Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Well. The polls are closed, and we had a 33% increase in voter turnout (thank you, mystery 4th person). That means this blog is slowly growing into something slightly less puny than before. Yay. Berserker was a clear W1NN4R here and we can all see why. Who doesn't love a guy who charges into battle with nothing but an axe, a bad attitude, and a 15% bonus to critical hits? Ranger and Warrior were a close second. The sword and bow combo of a horsed ranger is quite something to behold, but the size of the axe-toting, bow-blitzing warrior is nothing to sneeze at. Well that's all for that poll. Good to know that the reading population is enlarged (or some one just voted again from a different computer...). The next poll should be interesting.

So, a little while back, I got through Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. It's an excellent addition to the Fire Emblem family, but the real reason I finished it was my wanting improved stats in the sequel, Radiant Dawn. I received Radiant Dawn for Christmas and haven't played it yet. I'm waiting for a Zapper so I can beat Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles first. That way, I'll only have Guitar Hero 3 and DDR: Hottest Party to get in my way.

Path of Radiance was quite a bit different from the previous Fire Emblem games (other than being on the TV screen instead of a Gameboy) in that it had time in a base that you could use to assign skills, award bonus experience, talk to people, and listen to support conversations - which are based on chapters spent together, not turns adjacent to each other as usual. I found the improved graphics refreshing...for about the first 10 battles, then it just became annoying until I got to see everyone's critical hits. I didn't mind the Laguz characters that you fought, but I never used any of the ones that I got myself. I just can't get attached to a tiger-thing like I do with the beorcs, except for Reyson of course. My favorite character throughout the whole thing is tight between Keiran and Nephenee. They both always did exactly what I wanted them to, which was usually standing in a crowd of enemies alone and clearing the area (or at least getting damaged and letting Wrath and Resolve take effect). That's saying something, considering I usually hate Paladins in the FE series. The Halberdier a fun addition to the classes, but far underpowered compared to the bonuses that Berserkers, Snipers, and Swordsmasters get with their single weapon mastery. All in all, if you like Advanced Wars or the other Fire Emblem games, you'll be satisfied with this one.

Rating: B