That driving need to write has hit me once again, which of course means its time for another completely random journal post. I decided to do a brief review of a game I've been playing recently for no reason other than it gives me something to write about, and I can write it quickly and be done. So, without further ado...
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn:
I love the Fire Emblem series. I've played every US release and they're all very fun. Each entry has the same basic structure, turn-based strategy RPG where death is permanent, units gain 20 levels and can then "class up" into a much stronger unit and gain 20 more levels, etc., but each entry messes with the mechanic in some way. In the game that was just called "Fire Emblem" in the US, the first GBA release, you had five inventory slots for each character, a merchant caravan that actually entered battle with you, and other than that it was pretty straightforward. Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, the second GBA release, added things like being able to choose one of two classes when you classed up and optional levels that could be replayed ad infinitum. The GameCube release was radically different, with a complex "base" mechanic, bonus experience that could be allocated outside of battle (meaning, for the first time, you could actually level a unit without ever using it), half-beast units called Laguz, and a number of other tweaks.
It's therefore not surprising that Radiant Dawn is different in a whole host of ways, but the pattern of changes strikes me as a kind of wish-list from a few hardcore fans, with the tools to make it playable to less obsessional people. There are two new mechanics that would make any of the previous games simply broken. First, you can save in-battle, something that has never been possible. You can now go back a single turn if you mess up rather than having to restart the whole fight. Second, the "Skills" that first appeared in Path of Radiance can now be moved from character to character with ease, meaning that there's no reason to assign every skill you have available. In any of the previous games, these would have made things far too easy. In this game, they're virtually necessary. The levels are larger, the enemies are nastier, it's just a hard game. Here's where the "wish-list" impression comes in: Already, there have been levels that consisted of two characters trying to assassinate a single unit when most of the map is hidden, a battle that took place entirely in the sky with moving clouds, and a massive cavalry battle using AI allied units. These all seem like things that hardcore fans would have asked to see in a game, just to see how the Fire Emblem system could be applied to them. To the designers' credit, they pulled it off pretty well. Some levels were frustrating, but again, the tools they provide make them playable. They've also added the ability to class up again, making for a total of sixty possible levels. This is again something I could see hardcore fans asking for, it was very possible to max out a number of your units without much trouble in previous games, adding an extra twenty levels makes that harder.
It's still very much a fire emblem game and still very fun. The characters are a bit of an odd set, as of yet it's mostly been side characters from the Gamecube game and a few uninteresting new people. It shows promise, though. I'm very interested to see what else the developers throw in, though. From what I've seen so far, there's any number of interesting level designs they could try.
