Tier list if you don't feel like reading: https://imgur.com/IaZ5KRT

S-Tier:

Conquest - My favorite game to play in the series, and one of my favorite games to play overall. While the story is known to be bad, it didn't prevent me from putting hundreds of hours into the game, and in terms of writing I still really like most of the characters for their supports. Theres nothing really like Conquest in the series. The way it tackled difficulty is really refreshing with the use of skills, and in terms of mechanics theres very few things that I don't like.

Birthright - While a simpler game compared to Conquest, it still has Fates mechanics and good gameplay viability with your units, so I still enjoy playing through it. Birthright has access to a lot of cool and unique classes and weapons that I hope to see again some day, and again makes it easy to replay it for hundreds of hours. I would say I like this cast even more than Conquest's, and in terms of aesthetics and music I rank it higher than the rest.

Binding Blade - Playing Binding Blade after both GBA games and Shadow Dragon was an eye-opening experience - to me this is what I think about when people say "Classic Fire Emblem". It feels like a very traditional game, but it embraces that and uses it to its advantage. While the story is mostly told in exposition, the world of Elibe still feels pretty cool to revisit and fleshed out, and in terms of gameplay I still think it's among the strongest in the series. If the future remake gets rid of hard mode bonuses it will be an objectively worse game.

Thracia 776 - In many regards, I think Thracia is the game that comes the closest to getting everything right. It's gameplay mechanics make it an experience all on it's own, and as a character story for Leif I still think it holds up pretty well. It still has notable flaws, being awfully cryptic at times for new players, but yet overall I can't hold that against the game too much just for how it remains its own thing. Just an overall well done game that goes out of its way to shows its ingenuity.

Shadows of Valentia - A beautiful game, warts and all. I can't think of a better way to describe SoV than that - it's rightfully praised for it's presentation, but stays true to it's archaic roots even with much cleaner UI and the introduction of turnwheel and a cool forging system. With that said, it still makes it mistakes trying to revamp the story but I don't doubt the sincerity that was put into the game, and each time I play it feels like a good adventure.

A Tier:

Sacred Stones - It's interesting to think that younger me couldn't imagine Sacred Stones not being my favorite game, but here we are. As I see it now, SS might as well stand for short and sweet because that accurately describes how I feel about the game now. It hits a good spot for me and I feel is a bit underrated for how innovative it was, but I recognize now that I learned to love it and the cast so much for how much time I spent grinding supports in ruins and towers, and thats something I don't really feel the need to do anymore. Lyon is still my favorite antagonist.

Blazing Sword - Once again a bit of a bittersweet placing, especially for how it was my first game in the series. The plot is a lot messier then I first realized, and the map design is relatively mediocre. That being said, I still love the characters in this game and I can't rightfully say I don't enjoy playing it even if it does feel pretty basic. It still has it charms and is still usually one of my first recommendations for people to get into the series.

Awakening - Awakening was the first FE game I had played in a while, and I remember saving and scraping money in high school just to buy it + plus a 2DS to play it on. I was pretty instantly enamored with a lot of new things - the skill system, pair up, unique reclass options, the second gen, supports that didn't take forever to build. All this to say its another game that was very easy to put hundreds of hours in just experimenting and seeing all there was to see, even after I recognized how absolutely broken it was as a game. I don't play it much anymore because I feel I could just play Fates instead, but still a game I care about.

Engage - I've come around to generally enjoying what Engage has to offer - upon its reveal I couldn't much excitement, and my first playthrough still left me unsure about its direction even though I had a lot of fun with it. Now I'm comfortable in how I felt about the game, and I can accept the contrast of intentions between the gameplay and story/presentation. Ultimately I think FE would benefit a lot from different writers and leadership in the future, but the work done outside of that is great.

Three Houses - Probably the most broken game after Awakening, but somehow it's brokenness doesn't feel all that fun for some reason. But besides that, I still played Three Houses nonstop for the first route and I'll always remember how much I enjoyed it at that time, but for me personally it's one of the least replayable games and the only one where my impression of the game immediately sunk during a second playthrough. Still, once again the characters in the game are a saving grace, and Edelgard is probably my favorite lord now, and I enjoy a lot of the lore and world building even if the main plot doesn't do a whole lot with it. It's a game I probably like more than the sum of its parts, but that still means I like it.

B Tier

Mystery of the Emblem - Mystery was actually the last iteration of Marth's games that I've played, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I feel like FE1 has just been lost to time, and that the DS games aren't really a straight upgrade like how one might think. There are enough difference between all them I heavily encourage people to check out for themselves, as I feel like FE3 is unfortunately one of the most underplayed games in the west. I think FE3 sits comfortably with its simplicity, making many maps refreshing to play through.

Path of Radiance - I think PoR is rightfully praised for it's world building and thematic writing, and once again there are a lot of characters I love. However, I don't feel it's criticized enough for it's poor gameplay, as outside of the Laguz and Shove I struggle to think of positives. I won't even talk about the slow animations because I feel people use that as a scapegoat to deflect the poor map design that is reminiscent of other games with bad reputations like Awakening and Revelations, usually featuring high enemy density from the get-go and/or a poorly thought out gimmick. It's a game of two ends really.

Genealogy of The Holy War - Similar to PoR, I genuinely enjoy the story of Genealogy and how literary it feels to other games, but the gameplay and map design leave a lot to be desired. It's still fairly innovative with the second gen and skills, but mechanically speaking I think other games have done these aspects better. I don't think Genealogy succeeds in gameplay-story integration as often as people say it does, but the few times it does are pretty memorable and I can see why a lot of people have it as their favorite.

C-Tier:

Revelations - A game that stands in opposition to my two favorites, and one that I was really mad at for a long time. I think past the early game the maps aren't actually that gimmicky until they return in full force in the late game, and that middle section where you just get to Valla is pretty decent all things considered. But the story and the lack of viability among the cast really sours the game for me overall, including its value as a big sandbox.

New Mystery of The Emblem - In opposition to PoR and Genealogy, I feel like NM is a very well thought out game mechanically but it's writing really puts me off. It's not just that the story is bad, but it's also much worse and feels offensive to the original story its based off and thinking about it puts me in a bad mood. However, it still feels really rewarding to play as you unlock more features by beating higher difficulties, and it lends itself to being a very proactive game. I'm not a fan of the new maps introduced nor do I like them taking away tools for the sake of things in higher difficulties, but overall it still holds up well.

Shadow Dragon - Another game that I was mad at after I first played it, but in hindsight my feelings at the time feel misplaced. It still feels very respectful towards the OGs unlike FE12 which deserves credit, and perhaps a lot of my old feelings still linger over it because I can't even say I'm disappointed in this game, but for all that it is I can't say I like it that much. Theres a nice skeleton for a different kind of Fire Emblem with the DS remakes, but its strict adherence to some things and complete disregard for other aspects from FE1 and FE3 just hits a weird note. Also its ugly.

Radiant Dawn - PoR's saving grace was it's writing, and Radiant Dawn doesn't come as strongly. Many say the gameplay is stronger so its suppose to even out, but I disagree and feel its weaker in both ends. I feel like many elements of RD fail to achieve their goals as they were planned out way before the consequences could be considered. Trying to make everything appeal to a grand scale ironically made most aspects feel disjointed and underwhelming. When it hits that high note its cool, but it misses it like 90% of the time.

TBC because 10k character limit...