And I would suggest Fire Emblem on the GBA (just "Fire Emblem" in English) as a good starter - it's one game in the series that really needs to be played by everyone.

Torillian brings up a good point: Fire Emblem may be great, but it is also a game/series that will kick the shit out of you.

Though, Torillian, in fairness, Radiant Dawn may not be a good place to start. It's one of the hardest games in the series, and that is a series full of hard games.

im going with Fire Emblem VC hadd the better story (depends on witch FE you are comparing it to) but FE is funner to play and i get attached to the characters in FE while i dont in VC

It's hard to narrow down Fire Emblem, since between the DS and Wii, there are potentially five different Fire Emblems you can play, including the backwards compatibility of both platforms.

However, that's no real issue because there's quite a few SRPGs I would take before Valkyria Chronicles and any Fire Emblem.

1. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness or Disgaea 2 (PSP)
2. Knights in the Nightmare (DS)
3. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (PSP)
4. Valkyria Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS)
5. Hoshigami: Running Blue Earth Remix (DS)

You may be right. I've had much less time with that one than I've had with PoR, so I'm a bit biased here.

I'd nearly forgotten all about it... it's been years since I've played it. I never had a GBA... just borrowed one. Though it has been a while, I remember thoroughly enjoying it and recall many of the games' characters, its plot; Hell, I'm even listening to some of its music just now on youtube and its coming back quite quickly.

I should check it out again. I'm curious how much they go for used...

You are also a Canadian, my good man? Here:

http://product.half.ebay.com/Fire-Emblem_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ10675

Some of these sellers are quite reasonable.

This particular game is one of those that makes you play through it multiple times for reasons other than support conversations: beating the game once unlocks Hector mode, which lets you play through more difficult versions of previous missions (with a few extra missions thrown in) from the perspective of my favorite character in the series.

I've been mulling this one over now since June. I just can't decide.

On one hand it looks incredibly fun and unique, but on the other I'm concerned that the stylus-dodging would get tiresome after awhile.

Did you find that to be an issue or was it engaging enough to hardly be bothered?

I would have been sold on anything less than $25. This is great. Thanks.

And yes, I'm Canadian; and, to my knowledge, one of the few Newfoundlanders on here.

Valkyria Chronicles 100% ... If i were you, i would skip the fire emblem on wii and try to get the gamecube one ... that was better ...

BTW: im saying valkyria chronicles because the ps3 one was amazing ... if the PSP one is ANYTHING like the ps3 one, it will be amazing, and please buy it

It makes the game feel almost like a SHMUP at times. You constantly have to dodge the bullets with your stylus, while you also try and attack, use items, etc. It's not tiresome unless you get a hand cramp, but I suppose then it would be tiring. It keeps you engaged in battles, which I don't find to be too much of an issue in SRPGs as it is, but it definitely doesn't have the feeling of spamming the A button for attack like other turn based RPGs do.

I only played the original of both,but VC gets my vote. It's just more fun!