Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

"Best. Game. Ever."

Nintendo has spawned many franchises over the years. There's been Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Starfox, F-Zero, Mother, Nintendogs, Nintendo Wars, Kirby, hell, just play Super Smash Bros. Melee. You'll soon see that Nintendo has more classic characters than Warner Bros. But in my opinion, by far the best is the Fire Emblem series, made by the geniuses at Intelligent Systems. I've only been able to play the games released in North America, but they are still enough to leave me awestruck each time. The plotlines are amazing, the character's personalities are so well made that your favorite could be any one of them, not just the main characters. And of these masterpieces, Path of Radiance is the crowning gem. Here's why.

Story: 10
Fire Emblem is famous for its in depth story lines, and Path of Radiance is no exception. The story follows Ike, a young mercenary and son of Greil, the group's leader. Ike has spent years in training, but now can finally serve the group. But all is not well in Tellius. The Daen Empire has launched an attack on Crimea, and the continent is plunged into chaos. For most games, this would be the entire plot, but it is a mere prologue for Fire Emblem. Combine that with a (seeming) cast of thousands, all with unique and realistic personalities, and you have a masterful story on your hands.

Graphics: 8
The only real blemish on this otherwise perfect game. The 3D graphics are pretty, and the chapter layout looks stunning, but the combat animation seems lacking. Swordmasters still look cool, and special abilities like Sol and Aether are awesome, but that's about it. It gets the job done, and doesn't do a poor job either, but after the over the top criticals and spells from the GBA editions, well, it's a bit of a let down. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the animation, and there are still some spells and criticals that look neat, but it just doesn't feel the same. The critical hits of some units were almost humorous in how much action they could fit in. After seeing Lyn as a blade lord use Sol Katti in a critical, these animations seem a bit uninspired.

Gameplay: 10
Like all games in the series, Fire Emblem is a game whose rules almost actively seem to combat you. In a good way. The most talked about example is the permanent death rule. If someone dies, they're dead. No phoenix down can save them. If you screw up and over expose someone, you either go on without them, or you restart. The entire chapter. No other option. This can be frustrating, but if a game is devoid of challenge, than what is its point? The game also has some new rules. One of the best is the ‘base' system. At the beginning of each chapter, you go to a base screen, where you can buy weapons and items form your shop and armory, as well as have your own forged, giving you some amazingly powerful weapons (provided you can afford them). This replaces shops and armories you find in the maps. Support conversations are also accessed easier. Instead of parking units next to each other during battles, you only have to have them participate in a battle together. Then, once they've fought together the required amount, you can initiate a conversation through the base. This means you'll have to think ahead about conversations, though, or you'll burn out all your early units, as only 5 conversations can be had per unit. The best change, though, is the bonus experience. For every mission, depending on how well you complete it, you will be given a set amount of bonus experience. You can award this to any unit to level him/her up. Got a low level mage that you want to make into a powerful sage, but the games half over? Don't worry! Just use the bonus experience to get your wimpy spellcaster up to scratch. This is to replace arenas, which were (in my opinion) to tough to get experience from, as you seemed to die quite a bit. The magic system has also been changed, although I'm not sure why. Instead of having Anima, Dark, and Light, you have Wind, Fire, and Lightning. There aren't as many magical units because of this. You have mages, sages, priests, bishops, and one cleric who becomes a valkyrie. Light magic exists, but is not affected by any magic triangle (for those of you who don't know, the magic triangle determines bonuses used if you fight with a certain type of magic. Much like rock-paper-scissors, Thunder beats Fire, Fire beats Wind, and Wind beats Thunder. There is a similar triangle for weapons: sword beats axe, axe beats lance, lance beats sword. This is not the deciding factor to combat, but it influences it, and means you have to be strategic in where you place whom.) For fans of the GBA games, the rules are a bit different and may take some time to get used to, and the loss of dark magic might take some getting over. But once you do, you'll realize that this is the best Fire Emblem of them all.

Replay Value: 10
It was rather challenging for me to beat the game on easy. Easy! And I'm good at this game! With 3 difficulty levels, plus extra characters you can add to your party depending on how you play, there's always more to get in this game. Add secret maps you can unlock by both beating the game and connecting with the GBA copies (which are very hard) and you have a game that will last you at least 60 hours. Plus, it's just fun. You shouldn't need any other reason to play this game again and again.

Overall, this is the best game I have ever played. Ever. If you are a fan of being happy and own a Game Cube or a Wii, than you NEED to get this game. Don't bother with renting (unless you're some sort of genius that can completely beat all aspects of the game in a week), just go out and buy it. Go. Now!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/07