Most Wanted Second Place Third Place

Gamers in the West had a long wait for the Fire Emblem series, having to wait thirteen years and seven titles before one was finally localized. Fans of tactical RPGs naturally jumped right into the series and fans were delighted to see each new entry quickly make its way to the West. Then Shadow Dragon, a remake of the first game in the series came along for the DS, and was seriously lacking some of the refinements and features from more recent games. Naturally, it didn’t catch on quite as well as the other titles with gamers. Perhaps partially since we never got the original title there were no pangs of nostalgia to overlook its flaws. Many fans were eager for the follow up to Shadow Dragon, which received far more praise and seemed to be a more modern Fire Emblem entry. They eagerly waited for news to come of a localization, but none ever did.

After such a long wait for the tactical series, missing a big entry was a shock and many fans were very worried for the first entry on the 3DS, Fire Emblem: Awakening, which also happened to be the first new entry in the main series after two remakes on the DS. Thankfully those worries proved to be unfounded and despite being announced in a wonky way, Fire Emblem: Awakening will be making its way westward. The game was well received in Japan and it quickly became the fastest selling entry in the series. Awakening includes a host of new features, from a freshly updated art style to new difficulty settings, and even downloadable characters. With the future for the series now looking very bright, this is what has RPGamers excited for some tactical RPG goodness.

And for those of us who want something both familiar and new at the same time, there's our next most-wanted: Pokémon X/Y. Imagine the following sung to the Mickey Mouse Club chant: P-O-K... 'Kay, we admit it. E-M-O-N... No way was this one not going to appear. X-and-Y.... Why? Seriously. It's Pokémon. Needless to say, we're excited for Pokémon X/Y this fall. But our 3DS systems are not content with just those two, as RPGamers are also looking forward to diving back into the deep with Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan. Offering more dungeons to explore, an outstanding soundtrack, and a casual mode for gamers looking for a gentler experience, we're ready to die over and over to FOEs yet another time.

by Michael Apps, Michael Baker, Michael A. Cunningham