I've played a few of the Fire Emblem games along with the two other version of Fates, Conquest and Revelations. As a Fire Emblem game, this one has many refined improvements. All the weapons can be infinitely used except for staffs and consumable items. The "My Castle" incentivizes me to come back and level everyone to max with all their skills. The cards that you get at the end of the game are the most important, since Revelations is my "true" version. In terms of the three versions, this version is definitely the easiest. Even when playing on the highest difficulty on normal, I found it fairly easy. This is mostly due to lots of money and experience being widely available. Scouting made things a lot easier. This game is different from the dual releases of Pokémon. This game is a completely different perspective from Conquest. I would recommend though to play this game first, Conquest second, and Revelations third. This is because it is easier to pay attention to the foundation that Birthright sets, before throwing your 3DS to the ground in frustration with Conquest. Pros: +Amount of in-game content is pretty large. +The new classes and characters are amazing +Phoenix mode is great for newcomers or young players +Great worthwhile DLC (Recommend the DLC Packs 1 & 2) and easy/convenient to obtain in game. +Voice work is pretty good. +Still things to do after endgame. +You can visit other people's castles and obtain characters and items. Cons -Can be way too easy for older or more experienced fans of the series - Visiting all the locations in My Castle after every battle gets tedious. - Marriage scenes aren't as good as Awakening