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This reminds of Breath of Fire 2, that wonderful RPG where half of my characters spent the first third of the game or so wearing "SaladBwl" as their helmet.

I am Srime

Oh my god, I didn't even think about that. By complete chance I found a Ladle yesterday, which somehow qualifies as an axe weapon. I'm totally charging him into battle with that next time.

I felt inspired to repost your inquiry here, hope you don't mind. I love Fire Emblem, you see, I've played every game in the series short of the SNES remake of the first game and that DS one that was Japan-exclusive. I thought that Path of Radiance had one of the best stories in the series, backed up by its support conversations and a plethora of unique pre-boss battle dialogues that sometimes come out of nowhere (like between Soren and Petrine) that offer new insight into the characters involved. Radiant Dawn was the most beautiful game in the series and had some excellent additions to the gameplay, like the improved skills system and having height bonuses/penalties.

Awakening is arguably the best Fire Emblem to date, and its Reclass system feels a lot more natural and streamlined than in Shadow Dragon. To use the main lord, Chrom, as an example, he can be promoted straight away into a Great Lord, or you can shift him into a Cavalier, or an Archer. Doing so will earn him some new Skills unique to those classes, and when he's ready to promote again, you can make him a Paladin or Great Knight, or a Sniper or Bow Knight, depending on what you chose earlier. The options are limited and unique to each character, and some characters will always be better at certain things than others. A Pegasus Knight reclassed into a Sage will not perform as well with magic compared to a natural-born magician, but she will still perform acceptably until she's ready to reclass again with all the Sage skills in tow.

I'd like to give a quick tangential mention to the DLC maps in Awakening. Say what you will about paying extra for DLC, but I went and bought the "EXPonential Growth" map and have greatly appreciated its obvious benefits. I don't have much time for level grinding nowadays and I'm happy to take it out of the equation, and I'll probably say the same about building supports between characters when the "Summer of Bonds" maps come out for America later.

On Paper Mario, I'm pretty sure everyone shares your sentiments. I find it hilarious that Super Paper Mario had so much of a story to tell that it polarized the fan base, and then Sticker Star comes up with almost no story to tell (even though it was made by I.S., same company that made Fire Emblem, how about that) and we all get to feelin' uncomfortable about that, too. Well, uncomfortable nothing, I was downright angry when I found out that the teaser material from before, which greatly resembled PM:TTYD, had almost completely been thrown out the window. I wanted a Chain Chomp partner! How dare they take that experience away from me!

Anyone want to chime on in Skyward Sword? I haven't played that yet.

How could I forget Wind Waker? I actually really liked that game, despite its flaws. I guess the whole triforce treasure hunt at the end sullies my memory of it, but I did love it at the time. I might try Skyward Sword since your description makes it seem a lot better than I thought it would be.

I tend to prefer games with really tight mechanics in general. I also really dig atmospheric games as well. The best combination that I can think of for both is Majora's Mask. The game just had an incredible atmosphere and made sense to me in general. Other runners up would be SSX3 (for the single mountain + amazing boarding mechanics) and Wario Ware (weird I know, but that game has a lot of atmosphere in a really strange way). Possibly Pikmin as well (not 2, the dungeons in those were stupid). And maybe Dragon Quest Monsters as well.

In short, my taste in games is pretty far-reaching, but I'm very choosy about them. My absolute favorite game, ever, of all time, is Deadly Premonition, but it breaks both of my rules by being poor mechanically and having a completely bonkers atmosphere. It's just wonderful.

The sub-par to annoying music, the kinda stupid storyline that's trying too hard to go with the bogus "official zelda timeline" (though some characters amuse in some cases, the rest just irritate me), the lack of anything interesting, and many other things.
But...
I would honestly probably have overlooked these things, slapping on them fancy rose-coloured glasses, if it really....REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY wasn't for one thing:
THE CONTROLS ARE TERRIBLE
Really, I found myself fighting the controls at nearly any moment in the game, and it really only became more apparent as time goes on, as the game tries to emphasize the motion+ stuff more and more.

With any game I can make a book on why I hate it, I try to point at least3 things I like about it though, here are mine:
1 - pretty art
2 - Shield bashing FINALLY being able to be used at one's leisure (if the controller isn't being spiteful)
3 - The variety and abilities of the shields (though if you get the hylian shield, the others are moot)

I've gotta go, so if I actually care to speak about this game I've already complained about to multiple people, then I suppose I'll talk more later.
I say, as with most things, that people should at least TRY it, though I wouldn't guarantee a good time to be had long-term.

dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

The first Pikmin was a true classic. Definitely play it, especially if you've never seen much of it before or watched another person play it. And don't use a walkthrough or speedrun guide unless you really need it, those things ruin the atmosphere and pacing of the game, though I suppose that could be applied to any other game requiring exploration.
Pikmin 2 is a bit more of a toss-up because it introduced so many new game mechanics at once. It's also very easy once you know what you're doing - I often run a "no Pikmin deaths" challenge when replaying it, but I rarely have trouble doing so, which isn't very fun. The Challenge Mode was interesting and offered some amusing gimmick levels, and the ability to go through it with 2 players is excellent and I really wish that was possible in the main campaign.

Which brings me to Pikmin 3. If it doesn't allow 2-4 (5? freaking game pad) player co-op in its campaign mode, I will eat my hat. This is something that the video game industry, and Nintendo especially, has perfected at this point. Ever seen the seamless split-screen effect in a Traveler's Tales game, like LEGO Harry Potter? That NEEDS to happen with Pikmin. I won't stand for anything less. My grandmother loves Pikmin as much as I do, so going through all of Pikmin 3 Co-Op style is just something that I really want to do with her someday.

Also I hear we're getting Rock Pikmin and Pinky Winky Pikmin. Good times!