radiant path

so i’m sure i’m not the only one who worked his way through fire emblem: path of radiance in preparation for the release of fire emblem: radiant dawn, its sequel. this would explain my hermit-like state for however long it took me to finish the game, a state that was uncannily similar to when i was playing fire emblem: the sacred stones and when i was playing the first US GBA fire emblem. by now i’ve learned my lesson that i should only start playing these games when i have a lot of free time.

despite being my 3rd fire emblem game (in some six months no less!), i found the experience to be as compelling as ever. the support conversations are still one of my top motivations for playing, and there were enough minor changes to the already compelling gameplay to keep me obsessed. i particularly liked one of the bigger changes, having half-beast characters with their advantages and limitations, although i can easily see why most people don’t seem to be fond of them. one area that i think the series could improve on in general are more ingenious level design, perhaps with different goals. but otherwise, even though it was pretty easy overall (maybe b/c i’m so far from being a rookie nowadays but also i think b/c of the addition of bonus experience), i had a great time. and if you were wondering, my dream team was: soren, boyd, kieran, nephenee, ike, ilyana, rhys, marcia, mia, and rolf. i’m def. chomping at the bit to play the new game, which was just released this week, but four fire emblem games in six months might be a wee bit much … you think? in any case i’m def. looking forward to seeing ike in brawl.

links of radiance:
– serenes forest: an amazing, amazing site. i don’t know how i missed this when i was playing the other games, but maybe the site was temporarily down at the time. so much great info here, including translations of the “ancient language”, info on in-built support bonuses (not mentioned in the instructions at all), wallpapers, sprites, bonus tables, the works. will be coming back to this again and again.
– good guide at gamerhelp.com
– FAQ at IGN
– guide at IGN
– marimbamonkey14 has some fantastic fire emblem fan art on deviantart.com
– the official site doesn’t have much, but it’s there if you’re obsessed with everything fire emblem (ahem …)
– there were some other fire emblem sites i mentioned in my previous posts that also have some good info, most of which can also be found on the aforementioned serenes forest

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