I'm planning on getting that Zelda 3DS bundle and Fire Emblem seems to be the most widely recommended game. I don't know if I can enjoy the experience of playing a game like this for long if there isn't at least a decent story stringing everything together. Last game I played that was somewhat close to this thing is Valkyria Chronicles and I really liked that, but there are some major differences.

Also, I think I read a major spoiler about the marth-wannabe girl who turns out to be chrom's daughter from the future, is that bad?

I've never played any other Fire Emblem game, so will that affect my enjoyment of the story?

It was my first Fire Emblem and I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. The story was...fine? Just buy it dude, it's a really really good game.

Fire Emblem Awakening's story is weird. It's a basic "save the world from this threat you won't really know about until you are two thirds through the game" plot but certain choices you can make, make the ending a lot darker than originally thought.

Also some plot points are just left hanging in the air.

It does have some good set pieces.

The story's fine, but pretty forgettable, I thought. They do throw in the TINY GIRL WHO IS ACTUALLY 1000 YEARS OLD anime trope though, which is about as bad as it ever gets. There is one pretty cool moment about half-way through the game from a story standpoint.

Not really. It's standard medieval fantasy. Starts out as a fairly shallow war epic but eventually turns into a "stop the dark lord's resurrection" thing.

Some characters are pretty charming though, and pairing them up ends up being more compelling than saving the world.

It's your typical JPRG/anime/manga story that is generic but very well written. All the plot twists are telegraphed well in advance so I wouldn't worry too much about that spoiler. If you can enjoy the storyline in games like the Tales series you can probably get into this game. It's similar to Valkyria Chronicles but with less of an edge to it. I thought it got the job done.

I've only played like, 1.5 previous Fire Emblem games myself (remembering nothing) and I enjoyed the story fine.

I hadn't played any Fire Emblem before this, and it didn't feel like there was much 'connection' to anything in that respect. It didn't feel like I was missing anything.

But maybe that's really just an indication that I don't think the story is all that great. In fact, I'd probably say the main overarching story (the bit that relates to your spoiler) almost feels like it slips into the background most of the time against the 2 or 3 'wars' you fight between countries. Of course, the 'main thing' is what causes the wars, as it turns out. I'm probably doing a bad job of being purposefully vague here, but I'd call the overall plot 'obvious'.

It's a Fire Emblem game, yo. There will be betrayal, there will be a Lord, and at some point, the group will have to vanquish an ancient evil.

It has nice music, though!

I'm sure the story is extraordinary if it causes players to overlook the massive design flaw of there being like 6 difficulty levels. (if not more)

"I hope I picked the right difficulty level.. WHOA ANIME CUTSCENES. This game speaks to me."

Ok then I guess the next question is, despite the lackluster story, is it fun / worth it?

It's not aggressively bad like Valkyia but it's still pretty generic and boring.

Just for reference, I consider Awakenings one of my favorite games of the year and I can't, for the life of me, remember who the final boss was.

It is standard JRPG stuff nothing exciting but also nothing bad if you like JRPGs.

I did not enjoy it at all. Besides teh story being bland I didn't enjoy the combat. Enemies kill your guys in 1-2 hits no matter what you equip or train them in and I found the game just devolved into moving your guys so that you get to attack the enemy before they attack you and that's it. Any time I tried to use strategy to position my guys in anyway other than to just always be one square out of the enemies range they always ended up getting gang raped by a bunch of the enemies and dieing. Rinse and repeat.

Apparently I'm the only person in the world to hate this game since I only ever hear people glowing about it, but that's my two cents.

@aegon: The mechanics are very solid and the characters are likable enough to carry the story.

Story is serviceable. Nothing all that spectacular, but it keeps the game moving along well enough.

The main story isn't amazing but it is well written with some fun dialogue. It's TOTALLY worth it though, easily one of the best games of the year. There's a reason why it reviewed so well.

That's an odd question to ask. It has some amazing events and well developed themes, but the plot tying it all together is lacking. It's more like a bunch of cool happenings than a cohesive narrative.

Positioning your units so as to get the first hit in as well as avoiding multiple enemies on the same turn is kind of how every turn based tactics games work. In addition, Awakening is arguably the most forgiving entry in the franchise when played at default difficulty in a very long time. Aside from the purposefully squishy units such as archers, mages and clerics, it is mechanically impossible (the damage formula is easy to calculate) to let a unit be killed in 3 or less hits when outside of lunatic mode.

I think Awakening is a game that is mostly supported by its characters more than its narrative. The main plot is kind of just there, but many of the characters are quite entertaining, especially given how you can pair them up to have kids. I got so attached to my lady tactician that I don't think I'll be able to use anyone else if I play again.

The gameplay is quite solid though, and definitely worth it whether you like the narrative or not. My only complaint is how easy it is to break and become OP as fuck by the end.

I believe people are more invested in its gameplay and Social Link-like elements; care naught for the story.

Don't buy it for the story. Go play the demo and see if you like the combat, because that comprises an overwhelming portion of the game.

I don't think the demo is the best representation of the game. It's only the tutorial levels, so it's only the most barebones representation of the mechanics. If you've ever played a SRPG before it won't tell you much new.

This seems to be the general impression I've gotten from other people. Whoever thought of turning shipping into a game mechanic is a genius.

Honestly, story has never been Fire Emblem's strong point. It has good moments but that's about it. Like everyone is saying, it's about the gameplay, take the story with a grain of salt cause it's not gonna blow you away. It's okay, but nothing special. That being said, probably my favorite Fire Emblem, if not my favorite 3DS game. It's definitely a good way to enter the series, there's an normal mode if you want to learn the combat and mechanics first. Hard mode is pretty much on par with previous Fire Emblems.

I highly suggest playing the demo first. If you think the combat is something you'd be interested in, then get it. If you don't like the strategic RPG elements or it doesn't do anything for you, then you may want to hold off as that comprises pretty entirely what the game is.

The plot itself isn't very compelling, though if you enjoyed the story in Valkyria Chronicles, I am quite certain you'll be able to enjoy this one too. As far as generic plots of this type its actually pretty well put together, and it has its moments, its just not a particularly deep narrative. Even if you don't find the plot to your liking, I guarantee that there are a few characters you'll enjoy, they're all super fun and charming. As for the spoiler, it sucks that you saw that, but I guessed the twist way before it happened, so it wasn't exactly a huge revelation and I still enjoyed the reveal.

The story isn't perfect, but it is consistently entertaining and the characters and relationships are well done. Not the best Fire Emblem plot, but still worth it.