"Strategy Role-Playing finds a home on the Nintendo Gamecube"

Role-playing games constitute a very small percentage of the Gamecube's library. So whenever a new RPG is released is for the Gamecube it is often met with excitement, criticism, and jealousy (mainly from PS2 gamers who wish to uphold the monopoly of this coveted genre). The Fire Emblem series has a long and successful history in Japan and has enjoyed moderate success in America on the Game Boy Advance. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Fire Emblem: Souen no Kiseki) marks the first attempt at brining this thriving series into the world of three dimensions. Does Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance live up to the hype? Read on and find out.

Story
FE: PoR takes place on the fictional continent of Tellius where humans, also known as beorc, bitterly live alongside of the laguz, or as the humans call them, sub-humans. Seven countries make up the continent:

* Crimea: Inhabited by humans, home to Princess Elincia and the Greil Mercenaries, home of the main character Ike.
* Gallia: Home to the laguz of the beast tribe, has ties with Crimea.
* Begnion: The largest and most powerful country, populated by humans, home to the goddess Ashera.
* Goldoa: Home to the laguz dragons, a mysterious and isolated country.
* Daein: A country of humans who despise and detest the various Laguz tribes.
* Phoenicis: Home to the laguz hawk tribe.
* Kilvas: Home to the laguz raven tribe, these laguz detest the beorc (humans), has no ties with any other country.

The story begins when Daein attacks the country of Crimea without warning. Soon the entire continent is drawn into a massive world war. This game deals with heavy issues such as discrimination, war, and genocide. Much of the conflict derives from the prejudice which exists between the humans and the laguz. The game spans the entire length of the war and takes the player to all of the different countries. That being said, the actual story is straightforward with a few predictable plot twists.

Game Play
Like most strategy role playing games, the emphasis in FE: PoR is placed on combat. The game spans 29 chapters, with each chapter consisting of a battle, or in a few cases a series of battles. The story is told through various cut scenes which include character portraits and text boxes, this game requires a lot of reading! The animated movies are well done, but they are too few in number. Most of the plot progression takes place through reading text boxes.

The player takes on the role of Ike, the unsuspecting commander of the Greil Mercenaries. Throughout the game you can recruit people to join your noble cause. There are various classes ranging from thieves, archers, and mages to wyvern riders. There are a total of 24 classes that can be upgraded upon the successful completion of certain perquisites

This game is all about war and it is simulated quite well. The player controls various units and directs them on the map, in a manner very similar to Dungeons and Dragons. This game makes use of a unique battle system similar to rock, paper, scissors: Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances, and Lances beat Swords. It sounds simple but it works perfectly and adds a lot of strategy to the battles. Magic works in a similar manner. The battles flows like this: Battle Introduction > Battle Start > Player Phase > Enemy Phase > Complete Battle Objective > End Battle. Battle objectives can range from the simple (killing every opponent) to the more complex (search and rescue, defense based missions, etc…).

After each battle the player is taken to a menu screen where s/he can buy equipment, manage items, talk with units, gain valuable information, and save. Although talking with your units is optional it offers insight into their histories and units with good rapports perform better when fighting alongside each other.

There is one element that sets the Fire Emblem series apart from other strategy role-playing games, when your character dies s/he is gone forever. There are no phoenix downs in Tellius. This requires the player to think tactically, one wrong move could cost the life of an important character. This game is hard but not impossible, it just requires patience and careful planning. Speaking of difficulty there are 3 settings: easy, normal, and hard. Unfortunately the extreme mode featured in the JP version has been replaced with an easy mode for the US release. Apparently Nintendo of America thought this game would be too hard for the casual American gamer, but what about us die-hard, sadomasochistic gamers? We are the folks NoA should be trying to please.

Graphics
As I mentioned earlier this is the first attempt at a 3D Fire Emblem game and the results are mixed. The character designs are exceptional, something straight out of the anime world. The few but memorable animated videos are also well done. So far so good, but… the actual in game graphics are painfully simplistic. It is hard to distinguish the individual characters on the top down battle map, however once in individual combat the camera switches to an up close view which provides much more detail. The graphics are not bad but they are not great either, bland is perhaps the most fitting description. But I can't stress enough the quality of character portraits.

Sound
The musical score is well done but not memorable. That is to say, I wouldn't buy the soundtrack. The sound effects on the other hand are phenomenal, especially the sounds use for critical hits. There is some voice acting in the animated videos but not very much, and judging from the quality of the voice acting that is a good thing!

Replay/Extras
Perhaps the most commonly asked question on any particular RPG forum is, how long is this game? That question, however, greatly depends on the individual player. It took me 32 hours to beat this game on my first play through and I can't imagine it taking any longer than 40 hours. FE: PoR is linear; the player is taken from one point to the next on a set course. Perhaps this is done to prevent level building but I believe a more plausible explanation would be that it was done to create to an impending sense of urgency usually associated with war. There is no time to spend the day fighting bandits and gaining “experience” while a super power is planning genocide. The multiple difficulty modes add some replay ability but the lack of an extreme mode is a real loss. For those with a lot of free time on there the game rewards you for beating it 15 times. Also after beating the game once, the player is treated to several bonus missions, game art, and a music player.

Final Verdict
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance has a lot to offer: a compelling yet predicable story, a plethora of recruit able characters and classes, and a battle system that pencil and paper gamers, like myself will find refreshing. However, all is not perfect on the continent of Tellius. Sub par graphics really hinder this otherwise fantastic game.

* Story: 7
* Game Play: 9
* Graphics: 7
* Sound: 8
* Replay/Extras: 8
* Final Score: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/06