Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Genre: Strategy
Developer: Intelligent Systems, Nintendo
Platform: Wii
Release: 2007
Rating: E10+

- Graphics -

OMG They fixed the horses' knees (a HUGE pet peeve of mine for Path of Radiance). The 3D sprites are much more detailed, and the graphics more stylized. The full cutscenes are beautifully done, with extremely detailed, yet smooth, models.

Graphics: 9/10


- Story -

I honestly think this game wins first place for story in ANY game I've ever played. The real-life themes are even more apparent than in the prequel, and includes such an in-depth, realistic-yet-surrealistic take on things that anyone with enough patience to play the game is rewarded a thousandfold.

Story: 10/10


- Gameplay -

Easily the most difficult Fire Emblem game ever to reach the US, and quite possibly ever. One of the problems in my opinion is the vast difference between difficulty settings; Easy is almost too easy, while Normal becomes a serious challenge. Hard mode is so difficult that the one time I played through it I was forced to sacrifice almost an entire army just to keep my lords alive. Other than the difficulty issues, however, the gameplay is fun and intuitive, and improves on some of the new features in the prequel, such as being able to unequip skills and not lose them permanently, a special shop that travels with you (as opposed to the hidden ones in the GBA games), and the ability to forge more than one weapon per level.

Gameplay: 8/10


- Music -

Many of the best Path of Radiance tracks have been reused, and many of the new themes are simply awesome!

Music: 9/10

Total Score: 9/10

Not available for other systems.