Ranking the First Maps of Fire Emblem

Ranking the final chapters of each Fire Emblem game was fun. This naturally made me want to rank the first chapters of each map. I added the Kaga Sagas to this list because I've at least played the first chapter of each Kaga Saga, even if I haven't beaten Tearring Saga or Vestaria Saga yet. First, we need to establish the criteria for what makes a well designed first chapter:

1) Does the first chapter have more than 3 characters?  The reason why this is a metric is because there's a difference in quality between maps where you can play 3 characters or fewer versus maps where you have 6 - 7. More characters usually means more strategies, and thus more ways to play the game. That's good. It also makes the map more interesting.

2) Bonus points for turtle disincentives or side objectives: I tend to be easier on the first chapter, because I don't expect it to happen, but there are first chapters that do this and they deserve to be rewarded for it.

Gold Standard: Berwick and Vestaria Saga

These are the two games that come to mind that do pretty much everything right when it comes to the first map. I've already done a map design review for the first chapter of Berwick Saga: https://thecrusadergrant.blogspot.com/2022/03/berwick-saga-map-design-review-part-1.html

Tl;dr - "So, to recap. On the first freaking map of the game we have:

• Multiple bosses.
• Good map layout with 2 avenues of approach.
• 1 timed side objective where the player has to protect their healer on the opposite side of the map.
• 1 side objective where enemies drop gold. If the player doesn't get to these enemies in time, they permanently leave the map.

Yeah, this map is a case study on how to start your game. It does everything right. It also gives you 9 characters to start out with. Each character has their own nuances of how to use, which really increases the strategy in this chapter. Brilliantly done!

Vestaria Saga

Vestaria Saga is a map that I never thought would be ranked this high, and yet its first map does everything correctly. You get 6 characters right off the bat, a turtle disincentive in the form of an extra defeat condition: If the ships' HP drops to 0, you lose, and you also have a thief threatening to destroy a house. It's pretty rare for the first map to have all these things. 

You get 5 units, so it meets that requirement. The houses in between the player and the ship can be visited, which can net them money and funny NPC dialogue. It can also run the risk of slowing the player down since that could be time used to get to the ship faster. 

The village to the side will also be threatened by an enemy. This is both a turtle disincentive, and it counts as a side objective since it's out of the way. Overall, it's a great map that pretty much does everything one could want from a first chapter.