For a company that is driving it's mantra of "New Ways to Play" in all it's key franchises Nintendo has kept Fire Emblem
For a company that is driving it's mantra of "New Ways to Play" in all it's key franchises Nintendo has kept Fire Emblem seemingly unchanged over the years. Ostensibly this is the same game as it's predecessors, just with a little extra finesse. You'll recognise the slow-but-sure turn-based playing style, the sweeping storyline and the character's intricate back stories; this is Fire Emblem as it always has been, and the way it's going to stay. If you've never experienced Fire Emblem, not on Nintendo's older systems or the recent Game Boy versions this could also be the perfect place to start - it breaks with you in with a obligatory, welcome handshake and then throws you in the deep end after the tenth hour.
But of course if strategy RPGs aren't your thing there'll be nothing to entice you here. It's all good vs. evil, magic triangles and item handling. In terms of complexity it's in league with Advance Wars but hits you far harder in terms of stats and involvement. Where Advance Wars holds your hand with unlimited army replenishments this spits in your face whenever you get a bit careless; losing a unit means you'll never get it back, and that's made all the more difficult to take when you consider that each has been given their own trademark personality. Failing and then restarting a chapter after the tenth time is not uncommon. The game will exploit your weaknesses as quickly as you'd exploit it's own, it's just waiting to punish you for the smallest slip.
But don't let that turn you off. Path of Radiance is a slow moving but compelling ride from start to finish, watching a number increase by one can be quite intriguing because the game makes you care. You'll watch originally useless characters grow to become a pivotal member of your team, but if you can't be bothered with another character then just don't choose them. The game gives you completely free reign to do as you like in it's world, it doesn't tell you which route to take or the strongest characters to fight with, that's down to your own judgement and skill.
The plot is a typically sweeping epic. An evil forces rises up to put countries and races against each other in the effort of unleashing a dark god. It does it's best to escape from it's own clichés though, and while it's not quite as sophisticated as it thinks it is there's no denying it's intent. It runs at a fairly slow pace with realms of text to wade through between battles. In fact it's so text heavy you may contemplate skipping the optional back stories in favour of more actual playing time. But this is Fire Emblem, you know what you're getting when you sign up. The conversations, as tiresome as they may be, are not as much a hindrance as they first appear to be; when you begin to understand the characters and their relationship with each other you'll want to hear what they have to say.
" Classic Fire Emblem turn-based strategy. Not for the impatient."
Outside of the menus and textboxes is the real meat of fire Emblem. A deep turn bases strategy that never fails to draw you back for another go after the umpteenth time you've hung your head in despair. Units move across a grid, attack directly or at distance and then have to take the consequences of the enemies' turn. This time it's even more slow going though thanks to the sluggish animation; with the battle animation turned on you'll have to watch a whole minute long scene every time you want to take a swipe at a pirate, even though it looks nice enough it's an annoyance you'll turn off after the second time you've seen it. The game even asks you if you want the characters to move in "Normal" or "Fast" animation, not exactly an option that was needed to be given.
After you've seen off a few hundred enemies and your units begin promoting then the addiction really kicks in. It's not hard to get yourself lost in it's stats and intricacies but you don't even have to use them, it runs just as smoothly on the surface as it does in the numbers. You can play it for hours if you want to and never feel like you've wasted time. Even though it always remains linear in it's progression it's got enough variety in the chapters to keep things fresh. By the final chapter you feel like you've earned the right to be there.
For Fire Emblem veterans there's plenty of rewards to be found in the gameplay. As well as the return of the skills system and the reinvention the magic system there's a whole new set of character types. The game centres around half-man half-beast hybrids known as Laguz. The twist is that in human form they're useless, but when transformed they're deadly. A transformation gauge is filled with each passing turn and once complete they turn into their true form for a time. This adds the strategy of hiding them in times of vulnerability and unleashing them from you backlines when you most need them. Alongside the normal human units they make for a more interesting battlefield.
But for all the gameplay's credits this is not a pretty game. Polygonal characters move across a dull, static map and engage with identical enemies, the N64 could easily have managed with this. Even the battle animations need work, they don't live to the satisfying sprite-animation of the GBA games and drag on for far too long. The Fire Emblem staple of hand drawn character art is still intact however, and there some decent FMV here with voice acting that, for the most part, doesn't make you cringe. In fact the sound quality as a whole is a great step forward for the series. The synthesized orchestral compositions that accompany the playing time are suitably atmospheric. Some of the classic tunes still remain but much of the work is completely new.
Path of Radiance isn't without it's problems. The issue of losing characters mid-battle still hasn't been addressed, the majority of perfectionists will go straight for the reset button every time this happens, and the pain is harder to take when you consider most battles take over an hour to complete. A half-way checkpoint for chapters would be appreciated but is unlikely ever to be included, Intelligent Systems want the game to remain more of a tense, strategic affair than an all-out brawl. And don't expect to want to play through it a second time too soon, after you've sat through the 25 hours of text and turns you'll be ready for a different genre altogether. It's not a game to be taken lightly then, it's likely you won't play anything else until you've completed it.
Path of Radiance is a worthy addition to the Fire Emblem series and a welcome return to a home console. If you've enjoyed Advance Wars there's a good chance you'll be into this. GameCube's RPG drought makes something like this stand out even further, and while it's not doing anything new it's a comfortably familiar return.