You have a somewhat compelling argument on your hands. Your fallacy is simply that you are turned off by the "anime" art style. Fire Emblem has always had a classic Japanese art style to it. Even Fire Emblem: Path or Radiance had it (phenomenal game btw, it was my first FE game). The interesting thing about Fire Emblems cut scenes is that it is a blend of both cel-shading and 3D. It's hard to call it one or the other as it is a unique blend of both that you can't really find else where. It adds a very special layer of depth to the visuals that really stands out and defines the cut scenes. Of course this is completely personal tastes but I love it!
I don't get how you see the whole marriage system as a "waifu" simulator, but you sure gave me a laugh and a smile. Thank you for that! :) I absolutely loved the whole "waifu sim" as you call it. It added a whole new gameplay mechanic to the series and honestly I have yet to see a game do it better. Getting characters married and then they have children who come back in time to help you. If they don't get married, well then I guess the children can't be born. Besides I freaking love Tharja! Her crazy insane obsession with me made her use some seriously messed up voodoo magic and then suddenly I had this crazy insane obsession with her! -_-
The Fire Emblem series is debatably Nintendo's darkest franchise. At least one of them, the games are incredibly mature in terms of subject matters. Not in the sense of blood and gore, but a different form of violence. The games are very political and heavily focused on geo-domination, conquest, and power. I liked how Awakening shaked things up and went back to the roots with Grima. While still having conquest with Walhart, though he does not come remotely close to Black Knight. Black Knight while not being a major villain, he was one of the series most formidable foes and a serious threat to Ike and the world he lived in.
The Fire Emblem series is phenomenal and Awakening in my opinion was easily one of the best and the story was without a doubt one of my favorites in video games. Plot has always been a strong point for the series and Awakening was no different. The plot twist blew me away, and I know it blew many other fans away as well! These games are quite dark and gritty at times and that is a huge part of it's universe.
