Easily the best Fire Emblem- Possibly one of the best games. Ever.
Or, to the people that live in countries where we can’t pronounce that ‘Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance’.
So, what is good about this game?
• The gameplay that makes fire emblem is there- better than ever.
• Engrossing story and interesting characters
• Huge game, at least double the length of the original NA game.
• Multiple Difficulty settings
• Gob smacking soundtrack
• Many new features
So, what didn’t I like?
• The 3D is meh. The animations don’t make me go ‘WOW!’
• It can be a little too deep, especially if this is your first Fire Emblem.
I have one thing to say at the start. Wow. You press ‘New Game’ select your difficulty setting and you’re into a beautiful FMV scene. It’s a shame this is only one of few in the game, or really, one of the few Nintendo has ever done. Immediately, it has your attention. You look at fluid animation and awe-inspiring detail with your jaw hanging down below your feet. You ask ‘Why hasn’t Nintendo done this before???!?’
Straight afterwards, you’re thrown into, in my opinion, the best prologue in any Fire Emblem game. You win that easily, and are treated to your first ‘Cutscene’ of the game. These are just like their GBA counterparts, showing the top half of the person, and the text of what they speak. It’s perhaps not the best way to tell a story, but that is counterbalanced by the detail in those people, and the backgrounds. You don’t have to sit through all those cutscenes, but it is a good idea, because the story in Path of Radiance is actually very good.
The gameplay is exactly the same as the GBA counterparts, featuring the long string of chapters, with long sequences of story thrown in between. While I’ve been known to favor more open-end games, I find this system much more suited to a strategy game, even if it is arguably more of an RPG.
The game can be very deep. While in other RPGs, you don’t really know very much about how your character grows when they level up, in Fire Emblem, this is very important. If characters get bad growths for 5 level ups in a row, then that character isn’t going to turn out well.
Stat growth in Fire Emblem is random, depending on the RNG. Say a person has 50% magic growth. If the RNG comes out with between 1 and 50, the person will increase magic. This is a rewarding experience, as some characters can turn out very well, and it adds an element of gambling.
Any Tech heads also get a field day. Each character has three pages of stat information, showing their stats (Strength makes weapons do more damage, Magic makes magical Tomes do more damage, Skill dictates your hit % and Critical hit %, Speed dictates how much your character is hit, and how many times you hit, Luck effects many different things, Defense effects how much damage you are dealt by weapons and resistance for magic), Their Supports and weapon levels and their skills. It’s all very nice to get into, but it may overwhelm any new players.
There’s no game that’s come out recently that can match this, and none to come soon. A modern classic, without a doubt.