Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is the tenth Fire Emblem title and the first for the Wii. It was announced for the Wii on May 9, 2006 at the E3 convention, officially released on February 22, 2007 in Japan, and released in North America on November 5, 2007.

Radiant Dawn is a sequel to the Nintendo GameCube title Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, featuring the same style of cel-shaded FMV cutscenes. The game features most of the playable and non-playable characters that were present in its predecessor, as well as some original characters. The player has the opportunity to transport gameplay data from Path of Radiance when beginning Radiant Dawn. The gameplay retains the fundamental format present in all games of the Fire Emblem series, but also introduces features such as new unit classes and an elevation advantage between battling characters. Radiant Dawn's plot begins in war-torn Daein with the main character Micaiah and her allies rebelling against the oppressive Begnion army. The story is divided into four parts, and changes perspective between different factions within the continent of Tellius.

Radiant Dawn received a mostly positive from reviewers, most of whom criticised the game's high difficulty. The game attained an aggregate rating of 78% from both Game Rankings and Metacritic.

Plot

Radiant Dawn is divided into four parts, each of which begins with a prologue chapter that introduces the situation, followed by a series of chapters that is resolved with an "Endgame" chapter. The game begins three years after the Mad King's War, the events of Path of Radiance. Daein, the war's instigator and eventual loser, and the victorious nation Crimea are still in the process of rebuilding. Although Crimea is ruled by Queen Elincia, Daein lacks a proper successor and is instead ruled by the occupation forces of the Begnion Empire. The Daein people are oppressed by the corrupt senate and imperial soldiers.

The game begins by following a group of Daein rebels named the Dawn Brigade, headed by Micaiah and Sothe. Despite being pursued by Begnion forces, they locate the apparent heir to the Daein throne, Pelleas, and later restore the monarchy and liberate Daein from Begnion. Following this, the game cuts to events in Crimea, which is still recuperating from the war. Elincia faces possible usurpation from nobles critical of her leadership. A resulting conflict ensues between the rebels and soldiers loyal to Elincia, which climaxes at the capture and attempted execution of the Queen's ally, Lucia. The rebellion is stopped by the arrival of the Greil Mercenaries, led by Path of Radiance's main protagonist Ike.

Later in the game, the corruption of the Begnion Empire becomes prevalent as Senator Lekain usurps the Empress Sanaki based on false claims that she is an imposter. Lekain uses his power to instigate a racial war between the Begnion Empire and a coalition of Laguz nations known as the Laguz Alliance. A novelty to the Fire Emblem series, this puts different protagonists of the game against each other as Daein is coerced into allying with Begnion, while the Greil Mercenaries join the Laguz Alliance. Ultimately, this conflict unleashes Yune from Lehran's Medallion while also awakening Ashera, two goddesses who represent chaos and order, respectively. As punishment for bringing the world into chaos, Ashera subsequently petrifies Tellius, leaving only the strongest soldiers active. Yune still believes that peace is possible, and thus opposes her counterpart Ashera by leading three armies towards her residence, the Tower of Guidance in Begnion. They are all attacked on their journey by Begnion soldiers augmented by Ashera's blessings. The game ends when Yune's armies reach the Tower and Ike defeats Ashera using Yune's power. In an epilogue scene accessed if certain requirements are fulfilled, Yune and Ashera combine hundreds of years later to again become the goddess Ashunera, creator of Tellius.

Gameplay

Radiant Dawn retains the gameplay mechanics of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, with turn-based battles taking place on a square-based grid. Most of the Path of Radiance cast returns, including all of its playable characters (except Largo), as well as figures new to Tellius. Data from a completed Path of Radiance save file can be transferred to Radiant Dawn via a Nintendo GameCube memory card, which can lead to characters obtaining statistical gains. Support conversations from Path of Radiance can also be accessed and viewed using this method. In Radiant Dawn, the "support" system has been altered so that a unit can support any other unit, although units can only have one support relationship each. A secondary support known as a "bond" is also available, which is active by default or obtained when two units have attained an "A" support level in Path of Radiance. For the first time in the series, the English-language release allows the player to save the game mid-battle, though this option is absent in the highest difficulty setting. Radiant Dawn's multifaceted plot and lack of a permanent main character leads to the player controlling different factions in the game. In the later stages of the game, the player's units will battle against a previously playable set of enemy units; despite the "permanent death" feature common to the Fire Emblem series, units defeated as enemies will still be playable later in the game. Radiant Dawn introduced new features relating to unit development, such as double promotion for beorcs, which grants the unit a special skill dependent on the unit's class. New features have also been added to the laguz units, including a maximum level increased to 40, the ability to fight untransformed, and the presence of the wolf laguz.

There are also modifications to combat, including an elevation advantage which grants units at a greater altitude with more power and accuracy. Radiant Dawn introduces the highest level of weaponry, known as "SS", which requires a unit to have used a particular weapon type many times. In previous Fire Emblem games, archers could not attack adjacent units, but the crossbow allows such units to attack both adjacent and distant units. Dark magic, omitted from Path of Radiance but present in earlier games, was reintroduced to form a second magical trinity (akin to the rock-paper-scissors system) alongside the one in Path of Radiance.

Development

Radiant Dawn was first revealed as part of a short FMV sequence during the E3 conference of 2006. Development had begun soon after the announcement of the Wii—then codenamed Revolution—and even before the Wii hardware had arrived for Intelligent Systems. During an interview with Dengeki Nintendo DS, Hitoshi Yamagami revealed that Wi-Fi compatibility had been considered for Radiant Dawn, with features such as downloadable battle maps and units, although difficulties relating to balance and difficulty prevented the idea from developing. As implied in the interview, the next Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken will contain online features. When questioned about why the developers chose to develop Radiant Dawn for the Wii instead of the Nintendo DS, Yamagami stated that "The FE series began on the Famicom, so we'd generally like to release it on consoles." He proceeded to explain Intelligent Systems' decision not to utilise the Wii's motion controls, stating that he did not think they were suitable for a Fire Emblem game. Yamagami also gave an insight into development during an interview with Nintendo Dream, stating a willingness to return to home consoles after releasing three titles for the Game Boy Advance, despite soaring development costs.

In an interview discussing the game, Nintendo of America localiser Rich Amtower discussed an emphasis on maintaining a consistent characterisation between the two games. He stated how the development team was hoping to attract players of Path of Radiance with the storyline continuation, and also newcomers to the Fire Emblem series, rating Radiant Dawn as "the perfect refinement of the Fire Emblem series.

Reception

The game received a generally positive reception from critics, although issues such as the game's difficulty were a common concern. GameSpot's Lark Anderson noted that, although players can save mid-battle, the difficulty "will easily overwhelm even experienced tacticians." Eurogamer's Keza MacDonald praised the depth and refinement of the game, but proceeded to note a lack of accessibility due to greater complication and difficulty as Radiant Dawn progresses. Some reviewers were also critical of the developers' choice not to use the Wii's motion controls, although RPGamer's Bryan Boulette commented that "the game thankfully delivers a traditional experience that isn't changed just for the sake of changing it." In general, critics acknowledged a balanced and deep gameplay system recognized in previous Fire Emblem games, but noted that the game felt too similar to its GameCube predecessor, with ONM's Chandra Nair commenting that Radiant Dawn has "refused to move forward."

Reviewers praised refinements of gameplay aspects present in Path of Radiance, such as the weapon forging system, which ONM thought was simpler to control in Radiant Dawn. Despite this, other changes, such as those to the support system, were not as welcome, with GameSpot commenting that support conversations "have been reduced to mere battlefield chatter." 1UP's Michael Donahoe praised the game's length and range of characters, but stated that the laguz "still aren't very useful." Although Fire Emblem games have been praised for their plot and characterisation in the past, GameSpot described the story as "laughable" and the game's villains as clichéd and "one-dimensional." Conversely, RPGamer lauded the alterations in perspective by use of different protagonists, which Boulette felt "makes the overall story feel so much broader and more expansive in scope."

The game's presentation received a mixed response, with IGN's Mark Bozon lauding the use of FMV and accompanying voice acting, although he commented that these were too infrequent, and that voice acting should have been used for the entirety of the game. The game's music received a positive response, with GameSpy crediting the work of series composer Yuka Tsujiyoko as "remarkably good." However, multiple reviewers noted that the game's visuals were very similar to its predecessor's, with GameSpot rating them as "little to no improvement graphically" from Path of Radiance. GameSpy noted that the game's visuals "aren't mindblowing," but welcomed Radiant Dawn's interface and camera, stating that "A strategy game should often focus on function before form, but Radiant Dawn nails both."

References

External links

• "Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn" official website
• Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami at Nintendo of Japan.
• Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami Background
• Serenes Forest — Data and information for Radiant Dawn