I thought it would die after the wii but then the 3DS version really ignited the flame. Happy for the in-game artstyle change aswell, radiant dawn done nothing for me.

I wonder how much the "Casual Mode" counted towards FE: Awekening popularity.

The game is amazing and the tradicional fans would buy it anyway, but without the casual mode, i don't think it would sell that much.

While Awakening is seen as slightly controversial to Fire Emblem purists, I feel that this was the direction the series needed to take in order to be "revived". As a fan of the series for the past 6 years, I'm very glad that the series has grown in popularity as it's starting to become one of Nintendo's top franchises. I hope it continues this way and I hope Fire Emblem continues to evolve because I've enjoyed pretty much every FE game I've played.

You forgot the part about Smash Bros Melee. Marth and Roy being in it played a huge role in making the western audience interested in the FE franchise.

I do wish they'd make the next game as tight as Radiant Dawn in terms of design: Bonus EXP was a better method of easy-grinding than actual grinding, yet was still a limited resource so you couldn't overlevel everyone. More characters got a chance to shine in the story, and there was a broader amount of objectives so that each map wasn't "Kill the boss" or "kill all red units".

I enjoyed Awakening and look forward to what they're trying with If, but i'd still like to see If drop some of Awakening's features like the gaiden-map and its accompanying grinding components (also the elimination of optional chapters, as in the Paralogues. Optional DLC is nice, but the story should run smoothly in progress).

Nintendo should try branching the franchise out into a full blown action side spin-off I say.

I disagree, while the story did showcase more characters I felt this worked more toward the game's determinant. The shift in perspectives while interesting never actually gave many characters a chance to shine due to their availability being limited. 

Optional chapters have been part of the series since Thracia 776, they should stay. Unless you mean DLC, then I can go with that.

They actually marketed the damn game outside Japan. That's what happened. It's good stuff. Nintendo just needed to understand that.

Recent Fire Emblem convert with Awakening, but I'm sold. Glad to see the series take off finally and get some much-deserved success. It's an awesome series and I think "If" will follow suit.

Also, nice thread! Was fun to read. :)

I wanna see the same happen to some of their other franchises as well