Review: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (NGC)

You might be surprised to learn that Path of Radiance is no less than the ninth game in the Fire Emblem series to date. It’s also the first instalment to be released on home consoles outside of Japan and the first for a home platform since 1999.

If you’re already familiar with the GBA titles, then you’re going to find that not much has changed since you played the last game in the series, which was The Sacred Stones. Alright, there might now be a beautiful anime style cut-scene to start proceedings and a few more sparingly scattered about, but once you’re into the game good and proper this is Fire Emblem by rote. Of Course, if you’re a fan of the series and lapped up the last two titles, then this isn’t a bad thing. However, Gamestyle for one can’t help but feel that the leap from GBA to Gamecube should have marked a step up in the quality of Fire Emblem’s play.

Path of Radiance is still a turn-based strategy affair, with a lengthy and engaging, if not somewhat text heavy, narrative played out via plenty of ‘talking head’ cut scenes, which is exactly the same as previous GBA versions. Set against a back-story of invasion, war and political machinations, Path of Radiance places the player as a leader of a band of mercenaries who become embroiled in these events. Unusually, for an RPG, the protagonist (Ike) isn’t an amnesiac and nor does he have red hair. But fear not, Intelligent Systems haven’t broken all the normal RPG conventions. You can still recruit the usual assortment of waifs and strays into your party of mercenaries. The well crafted storytelling creates a bond between player and his party, making the loss of one of your number more traumatic than one might ordinarily expect. Especially as the Fire Emblem policy of no second chances is rigorously applied once more.

That’s right. As ever, once a character is dead, they stay dead. Fire Emblem doesn’t, and never has believed in such girly accoutrements as Phoenix Downs, or characters simply being ‘knocked out’ if defeated in battle. Those that have played previous instalments will doubtless have a strong opinion on whether this feature should have been included in Path of Radiance or not. Certainly, if you groaned at the thought of struggling to keep all your characters in one piece, knowing that one moment of bad planning during a rash offensive might well lead to you restarting the whole battle, then there’s a strong chance that you are going to find Path of Radiance frustrating. Indeed, it could be argued that the inclusion of this feature has a negative effect on gameplay, encouraging the adoption of more cautious tactics. Fortunately, Intelligent Systems have recognised some of the criticism previously levelled at this element of gameplay and have included checkpoints during battles, allowing vital decisions to be revisited. Bonus experience points can be earned during battle, which can then be distributed to weaker characters afterwards in order to avoid them becoming useless as your party levels up.

Once again, the weapon and magic triangles are wheeled out to form the basis of in-game combat. Fortunately the paper-rock-scissors simplicity of the triangles has been skilfully exploited by the developers to make for some surprisingly complex battles as the game progresses. One thing that Fire Emblem certainly hasn’t lost moving to its new home is the fact that it’s hard. Very hard indeed. Although a variable difficulty setting is included, even on the easiest setting the enemy A.I is skilful and unforgiving. Your opposition will waste no time hammering stranded or weaker members of your team. For those new to the world of Fire Emblem, there is some assistance in the form of a series of well crafted tutorials, which appear as new units and skills that can be revisited at any time and are a welcome addition to the title. Intelligent Systems have also taken the opportunity to broaden the mission types available from those seen on the GBA. Whilst always offering the opportunity to slaughter the enemy to win, new objectives such as using stealth, or protecting parties earn bigger rewards in the forms of more cash and experience.

Sadly, one area where the transition to the Gamecube has not been as successful as it might have been is in the graphics department. The graphics are quite crude and the animation is a little lacking. Titles such as Baten Kaitos had already produced more compelling and beautiful RPG worlds when Path of Radiance was still being developed. Aurally, the game fares better. The music is good, if a little repetitive.

So, a unique title for the Gamecube then, but not a unique title for the Fire Emblem series. Path of Radiance refines the formula that the series has been relying on for a long time, but does precious little to move it forward. Both entertaining and satisfying yet difficult and frustrating in equal measures, if you haven’t already fallen out of love with the series or have never played a Fire Emblem game then there’s an awful lot to enjoy. For those that felt an overhaul was required after The Sacred Stones, don't expect to find it here.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Andy Lucas