A true gem and a proof why Nintendo was just really really bad at marketing.

I am in love with this title and it's a shame these games didn't sell well back then. The characters are fun, the world building is by far the best in the series, the music is engaging. This is a perfect starting point for newcomers into the FE series. I just love how it was made with the sequel in mind and the overall concept is just perfect for me.

I personally would have loved the maps to be a little more difficult as any above average unit can obliterate the enemy (if there aren't any pitfalls lol). The writing gets a little tedious after the first half but nothing too much to worry about. Most of the mechanics like bonus exp, forged weapons (you can paint them omg<3) and a bunch of units can be considered overpowered.

Aside from the terrible fight against a certain someone, the gameplay ties in great into the story which is what I love most about the series. The support conversations took it away for me. They are genuinely well-written, the discussions after each battle are not only fun but also helpful and farming supports without the need of standing beside each other is god-sent. I do hate that the amount of conversations per game is limited, but that's replayability, I suppose.

Really fantastic game which directly ies into the perfect b*tch slap with its sequel. Highly recommended.

I remember being so excited by the prospect of Path of Radiance in the lead up to its release—I was so obsessed with FE7 and Sacred Stones that I must have cleared them at least couple times each already, and was just chomping for more Fire Emblem—but bounced off of it so quickly. The switch to 3D textures and character models was so clunky in a way that seemed antithetical to the beautiful spritework and expressive animations of the GBA titles, and I just couldn't square it. I put it down probably around chapter 10 and forgot about it for a long time.

Picking it up again 15 years later, I'm shocked that the story and characters weren't at least enough to carry me through back then. This thing starts with a bang and handily maintains its momentum for a while, and for some time I was convinced that Path of Radiance is one very best games the series has to offer. The story is exciting, the tactical gameplay is satisfying as ever, and it has a great roster of characters and support conversations. Beyond these elements, which you can typically expect from most quality Fire Emblem games, it also has what is perhaps the best world building of the bunch—the nations, history and inhabitants of Tellius are drawn with such delicacy, and the developers masterfully drip feed the details behind its sociopolitical climate over much of the game. It sets the perfect backdrop to be easily swept up into the story of Ike and his company of mercenaries (a nice deviation from the nobles who typically lead these games as well).

I can't help but think that all this momentum and intrigue dies off considerably in the last third of the game though, when most motivations become known and the focus shifts away from uncovering the history and truths of the world in favor of becoming an all-out offensive against enemy nation of Daein. In fairness, all roads were leading there from the beginning, but there's an abrupt flatness in the execution of this portion that can be so deeply felt considering how great the material that comes before it is. This switch translates to the gameplay as well; despite being one of the easier titles in the series, I found Hard difficulty a satisfying mode until at this point, when my group began to feel so powerful that most deaths could be chalked up to careless mistakes as opposed to poor strategy, and the map design and enemy placement became consistently less interesting as well.

Still, the goodwill it had built up until that point made Path of Radiance compelling enough for me see it through to the end, and I'm glad that I finally did after all these years. While it falls short of being one of the series' best, it is still a very, very good entry that deserves the love it has received over the years.

I used to play around a lot the Fire Emblem on GBA when I was in late elementary and middle school, but this is the first one I've completed outright. Love me a good strategy RPG, the cast is colorful enough and the pre-rendered cutscenes give it a nice edge, although they are rather sparse. The only real plot that is gripping involves the father, and the payoff comes a little late in the game and rather quick, I also didn't really get the motive of a certain betrayal that's a key twist, and the villain to me left an overall weak impression by the end. Still, love these mechanics and the vast amount of upgrades you get until your battalion of paladins is basically unstoppable.