Game Review: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

For my Review on Fire Emblem: Awakening, click here!

Lo and behold I managed to get through the story of Path of Radiance. I'll open this up by saying I really enjoyed myself and leveling my guys. I clocked in at about 23hrs on Easy mode (go ahead and make fun, this is the difficulty I can handle for now XD) with many of the main guys I used at max level with their upgraded classes! In this game you play as the young mercenary Ike whose company is known as the Greil Mercenaries. After tragedy hits, you're again thrown into a war with Crimea's neighboring area of Daein. If you've read my review on Awakening then you can pretty much outline the plot somehow. Yes there's an item that has the name of the title and yes crazy otherworldly things are attached to it.

Released in the US back in 2005, Path of Radiance pretty much plays like any other Fire Emblem game. You control a pre-determined amount of units per chapter. Each chapter consists of 1 map with a goal differing in each chapter. You either have to, survive for an amount of turns, reach the exit, kill the boss or defeat every enemy unit. Throughout the game you can also recruit characters into your group. Some of which can be extremely powerful! The various weapons follow a systematic triangle of rock-paper-scissors like trumps/weak against. I really enjoyed the story in this one as well. More on that down below!

The characters I felt were more likable than others I've seen from having played previous entries in the franchise. There's Ike, the gruff, and rude beginning mercenary, Oscar the mild mannered Knight along with his brothers Boyd the Fighter and Rolf the Archer. As you go further in the game, you gain characters with classes such as Swordmaster, Wyvern Lord, Falcon Knight, and many more. In my playthrough, I had my winged units in most of the chapters once I got my hands on them.

Eventually I had a squad of 4 with 2 each of Falcon Knights and Wyvern Lords. SO BADASS. There's also laguz units from varying tribes such as Beast, Hawk, and Crow to name a few. Every unit is susceptible to a certain type of weapon so you have to plan your movements with care. With this game coming before Awakening's added "Casual" mode, everyone here has 1 life to live. They're gone forever if they perish in battle. I ended up having 2 members die, both of which were recruitable. Oh did I mention Dragons were in this? Yea, they are. There were certain music pieces that picked at my heartstrings and I honestly would just stay at the story screen to listen to it some more.

Ike starting out as a Ranger.

The later levels are where things get really interesting, especially when you have maxed out people in their superior classes. There was some frustration with having to restart missions several times due to favorite party members dying (DON'T YOU LEAVE JILL, NOOOOO). The dialogue is also playful at some parts and had me laughing. There's really nothing else to report on if you've played an FE game before, they're meant to be for those who like to strategize on top of a chess like board. So steer away from this if it's not your style. The added RPG flair made me attracted to this series and getting to play an old (and hard as hell to find) entry was definitely a treat. Especially with having known Ike previously from Smash Bros and Awakening in some areas. There is an option to build relationships between characters while at your Base to prep for each fight in a chapter but I'm not sure if that affected anything. Having your units next to certain people doesn't do anything neither does pairing up (that's non-existent actually) which is what Awakening introduced.

Ike facing off against The Black Knight

Should you Play this Game?

If you manage to come across a copy of this rare game, definitely give this a shot. The story is very gripping and touching. Character development is strong here as well and the various classes are a blast to play as!