Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

Ever since playing Fire Emblem Sacred Stones for the Gameboy Advanced I have been a big fan of the Fire Emblem series. When I heard that they were making a sequel to Fire Emblem Path of Radiance for the Wii I was real excited. I had so much fun playing Fire Emblem Path of Radiance so I was really looking forward to getting the new Fire Emblem game for the Wii. I was so happy when I was finally able to get the game. As soon as I started to play the game I had so much fun playing it. To find out how fun and awesome this game is please keep reading.

Story

This story takes place three years after the Kingdom of Daein invaded its neighboring Kingdom Crimea and brought on a war that almost destroyed the whole continent of Tellius. After the defeat of the Mad King Ashnard the Begnion Empire took control of the Daein Empire. Then there was a group of young revolutionaries that came together to try to break free from the grip of Begnion oppression. This group called themselves the Dawn Brigade, their goal is to save the lives of their fellow countrymen.

Gameplay

There is actually more than one part in the game. I am not sure exactly how many though since I am only on the third part. The main characters in the first part are Micaiah and Sothe. They are joined by Edward, Leonardo, and Nolan who are also part of the dawn brigade. You will meet many characters from Fire Emblem Path of Radiance once you make it to certain points in the game. Just like in Path of Radiance the game is divided into Chapters which you have to complete to go further in the game. Just like in Path of Radiance this game is also divided into turns. Sometimes in a certain chapter you may have to complete the objective given to you in a limited amount of turns. Each chapter is played out of a map which and each character that appears on the map is called a unit. It's easy to tell which army a unit belongs to because each unit has a colored band at their feet. Your units have a blue band at their feet, while the enemy units have red bands at their feet. Ally units have yellow bands at their feet, and Other units have green bands at their feet. When a unit completes an action the band at its feet turns gray.

As a unit gains experience the unit will gain levels, and they will eventually change classes. Units earn experience points by engaging in combat, using staves, and performing other actions. A unit will automatically level up once they reach 100 experience and once the unit levels up they have to earn 100 more experience points before they will level up again. Most units will class change once they reach level 21 and once the change to the new class they are restarted at a level 1 but their stats carry over from the previous class. Unfortunately if one of your units other than the leader is defeated they will be gone forever. When your leader is defeated or a condition is not met the game will be over and you will have to start that level over.

While on the map you can press the B and 1 buttons at the same time to display a units status while the cursor is over a unit.When you do this it goes to the Status Screen of the selected unit. At the top of the status screen is where the basic data about the unit is displayed. It shows the Unit type, Current HP/Max HP, Level, Name, EXP, and Combat Statistics of the selected unit. There are Four Status Pages on the Status Screen. The First Status Page shows the Abilities and the Items of the selected unit. The Second Status Page shows more Personal Data of the selected unit, and it shows the selected unit's Weapon Levels. If the selected unit is a Laguz their transformation gauge will also show on this Status Page. The Third Status Page shows the selected unit's Skills and Support Relationships. The Fourth Status Page shows the selected unit's Associations and Biorythm.

When a unit finishes moving the, Command Menu will display. The regular commands on the Command Menu are: Attack, Staff, Shove, Rescue, Drop, Give/Take, Item, Trade, and Wait. Then there are conditional commands which appear only when circumstances allow. These commands are: Talk, Visit, Door/Chest, Order, Seize, Escape, Arrive, Steal, and Galdr.

While on the map screen press the A button to open the Menu Screen. The Map Menu commands are: Units, Guide, Options, Suspend, Battle Save, and End. Also while on the map screen you can press the plus button to display the battle conditions. While in the battle conditions screen press the 2 button to see the victory conditions and other info.

The map screen is where all your units and the enemy units are located when you start a chapter. Each battle has there own victory conditions that have to be completed to win the battle. Some of these victory conditions are Seize where you have to seize a castle, rout which means you have to defeat all the enemies on the map, and Defeat the boss which means you have to defeat the boss to win the battle. Another victory condition gives you two options which are to Defend for a certain amount of turns or defeat the boss. Units can engage indirect combat or indirect combat with your enemies. In direct combat your unit has to go right up to enemy and attack them. In indirect combat a unit can attack another unit from two or three squares away from the other unit, but they have to have to be in front of the unit or diagonal from the unit. Only units with a bow, magic, or javelin or hand axe can engage in indirect combat. The rest of the units have to engage an enemy unit in direct combat. Each battle has a boss that you have to defeat. Usually the bosses sit still and do not move in to attack you like all the other enemies. As you get farther into the game the bosses will get harder to defeat. One more thing that you have to remember is the weapon triangle. In the weapon triangle swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords.

At about Chapter 4 in the first part you will be able to go to your base and do many things before starting a chapter. While at the base you can actually give your units more experience by using the Bonus experience you get from the previous chapter.In this game there are two types of races just like in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. These two races are the Beorc and the Laguz. Here is a list of the Beorc unit types: Light Mage, Light Sage, Myrmidon, Sword Master, Soldier, Halberdier, Fighter, Warrior, Archer, Sniper, Armored Lance, Armored Axe, Armored Sword, General, Thief, Rogue, Bandit, Mage, Sage, Priest, Bishop, Axe Knight, Blade Knight, Lance Knight, Bow Knight, Pegasus Knight, Falconknight, Dracoknight, and Dragonmaster. In this game Mage's and Sage's are actually split into specialist so you could have a Fire Mage or a Thunder Mage. There are two different Laguz tribes the Beast Tribe and the Bird Tribe. There are three types in the Beast tribe and they are Tigers, Cats, and Wolves. In the Bird Tribe there are the Hawks and the Ravens.

Controls

The controls in the game are not like most other Wii games. To play this game you have to hold the Wii Remote horizontally. The control pad is used to move the cursor, select items in a menu, and move units. The 1 button is used to cancel and return to the previous screen. The 2 button is used to start the game, confirm menu selections, scroll through messages, and select units. The + button is used to start the game, display battle conditions, and skip story sequences. The - button is used to remove on-screen displays on the map screen. The A button is used to display the map menu and to review current conversations. The B button is used simultaneously with other buttons to perform other actions, for example: to open the Status screen you must press the B button and the 1 button simultaneously.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are a bit better than the graphics were in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. The scenery on the maps are pretty detailed and so are the units and the characters.The units and characters look a bit more detailed than the characters and units did in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. There are actually more cut scenes in this game then in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. The cut scenes are great in this game, they seem better than the cute scenes did in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance.

Sound

The sound in this game are not that much different then the sound in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. The music when units are battle are actually different then the ones in Path of Radiance though. The music is actually better than the music in Path of Radiance. There is no voice overs just like Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. The only voice overs you get is in the few cute scenes in the game.

Overall Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is the best Fire Emblem game I have played since Sacred Stones for Gameboy Advanced. I think all fans of the Fire Emblem series will love this game. Even players that are new to the Fire Emblem Series. Its the best Wii game I have played so far!