Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Rating Everyone 10+ Genre role-playing Publisher Nintendo External Links Official Fire Emblem Website

The epic conflict for control of the Daein empire continues in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, which is the direct descendant of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. The game's launch was highly anticipated among fans because it is the first sequel of the Fire Emblem franchise in North America. For the classic Fire Emblem fan, this game delivers. It sticks to the basics and plays much like the older games from the series. However, Radiant Dawn falters in many aspects such as lackluster graphics, few new game play options, and unrelenting difficulty.

For Fire Emblem fans, the classic formula returns. A band of warriors fight for justice in a turn based tactical chess-like arena against overwhelming odds to save the day. After all, this is what keeps the fans coming back for more. The game also has a couple of cool new features. Many of Path of Radiance's characters such as Ike and Sothe are back, along with several new characters. Included in the list of new elements is when a player has finished the last installment, the previous game save can be used to give the returning characters some nice stat bonuses for increased playability. Another great addition is the “battle save” feature, which allows players to save their progress mid-battle. So when something goes wrong (and it will) and”game over” graces your presence, a complete battle do-over is not necessary. Just recall your battle save, and you can re-enter the fray from the last save point. Nice feature. Unfortunately, this is where the good aspects of the game end.

Alright, let's talk graphics. Radiant Dawn was originally a GameCube title in Japan. To understand the concept of the graphics in the American distribution, just take the GameCube mini disk and insert it into the Wii, and voi-la! There it is, the new American version! The game has very few cutscenes, which makes for an unimaginative story telling format. Hand drawn images of the characters involved in conversation are displayed mid-screen with character dialog shown below ... in a box ... that's it. Intelligent Systems would have accomplished more by attempting to make better use of the Wii hardware and all of possibilities available in the almost endless space of the new DVD media. With this extra power and storage, they could have brought bigger and better features such as added cutscenes, higher resolution game play, and smoother character models.

As for the game play, it also is nothing more than its original GameCube counterpart, with the exception of the wonderful battle save. Intelligent Systems did not bother to utilize any of the Wii's more predominant features like, an on screen cursor, online play, Mii integration, and no motion sensitivity. The only option a player has with the Wii-remote is to hold it sideways and use it as if it were a GameCube controller.

This game is amazingly difficult. After about five hours of game play, the computer opponent seeks to “... obliterate [their] entire legacy... I will make it as if [the Dawn Brigade] never existed.” (Ivan Ooze, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie) Enemies will often kill the main characters in ways a player could have never prepared for. Entering rooms at different times have nonsensical enemy attacks. An enemy close by may totally ignore the intrusion, while another enemy from far away may suddenly attack with amazing effectiveness, giving your character little chance for retaliation. Another unique and annoying aspect of this game occurs whenever a character - any character - on your team dies; the game is over. At this point, it becomes obvious why the battle save feature was created. In this RPG it's not a nicety – it's a necessity. Random experimenting seems to be the only way to play the game, rather than taking control and planning for the win skillfully and strategically. Any buyer of this title needs to be prepared to spend lots of time with it if they plan to beat the game.

This title should have been released earlier on GameCube, or at least given the Wii release debut it deserved. Nevertheless, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is a decent game. Hardcore Fire Emblem fans will love it, because it remains true to form, playing like all of the other releases of this venerable franchise. Newcomers may have a hard time buying into the series with this release due to its playability issues. There are few RPG titles for the Nintendo Wii, therefore Radiant Dawn is only recommended for devoted fans or for Wii owners desperate for an RPG in their gaming library.