports in FE7. I also, liked the unlockables for getting the music and that wonderful CG art.. If anything, the limitations of armories and shops seemed more of a challenge to teach the player to conserve their things At least that's how I saw it..The only supports I found to be frustrating to acquire is Renault and I guess Geitz for some reason. Though, Renault's does take a very loooong time to activate and the player must have lots of patience to wait for them. Honestly, most of them aren't really all that difficult to obtain really. And it's understandable that not many people are going to wait that long.

On the other hand, I think the conversations tend to be much more memorable and enjoyable in FE7 compared to awakening. Like, I do like most of the conversations in awakening. Truth be told, I find a lot of them to be well... Forgettable. There's a fairly hefty roster for support conversations and I guess one could argue that it's good for replay ability. Most of are them are great, so don't get me wrong there.To me, it felt like an achievement every time I got a support in FE7, I remember getting really excited to find out what's going to happen next. True, the max is only 5 supports and with awakening it's unlimited. But maybe that's what part of FE7's charm and why it's so special to me. There's always something new to discover every time you'd play the game again over and over again. I really didn't feel the same way with awakening..


The gaiden chapters in FE7 I can't really defend... Some of them aren't thought out too well. I missed just a few of them because of the cryptic requirements. Such as chapters 19xx, 22x, and 30x. At least 30x does make some sense, as you practically need to finish chapter 30 in hector's mode as quick as possible.Though, I mostly am speaking about Chapter 19xx in hector's mode, and Chapter 22x in particular... How are you supposed to know to level up Nils to level 7 and defeat kishuna in chapter 19x to get obtain it? Or with Ninian giving her 700 experience in the desert chapter. But I got through the game just fine without those chapters. It's just optional stuff, so it's not like you need to get them right away. But yeah, the requirements for some of them did take things a little too far.

Nothing sells the high points of the series like pressing "End Turn" a hundred times in a row for a single support conversation!

Just kidding! …Except not really.

But really, FE7 isn't a bad choice, by any means.