With a compelling story, and deep strategy, Radiant Dawn comes together nicely for any TBS starved Wii owner.
Now we have a new game in the series that thankfully doesn't require much knowledge of the past FE games to play. Just the GC game that it's a direct sequel too.
Radiant Dawn is the sequel to the Gamecube hit turn-based-strategy (TBS) game Path of Radiance. While the game maintains the same level of strategy, looks, and TBS system of previous games, it does have it's own system that keeps it different from other TBS games alike.
Like many other grid-based TBS games, FE operates like other games of it's like, be it Final Fantasy Tactics or countless other games of this genre. You take turns battling out your opponents, using the field of battle to give you a an edge, while using a bevy of weapons, spells, and the like to keep you alive and your enemies dead.
However, unlike most every other TBS game, FE is known for taking the familiar elements and changing them up. For instance, in normal TBS games you are able to revive dead allies with a spell or item usually. However in FE, you cannot revive your fallen allies, and should the fall to their knees in battle, it's game over for them... unless you choose to reset the game. Another element to FE games is that you cannot abuse a strong weapon of your choice to the end of the game. In most cases here, FE's weapons will break when used over time, and in particular, the stronger weapons wear out much faster. So there's a mix of balancing your items out to ensure you have the right weapon for the battle at hand.
Well now, enough of the gameplay elements. What's new in Radiant Dawn you may ask? Well, it keeps the same die-and-they-are-gone-for-good element, and yes... you're weapons will break over time. However, they've now taken the "skills" system that was in Path of Radiance and tweaked it up a bit in Radiant Dawn. In Path of Radiance, you were given scrolls or "skills" to equip on your character of choice. In PoR, this was a welcome mix to add some nice strategy to the game. However, on problem with it, was that once you gave a character that skill, it had to remain with them or if you chose to remove it, it was gone for good. Now in RD, the skills and be equipped and unequipped at any time, giving you the opportunity to fix and mix your characters how you see fit.
RD proves to be every bit as deserving of the FE name, as it comes with a bevy of challenge to the players. However, that is not to say one may consider it perfect. The formula does indeed work, and by no means does this reviewer have a problem with the system, but rather a bit in the conditions for winning battle. In most FE games, defeating the boss of the current battle resulted in a win... However, it seemed as if the devs really wanted you to just go and slaughter endless waves of enemies, as most missions turn out to be "Rout enemy" or "slaughter and cover the land with blood" because you cannot finish the level, even if you kill the boss, until all enemy units are destroyed. That includes reinforcements as well. Perhaps it may not sound problematic to you, perhaps because you can gain lots of Bonus EXP (which can be used at the base to give to your troops), but when you have weapons that will break over periodic use, you find yourself scrambling through your convoys and other characters not being used in battles to try and scrap up as many "like new" weapons you can, that will sustain the long battles soon to come.
Another bit of info to share, is that previous FE games would have you restart the entire battle all over (if you choose), should your favorite character meet an untimely death. Now in RD, you can actually save during mid-battle and just restart from the previous save should you wish to correct your mistakes, making the level of difficulty very easy, if you choose to do this route. This reviewer pretty much avoided such events, as he believes it is one aspect of FE he favors most. However opinions will very, and be it a pro or con is merely the choice you have to use it or not.
Next, we come with the story. FE games are pretty synonymous with epic stories about giant feuding wars brewing between kingdoms, and on country or party that rises up to the occasion to stop this conundrum and bring peace about the land. RD continues three years where PoR leaves off. The mad king Ashnard of Daein is dead, the country is in turmoil and you play as a girl named Micaiah and her faithful companion Sothe as they try to help free Daein and revive the city. It must be said though, that RD doesn't stay on one viewpoint of a single party, and thus you also will see the hero of PoR, Ike return and the Greil Mercinaries as well, along with many other familiar faces. Each protagonist of their story has a certain goal to reach, and the way the game ends leaves you with a sense of closure and resolve that makes for a great sequel. Also like PoR, there are time where the story is told through some beautifully rendered CGI and thankfully the amount in RD is more than twice the amount of that found in PoR... which was rather scarce. The voice acting in these scenes, and the narrator of the story scenes before beginning each chapter are tradtional Nintendo fashion unfortunately. It's not that this reviewer found really anyone too annoying (partly because there isn't that much dialouge), but rather.. it's because they are pretty Subdued in the music (the narrator) or just making it through the lines that no one really shines out much. Still, it's nice to see Nintendo at least give us voice acting that doesn't destroy the mood too much. Yet, hopefully we can see more improvement on this department in future titles... perhaps even during the countless amount of text you will still read?
Lastly, we come to the graphics. Now... I realize TBS perhaps isn't one genre that needs Crysis level details or even RE4 level. RD still looks like a game that could easily be runned on the GC, yet the GC game looks like it could be runned on the N64 frankly. Some may just wish for highly detailed 2D sprites, but it doesn't come off here. Yet, RD does in fact include 480p scan support and 16:9 as well as a graphical lift from PoR. Character faces are not blurred a la ToS, and there is some fancier lighting/spells/critical effects. Yet, it's nothing drastic and is very reserved. Animations will repeat over and over, all enemies are copy and past except for those you can recruit and bosses. The level of detail in the battle field is minor as maps all are tile sets pretty much. So don't go expecting anything fancy that will wow you truly.
Still the 2D art is richly drawn, even if some of the same art from PoR is in here, and the cutscenes are still breathtaking in their own style. There's no artifacting to be found, you get a very clean and polished CGI that at least shows the devs spent some time on the graphics somewhere, where it counts at least.
With all that said, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is a great sequel to the game. It doesn't make any breakthroughs or stirs up the same formula too, yet when the system is as solid as this it's perhaps not necessary. Still, I would have liked to see more effort in the other departments like voice acting. and perhaps the graphical point seems moot, but maybe the console versions could give it a shot in giving some smoother animations, or perhaps going the 2D sprite route or even putting some nicer detail into the battlefields.
However with that said, if you are looking for a challenging, and enjoyable TBS game on the Wii, or in general, FE RD should be given a look at. It's a very enjoyable game, with a really compelling story that makes you want to try and reach the end or the next scene at least.