Arigato! (Jonno)

 

Alright, time to pull out the big review guns. I'm goin' all out here, because Path of Radiance is my favorite Fire Emblem game as of this moment.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance introduces Ike, leader of the Greil Mercenaries, now extremely popular for his inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is said that Ike's blunt personality comes from another popular Emblem lord, Hector of Ostia (whom Ike's creators said was the previous most popular lord in America). Just so turns out that Ike is the most internationally popular Fire Emblem lord! Who would've thought that'd happen?

Not only is the main character of this game full of personality (sadly his personality became pretty stereotypical of a hero in Radiant Dawn), but so is his entire game as a whole! Path of Radiance follows Ike as he goes on a quest to defeat 'Mad King' Ashnard of Daein, who recently started to rebel against the rest of the continent. Sorta similar aesthetics to the other game I reviewed, Final Fantasy IV DS, huh? Not quite, but once again I'll just keep the big spoilers to myself.

New to the Fire Emblem series are the laguz, great warriors who can transform into certain animals. The laguz species available in Path of Radiance are the Cats, Lions, Tigers, (part of the Beast Tribe) Ravens, Hawks, Herons (part of the Bird Tribe), and the Red, Black, and White Dragons (obviously part of the Dragon Tribe). Each laguz character has unique traits and looks, and each species has a unique culture. This certainly breathes fresh air into the whole ordeal!

Laguz are often looked down upon by other characters (mainly those from Begnion and Daein), which is sad.

Music is great, sound is awesome. Some say otherwise, but I say otherwise to their otherwise! HA! Generally, I believe that old Fire Emblem fans seem to hate the new music and sound because it takes a big step away from the traditional Fire Emblem music and sounds more like real Classical music that would be used in Medieval times. I ask of you, what's so wrong about that?

The length of Path of Radiance is pretty great. You have about 30 chapters of organization, strategy, and battle before actually beating the game. When you beat the game, you unlock other aspects of the game like a sound room and an art collection. If you play through more than once, you unlock bonus units, etc. To top it off, you can connect your Game Boy Advance, SP, or micro to Path of Radiance with Fire Emblem or Sacred Stones inserted to unlock artwork for both of those games. Also, if you have a copy of the sixth Fire Emblem game imported from Japan (featuring Roy, popular because of his inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee), then you can do the same with that game.

Concerning character customization, its all about the weapons here. You can create your own sword, axe, bow, lance, throwing axe, magic tome, etc. before battle for any beorc (non-laguz, they're essentially just like us humans in real life). I generally like to make blue swords that are completely overpowered. I mean, who wouldn't?

Controls are pretty simple. Basically you'll be using the analog stick/control pad A and B buttons most of the time to control your units. Basic, but completely welcome. Pressing Y over a unit would show their stats and pressing X would bring you from one unit to the next. That brings me to the next part of the review - the interface is, as explained just earlier, easy to use and wonderful.

Well, there you have it. I give Path of Radiance a 10/10, a ***** rating, and so on. Thanks for your time.