Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

by Nintendo

Product Features

• 3D battlefields where you command your knights, winged soldiers, pikemen, and skinshifters in man-to-man, turn-based combat
• New units that can learn skills and work with the new laguz fighters
• All-new magic categories and spells available for tactical use - new magic triangles and class skills
• Find special artifacts in each mission, to introduce skills to your characters
• Visit the blacksmith to create customized weapons to raise your overall speed and attack power

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000AOEU2K
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches ; 3.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,177 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance leads you into the life of a young soldier who'll become a hero, in a world filled with political unrest and class struggle. Ike is inexperienced and untested, but he'll rise to the challenges he faces while the country of Daein invades the nation of Crimea. To make things more difficult, a new race called the laguz are aiding you in battle -- but humans and laguz don't trust each other, even though they fight together. It's a difficult time, filled with obstacles and dangers. Lead your mercenaries to victory and bring them back alive, in this challenging strategy epic. Work to form a bond with other units - talk with them after each battle to gain support Use the laguz to transform into animal forms and dole out fierce attacks

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, December 27, 2005

By 

Jonathan Zabe; (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Video Game)

On the field of battle, there are ultimately two outcomes: victory and death. Despite the fantastical setting, no series understands this better than Fire Emblem, where your slain comrades are beyond the power of any salve or spell to save. When you lose a loyal soldier-and you will-there won't be anyone to blame but yourself.

Besides the inevitable (but disappointing) transition to 3D, there are two minor tweaks to formula: the ability to push lighter units out of harm's way and the ability to earn bonus experience by completing a chapter quickly (eliminating the tedium of dispatching every enemy to level up).

Aside from some anime-styled cutscenes, the story is primarily handled through nearly immobile talking heads and huge amounts of text. To summarize: as the blue-haired mercenary leader Ike, you're charged with defending the sole surviving princess of a wrongly invaded nation. Soon enough you encounter the half-beast laguz, capable of becoming fearsome beasts in combat. (As in any good fantasy, real-world issues such as racism are treated within the context of the setting.) I found the concept of several diverse cultures uniting together out of necessity to be deeply redolent of the Suikoden series, which is high praise coming from me.

Still, any SRPG ultimately stands or falls based on the gameplay, an area in which Path of Radiance remains strong. This Emblem is one you'd be proud to wear.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who hates this game, hasn't played it., November 5, 2005

By 

Douglas C. Sage "video dude" (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Video Game)

This game rocks!!!

There are so many awesome things, but lets start with characters. There are like 30+ different characters you can earn and unlock. One cool thing is that each character joining is different. Some only join if Ike (the main character) talks to them, some only join if you have someone of the same type to talk to them (mage, archer, knight, etc), or, some just join you after the chapter (level). Each character is different. Some have really good armor, others have awesome attack power some can't be hit, others land critical strikes 70% of the time, etc. In "Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones." you got certain talismans that could upgrade characters but by the end you'd only have half your group upgraded. Not here. This time they evolve right after level 20.

The graphics are b-e-au-tiful. The characters are very detailed. Every wrinkle, every frown, every scar is shown. As my mom said "oh my gosh... that sky is so beautiful. *gasp* wow" So yea... i guess the enviornmental graphics are pretty good too. The map designs are very unique and interesting. A couple of fields are wide open, no hiding, no cover, just an all out dog fight. Some maps have rooms or rocks a character can hide in or by. Other maps are very complex and have narrow paths, many obsticals and few doorways. (Perfect for rangers, not so good for knights...)

Last thing is the story. Now, i can't give an accurate telling of this story, due to the fact that i'm approximatly only half-way through it. But so far Ike joins his father's buisness- being a mercenary. So Ike and about 5 other mercenaries set off to random spots and assist thoughs who call. Later Ike's father meets up with a mysterious black knight who talks to him as if he knows him. Ike's father does know him, but won't tell us who it is. Also, later in the story, it appears another character was hiding in the woods while Ike's father battled the Black knight. These events lead into Ike escorting a princess to help her stop a war from breaking out in the land.

All in all this game is awesome, if you get the chance to play it take it!!!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific game in an unrepresented genre, March 28, 2006

By 

Ryan S. Poff (Kingsport, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Video Game)

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is one of the best SRPGs ever made for any platform. Along with Tales of Symphonia, it stands out as one of the two "must-have" RPGs for the Gamecube.

The story is a real highlight of the game starts off in a somewhat typical fashion. The young man rescues the princess in need and sets out to save the kingdom. The story is simple in concept, yet its real world undertones of racial dispute and wartime friendships help form characters that you care about. Even though you can recruit a plethora of characters, the support conversations really lend personality to even the minor ones. Much of the story is serious, but there are some humerous moments that will certainly make you smile. The story is delivered in a "talking heads" manner between battles and there is a good amount of reading to do. This is no Xenogears in terms of complexity and depth, but it's certainly far above most RPGs because it sticks to a safe formula.

The music in the game accompanies the plot well and generally enhances the mood, though some of it is played excessively and may wear on you after awhile. The sound effects are good for a game of this type.

The gameplay itself is one of the games strongest features. Even on easy mode, you may have to redo a battle several times before you develop a winning strategy. If characters are defeated in combat, they are gone forever, so save often so that you can restart the game if you lose a person. The maps are diverse and there are several unique ones that require the player to be very observant and adaptable. The battle in each "chapter" is usually not very long, and most of the missions can be completed in half an hour, thus allowing a player without much time in one sitting to get a little bit done. There are different objectives that you are required to complete in order to clear the stage to add some variety. It takes a well thought out and executed strategy to overcome some of the end game battles, and without the proper balance of classes, you'll find things even more difficult.

The graphics in the game are okay overall. The 2D artwork is vibrant and colorful. However, the same can't be said for some of the maps, which can appear drab and washed out. It's sometimes difficult to distinguish between different classes on the battlefield. The battlefield models are exceptionally poor for a Gamecube game and the houses, buildings, etc, do not look much better. The combat character models look good and the combat window displays the surrounding terrain instead of a generic background, which is a nice touch. The cutscenes are wonderful, but there aren't enough of them.

There are some bonus extras available once you complete the game. These are actually worth spending some time with. You can also go back and level characters at a "fixed" rate after the completion of story mode, which means only attributes relevant to the class will level up. There may not be enough additional content to make a player want to clear the game again, but the bonuses in the end are a nice touch to the game and are certainly worth checking out.

I'd recommend this game to any RPG fan or Gamecube owner. Sadly, this seems to be one of the few bright spots in a relatively new crop of games for the GC.