One of the best RPG's for the Gamecube.
The battle system in Path of Radiance, consists of a large grid-based battlefield, on which characters move, and attack. Each character can move a different amount distance depending on whether they are on foot, or on a horse, and also different classes of characters have different attack range, depending on whether they use melee or ranged weapons, or magic. There are a high variety of classes, and you will probably be using at least 7-9 different characters towards the end of the game. Also the battle progresses based on player and computer turns. Usually the player gets to move all his characters first while the computer goes second. Although a player may think that he can just mindlessly attack computer units, this is not the case as certain enemies are only weak against certain weapons, or magic, and therefore, the player is required to build a well-thought out strategy in every battle, or else your units will get wiped out quickly. Once a character dies, he/she is gone forever so if there is a character you dont want to lose you may be forced to reset the game.
The graphics in the game are a bit underwhelming since they are not terribly detailed. The graphics are colorful and vibrant, but there isnt anything that necessarily stands out besides the beautiful CG cutscenes. Although, this CG's happen rarely in the game and they are usually no longer than 1 min or so. But the CG cutscenes that are shown are some of the best seen on a gamecube game.
The soundtrack in the game is well-directed and there is enough variety in the music throughout the game to keep the player interested. Also, the soundtrack always fits well with the type of battle or cutscenes that is being shown, and establishes the mood. The voice-acting is very well done overall but sometimes the voices are minimized when compared to the rest of the sound, and it may be difficult to hear what the characters are saying unless you raise the volume.
The story in this game is one of the most interesting in recent RPG's, and is not full of cliches like most other RPG's narratives are. The main character, Ike is one of the most intriguing characters to grace an RPG. Overall, Fire Emblem is a lengthy game that should take the average gamer, 30-35 hours beat the main quest. Once you beat the game in normal difficulty, you could try hard, if you want to challenged, and also there are some unlockable characters which can only be used after certain conditions are met, and this gives the game a high replay value.