A misconception that many people have about Nintendo franchises is that all of them were “hits from the start.” That’s not always the case. Pikmin is a great example of that, as it was popular, but didn’t have “sales success” until its 4th mainline entry. Fire Emblem is another franchise that fits that mold of “it took a while to be a hit.” For many years, it was a franchise that was only released in Japan, with the occasional title/localization happening. Characters like Marth, Roy, and Ike were in Smash Bros, but it wasn’t because they were the “most popular characters in Nintendo’s roster.”
Then, with the arrival of Fire Emblem Awakening, things finally turned around. Developer Intelligent Systems started rocking out more entries, and fans kept buying them, leading to the Nintendo Switch era, which had four major releases across mainline titles and Warriors-style spinoffs. Fast forward to today, and the franchise is celebrating 35 years of life.
Happy 35th Anniversary to the Fire Emblem series!Fire Emblem is more popular now than it ever was during the first 25 years.Awakening/Fates/Three Houses specifically helped raise the series popularity tremendously.I can't wait for the first Fire Emblem game on Switch 2.
— Stealth40k (@stealth40k.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T11:02:57.583Z
The franchise has come a long way, and as I’ve noted on the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast many times over, it’s my favorite Nintendo franchise. Path of Radiance from the GameCube era is one of my favorite video games ever, with Ike being my all-time favorite gaming character.
My favorite games from the series include Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Sacred Stones, Awakening, Shadows of Valentia, and, of course, Three Houses. I also play Heroes on my phone just about every day!
Many hope that we’ll get multiple entries from the franchise on the Nintendo Switch 2, including some remakes of Japan-only titles like Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, or even Mystery of the Emblem! The options are there, and fans like myself are truly hungry for more of this franchise.
