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"Easily The Best of the Fire Emblem Games to Hit Shores Beyond Japan"

After Super Smash Bros. Melee, many gamers wanted to know more about Marth and Roy, and the games which they came from. Afterwards, the Fire Emblem series ventured forth from Japan to other countries for the first time! Granted, neither Marth nor Roy has appeared in any of the Fire Emblem games on the shores of said countries, but nonetheless, the series has soared in popularity! So, how does Path of Radiance stack up? Well, let's look at the typical aspects of a Fire Emblem game.

Most Fire Emblem games focus around the Lord class, typically someone of high rank and stature. Path of Radiance ventures from this stereotype for the first time in that Ike, the son of a great mercenary, and of total aristocratic obscurity, becomes this character. I won't spoil the plot for those of you who haven't played this amazing game by explaining how, but trust me, it's pretty interesting.

Another key aspect of Fire Emblem games are the inter-character relationships, strengthened through what are called support conversations. Some are sappy, some are hilarious, and others are touching, but all of them accomplish something very nifty- stat bonuses. While attack and defense aren't typically raised that much, evasion and accuracy tend to soar. But in the end, this is all based on a very intricate system of a character's elemental affinity, often resembling some aspect of their personality. You can also find out some nifty little plot devices you may have missed out on otherwise, like certain character's pasts, etc.

Now, about one of the most common complaints against the game- it doesn't have battles outside the storyline. While this isn't even completely true, it's absurd that it should take away from the game. It challenges you to balance how you raise your units levels rather than powerleveling through the game, like many other strategy games. If you don't like strategic challenges that can't be overcome by silly powerleveling, then the Fire Emblem series in general is not for you (save maybe the Sacred Stones).

Now let's talk a bit more about the plot. The story begins with Ike training with his father and head of the Greil Mercenaries (you guessed it), Greil. After the cutscene in which Ike gets thrashed, it progresses to a training session against Ike's friend and rival, Boyd, and then his father, during which you learn the basics of the gameplay. After a brief argument, Greil agrees to let Ike finally have a mission the next day. So, after blazing through this and the first few following chapters in which nothing really happens beyond supporting character introductions, Soren, a mage and friend of Ike, returns from studying with another group of mercenaries.

It turns out that their country of Crimea has been invaded by the neighboring Daein, and "The Mad King" Ashnard. Soren fled before finding the results of the battle, which prompts Greil to order Ike and co to go on a scouting mission. When they're about to return, the group is assaulted by rather pompous Daein soldiers, mistaking the mercenaries for Crimean Army remnants. After thrashing them about a good bit, Ike and co meet a mysterious person, and their journey truly begins...

I'd go on, but I'd much rather you discover the plot on your own. It's well worth it. Also, unlike many other cliche plots, this one doesn't involve any knight-in-shining-armor-romance crap, contrary to many lies that have been tossed around to defame the game. Don't believe me? Then link this up for with the sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and see for yourself. Actually, do that anyway. Aside from being a great sequel, all of your characters get stat bonuses proportionate to their stats at the end of Path of Radiance. Just make sure you try to upload a Normal or Hard mode file, as Easy files cause the game to just sit there. Dunno why... then again, if you're playing Fire Emblem games, then you're probably not looking for the easy way out anyway.

Now, about the gameplay itself... Path of Radiance is a turn-based, grid-style battling game. In other words, all of your characters and all of the enemy characters are on little squares, and you move to swap attacks with the enemy. Most characters only have an attack range of one space to start with, and it can only be left, right, above, or below them. Archers, mages, and certain weapons allow for ranged and diagonal attacks, however. Better yet, they can attack these units without fear of retaliation as long as they don't have a ranged weapon themselves. Of course, as a turn based-game, you wouldn't want to move your mage out to attack a single unit with no protection. That would be suicide. And considering there's no way to revive a fallen character in this game... Well, best to hit the big old button labeled "Reset."

Oh, right, I didn't mention the permanent deaths, did I? Well, just think of them as an incentive to think harder and keep your characters alive (except the ones you may hate anyway. And there WILL be some...). Yes, it's a hindrance. Yes, it means you could have wasted countless hours training a character to be uber-ridiculous-WTFHAXORZ-powerful, but then again, there's always that dandy little reset button. Your characters typically won't die if you go at a chapter with the right strategy though, save for maybe the occasional "WTFHAX 1% CRIT" deaths. And yes, they do happen.

You probably already knew that though, right? Anyway, after a few chapters of having no way of storing your weapons beyond dumping them on people you aren't using, you get a convoy to go with you. What does this mean? At that point, between chapters, you can buy, sell, and forge weapons and items. Be wary though, as typically you can only forge one weapon per chapter. Forged weapons can be absolutely godly though. You get to assign their type, their strength, their weight, their accuracy, and critical. Granted, there are limitations, of course. Still, they're better than any weapon you can buy. There are definitely a few better weapons in the game though, and two of them have unlimited durability. What's this? I didn't mention anything about the durability of a weapon, you say? Well, it's self-explanatory, really.

A trademark of the Fire Emblem games is that all but a few weapons eventually break. "But what about my uber sword!?" you may ask. Yes, sadly, it will break eventually. The number of uses is determined by two numbers next to the weapon. (#/#) The right most is maximum durability, and the left is the remaining uses. Not to worry though, there's a dandy staff that restores a weapon to full-durability! It only has three uses though, so choose wisely.

In the end, even favoritism aside, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, is easily the best Fire Emblem to hit shores beyond Japan. With excellent gameplay, a great story, in-depth character development and relationships, challenging missions, and some nifty completion bonuses (using the Final Boss in the bonus maps and a full soundtrack? Yes please!), there's no reason to not play this game, unless you just want one you can powerlevel through.

So, here are my overall ratings on the game-

Gameplay- 10/10
Graphics- 10/10 (Some of the best on the Gamecube. Then again, that's not saying much...)
Soundtrack- 9/10 (Some songs are just horrible, but most are excellent. Against the Black Knight? Yes please!)
Story- 10/10
Character Development- 10/10
Extras- 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/23/08

Game Release: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (US, 10/17/05)