This is my 3rd favorite story in the series. A bit of a hot take too but I say it tops Genealogy in both theme and tone. It does the story to gameplay integration better in it's various mechanics like leadership stars, the capture mechanic, and the fatigue mechanic. Kaga's best FE game and this time takes a more detailed approach to story telling by following Leif and his journey throught Thracia. Leif is a much more interesting protagonist and to me feels a lot more interesting than most of the generation 2 cast of Genealogy. It's also the only game in the series to actively make the player go through a hard time which is not a design that works 100% of the time but for the most part it works so well. I love this game so much and I think everyone needs to experience this! Hardest game in the Fire Emblem series.