no sir, i don't have a retirement fund, but i DO own two copies of this game. so it all balances out
At risk of beating a dead horse, I think the weakest part of Path of Radiance is easily its relatively low difficulty. To preface, this is from the perspective of a series veteran (“awakening babies” get to call ourselves vets now, how lovely) with a very intimate understanding of what’s ‘good’ in these games, but I started playing with 35% increased enemy growths, later bumped it to 55% and I still felt like I was cruising through most of the mid to lategame chapters. A lot of those chapters lack any sort of pressure to threaten your strong units or to push you to move faster (the latter camp usually being enemy thieves that a good mount can easily reach) and boil down to being very sluggish ‘fields with enemies’ that let you tackle them as risk-free as you want. Combined with how high growths are and how BEXP lets you blitz even further ahead of the curve and I think most of the game lacks bite even when the enemies are boosted to the point where they border on unfair. It has a lot of interesting things going on in theory - side objectives for BEXP, forges being limited to one per chapter, some cool gimmick chapters late on (CH22 is just a pokemon strength puzzle and I kinda love it) - but the game never has quite enough friction to bring out its own potential.
But the draw of PoR mainly comes from the strength of its writing. The majority of the character writing is very realistically grounded in the game’s settings and situations. Every support and base conversation is lovingly woven to bring out subtleties of the cast’s personalities, worldviews, personal struggles, dynamics, their growth or lack thereof. Their personalities are strong but not exaggerated (for the most part) and the interactions are full of little remarks or conversations that feel unexpectedly resonant or meaningful. It’s a lovely cast that’s very difficult not to fall for. While the story itself has a large focus on Fantasy Racism and does stumble a little into its trappings (primarily its tendency to categorise all Kilvans in one particular way), its angle towards it feels very carefully-written and used in a way that attempts to earnestly explore attitudes towards prejudice. It uses its depictions to present the importance of uprooting systemic oppression and breaking the self-perpetuating cultures of hatred that it brings, and how vital it is to do so despite how much of a Herculean task it is in reality. It all further feeds into a broader theme held up by scenes beyond how it presents discrimination - how understanding and righting past wrongs is vital to be able to truly move forward and make meaningful change or growth. It’s the *honesty* of all its explorations, more than anything, that I found so unexpectedly disarming.
It caught me off-guard with how much I ended up liking it, but it’s really easy to see why it’s so beloved. If you don’t mind it being slightly defanged on the strategy end, it’s a lovely, warm and charming game that’s surprisingly confident in its writing.
But the draw of PoR mainly comes from the strength of its writing. The majority of the character writing is very realistically grounded in the game’s settings and situations. Every support and base conversation is lovingly woven to bring out subtleties of the cast’s personalities, worldviews, personal struggles, dynamics, their growth or lack thereof. Their personalities are strong but not exaggerated (for the most part) and the interactions are full of little remarks or conversations that feel unexpectedly resonant or meaningful. It’s a lovely cast that’s very difficult not to fall for. While the story itself has a large focus on Fantasy Racism and does stumble a little into its trappings (primarily its tendency to categorise all Kilvans in one particular way), its angle towards it feels very carefully-written and used in a way that attempts to earnestly explore attitudes towards prejudice. It uses its depictions to present the importance of uprooting systemic oppression and breaking the self-perpetuating cultures of hatred that it brings, and how vital it is to do so despite how much of a Herculean task it is in reality. It all further feeds into a broader theme held up by scenes beyond how it presents discrimination - how understanding and righting past wrongs is vital to be able to truly move forward and make meaningful change or growth. It’s the *honesty* of all its explorations, more than anything, that I found so unexpectedly disarming.
It caught me off-guard with how much I ended up liking it, but it’s really easy to see why it’s so beloved. If you don’t mind it being slightly defanged on the strategy end, it’s a lovely, warm and charming game that’s surprisingly confident in its writing.
Dude, I love Ike.
Once upon a time, Sakurai put Marth in Smash.
No one in my group of friends had heard of Fire Emblem at that point, but my interest was piqued. Over the next couple of years, Marth and Roy grew on me, but I didn't have a GBA, so I didn't try out any games from their series.
Then Nintendo Power gave this game a 9.5.
And THEN no one bought it.
Fast-forward a few months, and I'm digging through my local Shopko's VG bargain bin. I discovered a few dozen copies of Path of Radiance for $20 each. (I know that sounds absurd now, what with the crazy prices this game fetches on eBay) I picked it up, unsure if the blue-haired guy on the front was Marth or not.
When I got home, I was immediately disappointed to learn it was definitely not Marth. But I soon completely forgot that disappointment as I was blown away by THE MOST GORGEOUS CUTSCENE I had ever seen in a video game. The story presentation was off the charts for 2005.
After a brief tutorial level, I was already getting attached to these characters. After the stage that followed, I was already loving the grid-based battle mechanics. And a couple dozen hours of gameplay later, I had carefully honed my little army. I had assigned favorite weapons to different characters based on their specific abilities. They had forged relationships with each other. Some had grown up. Some had died. (Seriously, no one warned me about the permadeath) Some had been sidelined since early on because I SUPER did not care about them. (NO ONE LIKES YOU, BOYD) And when it was done, I felt genuinely happy for the characters.
Anyhow, Fire Emblem rules, and this one lets you have soldiers who can turn into dragons and tigers and ravens and stuff, so definitely play it on an emulator until Old Man Nintendo decides to finally do something with all the classic games trapped on the GameCube.
No one in my group of friends had heard of Fire Emblem at that point, but my interest was piqued. Over the next couple of years, Marth and Roy grew on me, but I didn't have a GBA, so I didn't try out any games from their series.
Then Nintendo Power gave this game a 9.5.
And THEN no one bought it.
Fast-forward a few months, and I'm digging through my local Shopko's VG bargain bin. I discovered a few dozen copies of Path of Radiance for $20 each. (I know that sounds absurd now, what with the crazy prices this game fetches on eBay) I picked it up, unsure if the blue-haired guy on the front was Marth or not.
When I got home, I was immediately disappointed to learn it was definitely not Marth. But I soon completely forgot that disappointment as I was blown away by THE MOST GORGEOUS CUTSCENE I had ever seen in a video game. The story presentation was off the charts for 2005.
After a brief tutorial level, I was already getting attached to these characters. After the stage that followed, I was already loving the grid-based battle mechanics. And a couple dozen hours of gameplay later, I had carefully honed my little army. I had assigned favorite weapons to different characters based on their specific abilities. They had forged relationships with each other. Some had grown up. Some had died. (Seriously, no one warned me about the permadeath) Some had been sidelined since early on because I SUPER did not care about them. (NO ONE LIKES YOU, BOYD) And when it was done, I felt genuinely happy for the characters.
Anyhow, Fire Emblem rules, and this one lets you have soldiers who can turn into dragons and tigers and ravens and stuff, so definitely play it on an emulator until Old Man Nintendo decides to finally do something with all the classic games trapped on the GameCube.
Ike says fuck racism and I clap like a goddamn seal
If you’re looking for pride, I have it.
Titania's so cool, I wish redheads were real
Não pensei em uma introdução desculpe, só digo que esse é meu Fire Emblem favorito.
-História e personagens:
Jogos de Fire Emblem para mim em sua maioria sempre possuem seus mini problemas em termos de história, (alguns problemões kakak) mas esse eu não tenho nada pra negativar, ela é consistentemente boa e sempre se mantém intrigante, sendo no geral bem simples, mas explorando diversos temas interessantes em seu meio, sendo seu principal e mais bem construído o racismo entre beorcs (não furros) e laguz (furros), como essa relação moldou todo continente de Tellius (continente onde o jogo se passa) e como a sua jornada vai reconstruir e desenvolver as relações entre ambos, spoiler: vamo acabar com o racismo na base da espada kakaka. O jogo também é o primeiro Fire Emblem com cinemáticas e dublagem (esse último não um dos melhores e só em cutscenes, mas dá pro gasto), elevando momentos e os deixando mais memoráveis (ou cômicos).
Mas como um sábio já nos dizia: os morangos são os amigos que fazemos pelo caminho. Os personagens para mim são os melhores da franquia e são os mesmos que a fazem ser tão boa, os mais relevantes para história possuem um bom desenvolvimento e boas cenas e até os mais foda-se, ainda são recheados de carisma. Em termos de vilões, o jogo deixa um pouco a desejar em termos de quantidade, tendo uma alta quantidade de bosses randoms, mas em contra partida, os poucos relevantes são ótimos, ênfase no Black Knight, esse possuindo um próprio tema quando aparece e possuir uma rivalidade constante com Ike, seu protagonista, o que faz a jornada ser mais pessoal, que inclusive para mim ambos são um dos melhores vilões e protagonistas da série.
-Conhecendo os personagens (Supports e Base conversations):
Acredito que esse jogo também possui uma ótima execução de supports já que eles são desbloqueados por número de vezes que você entra em um capítulo com dois personagens "supportáveis" fazendo que alguns supports aconteçam baseado aonde a narrativa está no momento, isso faz com que algumas duplas de supports demorem bastante entretanto, mas é só um nitpick mesmo. De resto é igual aos de GBA, possuindo ainda aquele limite máximo retardado de 5, o que é uma pena, considerando que esse é o meu cast favorito da franquia. O jogo também carece dos "paired endings" que é entendível considerando que ele foi criado pensando em uma sequência, mas ainda faz falta (mal posso esperar por eles na continuação né??? hahahaha, yeah). Uma puta adição que eu amo e fico puto, pois nunca retornou para a franquia, sendo exclusiva dos dois jogos de tellius, são as "base conversations", que assim como os supports, são uma outra forma de você conhecer os personagens, mas dessa vez sem precisar ficar se preocupando em usá-los, não só isso, essa mecânica também serve para expandir o feeling da narrativa ou te recompensar com um item.
-Mecânicas e dificuldade
--Mecânicas intuitivas… e quebradas
O jogo é um dos mais fáceis da franquia, mesmo sendo linear, sendo um título super de boa para começar na franquia, apresentando novos sistemas que facilitam e tornam a gameplay mais intuitiva, como: o retorno de skills visíveis e os novos sistemas de “forge” e “bonus exp”. São mecânicas bem vindas mas não foram bem equilibradas, fazendo a gameplay ser fácil até demais pro meu gosto. A já constei que assim como Sacred Stones esse jogo tem um prepromoted com altas growth rates no início do jogo que curiosamente também é ruivo?
Em quesito as skills, algumas já vem nos personagens e outras são itens obtíveis, gerando uma customização de skills para seus personagens, claro com um limite de quantas possíveis equipadas. O sistema já era maneiro no Genealogy e agora só melhorou, mas claro, tenho várias ressalvas para constar como: se que se você quiser tirar uma skill, ela só some permanentemente, perdeu e fds; o sistema na maioria das vezes só serve para deixar suas units ainda mais quebradas, pois pouquíssimos inimigos possuem skills; a junção de “wrath” + “resolve” que faz com que uma unit seja uma máquina de críticos em vida na metade e o retorno de “canto” após ataque, (poder atacar e depois sair de range dos inimigos, exclusivo de units com montaria), que é uma skill oculta que não gasta slot e continua quebrada assim como era em Genealogy/Thracia, e eu não preciso dizer que units sem montaria se foderam por causa disso, o jogo tentou equilibrar um pouco com a mecânica exclusiva a eles de “shove”/”smite” (empurrar uma unit com menos “wt” um/dois blocos à frente) que é maneirinha mas não suficiente.
A partir do capítulo 8 você ganha o convoy e o sistema de “forge”, e daí em diante o jogo vira “no brainer”, pois esse sistema permite você criar e fortalecer armas mais do que o normal (e apelidá-las com nomes retardados tipo: Atumalaca e Thuthucão), isso junto do fato que o jogo te entope de dinheiro, dá para literalmente fazer um forge por capítulo e quebrar o jogo.
Quanto ao sistema de "bonus experience", ele te permite usar pontos para upar fora de batalhas, estes pontos podendo ser obtidos via objetivos em capítulos ou quantidade de turnos passados, algumas merdas é que: 1. O jogo não te conta esses objetivos, o que não é um grande problema já que quando tem é meio óbvio o que é; 2. Quando você upa de level por esse sistema, os stats upados podem ser alterados via reset do jogo, caso você salve antes do level up, podendo te fazer abusar disso; e 3. A tela de contagem dos pontos só aparece caso você tenha zerado o jogo mais de uma vez, tipo… porque? De resto o sistema é maravilhoso e concerta o problema de upar unis fracas sem necessitar de um sistema de griding. (Que assim como as base conv. são exclusivas dos jogos de Tellius, uma pena).
Indo sobre as mecânicas dos laguz (furros), eles funcionam de forma diferente dos beorcs (não furros), suas units sempre podem lutar e fds, laguz não, eles tem uma barra que vai aumentando por turnos que quando enchida faz eles se transformarem em ultra furros e ai eles podem atacar. Elas são muito quebradas no começo/metade do jogo, pois são muito mais fortes que suas units e os inimigos, mas pro resto do jogo elas vão perdendo esses pontos altos pois eles não podem dar class change como as units beorcs e no geral não curto muito sua gameplay. Mas o dancer do jogo puta que pariu, ele é um laguz que na forma base dá dance pra uma unit e quando transformado dá pra 4 adjacentes, igual ao Genealogy muito foda, usei muito.
--Mecânicas ignoradas do Sacred Stones
O jogo foi desenvolvido ao mesmo tempo que o Sacred Stones, fazendo mecânicas de um ou outro não irem para o outro jogo, Sacred Stones é entendível devido as limitações do GBA, mas no Path of Radiance não compreendo, não existe branched promotions (escolher mais de uma classe ao upar) no jogo, não dá pra ver o move de suas units durante as preparations e suas units dão class change automático no level 21, mas em contrapartida só tem 3 master seals no jogo todo (e quando falo 3, são 2 no início do jogo e um lá pro final fds), sendo o ideal você dar pelo menos um pro seu healer, mas se você jogou outros jogos da franquia você pode pensar que você vai receber mais com o decorrer do jogo, o que não ocorre, e eu não preciso dizer que provavelmente alguém se ferrou por isso.
-Mapas:
Os mapas nesse jogo são bons para medianos, meus favoritos sendo os dois primeiros de “defend” e o do barco com os corvos ladrões, mas tenho que dar o meu mais sincero "vai se fuder" para quem o criou os mapas da ponte e das pedras. A e fique longe da casinha no capítulo 11 você me agradecerá.
-Animações e Lentidããããããaãããããaaããooooooooo
Agora tenho que ir para os maiores defeitos do jogo que o impedem de ser uma 5 estrelas, sim critiquei bastante ali e aqui mas são mais nitpicks comparado ao que vou abordar, tenho que tirar pontos do jogo devido a sua lentidão tanto na movimentação das units e nas animações de combate; sem falar que os modelos e suas animações são bem mehs, isso se torna broxante quando levamos em conta que nos jogos passados tínhamos aquelas fantásticas animações de sprites, sim eu sei que é um ponto meio injusto considerando que essa é a primeira tentativa 3d da franquia (e sinceramente até hoje a franquia tem dificuldade de competir), mas esses pontos unidos, fazem com que a gameplay fique bem cansativa, esse é facilmente o Fire emblem onde você vai ter mais vontade de pular as animações e isso não é bom mesmo.
-De fato achei vários morangos durante esta bela jornada, não amigos entretanto
Path of Radiance em minha opnião seria um dos jogos que mais se beneficiária de um remake da franquia, não só porque seus pontos ruins são fáceis de serem concertados, mas também porque, ele e sua sequência são jogos raríssimos e caros, e não estão disponibilizados em nenhum serviço moderno da Nintendo, porra Nintendo, aceito até relançamento. Mesmo com seus problemas Path of Radiance é o meu título favorito da franquia e provavelmente vai continuar sendo, e se você tem os meios para jogá-lo, se não só emule mesmo, você vai ter uma ótima experiência, eu garanto. (Claro, se você aguentar a lentidão).
Mini nitpicks: chefe "extra" desbloquado no modo hard, sério se ele fosse disponível no modo normal que eu zerei, ia ser bem mais recompensador de zerar.
-História e personagens:
Jogos de Fire Emblem para mim em sua maioria sempre possuem seus mini problemas em termos de história, (alguns problemões kakak) mas esse eu não tenho nada pra negativar, ela é consistentemente boa e sempre se mantém intrigante, sendo no geral bem simples, mas explorando diversos temas interessantes em seu meio, sendo seu principal e mais bem construído o racismo entre beorcs (não furros) e laguz (furros), como essa relação moldou todo continente de Tellius (continente onde o jogo se passa) e como a sua jornada vai reconstruir e desenvolver as relações entre ambos, spoiler: vamo acabar com o racismo na base da espada kakaka. O jogo também é o primeiro Fire Emblem com cinemáticas e dublagem (esse último não um dos melhores e só em cutscenes, mas dá pro gasto), elevando momentos e os deixando mais memoráveis (ou cômicos).
Mas como um sábio já nos dizia: os morangos são os amigos que fazemos pelo caminho. Os personagens para mim são os melhores da franquia e são os mesmos que a fazem ser tão boa, os mais relevantes para história possuem um bom desenvolvimento e boas cenas e até os mais foda-se, ainda são recheados de carisma. Em termos de vilões, o jogo deixa um pouco a desejar em termos de quantidade, tendo uma alta quantidade de bosses randoms, mas em contra partida, os poucos relevantes são ótimos, ênfase no Black Knight, esse possuindo um próprio tema quando aparece e possuir uma rivalidade constante com Ike, seu protagonista, o que faz a jornada ser mais pessoal, que inclusive para mim ambos são um dos melhores vilões e protagonistas da série.
-Conhecendo os personagens (Supports e Base conversations):
Acredito que esse jogo também possui uma ótima execução de supports já que eles são desbloqueados por número de vezes que você entra em um capítulo com dois personagens "supportáveis" fazendo que alguns supports aconteçam baseado aonde a narrativa está no momento, isso faz com que algumas duplas de supports demorem bastante entretanto, mas é só um nitpick mesmo. De resto é igual aos de GBA, possuindo ainda aquele limite máximo retardado de 5, o que é uma pena, considerando que esse é o meu cast favorito da franquia. O jogo também carece dos "paired endings" que é entendível considerando que ele foi criado pensando em uma sequência, mas ainda faz falta (mal posso esperar por eles na continuação né??? hahahaha, yeah). Uma puta adição que eu amo e fico puto, pois nunca retornou para a franquia, sendo exclusiva dos dois jogos de tellius, são as "base conversations", que assim como os supports, são uma outra forma de você conhecer os personagens, mas dessa vez sem precisar ficar se preocupando em usá-los, não só isso, essa mecânica também serve para expandir o feeling da narrativa ou te recompensar com um item.
-Mecânicas e dificuldade
--Mecânicas intuitivas… e quebradas
O jogo é um dos mais fáceis da franquia, mesmo sendo linear, sendo um título super de boa para começar na franquia, apresentando novos sistemas que facilitam e tornam a gameplay mais intuitiva, como: o retorno de skills visíveis e os novos sistemas de “forge” e “bonus exp”. São mecânicas bem vindas mas não foram bem equilibradas, fazendo a gameplay ser fácil até demais pro meu gosto. A já constei que assim como Sacred Stones esse jogo tem um prepromoted com altas growth rates no início do jogo que curiosamente também é ruivo?
Em quesito as skills, algumas já vem nos personagens e outras são itens obtíveis, gerando uma customização de skills para seus personagens, claro com um limite de quantas possíveis equipadas. O sistema já era maneiro no Genealogy e agora só melhorou, mas claro, tenho várias ressalvas para constar como: se que se você quiser tirar uma skill, ela só some permanentemente, perdeu e fds; o sistema na maioria das vezes só serve para deixar suas units ainda mais quebradas, pois pouquíssimos inimigos possuem skills; a junção de “wrath” + “resolve” que faz com que uma unit seja uma máquina de críticos em vida na metade e o retorno de “canto” após ataque, (poder atacar e depois sair de range dos inimigos, exclusivo de units com montaria), que é uma skill oculta que não gasta slot e continua quebrada assim como era em Genealogy/Thracia, e eu não preciso dizer que units sem montaria se foderam por causa disso, o jogo tentou equilibrar um pouco com a mecânica exclusiva a eles de “shove”/”smite” (empurrar uma unit com menos “wt” um/dois blocos à frente) que é maneirinha mas não suficiente.
A partir do capítulo 8 você ganha o convoy e o sistema de “forge”, e daí em diante o jogo vira “no brainer”, pois esse sistema permite você criar e fortalecer armas mais do que o normal (e apelidá-las com nomes retardados tipo: Atumalaca e Thuthucão), isso junto do fato que o jogo te entope de dinheiro, dá para literalmente fazer um forge por capítulo e quebrar o jogo.
Quanto ao sistema de "bonus experience", ele te permite usar pontos para upar fora de batalhas, estes pontos podendo ser obtidos via objetivos em capítulos ou quantidade de turnos passados, algumas merdas é que: 1. O jogo não te conta esses objetivos, o que não é um grande problema já que quando tem é meio óbvio o que é; 2. Quando você upa de level por esse sistema, os stats upados podem ser alterados via reset do jogo, caso você salve antes do level up, podendo te fazer abusar disso; e 3. A tela de contagem dos pontos só aparece caso você tenha zerado o jogo mais de uma vez, tipo… porque? De resto o sistema é maravilhoso e concerta o problema de upar unis fracas sem necessitar de um sistema de griding. (Que assim como as base conv. são exclusivas dos jogos de Tellius, uma pena).
Indo sobre as mecânicas dos laguz (furros), eles funcionam de forma diferente dos beorcs (não furros), suas units sempre podem lutar e fds, laguz não, eles tem uma barra que vai aumentando por turnos que quando enchida faz eles se transformarem em ultra furros e ai eles podem atacar. Elas são muito quebradas no começo/metade do jogo, pois são muito mais fortes que suas units e os inimigos, mas pro resto do jogo elas vão perdendo esses pontos altos pois eles não podem dar class change como as units beorcs e no geral não curto muito sua gameplay. Mas o dancer do jogo puta que pariu, ele é um laguz que na forma base dá dance pra uma unit e quando transformado dá pra 4 adjacentes, igual ao Genealogy muito foda, usei muito.
--Mecânicas ignoradas do Sacred Stones
O jogo foi desenvolvido ao mesmo tempo que o Sacred Stones, fazendo mecânicas de um ou outro não irem para o outro jogo, Sacred Stones é entendível devido as limitações do GBA, mas no Path of Radiance não compreendo, não existe branched promotions (escolher mais de uma classe ao upar) no jogo, não dá pra ver o move de suas units durante as preparations e suas units dão class change automático no level 21, mas em contrapartida só tem 3 master seals no jogo todo (e quando falo 3, são 2 no início do jogo e um lá pro final fds), sendo o ideal você dar pelo menos um pro seu healer, mas se você jogou outros jogos da franquia você pode pensar que você vai receber mais com o decorrer do jogo, o que não ocorre, e eu não preciso dizer que provavelmente alguém se ferrou por isso.
-Mapas:
Os mapas nesse jogo são bons para medianos, meus favoritos sendo os dois primeiros de “defend” e o do barco com os corvos ladrões, mas tenho que dar o meu mais sincero "vai se fuder" para quem o criou os mapas da ponte e das pedras. A e fique longe da casinha no capítulo 11 você me agradecerá.
-Animações e Lentidããããããaãããããaaããooooooooo
Agora tenho que ir para os maiores defeitos do jogo que o impedem de ser uma 5 estrelas, sim critiquei bastante ali e aqui mas são mais nitpicks comparado ao que vou abordar, tenho que tirar pontos do jogo devido a sua lentidão tanto na movimentação das units e nas animações de combate; sem falar que os modelos e suas animações são bem mehs, isso se torna broxante quando levamos em conta que nos jogos passados tínhamos aquelas fantásticas animações de sprites, sim eu sei que é um ponto meio injusto considerando que essa é a primeira tentativa 3d da franquia (e sinceramente até hoje a franquia tem dificuldade de competir), mas esses pontos unidos, fazem com que a gameplay fique bem cansativa, esse é facilmente o Fire emblem onde você vai ter mais vontade de pular as animações e isso não é bom mesmo.
-De fato achei vários morangos durante esta bela jornada, não amigos entretanto
Path of Radiance em minha opnião seria um dos jogos que mais se beneficiária de um remake da franquia, não só porque seus pontos ruins são fáceis de serem concertados, mas também porque, ele e sua sequência são jogos raríssimos e caros, e não estão disponibilizados em nenhum serviço moderno da Nintendo, porra Nintendo, aceito até relançamento. Mesmo com seus problemas Path of Radiance é o meu título favorito da franquia e provavelmente vai continuar sendo, e se você tem os meios para jogá-lo, se não só emule mesmo, você vai ter uma ótima experiência, eu garanto. (Claro, se você aguentar a lentidão).
Mini nitpicks: chefe "extra" desbloquado no modo hard, sério se ele fosse disponível no modo normal que eu zerei, ia ser bem mais recompensador de zerar.
Classism is whether or not you own this game physically.
ike and soren trump any and all "representation" (i.e. they're gay as long as it's your avatar) that exists in the modern titles no contest
currently playing Raidant Dawn which is the sequel. but Man these two games are genuinely something special that capture a really unique vibe and atmosphere. I'm not the biggest fan of how slow the game is but I still really enjoyed it for what it is. i don't mind simple easy fire emblem but this game got a pretty engaging story and it has some p unique characters. This is a great game
FE elitists will bend over backwards to explain how this has the “best” cast in the series yet it’s so one-note that there’s a character whose sole personality trait is being a gambling addict and who never gets a crumb of character development
Big man walks into the ceo of racism's headquarters and kills him
As the first of this duology epic, Path of Radiance really gets the job done in terms of establishing its setting, characters, and conflicts that will be played it in both this and Radiant Dawn.
The world of Telius is so dense and tightly written that it's hard for me to put it all into words to how grand the world feels. A lot of care was put into the relationships between the different continents, species, and the relationships between the people that inhabit the world of Telius. You can feel how much history that the setting of Telius has through the dialogue in the game that you can see through the story, info cutscenes, supports, and many other times when you're not doing battles. It feels so carefully crafted in a way where you can really tell why there's a lot of conflict occurring in this continent which really helps give the story a lot more weight to it.
Supports in this game do such a fantastic job at giving so much depth to the Greil Mercenaries and crew, as well as giving such fantastic character arcs and revelations with a few examples coming from Jill and Soren. Like the worldbuilding in this game, the character supports are so tightly written in a way that make these characters seriously stand out from the rest of the FE casts that have come before and after. Also helps that these characters are also very attached to Telius so they bring even more weight to the world that they inhabit. Just seriously some amazing stuff for the world of these games.
My review for these games continue with my review for Radiant Dawn, as that game really continues a lot of what I said here but way more.
https://backloggd.com/u/Kanan/review/1375387/
The world of Telius is so dense and tightly written that it's hard for me to put it all into words to how grand the world feels. A lot of care was put into the relationships between the different continents, species, and the relationships between the people that inhabit the world of Telius. You can feel how much history that the setting of Telius has through the dialogue in the game that you can see through the story, info cutscenes, supports, and many other times when you're not doing battles. It feels so carefully crafted in a way where you can really tell why there's a lot of conflict occurring in this continent which really helps give the story a lot more weight to it.
Supports in this game do such a fantastic job at giving so much depth to the Greil Mercenaries and crew, as well as giving such fantastic character arcs and revelations with a few examples coming from Jill and Soren. Like the worldbuilding in this game, the character supports are so tightly written in a way that make these characters seriously stand out from the rest of the FE casts that have come before and after. Also helps that these characters are also very attached to Telius so they bring even more weight to the world that they inhabit. Just seriously some amazing stuff for the world of these games.
My review for these games continue with my review for Radiant Dawn, as that game really continues a lot of what I said here but way more.
https://backloggd.com/u/Kanan/review/1375387/
Outstanding. This game takes what worked in the GBA games and translates it to the GameCube very well. The maps are moderately straightforward with occasional gimmicks, but the gimmicks rarely get in the way of the fun. Bonus experience is a godsend. You're encouraged to finish maps in certain conditions to get more of it, and the better you perform, the more bonus EXP you receive. You can pump said EXP into your units to help each one stay on similar levels, which is a great way to keep each unit up to snuff without implementing a world map and therefore removing most of the strategy. The base is also a very nice spot to wind down in between battles, and it DOESN'T pad out the game to absurd lengths (looking at you, Three Houses). The continent of Tellius goes all in on the series' philosophy on the reality of war, now with themes of racism thrown into the mix. Other games have dipped their toes into racism, but this game goes full force with them, and it does so in such a profound way that almost puts this game's story on par with that of Jugdral. It's held back a bit by slow animations, wooden voice acting in the FMVs, and a handful of terrible maps. Aside from those few faults, Path of Radiance is a phenomenal experience. Nintendo, PLEASE port this and its sequel to Switch so people won't have to sell their kidneys to legally play them!
my high school years coincided perfectly with the sudden success of nu-FE and the proliferation of the 3DS after its sluggish start, so why I never glommed onto the series sort of eludes me. had it just been popular online it would be one thing, but I was flanked on both sides both by people I was dating and by my usual gaming group to get into it, and yet just something about it put me off. if it wasn't the cult fandom the series had accrued on the internet dissuading me for the newer titles, it was certainly the idiosyncratic mechanics of the older titles keeping me at bay.
of course I eventually did dip my toe into the series with an obsessive three houses grind after its release, so it's only natural that I finally try out one of the older ones to compare (ignoring my playthrough of blazing blade a few years ago that sort of trailed off). path of radiance at least attempts to assuage some of my misgivings about older fire emblem titles. at the same time it's mired in the series legacy to an extent that holds me back from truly investing myself in the experience. after thinking it over I've outlined two major shortcomings that left me wary.
permadeath: yes, I am fully aware of why this series has such a feature. in fact, on paper I respect it! this is a series of linear, story-driven campaigns that attempts a semblance of the reality of war, and the permanence of loss accentuates the reality of failure in combat. poor play only results in a potential softlock situation if you truly hemorrhage your roster beyond the constant stream of new units. grieving your fallen allies is part and parcel with the atmosphere the game creates, and the game is designed specifically around throwing alternate implementations of an archetype at you should you tragically lose your early-game mage or myrmidon.
but this simply isn't how we play games; it is virtually everyone's urge to reset the map upon a death. save scumming is inevitable and we will inevitably exploit it to cheat death. to foreshadow my second main mechanical objection, there simply are units I absolutely cannot afford to lose, and a minor mistake could easily result in an hour lost to a reset. admittedly some of these are completely player-driven; if I place a frail or wounded unit in a spot without adequately checking for assailants in range, I certainly deserve to lose said unit from my negligence. god forbid I let an otherwise bulky unit stand their ground and abruptly die from a highly unlikely crit though, or even worse, lose a troop of wounded soldiers I had hidden away because the black knight appeared out of a seemingly vacant house. that latter situation I withstood as an act of fate frankly, even though my freshly-recruited kieran took the fall. truly a bitter pill to swallow.
maybe in a different style of game I could stomach this, but path of radiance is otherwise not very interesting when retrying a map. I now understand why a high school friend of mine had explicitly recommended I try it on hard, as once a given map's various reinforcement locations and stage-specific wrinkles are apparent, their sense of surprise is mitigated and left somewhat bereft of excitement. simply plop titania/oscar/jill at the most problematic spot and guide everyone else to the exit/boss. this is not to say it isn't more involved on a blind attempt, but rather that retracing 30 minutes of troop movements due to a moment of absent-mindedness or an unfortunate roll of the dice drains me. the modern rewind system present in echoes (which I have not played mind you) and three houses alleviates this a fair bit. these allow forgiveness for small disgressions while ensuring that larger tactical failures with unavoidable losses will still require an acceptance of death or a full reevaluation of the player's game plan. thankfully in any case I stopped having notable troop deaths by the last third of the game thanks to increased overall bulk and lucky rolls, lending credence to the saying that fire emblem games often get easier chapter-by-chapter.
character imbalance: again, the narrative reasons for this are sound in some instances. early-game units are split between your long-term initially-weak investments and your stronger pre-premoted caretakers who age less gracefully; your fresh-faced youngins and your battle-hardened vets. character levels and abilities are generally mapped to their story-justified strengths and weaknesses when they arrive, with the most skilled recruits slotting in during the later missions when you need them most.
this is from a broad perspective anyway, as anyone you've held onto from the first couple chapters will be a complete monster by the end, and anyone available from beyond the midpoint will likely barely be functional just a few chapters after introduction. understandably this is partially a way to avoid total punishment for losing an important early-game character, as you'll likely have a weaker replacement available in the late game. however, many of these units come without mounts, and inevitably the real stratifying aspect rears its ugly head: unmounted units suck! fire emblem is not close-quarters tactics more akin to ff tactics/tactics ogre, and having high movement is everything to outpacing opponents, seizing objectives quickly, and staying out of trouble. canto alone (the ability that allows mounted units to move after attacking) makes virtually every option on the battlefield safer, and unmounted units simply can't cut it in comparison.
thankfully, path of radiance introduces the bonus experience system, which the game allocates for meeting bonus objectives + clearing maps quickly. these exp points can be applied freely between chapters to buff up characters who are falling behind or that have little functionality when recruited. not only does this make otherwise-useless characters viable, but it also helps archetypes such as dancers and healers who otherwise build exp at a slow, fixed rate. as I became comfortable doling out bexp I managed to really save my own ass giving fragile units like jill and astrid much-needed growth spurts to get them to the point of being essential. this is a shallow level of customization that still alleviates some of the issues I have with the shoddy balance, and I have to applaud path of radiance for adding such a feature. it may not feel as fun or intensive to me as three houses' incredible level of per-character tweaking, but it works well within the structure of classic FE.
three houses had a surprisingly interesting overarching narrative that made me curious to revisit the older titles even as it was diluted by reams of one-note characters quipping at pivotal moments. path of radiance thankfully lacks this bloat in favor of a more focused plot, especially given that it's missing the common FE trope of having the player character stand in as a silent tactician. in their place is soren, who illustrates much of what I appreciate about the character interactions and intermission conversations. prickly, honest to a deadpan fault, and chronically on-edge, soren never misses a moment to spoil the mood with his lack of idealism. yet the other characters don't bemoan his tactlessness at every turn; they begrudgingly accept it and continue to value him as an essential ally, at times silently using him as encouragement to speak bluntly when they would hold their tongue otherwise. ike especially leans on soren's cynicism to balance out his own naivety, both bracing him for the reality of continent-spanning war he's been thrust into as well as feigning maturity in the audience of those much older than he. this in turn rarely goes unnoticed as self-conscious posturing, often resulting in gentle prodding from those around him; the scene at the end where ike declares he will somehow abdicate his nobility to return to being a simple mercenary after which sephiran bursts into laughter, clearly wounding ike's pride stands out to me. you can wring these subtleties out for many characters, and I appreciate the timbre of the dialogue for exactly this reason, even though the smaller characters really never develop quite as fully.
from a thematic perspective I have to assume that path of radiance treads familiar territory for fire emblem: protracted military campaigns, international politics, and the rift between classes in a feudal hierarchy. the plight of the laguz as slaves and experimentation subjects for the beorcs is explored in detail without feeling exploitative or hokey, which I can only attribute to the even-handed dialogue and characterization. discrimination infests the populace at every level, riling up commoners in crimea's port town only to side with their oppressors, while at the same time driving nobles in begnion to violate the country's tenuous emancipation act to indulge in their fetishization of the laguz. it's thorough in its analysis up until the back quarter, where the plot threads begin drying up and the retalitory invasion draws to its conclusion. the main antagonists have flimsy motivations and face abrupt endings that refuse to let them raise the stakes or truly challenge the main force, and it detracts from some of the interest in the overall plot I had within the closing hours. I also object to the writing of the herons, who are split into "the good tribe and the bad tribe" in such a way that sort of diminishes the agency of their characters to have complex allegiances, though I will say the game at least plays with their sense of morality at times.
enjoyable but admittedly exhausting. I am an action guy at heart, and even with text scrolling at max speed and battle animations turned off I must admit I ended up trapped looking at my phone in the middle of playing pretty frequently. so perhaps take my review with a grain of salt...
of course I eventually did dip my toe into the series with an obsessive three houses grind after its release, so it's only natural that I finally try out one of the older ones to compare (ignoring my playthrough of blazing blade a few years ago that sort of trailed off). path of radiance at least attempts to assuage some of my misgivings about older fire emblem titles. at the same time it's mired in the series legacy to an extent that holds me back from truly investing myself in the experience. after thinking it over I've outlined two major shortcomings that left me wary.
permadeath: yes, I am fully aware of why this series has such a feature. in fact, on paper I respect it! this is a series of linear, story-driven campaigns that attempts a semblance of the reality of war, and the permanence of loss accentuates the reality of failure in combat. poor play only results in a potential softlock situation if you truly hemorrhage your roster beyond the constant stream of new units. grieving your fallen allies is part and parcel with the atmosphere the game creates, and the game is designed specifically around throwing alternate implementations of an archetype at you should you tragically lose your early-game mage or myrmidon.
but this simply isn't how we play games; it is virtually everyone's urge to reset the map upon a death. save scumming is inevitable and we will inevitably exploit it to cheat death. to foreshadow my second main mechanical objection, there simply are units I absolutely cannot afford to lose, and a minor mistake could easily result in an hour lost to a reset. admittedly some of these are completely player-driven; if I place a frail or wounded unit in a spot without adequately checking for assailants in range, I certainly deserve to lose said unit from my negligence. god forbid I let an otherwise bulky unit stand their ground and abruptly die from a highly unlikely crit though, or even worse, lose a troop of wounded soldiers I had hidden away because the black knight appeared out of a seemingly vacant house. that latter situation I withstood as an act of fate frankly, even though my freshly-recruited kieran took the fall. truly a bitter pill to swallow.
maybe in a different style of game I could stomach this, but path of radiance is otherwise not very interesting when retrying a map. I now understand why a high school friend of mine had explicitly recommended I try it on hard, as once a given map's various reinforcement locations and stage-specific wrinkles are apparent, their sense of surprise is mitigated and left somewhat bereft of excitement. simply plop titania/oscar/jill at the most problematic spot and guide everyone else to the exit/boss. this is not to say it isn't more involved on a blind attempt, but rather that retracing 30 minutes of troop movements due to a moment of absent-mindedness or an unfortunate roll of the dice drains me. the modern rewind system present in echoes (which I have not played mind you) and three houses alleviates this a fair bit. these allow forgiveness for small disgressions while ensuring that larger tactical failures with unavoidable losses will still require an acceptance of death or a full reevaluation of the player's game plan. thankfully in any case I stopped having notable troop deaths by the last third of the game thanks to increased overall bulk and lucky rolls, lending credence to the saying that fire emblem games often get easier chapter-by-chapter.
character imbalance: again, the narrative reasons for this are sound in some instances. early-game units are split between your long-term initially-weak investments and your stronger pre-premoted caretakers who age less gracefully; your fresh-faced youngins and your battle-hardened vets. character levels and abilities are generally mapped to their story-justified strengths and weaknesses when they arrive, with the most skilled recruits slotting in during the later missions when you need them most.
this is from a broad perspective anyway, as anyone you've held onto from the first couple chapters will be a complete monster by the end, and anyone available from beyond the midpoint will likely barely be functional just a few chapters after introduction. understandably this is partially a way to avoid total punishment for losing an important early-game character, as you'll likely have a weaker replacement available in the late game. however, many of these units come without mounts, and inevitably the real stratifying aspect rears its ugly head: unmounted units suck! fire emblem is not close-quarters tactics more akin to ff tactics/tactics ogre, and having high movement is everything to outpacing opponents, seizing objectives quickly, and staying out of trouble. canto alone (the ability that allows mounted units to move after attacking) makes virtually every option on the battlefield safer, and unmounted units simply can't cut it in comparison.
thankfully, path of radiance introduces the bonus experience system, which the game allocates for meeting bonus objectives + clearing maps quickly. these exp points can be applied freely between chapters to buff up characters who are falling behind or that have little functionality when recruited. not only does this make otherwise-useless characters viable, but it also helps archetypes such as dancers and healers who otherwise build exp at a slow, fixed rate. as I became comfortable doling out bexp I managed to really save my own ass giving fragile units like jill and astrid much-needed growth spurts to get them to the point of being essential. this is a shallow level of customization that still alleviates some of the issues I have with the shoddy balance, and I have to applaud path of radiance for adding such a feature. it may not feel as fun or intensive to me as three houses' incredible level of per-character tweaking, but it works well within the structure of classic FE.
three houses had a surprisingly interesting overarching narrative that made me curious to revisit the older titles even as it was diluted by reams of one-note characters quipping at pivotal moments. path of radiance thankfully lacks this bloat in favor of a more focused plot, especially given that it's missing the common FE trope of having the player character stand in as a silent tactician. in their place is soren, who illustrates much of what I appreciate about the character interactions and intermission conversations. prickly, honest to a deadpan fault, and chronically on-edge, soren never misses a moment to spoil the mood with his lack of idealism. yet the other characters don't bemoan his tactlessness at every turn; they begrudgingly accept it and continue to value him as an essential ally, at times silently using him as encouragement to speak bluntly when they would hold their tongue otherwise. ike especially leans on soren's cynicism to balance out his own naivety, both bracing him for the reality of continent-spanning war he's been thrust into as well as feigning maturity in the audience of those much older than he. this in turn rarely goes unnoticed as self-conscious posturing, often resulting in gentle prodding from those around him; the scene at the end where ike declares he will somehow abdicate his nobility to return to being a simple mercenary after which sephiran bursts into laughter, clearly wounding ike's pride stands out to me. you can wring these subtleties out for many characters, and I appreciate the timbre of the dialogue for exactly this reason, even though the smaller characters really never develop quite as fully.
from a thematic perspective I have to assume that path of radiance treads familiar territory for fire emblem: protracted military campaigns, international politics, and the rift between classes in a feudal hierarchy. the plight of the laguz as slaves and experimentation subjects for the beorcs is explored in detail without feeling exploitative or hokey, which I can only attribute to the even-handed dialogue and characterization. discrimination infests the populace at every level, riling up commoners in crimea's port town only to side with their oppressors, while at the same time driving nobles in begnion to violate the country's tenuous emancipation act to indulge in their fetishization of the laguz. it's thorough in its analysis up until the back quarter, where the plot threads begin drying up and the retalitory invasion draws to its conclusion. the main antagonists have flimsy motivations and face abrupt endings that refuse to let them raise the stakes or truly challenge the main force, and it detracts from some of the interest in the overall plot I had within the closing hours. I also object to the writing of the herons, who are split into "the good tribe and the bad tribe" in such a way that sort of diminishes the agency of their characters to have complex allegiances, though I will say the game at least plays with their sense of morality at times.
enjoyable but admittedly exhausting. I am an action guy at heart, and even with text scrolling at max speed and battle animations turned off I must admit I ended up trapped looking at my phone in the middle of playing pretty frequently. so perhaps take my review with a grain of salt...
Finally some good fucking Fire Emblem.
After having played the previous entries in the series I thought some of them were definitely overpraised by the FE community. Path of Radiance is no masterpiece by any means, but it's one of the better FE games.
It's nothing special, mind you. The story and characters are pretty simple, but the game still conveyed both good enough that it kept me engaged through out the whole thing.
After having played the previous entries in the series I thought some of them were definitely overpraised by the FE community. Path of Radiance is no masterpiece by any means, but it's one of the better FE games.
It's nothing special, mind you. The story and characters are pretty simple, but the game still conveyed both good enough that it kept me engaged through out the whole thing.
my ike made my friend quit smash his name is omar
Jill is so cool
This review contains spoilers
Silly but lovable story about Ike partaking on his path of radiance
Has fun maps including the boulder and the stupid ass one where there were a lot of little holes youd fall in and then your guy cant move or attack anymore and it was the stupidest thing
Game was very slow sometimes because youd move the guys around and theyd be really slow and it would waste my precious time
Ena reminds me of in Rick and Morty when Morty wanted a dragon and the episode ended up being awful and in this game you get this girl who turns into a dragon but then she's weak and sucks at her job
Overall id say it was a fun time
Has fun maps including the boulder and the stupid ass one where there were a lot of little holes youd fall in and then your guy cant move or attack anymore and it was the stupidest thing
Game was very slow sometimes because youd move the guys around and theyd be really slow and it would waste my precious time
Ena reminds me of in Rick and Morty when Morty wanted a dragon and the episode ended up being awful and in this game you get this girl who turns into a dragon but then she's weak and sucks at her job
Overall id say it was a fun time
The Tellius Saga is a brace of excellent games, but Path of Radiance's compact yet fulfilling length, solid and unique maps as well as fun, memorable characters make it stand out even compared to its almost-as-good sequel. It is not a game that overreaches into overbearing mechanics or overly trope-reliant writing, such as its successors have a hand for, sticking to what is simple and what works--and what it sticks to, it utterly excels at. Design and sound are also among the best the series has to offer, from the thunderous critical hit setting loose a shower of blue sparks and endorphins to Kita Senri's timeless work on designing the world and characters of Tellius.
Though the animations and general pace of the game can be slow at times, Path of Radiance hits every note just right to make for something that, while not groundbreaking, remains in my opinion the pinnacle of the series' history together with its sequel, Radiant Dawn.
Though the animations and general pace of the game can be slow at times, Path of Radiance hits every note just right to make for something that, while not groundbreaking, remains in my opinion the pinnacle of the series' history together with its sequel, Radiant Dawn.
LVL 1 Racist -> LVL 99 Actual Facist Emperor
I think Soren deserves a hug
out of all the emblems, this one was the most fire
This review contains spoilers
This game goes unbelievably hard. It has everything, the best FE rep in smash, great music, solid gameplay, interesting characters, and actually really well written themes. While I can go over all of that, this is going to be a more focused review on two characters that provoke my thoughts more than any other, but before I reveal who they are, let me set the stage for you.
Tellius is a land where two major factions reside. The beorc are typical humans, while laguz are animal-like and can transform fully into the beast they represent (in this game specifically, there are cat, bird, and dragon laguz). The game's center conflict delves into how the beorc have oppressed the laguz, with a team of laguz allies manned by your protagonist Ike, a fledgling mercenary who musters up an eventual army with beorc and laguz alike set on their path to stop the kingdom of Daein from continuing their oppression. It's a really great story with some iconic scenes, memorable villains, and this certain realness to it. I love that Ike is the only main character in Fire Emblem who isn't of a noble house, and eventually declines a lord title after his deed is done. Considering that often these types of political battles are started and run by those from the bottom making an issue with the blue bloods on top, such as real life racial and LGBT protests. Considering that Ike is also gay, I find that really cool and helps make it even more believable.
There's so many characters in this game who lend their hands to the cause, from Ike's fellow mercenaries to those wanting to end the war personally, all of which have several optional cutscenes that dig deeper in their brain. While most Fire Emblem games have this, I feel Path of Radiance handles it to go far more than just two characters comedically interacting with each other. To show what I mean, I want to talk about Jill and Shinon, two characters who I think aren't talked about enough in regards to this game and Fire Emblem as a whole.
I want to start with Jill first, as to explain why Shinon is great would require some leverage to support itself. Jill is a young knight of Daein, who when she sees Ike escape with a bunch of laguz from a town mobbing up against them, decides to chase after on her own accord alone. When she realizes she is now stuck on a boat with the Greil Mercenaries, she decides to stay with them to...study the laguz they have along with them. Within the Greil Mercenaries she mainly interacts with two people: Mist, the younger sister of Ike, and Lethe, a proud laguz warrior who has a hatred of beorc as Jill does for laguz, and it is within these two supports I think Jill truly shines as a character. As Lethe is more important to her arc, I will go over her first.
Lethe and Jill's first impressions go as poorly as one would think. Both even start equipped with accessories that make them fight better versus beorc and laguz respectively. Jill wants to ask Lethe about how laguz are, but her mind is so filled with internalized racism that she constantly says stuff to aggravate the already temperamental cat woman who has nearly killed another one of Ike's companions for being racist towards her.
When the second conversation rolls around she reveals that Beorc and Laguz used to live together, until Beorc decided that only they can rule, and started to look down about the laguz and enslave them, calling them sub-human as a slur to demean them. This has led to human also being a taboo word to beorc allies, as it denotes that they are the ones who are normal, the default. After the laguz fought tirelessly to get their own land and lick their wounds, they stayed secluded from beorc society, with only very few beorc actually forming bonds with them, including Ike's father, Greil, who lived in the kingdom of Gallia, where Lethe is from. Upon realization of how none of this was told to her by her Daein leaders, Jill starts to fully contemplate if what she was taught was actually in the right.
By the time their third conversation arrives Jill has spent enough time in the Greil Mercenaries to realize the error of her ways. She and Lethe form a tight bond, with Jill dropping the term sub human, and Lethe referring to her as a beorc instead of a human (which is a really good way for her to show she doesn't have respect for her oppressors btw). The two end up becoming the best of friends and eventually help Ike and everyone else end the war of the mad king on good terms.
While Lethe taught Jill how to accept others, Mist teaches Jill how to grow and respect herself. She talks about how she doesn't feel accepted due to being a Daein soldier, but Mist constantly reassures her that she is welcome and eventually slaps her out of her funk when Jill's self deprecation starts to wear on her. The two remain loyal confidants throughout their first few interactions, but everything changes when chapter 20 rolls around.
In chapter 20, the main boss is Shiharam, Jill's father. Jill is distraught at the thought of having her face him, and everyone in the army suggests that she stay away during this battle. However, due to how Fire Emblem games typically allow you to recruit seemingly notable enemies and other characters like this, one would assume that you can have Jill talk to Shiharam and recruit him on your side.
*DO.
NOT.
DO.
THIS.*
If you have Jill talk with Shiharam and her bonds with Mist or Lethe are not at B level by this point SHE WILL LEAVE YOUR ARMY PERMANENTLY AND JOIN AS AN ENEMY.
This is it, this is Jill's make or break moment. Such as Zuko's crossroads of destiny, this is the defining moment that will completely alter her character trajectory, and I absolutely love that. As a teenager, it can be incredibly hard to seperate what you love and know to what you know is right. When I was her age, I had a lot of internal struggle dealing with issues such as transphobia, racism, etc, just because these issues were not properly taught to me and were always portrayed in a very "whoever isn't me is bad" philosophy. It hurts even harder considering the fact there is no way to save Shiharam, and he dies either at his daughter's side or against her own hand.
After this, Jill is absolutely devastated, seeing that her father and country lied to her about laguz and filled her with unjust hate. Mist, who had also lost her parents, comforts her and tells her that while Daein may have instilled these problematic views into her, her father deeply cared about her and wouldn't want to see her like this, that he would be happy she had the luxury to take a road he couldn't. After a cry session between both as they mourn the loss of their fathers, their support ends with Jill finally feeling accepted with her new found family.
After the events of Path of Radiance, Jill eventually helps rebuild Daein and becomes a freedom fighter when they are now the oppressed nation under the foot of Begnion. A freedom fighter through and through, she helps the Dawn Brigade and later the Greil Mercenaries to help take down the racist senate.
Jill is by my opinion the best written character in the Fire Emblem series, and she is just a snippet of what makes Path of Radiance excellent. She perfectly portrays what it's like to grow out of toxic beliefs, from imposter syndrome to learning about revisionist history and overcoming her bigotry directly and decisively. I also love that this she and other non allies refer to themselves as human to show their lack of respect for the laguz, thinking they are not on the same level. She's a character I think about often, but there's also someone I should mention as well to finally hit home what I think makes this game's tackling of racism hit all the way home.
Shinon is a fucking nonce. This man from the very second protrudes this assholish dick energy. He is the one who introduced Ike (and the player) to the idea of laguz, using slurs and fear mongering, equating them to savages. He stays like this throughout the entire game, eventually leaving Ike's team temporarily due to laguz allies joining.
When you can eventually recruit him again, it's incredibly obtuse. You have to take Rolf, his student (and the worst unit in the game), halfway into a dangerous map, have him talk to Shinon, and then have Ike defeat him. Any other way causes Shinon to die where he stands as a pathetic poor and freezing man. Considering most people don't use Rolf, it can be rather difficult to get this requirement without someone dying, and when you do obtain Shinon, he suffers a massive life threatening wound at the hands of Ike for being such a hardass. It's always fun to see bigots get what they deserve. :)
After this, he remains an asshole with unimpressive stats for the remainder of the game. He constantly makes an ass of himself, including getting drunk and saying to Ike's face that he (now a noble leading a massive army) sucks and that he's a big poo poo idiot, and his one support conversation with Janaff, a bird laguz, where he constantly picks fights with him and calls him slurs, even at A rank.
Shinon is meant to be an unlikable asshole who doesn't grow, and I think that staticness when put into contrast with others such as Jill make him an excellent foil. He shows how not everyone in real life can change for the better and there will always be assholes, even ones working under a certain cause. My only complaint is that in the 3 years between this game and Radiant Dawn that he didn't get mauled off screen and die. Considering Largo is a character who is playable in PoR but not in RD due to losing his arm, I think this would've been a great end to his arc!
That was fucking long, lol.
But like, this game definitely sparks my brain neurons a lot, and I definitely enjoy thinking about, discussing, and playing it. While Fire Emblem isn't a series I can recommend much, Path of Radiance is a game I can recommend to anyone, especially those who want to dip their toes in the series. Too bad this game costs FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS WHAT THE SCALLOP!?
Tellius is a land where two major factions reside. The beorc are typical humans, while laguz are animal-like and can transform fully into the beast they represent (in this game specifically, there are cat, bird, and dragon laguz). The game's center conflict delves into how the beorc have oppressed the laguz, with a team of laguz allies manned by your protagonist Ike, a fledgling mercenary who musters up an eventual army with beorc and laguz alike set on their path to stop the kingdom of Daein from continuing their oppression. It's a really great story with some iconic scenes, memorable villains, and this certain realness to it. I love that Ike is the only main character in Fire Emblem who isn't of a noble house, and eventually declines a lord title after his deed is done. Considering that often these types of political battles are started and run by those from the bottom making an issue with the blue bloods on top, such as real life racial and LGBT protests. Considering that Ike is also gay, I find that really cool and helps make it even more believable.
There's so many characters in this game who lend their hands to the cause, from Ike's fellow mercenaries to those wanting to end the war personally, all of which have several optional cutscenes that dig deeper in their brain. While most Fire Emblem games have this, I feel Path of Radiance handles it to go far more than just two characters comedically interacting with each other. To show what I mean, I want to talk about Jill and Shinon, two characters who I think aren't talked about enough in regards to this game and Fire Emblem as a whole.
I want to start with Jill first, as to explain why Shinon is great would require some leverage to support itself. Jill is a young knight of Daein, who when she sees Ike escape with a bunch of laguz from a town mobbing up against them, decides to chase after on her own accord alone. When she realizes she is now stuck on a boat with the Greil Mercenaries, she decides to stay with them to...study the laguz they have along with them. Within the Greil Mercenaries she mainly interacts with two people: Mist, the younger sister of Ike, and Lethe, a proud laguz warrior who has a hatred of beorc as Jill does for laguz, and it is within these two supports I think Jill truly shines as a character. As Lethe is more important to her arc, I will go over her first.
Lethe and Jill's first impressions go as poorly as one would think. Both even start equipped with accessories that make them fight better versus beorc and laguz respectively. Jill wants to ask Lethe about how laguz are, but her mind is so filled with internalized racism that she constantly says stuff to aggravate the already temperamental cat woman who has nearly killed another one of Ike's companions for being racist towards her.
When the second conversation rolls around she reveals that Beorc and Laguz used to live together, until Beorc decided that only they can rule, and started to look down about the laguz and enslave them, calling them sub-human as a slur to demean them. This has led to human also being a taboo word to beorc allies, as it denotes that they are the ones who are normal, the default. After the laguz fought tirelessly to get their own land and lick their wounds, they stayed secluded from beorc society, with only very few beorc actually forming bonds with them, including Ike's father, Greil, who lived in the kingdom of Gallia, where Lethe is from. Upon realization of how none of this was told to her by her Daein leaders, Jill starts to fully contemplate if what she was taught was actually in the right.
By the time their third conversation arrives Jill has spent enough time in the Greil Mercenaries to realize the error of her ways. She and Lethe form a tight bond, with Jill dropping the term sub human, and Lethe referring to her as a beorc instead of a human (which is a really good way for her to show she doesn't have respect for her oppressors btw). The two end up becoming the best of friends and eventually help Ike and everyone else end the war of the mad king on good terms.
While Lethe taught Jill how to accept others, Mist teaches Jill how to grow and respect herself. She talks about how she doesn't feel accepted due to being a Daein soldier, but Mist constantly reassures her that she is welcome and eventually slaps her out of her funk when Jill's self deprecation starts to wear on her. The two remain loyal confidants throughout their first few interactions, but everything changes when chapter 20 rolls around.
In chapter 20, the main boss is Shiharam, Jill's father. Jill is distraught at the thought of having her face him, and everyone in the army suggests that she stay away during this battle. However, due to how Fire Emblem games typically allow you to recruit seemingly notable enemies and other characters like this, one would assume that you can have Jill talk to Shiharam and recruit him on your side.
*DO.
NOT.
DO.
THIS.*
If you have Jill talk with Shiharam and her bonds with Mist or Lethe are not at B level by this point SHE WILL LEAVE YOUR ARMY PERMANENTLY AND JOIN AS AN ENEMY.
This is it, this is Jill's make or break moment. Such as Zuko's crossroads of destiny, this is the defining moment that will completely alter her character trajectory, and I absolutely love that. As a teenager, it can be incredibly hard to seperate what you love and know to what you know is right. When I was her age, I had a lot of internal struggle dealing with issues such as transphobia, racism, etc, just because these issues were not properly taught to me and were always portrayed in a very "whoever isn't me is bad" philosophy. It hurts even harder considering the fact there is no way to save Shiharam, and he dies either at his daughter's side or against her own hand.
After this, Jill is absolutely devastated, seeing that her father and country lied to her about laguz and filled her with unjust hate. Mist, who had also lost her parents, comforts her and tells her that while Daein may have instilled these problematic views into her, her father deeply cared about her and wouldn't want to see her like this, that he would be happy she had the luxury to take a road he couldn't. After a cry session between both as they mourn the loss of their fathers, their support ends with Jill finally feeling accepted with her new found family.
After the events of Path of Radiance, Jill eventually helps rebuild Daein and becomes a freedom fighter when they are now the oppressed nation under the foot of Begnion. A freedom fighter through and through, she helps the Dawn Brigade and later the Greil Mercenaries to help take down the racist senate.
Jill is by my opinion the best written character in the Fire Emblem series, and she is just a snippet of what makes Path of Radiance excellent. She perfectly portrays what it's like to grow out of toxic beliefs, from imposter syndrome to learning about revisionist history and overcoming her bigotry directly and decisively. I also love that this she and other non allies refer to themselves as human to show their lack of respect for the laguz, thinking they are not on the same level. She's a character I think about often, but there's also someone I should mention as well to finally hit home what I think makes this game's tackling of racism hit all the way home.
Shinon is a fucking nonce. This man from the very second protrudes this assholish dick energy. He is the one who introduced Ike (and the player) to the idea of laguz, using slurs and fear mongering, equating them to savages. He stays like this throughout the entire game, eventually leaving Ike's team temporarily due to laguz allies joining.
When you can eventually recruit him again, it's incredibly obtuse. You have to take Rolf, his student (and the worst unit in the game), halfway into a dangerous map, have him talk to Shinon, and then have Ike defeat him. Any other way causes Shinon to die where he stands as a pathetic poor and freezing man. Considering most people don't use Rolf, it can be rather difficult to get this requirement without someone dying, and when you do obtain Shinon, he suffers a massive life threatening wound at the hands of Ike for being such a hardass. It's always fun to see bigots get what they deserve. :)
After this, he remains an asshole with unimpressive stats for the remainder of the game. He constantly makes an ass of himself, including getting drunk and saying to Ike's face that he (now a noble leading a massive army) sucks and that he's a big poo poo idiot, and his one support conversation with Janaff, a bird laguz, where he constantly picks fights with him and calls him slurs, even at A rank.
Shinon is meant to be an unlikable asshole who doesn't grow, and I think that staticness when put into contrast with others such as Jill make him an excellent foil. He shows how not everyone in real life can change for the better and there will always be assholes, even ones working under a certain cause. My only complaint is that in the 3 years between this game and Radiant Dawn that he didn't get mauled off screen and die. Considering Largo is a character who is playable in PoR but not in RD due to losing his arm, I think this would've been a great end to his arc!
That was fucking long, lol.
But like, this game definitely sparks my brain neurons a lot, and I definitely enjoy thinking about, discussing, and playing it. While Fire Emblem isn't a series I can recommend much, Path of Radiance is a game I can recommend to anyone, especially those who want to dip their toes in the series. Too bad this game costs FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS WHAT THE SCALLOP!?
Ike punches the CEO of racism daily
Makalov clears every other Fire Emblem character
Ike ends furry racism, featuring (mostly) excellent map design, fantastic writing, and a godly soundtrack. Visuals are kinda weak but its a given considering this was first 3d entry and you can at least tell they tried with the presentation thanks to the decent fmvs and often gorgeous illustrations
This review contains spoilers
Path of Radiance has one of the most captivating plots in the entire series.
Ike is also one of the best FE protagonists, in my opinion. The fact that he isn't of royal blood, and that he doesn't know much about the world outside of his home nation of Crimea, makes him more relatable than most FE-lords and protags without having the need to give him amnesia or something.
Coming to this after only having played the 3DS games and finding out that Fire Emblem games can have more than only Rout the Enemy objectives was a real eye-opener as well. For example, there is a stealth mission which gives you the choice of either brute forcing your way through, or sneaking by unnoticed, which earns you some bonus EXP as compensation. My absolute favorite map in the entire game is the one where the enemy are using innocent, unarmed priests as meat shields. You can easily kill the priests in cold blood in order to reach the enemy, but the game rewards you with bonus EXP and items based on the amount of priests that are still alive at the end of the chapter.
The interesting map objectives and the plot makes this game truly shine, and this is so far my favorite Fire Emblem game.
Ike is also one of the best FE protagonists, in my opinion. The fact that he isn't of royal blood, and that he doesn't know much about the world outside of his home nation of Crimea, makes him more relatable than most FE-lords and protags without having the need to give him amnesia or something.
Coming to this after only having played the 3DS games and finding out that Fire Emblem games can have more than only Rout the Enemy objectives was a real eye-opener as well. For example, there is a stealth mission which gives you the choice of either brute forcing your way through, or sneaking by unnoticed, which earns you some bonus EXP as compensation. My absolute favorite map in the entire game is the one where the enemy are using innocent, unarmed priests as meat shields. You can easily kill the priests in cold blood in order to reach the enemy, but the game rewards you with bonus EXP and items based on the amount of priests that are still alive at the end of the chapter.
The interesting map objectives and the plot makes this game truly shine, and this is so far my favorite Fire Emblem game.
Path of Radiance vai facilmente pra minha lista de Fire emblems favoritos.
A História do jogo é bem cativante e te faz pedir por mais, o nosso protagonista Ike é parte de um grupo chamado Greil Merceneries onde ele viveu maior parte da vida isolado numa vilazinha em Crimea, até que o grupo recebe notícias de que a capital de Crimea foi invadida e que uma guerra está prestes a começar.
Nisso Ike e companhia acabam se deparando com um grupo de soldados invasores e após derrotar-los, eles se encontram com uma garota que fala ser a Princesa Elincia e ela quer contratar os serviços do grupo para levar ela até um país aliado de Crimea e nisso a jornada do Ike se inicia.
Esses primeiros capítulos do jogo te apresentam um pouco dos personagens e só realmente puxa a história pra frente quando a Princesa Elincia aparece e dai pra frente a historia realmente começa a expandir completamente desse mundinho que o Ike vive.
O cast de personagens do jogo seria meu terceiro favorito (sendo o segundo lugar Echoes e em primeiro Blazing Blade), em questão a desenvolvimento de personagem ele passa facilmente em alguns aspectos, maioria dos personagens tem um desenvolvimento ao decorrer da história, oque me fez ir de não gostar muito pra serem um dos meus favoritos do jogo.
A adição de conversas na base antes de cada capítulo faz você conhecer melhor os personagens e as vezes te dando um item ou informação sobre o proximo capitulo, os supports ainda são limitados a 5 por personagem que nem os de GBA, oque é ruim por conta de terem personagens com conversas interessantes que o jogador acaba não vendo.
Um ponto que acaba sendo bom é não precisar colar dois personagens um no outro pra receber pontos de support, já que nesse jogo eles são recebidos só pelos personagens estarem no capítulo.
Em gameplay o combate e movimentação acaba sendo bem lento ao ponto de eu acabar passando 1h dependendo do capítulo, o jogo acaba não sendo tão difícil e pode ser uma boa opção de primeiro jogo da franquia.
Mecânicas que se deve mencionar é a Forge que permite o jogador forjar uma arma por capítulo, e a mecânica de Bonus EXP que é recompensada dependendo do quão bem você vai em um capítulo ou quando certos requisitos são alcançados.
Ambas mecânicas não são tão difíceis de se usar e são bem auto explicatórias, mas podem acabar facilitando ainda mais o jogo já que dinheiro não é um problema oque te dá bastante liberdade de fazer sua arma fodástica, e os level ups do Bonus EXP sempre trocam se você resetar o jogo.
No fim de tudo o jogo me deixou com uma vontade insaciável de iniciar o proximo jogo e saber oque aconteceu após tudo
A História do jogo é bem cativante e te faz pedir por mais, o nosso protagonista Ike é parte de um grupo chamado Greil Merceneries onde ele viveu maior parte da vida isolado numa vilazinha em Crimea, até que o grupo recebe notícias de que a capital de Crimea foi invadida e que uma guerra está prestes a começar.
Nisso Ike e companhia acabam se deparando com um grupo de soldados invasores e após derrotar-los, eles se encontram com uma garota que fala ser a Princesa Elincia e ela quer contratar os serviços do grupo para levar ela até um país aliado de Crimea e nisso a jornada do Ike se inicia.
Esses primeiros capítulos do jogo te apresentam um pouco dos personagens e só realmente puxa a história pra frente quando a Princesa Elincia aparece e dai pra frente a historia realmente começa a expandir completamente desse mundinho que o Ike vive.
O cast de personagens do jogo seria meu terceiro favorito (sendo o segundo lugar Echoes e em primeiro Blazing Blade), em questão a desenvolvimento de personagem ele passa facilmente em alguns aspectos, maioria dos personagens tem um desenvolvimento ao decorrer da história, oque me fez ir de não gostar muito pra serem um dos meus favoritos do jogo.
A adição de conversas na base antes de cada capítulo faz você conhecer melhor os personagens e as vezes te dando um item ou informação sobre o proximo capitulo, os supports ainda são limitados a 5 por personagem que nem os de GBA, oque é ruim por conta de terem personagens com conversas interessantes que o jogador acaba não vendo.
Um ponto que acaba sendo bom é não precisar colar dois personagens um no outro pra receber pontos de support, já que nesse jogo eles são recebidos só pelos personagens estarem no capítulo.
Em gameplay o combate e movimentação acaba sendo bem lento ao ponto de eu acabar passando 1h dependendo do capítulo, o jogo acaba não sendo tão difícil e pode ser uma boa opção de primeiro jogo da franquia.
Mecânicas que se deve mencionar é a Forge que permite o jogador forjar uma arma por capítulo, e a mecânica de Bonus EXP que é recompensada dependendo do quão bem você vai em um capítulo ou quando certos requisitos são alcançados.
Ambas mecânicas não são tão difíceis de se usar e são bem auto explicatórias, mas podem acabar facilitando ainda mais o jogo já que dinheiro não é um problema oque te dá bastante liberdade de fazer sua arma fodástica, e os level ups do Bonus EXP sempre trocam se você resetar o jogo.
No fim de tudo o jogo me deixou com uma vontade insaciável de iniciar o proximo jogo e saber oque aconteceu após tudo