Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Fire Emblem: the Path of Radiance is a story about a young boy called Ike and his mercenary team. A kingdom called Daein invades the kingdom of Crimea and captures it, Ike and his mercenary company then set out on a large adventure to re-claim it and defeat the Mad King of Daein, Ashnard. On his adventures, he travels to many locations and meets many people. He befriends the Laguz (Laguz are people that can turn into an animal, but can also be a human) of Gallia. There are three types of Laguz: there are the felines, the birds and the dragons, they later help him re-claim his homeland. He also receives help from another Kingdom called Begnion.

This game is a strategy game, It involves complex strategical thinking in order for you to prevail. The game is based on chapters, every time you fulfil the requirements needed to complete the chapter, you proceed to the next one. There are a total of 29 chapters in this game, not including the Trial Maps, which can be unlocked if...

THE GOOD:
1. Same awesome gameplay
2. New and improved graphics (duh)
3. Awesome soundtrack (Doesn't sound synthesized. Sweet.)
4. Incredible storyline
5. Awesome new movies
6. Several cool, new features

THE BAD:
1. Graphics could be slightly better
2. No link battle option

SUMMARY:
Gameplay 10/10
As in the other games, the gameplay is simply awesome. I love the turn-based strategy games. FFT is good too, but it's much more random. In short, FE has always been a great strategy game.

Graphics 8/10
I'm pretty new to the whole Gamecube thing. Just got it about a month before writing this review. Fire Emblem has some pretty solid graphics, although the out of battle one's could be a bit more interesting. If you look closely, you'll notice that they blink far too often. But even those animations are smooth and detailed, if not in 3D (or whatever you call it).

Music 11/10
Maybe I care a bit too much...

THE GOOD:
Very nice cutscenes
Awesome battle scenes
Many characters to choose from
Cool classes and characters
Fantastic maps
Good replayability

THE BAD:
Somewhat difficult
Voice acting could be better

SUMMARY:
Fire Emblem is a series that has been stuck to 2D battles and graphics since the release of the first installment entitled "Fire Emblem: The Dark Dragon and Sword of Light". That is, of course, until Nintendo released this game, "Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance", for the Gamecube.

It plays similar to the other games of the series, in that you have a team of fighters that you command to victory. In PoR, however, there are some differences.

For one, the magic triangle was redone a bit. There is no more anima beats light, light beats dark, and dark beats anima. Dark magic was taken out, light magic was kept in but is not part of the triangle, and anima is basically divided into 3 spells:...

THE GOOD:
- Grid Map. Great for Strategy Fans like me.
- Tons of Characters to use.
- Many different Classes
- Over 28 Chapters
- Most Cut-scenes are very nice
- Ability to skip most cut-scenes
- Good Storyline
- Great Replay Value

THE BAD:
- The Voice Acting isn't that great.
- Few Cut-scenes with Vivid Graphics

SUMMARY:
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is quite simply put, a great game. There's been many Fire Emblem games made in Japan already, but few have actually been released to America. When you do come across a game like this, you just have to drool. It's sheer fun and replay value, along with the unwanted Rareness, is enough to make anyone exited at its sight.

Gameplay - 10/10

Simply Fantastic. Sure, there's no action, because this is a Strategy Game. However, even people who might have over looked Strategy in the past should be able to come and enjoy this game....

THE GOOD:
1. Great Graphics - Better than the original two
2. Great Storyline - More detailed than the other two
3. New Forging System - Allows creation of new weapons
4. Ability To Promote Without Items - Useful when training units
5. New Type Of Race - You get both Beorc and Laguz on your team
6. Bonus Experience - Easier to level up weak units
7. New Skills - Useful when fighting harder units
8. Trial Maps - Nice to use when you want to test your team out
9. Bands - Gives units more balanced stats

THE BAD:
1. No Arena - Bonus Experience makes up for it
2. Less ( Beorc ) Classes - Laguz make up for it
3. Not Portable - Graphics make up for it
4. No Auto-Suspend Feature - Speed makes up for it
5. No Maniac Mode - Nothing makes up for it

SUMMARY:
Simple to say, there are more Pros than Cons in this game. Compared to the original Fire Emblem, it it is just as challenging and just as fun. Compared to Fire...

THE GOOD:
Mix of strategy and RPG
Command and customise your army
A great deal of thinking required
Lot's of extras

THE BAD:
Presentation is a little sloppy
Less emphasis on exploration than other versions
Not for players preferring direct action games

SUMMARY:

Fire Emblem is a long running series in Japan, but only a few of those games have been released worldwide. After the global success of the GBA titles can the Gamecube version impress?

Unfortunately Fire Emblem doesn't start off very promising. The graphics, outside the pre-rendered cutscenes, appear quite rough. Character models are lacking in detail and environments have rather bland textures. Bad enough on their own, but the amazing graphics in the cutscenes only highlight this problem. I can only imagine what...