Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for Wii Reviews by Gamers

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is a turn-based strategy game with role-playing elements. No, wait, it's a role-playing game with strategy elements. Whatever it is, it's very good. Radiant Dawn takes place three years after Path of Radiance on Gamecube. Many of the same characters are used and the new conflict is mostly an outgrowth and follow-up to the first game. It's the WWII to Path of Radiance's WWI. Another close parallel is how much more epic this game is. It's not about the overthrowing of a mad king, it's about the conflict of gods on the world of Tellius. The game takes place along several maps, sort of like game boards, where you take your units and move them to the most opportune positions to eliminate the enemy units while keeping your guys from utter destruction. And in this game, when someone dies, they stay dead. This probably brings us to the worst part of the game. Every time a unit falls, you have to restart the whole game and load your file. It's a small thing that will annoy you greatly. Why couldn't they have a load game button in the game menu? I ask you. As your army eliminates the enemy, they gain experience and subsequent levels. Many of them will also upgrade classes along the way, becoming even better. This game is about 40 hours long, which is impressive. What's more impressive is how hooked you'll be for the duration. The story is okay, but it does it's job, moving you through the campaign and keeping continuity. With mounted, flying and ground units, spell casters, archers and healers, you'll have many strategies to consider. This is the kind of game you can sit down and play, as you use the remote sideways like a classic controller. If you've never played a Fire Emblem game before, you should. Radiant Dawn is as good a place as any to start.