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Love this Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game, through my standards, happens to be one of the greatest games I have ever played. The gameplay itself maybe tweaked a bit in order to have an "easy-access" way to reset in order if you lose a valuable playable character, but overall, the graphics are stunning, the storyline is exquisite and the CG cutscenes are breath-taking for one who has played 90% of the Fire Emblem Series. This sequel is a must-have for those who have enjoyed the Fire Emblem Series, especially Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

Dull, after playing Path of Radiance

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I played this game before its prequel: Path of Radiance for the Gamecube.
In the beginning the story and characters seemed uninspiring, the dialogue wooden and juvenile. How could anyone care for the Dawn Brigade? Leonardo, Edward, Nolan, so shockingly poor characters do I seldom see. Also the whole presentation seemed flawed. Outdated graphics, unmemorable music, bad voice-acting, still pictures and lifeless images.
Little by little I grew into the game, and after a while I was no longer bothered by the things which I mentioned. The story, characters and dialogue all improved as the game moved on, particularily in part III.
A new to the series, the game felt immensely difficult at times, but it was mostly for not thinking ahead and trying to move too fast. On second playthrough even hard/maniac mode is a piece of cake.

However, only after playing Path of Radiance, and then starting this game again, do I see how lackluster this game actually is. A pity they coulnd't build better on the foundation laid by the prequel.

Not for the beginner strategist!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First of all, let me say that I grew up on what I consider true RPG games such as Zelda and Final Fantasy. I have very little experience with pure strategy games, such as FF Tactics.

That said, it may have been just me, but I found this game extremely HARD. In some cases, I felt like if I didn't perform each move EXACTLY right all the way through the complex battle, I would have to start over. This made it very frustrating to me, as even with the strategy guide, I just couldn't figure out the complex strategies of this game.

The plot was interesting, the graphics fine, and I probably would have enjoyed the strategy-based format if I hadn't been so frustrated. This game does have an easy stage and believe me - I was playing it.

All in all, this is a well made game, but it's not for amateurs. If you are a championship chess player, you'll probably love it. If you're used to handling overwhelming challenges in RPGs by taking the time to level up more, you'll likely have the same difficulties I did.

A solid game, in a genre where solid isn't good enough.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

"Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn" (hereby dubbed "FE:RD") is the latest in a franchise of turn-based strategy games of the "FE" brand. This is my first foray into the series, and my impression is that the game really does nothing wrong. It is solid strategy, with adjustable difficulty (and a huge "cheese" factor - more on that later), a passable story, a decent combat engine, some good extras, etc.

The problem is that turn-based strategy has been done so much better, so many other times. It is a genre that is packed to the hilt with incredible games. For example, there are the gold standards of "Final Fantasy Tactics" and "Disgaea," as well as the less-well-known, but equally impressive "Vandal Hearts." There are also unique turn-based games, such as "Dynasty Tactics" and "Phantom Brave," which don't have the "oomph" of the games cited above, but carry nice innovations which manage to distinguish them from the pack somewhat.

Unfortunately, "FE:RD" doesn't reach the upper echelon, and has no real innovation to speak of. It just...is. The story, while passable, is lackluster compared to the marvellous epic of "FFT," or the humorous but immersive "Disgaea." Moreover, the dialogue is annoying, and often juvenile. Since much of it is delivered via text, this forces one to actively read some bad writing.

The combat engine is OK, but opens itself to criticism, particularly due to the fact that battles tend to have surprise attacks out the yinyang. In the early going, it is merely annoying, as the game will end and one simply needs to replay the battle. Later on, though, it is incredibly frustrating, as soldiers will appear from a place that should have been secure and kill your healers/spellcasters, which are gone FOREVER. I like the use of battle tactics in a game, but only when the computer plays fair.

Another annoyance is the movement from map screen to battle screen. Every time I attack an enemy, I have to sit through a pointless transition to a battle screen. The time spent loading up the screen is nontrivial in the end, and adds quite a bit of unnecessary length to the game.

The graphics are pretty good, but not particularly vibrant. In fact, I still prefer the pixilated goodness of "Disgaea" and "FFT" to this - the colors were bright. Here, it's not so.

SO, my final review is this: "FE:RD" is a perfectly passable strategy game.However, for those of you who cut their teeth on the masterpieces I listed above, this will leave you wanting more.

Fire Emblem

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: March 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

We are beginners w/this game and still are learning it. Once we master it a bit more, we will enjoy it more.

Mostly awesome.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I really liked this game. It's almost entirely what I've come to expect from a Fire Emblem game.

That being said, I have three major complaints.

1. What in the hell did they do to the Support Conversations? Seriously. If it's not broke, don't try to fix it. A lot of them don't even make sense; although, they can sometimes be unintentionally hilarious. Mia: "No whining on the battlefield, Boyd!" Boyd: "Just try and stop me!"

2. ***MILD SPOILERS*** Whoever designed the last boss battle needs to be shot. It would be difficult WITHOUT that shield thing, and I didn't realize that Nihil would almost literally be REQUIRED. It's extremely frustrating.

3. Some of the characters are just useless, and you're still forced to use them. I realize that this makes the element of strategy more important instead of just sending in your powerhouses to wipe the floor with the enemy, but come on. Give me SOME kind of stats to work with.

Other than that, though, great game.

Excellent idea, somewhat poor implementation.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Starting this game, the first thing I discovered was just how difficult it was. It's easy to lose a unit, especially a healer or ranged attacker, in a single hit if you're not careful. This was a welcome change from many games where it's so easy that you have difficulty losing a mission.

The other major plus was the fact that units actually -perish-. This means that if a unit is killed, it actually disappears from your team forever. It makes it far more difficult to complete missions with zero losses, as a unit lost won't simply return at the end of battle.

This game is a turn-based strategy, which is one of my favorite genres. The tactics involved are fairly refined, but have a few issues.

First of all, units can retaliate an infinite number of times. Though this isn't a major concern, it is odd that you can attack an enemy with as many as twelve friendly units, and it will retaliate twelve times. It would add a level of tactics if each unit were limited in retaliations in some way; be it by character speed or positioning factors.

Secondly, weapons don't function quite the way you may expect. Though it would make sense that lances receive bonus damage on the charge, or against mounted units, this simply doesn't happen. Again, this is more of a realism issue, and can be ignored during gameplay for the most part.

The biggest problem I had in the game comes from how the teams are set up. There are multiple sections in the game with different main and secondary characters. Each section is fairly short, and you often don't get time to build a team the way you would like before they replace your team with a new one and you must start over again. Though this is a personal preference, I would far, far prefer being given a team that will persist through the entire game, allowing me to customize my group with characters that I like, and feel like there is a connection to them. In fact, in several missions sets, I wasn't able to build any support relationships in my entire team because of how quickly the mission set ended.

The game is also extremely short. I finished it in two weekends of gameplay; roughly about 15 hours worth, not counting restarts to avoid character deaths. This time would have been greatly increased if I were to sit and watch through the cutscenes that occur, but as I felt absolutely no connection to the characters (usually due to having little time with them on my team), it became a chore to watch the exceptionally long and fairly pointless cutscenes. I'm considering playing again on a higher difficulty setting, as I played through on Easy the first time; this may increase the game length, but only artificially through longer battle sequences and more restarts.

Overall, this game was passable. I'd have paid $20 or so for it, but considering how short the game was, and how there is little opportunity to customize a team, it pales in comparison to truly great games of the turn-based strategy genre such a Final Fantasy Tactics, or Fallout Tactics.

I can't stop playing this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you like turn-based rpg's, this is a must-have title. I saw this on the lightning deal on Amazon and had to pull the trigger quickly. I'm glad I did - this has become one of my two favorite games. I find myself playing this game for hours at a time and not being able to walk away from it - the storylines and the battle strategy keep me coming back from more.

fire emblem radiant dawn

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Fast shipping, and was thrilled with the delivery time. This game can be challanging to new comers of the series, however for those who played the series before, it is a great game that will test you to your limits. It can get fustrating at times, but the new battle save system is a lifesaver, so no more starting back from the start of the chapter if you fail. Good game overall.

This is the game I've searched for!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Having grown up playing RPGs on the NES, SNES, N64, PS2, Wii and other systems, I've searched for truly engaging games for years. This is one of the first that truly made me love gaming again. I found myself unable to step away from the game for more than an hour or so. The storyline was so involved that I was truly concerned about the story and the characters. Having made it 75% of the way through the first time (30+ hours) before I realized I was missing key elements, I restarted and found the game even more enjoyable as I played through again. The gameplay was fun, yet challenging and once I defeated the game I've found myself up in the air about playing it again at a higher difficulty just to unlock new options.

All in all, if you grew up playing RPGs and still love them, pick up this game right away, grab your sword and staff, and enjoy yourself while you save the world of Tellius.

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