So how would you describe the difficulty levels? I'm just starting the game.

I played through Path of Radiance on Normal with no real trouble, and got partway through Radiant Dawn on Normal before I stopped playing due to disinterest.

When Awakening says Hard is for "experienced players" does it mean me? XCOM said something similar about Classic difficulty, except it turns out that means Classic is at least 10 times more difficult than Normal, and you have to play very conservatively or else the odds are wildly against you.

It says Normal is for "series beginners", and I generally know my way around a weapon triangle and seeing how far enemies can be expected to move and all that.

Basically, will Normal feel too much like a cakewalk for babies? Or conversely, will Hard suck the fun out of my first playthrough of the game by causing me to fail chapters over and over in the early-to-mid game until I figure out exactly how the systems work in this Fire Emblem?

The first few "real" fights on hard can be kind of frustrating, especially if you're playing with classic mode turned on.

Once you're able to level up your characters a bit though things start to get more manageable. I'm about 20 hours in, and so far it hasn't been too bad.

Normal mode is basically "I'm just here for the animes" mode. You'll overpower pretty much everything in the game about halfway through.

Hard mode is regular ass Fire Emblem mode. More enemies, they hit harder, and you actually have to use strategy for most of the game. You'll still be overpowered in the end, but the beginning will kick you in the nuts repeatedly if you play dumb. Also things like the ability to pair up units can be done from the tutorial mission on hard, where you don't gain access to that ability until a few chapters into normal.

Lunatic is for crazy people who hate having fun.

Lunatic + is for robots/Japanese people.

Anyone that has experience with Fire Emblem games or similar strategy games would be doing themselves a disservice by not stepping it up to hard.

Depends if permadeath is on or not. I am just on Normal to start but I have permadeath on and refuse to let anyone die so I end up restarting a lot.

Other than that it isn't too hard but I was pretty good at Advance Wars and other TBS stuff so this kind of game is pretty easy for me.

I just picked this up today and played on normal as I've never played a Fire Emblem game before. My characters are to the point where I'm just launching them into groups of enemies without worry; it's way too easy. I am currently playing with permadeath off because my OCDish nature would never allow me to continue if I would lose a unit, so instead of restarting a save whenever I'd lose a unit, I figured I'd just cut out the middle-man and save myself time and frustration.

Alright, Hard it is then.

I would suggest Hard for sure. I unfortunately picked Normal since this is my first Fire Emblem game. After the first few hours I felt like I was unbeatable and the only time someone would die is if I was just trying to rush through the level as quick as possible. I ended up getting to a point where I just powered through chapters to end the game so I can begin a new file on lunatic. So far I am loving lunatic, it is making me wish I started on hard my first try then moved to lunatic afterwards.

I am so pumped for this! Come on April!

Maybe I'm just terrible, but I've played 2 other Fire Emblem games and I'm having a tough time playing on normal in classic mode. I'm up to chapter 6 or 7, and I've had to reset a few times already. I feel like none of the characters can tank any damage except for Kellam and Frederick. But I don't use Frederick because I want the XP to go to lower levels.

@walrusii said:

It's definitely hardest early on, but it helps a lot if you pair units up. Aside from gaining supports, it also turns two mediocre units into one above average unit. The stat bonuses won't be huge at first, but it's worth doing.

But yeah, no one can tank much damage, so you do want to whittle guys down at first with ranged people like Virion and your spellcasters. Ultimately, pretty soon the game becomes pretty unbalanced in your favour, as long as you're "grinding" on the random Risen that show up on the world map, and maybe getting the occasional Streetpass team to fight (though unfortunately many of the Streetpasses you get will be people's endgame teams that are way too strong for you).

This is so true. This is my first Fire Emblem game and by the 20 hour mark (with permadeath turned on) I was overpowered. I only reset once when someone died. Along the way I lost a lot of good characters, but by the end my core five or six are monsters. Play on hard, accept your losses and feel better when you conquer the game.