That's true. They'll be all of the old classes, plus likely a couple new ones. And they'll likely be 3 tiers as well, if they want it to last over 30 hours. 

I wonder if more classes would become avaliable via DLC? I.E having Ike as one of the characters, and a story with that. Or having extra maps based around what happens after the main story with some of the lesser characters (a good example would be having a few maps for Stefan from Radiant Dawn, when he's the leader of their new country).

That'd be pretty awesome.

This might be a little bit off topic, but I want some advice about the Fire Emblem series.

I've only played FE: Shadow Dragon for the DS and while I enjoyed it and thought that it was a good game, I don't think it lived up to the hype I had for the series. I loved the gameplay mechanics, which I think make a welcome break compared the the normal Tactics Ogre styled SRPG, however I thought it was too linear for my liking. On the other hand I don't think I can accurately judge the series on a remake of a NES game, for example my opinion of Final Fantasy would be much lower if I had only played the DS remake of FFIII.

Anyway, I want to play more of the series, but don't know where to start. I'm a 3DS ambassador, so I already have one of the GBA games (I think it's the 3rd GBA one iirc). I don't speak any meaningful amount of Japanese, so I'll have to stick with the ones in English, which I have all the necessary platforms to play. Where is the best place to start?

I also have a pretty big back catalogue of games at the moment, which will only grow when The Last Story is released and my copy of SMT: Devil Survivor arrives. So I'm unlikely to get them soon, just for future reference.

My advice would be to play Sacred Stones on the 3DS if you're an ambassador. It's widely regarded as amongst the best, and it's also the least linear (plenty of optional quests, fights, world map etc.), and will likely be the most similar to the 3DS title. 

I'd them reccomend my personal favourite, Radiant Dawn for Wii. It's the longest title with the most character development, and can easily be different each time you play it (especially if you choose to save a certain character on your second playthrough). The story is equally captivating and will likely fill you with much joy, and leave you wanting for more. I've played it for around 650 hours, through 9 times and I'm still finding out new things about the game! It's also dirt cheap, you can get it for about £10.

If you see it, then get it would be my advice. You'll find a time to play it, and you can always play a bit, leave it, play some more later. 

Just my opinion, but I'm sure many people would agree.

Two places you can start.

Path of Radiance on the Gamecube, followed by Radiant Dawn on the Wii.

Fire Emblem 7, just called "Fire Emblem" in the west, is the GBA title that's probably the single best introduction to the series for my money.

Sacred Stones is also very good but very atypical for the series in several ways.

True. I always liked the Arenas in Fire Emblem, as you could either take part in an arena battle to level up and get some cash, but risk using your characters and doing the chapter over. As some lasted a couple hours, it was always tense, and aborting the fight too late to see that tragic death screen for your best character, and doing it all again...

I hope they bring that back. Or, to reduce the linearity, let you choose which path to take (sorta like Part 4 of Radiant Dawn, but you choose which way to go, or like Sacred Stones with Erikia and Ephraim's routes), with different endings and characters depending on which way you went. I hope they do this to give you yet more reason to replay the game...

Sounds like a good idea to me! I think a hidden path for completionists which reveals a load about the backstory of more interesting characters would be a great idea. The most frustrating thing was that you had to re-do the first half of the game just to get to the point where the paths split, at which point I just never really felt as excited as the first time through. To save Pelleas on Radiant Dawn was even worse... 

So perhaps having a way to start at the split (if there is one) instead of at the beginning of the game would be a good idea. That way, you don't have to do it all again. It may be hard, but Intelligent Systems have done it with Radiant Dawn, so why not with the new game? 

Then again, with your own customisational character, each game would be different anyway. But the more options, the more choice for the player, and the more reasons to keep playing it. I just hope all of this extra stuff won't be in DLC form...

Yeah great point, I really love that about FE

Anyone who's played both FE and Disgaea (or Phantom Brave) can clearly see this, it's so easy in Disgaea to just go crazy with your character levels, it really screws up the main story and it kinda ruined the game for me.

All this talk about FE makes me want to play it SO bad right now

You should! I'm re-doing RD again, after just finishing SS!

Love them.

Where's my Advance Wars, Intelligent Systems?! T_T

can't wait.