20 Best Nintendo Games Of The Decade

To say that Fire Emblem Awakening saved Fire Emblem as a franchise would be an understatement. The franchise was all but dead for several years, then Awakening swooped in and more or less salvaged the whole thing. To the point where the next two entries centered around trying to recapture that magic, and Three Houses succeeded because like Awakening, it knew it had to do its own thing.

We could gush all about the gameplay, the excellent pairing system where you can pair two characters up for increased stats, marry them off, then get control of those two characters' children who have increased stats depending on who you had be their parents. But while that is a revolutionary idea for the franchise, it probably isn't why so many mainstream gamers gave this entry a shot.

The reason is very simple: this game lets you turn off perma-death. Perma-death, while being great for hardcore players, was a HUGE barrier to entry for more casual gamers, who didn't want to risk losing characters they had invested so much in because of one lousy tactical mistake. But it's also good that it didn't take it away entirely, just give you the option to turn it off.

Fire Emblem Awakening is a remarkable strategy game that everyone should try at least once. We promise, you won't regret your investment.