Fire Emblem was the very first "strategy/RPG". In fact Nintendo coined the term simulation/RPG when they released the game in 1990 for the famicom. The first Fire Emblem was the most popular in the series, followed by Fire Emblem Monshou no Nazo (FE3) for the SNES. Back in the day, Fire Emblem was so popular that Marth was featured in a lot of Nintendo-related 4 panel manga, and there was a lot of manga and doujinshi done by artists based on Fire Emblem. Later installments of the series came out pretty late in the SNES's life cycle though, so the series' popularity has been relegated to that of a MASSIVE cult classic status (Fire Emblem 4 came out in 1996 and Fire Emblem 5 in 1999, and we're talking SNES games here!).
The basic gameplay is that you are given a variety of scenarios, and you control units on a grid-like map. It's similar to a board game actually, but your units have various stats like HP, strength, etc. and can equip weapons and items. There's a LOT of strategy involved, and in fact, I've played a lot of simulation/RPGs (like FFT, Tactics Ogre, Langrisser, etc.), and I would say that Fire Emblem is still the best of them all.
Anyway, I haven't actually played the first Fire Emblem (but I own it, I just don't have a famicom), but Fire Emblem 3 contains a remake of the first First Emblem plus an all new scenario. It's the game that stars Marth. The story in the 2nd half is pretty dark because a lot of people that were allies with you in the first half are now enemies.
Fire Emblem Gaiden was a side story set in FE1/3's world, but it starred Alm and Selica. I don't know what the story is about since I didn't get very far in it. This game's gameplay was a lot different than FE1's. It introduced elements that would later be seen in games like Shining Force.
Fire Emblem Seisen no Kiefu (Geneaology of Holy War) came out in 1996, and it drastically changed the gameplay. I won't describe how since you'd have to play the games to understand. However it was still insanely popular much in part because of its characters and the fact that you could couple them up together. The game was split into 2 generations, the first one has you, Sigurd, uncovering a plot by rival kings that eventually leads to your demise (as your wife gets kidnapped and brainwashed and marries your best friend, when Sigurd finally finds her, he and his party get nuked by fireballs). In the 2nd half, you control Celice, Sigurd's son, and most of your party consist of the sons and daughters of your party members in the first generation. And you have to reclaim your kingdom from the Lopto cult that overtook it. It was my first Fire Emblem game and I loved every bit of it.
Fire Emblem Thracia 776 was the last Fire Emblem game to be released. It's actually a side story of Fire Emblem 4, but it went back to the old gameplay style of FE1/3 plus it added the ability to carry units or capture enemy units. It stars Leaf, who was the son of Cuan (best friend of Sigurd in FE4). This is actually my favorite Fire Emblem game, in part because the gameplay is *absolutely perfect* and it's also the hardest of the games.
But after Fire Emblem Thracia 776, the creator of the series left Nintendo to start his own company, and he made a game called TearRing Saga that was similar to Fire Emblem Gaiden in terms of gameplay.
Does this mean that future Fire Emblem games won't be as good because he left? Possibly. But I am hoping that Fire Emblem will still be a great series. It's too bad that you guys won't get the chance to replay these old classics in english.
