CozmicKoala
2011
As my third entry into the Tales of Series, I found this one quickly becoming my favorite.
The cast of this game is wonderful, and I found myself enjoying each party member and what they were able to contribute overall to the group's dynamic. Surprisingly, I grew to like Alvin the most out of this cast, but all of the characters are enjoyable in their own right. This is especially true for the villains of the game, and I feel that the game does a great job of establishing them. However, I do feel that some characters, like Leia, could have used a bit more focus throughout the narrative.
The gameplay was fun, especially when I started getting used to the Linking system. I also enjoyed all of the character's unique combat mechanics, especially Milla's Spirit Shift. Each battle felt quick and satisfying, which was greatly appreciated given the format.
However, I still do have my issues with this game. Some of the character's arcs did not feel fully resolved by the end of the game for me. This was especially true for Leia. I also believe the game could have explored some of Elise's story more.
Some parts of the games closing act felt a bit too rushed, and I think that it caused the ending to feel a bit less conclusive. I also do think that some of the late game areas are rather underwhelming to explore.
One of the most frustrating aspects of the game for me involved the numerous highroads that the player must traverse to reach many of the towns and cities throughout the game. Many of these areas appear to be reskins of each other, which eventually began to make going through these areas a bit boring. It's especially baffling when the game is capable of having beautiful and unique cities like Fennmont, and yet the numerous highroads have little to make them distinct.
Finally, I think the Coliseum in this game is incredibly frustrating to play since a player can lose a battle by simply getting knocked out of the arena. It is even more frustrating when some boss fights that take place in the arena will add barricades to prevent the player from falling off.
Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone who is interested in giving it a try. I do think this game would benefit from an enhanced version with better graphics at some point in the future, but this version is still great in its own right.
The cast of this game is wonderful, and I found myself enjoying each party member and what they were able to contribute overall to the group's dynamic. Surprisingly, I grew to like Alvin the most out of this cast, but all of the characters are enjoyable in their own right. This is especially true for the villains of the game, and I feel that the game does a great job of establishing them. However, I do feel that some characters, like Leia, could have used a bit more focus throughout the narrative.
The gameplay was fun, especially when I started getting used to the Linking system. I also enjoyed all of the character's unique combat mechanics, especially Milla's Spirit Shift. Each battle felt quick and satisfying, which was greatly appreciated given the format.
However, I still do have my issues with this game. Some of the character's arcs did not feel fully resolved by the end of the game for me. This was especially true for Leia. I also believe the game could have explored some of Elise's story more.
Some parts of the games closing act felt a bit too rushed, and I think that it caused the ending to feel a bit less conclusive. I also do think that some of the late game areas are rather underwhelming to explore.
One of the most frustrating aspects of the game for me involved the numerous highroads that the player must traverse to reach many of the towns and cities throughout the game. Many of these areas appear to be reskins of each other, which eventually began to make going through these areas a bit boring. It's especially baffling when the game is capable of having beautiful and unique cities like Fennmont, and yet the numerous highroads have little to make them distinct.
Finally, I think the Coliseum in this game is incredibly frustrating to play since a player can lose a battle by simply getting knocked out of the arena. It is even more frustrating when some boss fights that take place in the arena will add barricades to prevent the player from falling off.
Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone who is interested in giving it a try. I do think this game would benefit from an enhanced version with better graphics at some point in the future, but this version is still great in its own right.
Tears of the Kingdom was a wonderful experience from beginning to end. For me, it rectified many of the issues that I had with its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, and improved on it in every way.
I greatly enjoyed going through the various temples, although I do feel that the Fire Temple was lacking in some aspects. The Wind Temple stands out to me as a particular favorite, alongside the Spirit Temple. I felt like these temples gave me very fun and unique experiences that I would love to go through again.
Mechanically, this was some of the most fun I have had with a game due to its unique building mechanic. There are so many different ways to approach the various obstacles that the game throws at you, and I always enjoyed using my own methods to overcome them.
Ultimately, I have few negative things to say about this game. It felt very well-polished, and I greatly enjoyed exploring the new Depths and the Sky areas, as well as seeing how this iteration of Hyrule had changed over time. While part of me is sad that we will not see this version of Hyrule again in the future, I am also very excited to see future Zelda games continue in the same direction as this one.
I would highly recommend this game to any Switch owner.
I greatly enjoyed going through the various temples, although I do feel that the Fire Temple was lacking in some aspects. The Wind Temple stands out to me as a particular favorite, alongside the Spirit Temple. I felt like these temples gave me very fun and unique experiences that I would love to go through again.
Mechanically, this was some of the most fun I have had with a game due to its unique building mechanic. There are so many different ways to approach the various obstacles that the game throws at you, and I always enjoyed using my own methods to overcome them.
Ultimately, I have few negative things to say about this game. It felt very well-polished, and I greatly enjoyed exploring the new Depths and the Sky areas, as well as seeing how this iteration of Hyrule had changed over time. While part of me is sad that we will not see this version of Hyrule again in the future, I am also very excited to see future Zelda games continue in the same direction as this one.
I would highly recommend this game to any Switch owner.
2024
I don't have too much to say about this one. While I was actively playing it, I found it to be annoyingly buggy at times, which limited my enjoyment. Additionally, were it not for the fact that I was playing with a large group of friends, I likely would have not spent as much time in the game as I did.
The gameplay was enjoyable, but the numerous bugs with the gameplay ultimately proved too frustrating for me, and removed my incentive to continue.
The gameplay was enjoyable, but the numerous bugs with the gameplay ultimately proved too frustrating for me, and removed my incentive to continue.
This review contains spoilers
Ultimately, I had a very fun experience with this game, and I would likely give it another playthrough at some point. However, I do have a few gripes that bring this game down for me.
Overall, my biggest issue with this game is that I feel that they did not properly balance Miles' role as a co-protagonist with Peter. Peter has a much greater role in the overall conflict compared to Miles, and this really begins to show during the second arc of the game.
This is especially true for the final act of the game with Venom. Miles ultimately has no stake in the major conflict of the game, as he was given minimal interaction with Harry Osborn throughout the story. This is very disappointing to me, as I feel that Miles could have easily had a much bigger role in the narrative had the game spent time developing a relationship between him and Harry.
I also felt that it made very little sense for a character like Kraven to have a whole army of goons that served him. While I understand that part of the reasoning for this is to create a larger variety of enemies for the Spider-Men to fight, I feel that it took me out of the experience slightly due to my familiarity with the comics.
I would still recommend this game to anyone looking to experience the continued story of the Insomniac Spider-Men. However, I would say that this game is weaker narratively comparatively to its predecessor.
Overall, my biggest issue with this game is that I feel that they did not properly balance Miles' role as a co-protagonist with Peter. Peter has a much greater role in the overall conflict compared to Miles, and this really begins to show during the second arc of the game.
This is especially true for the final act of the game with Venom. Miles ultimately has no stake in the major conflict of the game, as he was given minimal interaction with Harry Osborn throughout the story. This is very disappointing to me, as I feel that Miles could have easily had a much bigger role in the narrative had the game spent time developing a relationship between him and Harry.
I also felt that it made very little sense for a character like Kraven to have a whole army of goons that served him. While I understand that part of the reasoning for this is to create a larger variety of enemies for the Spider-Men to fight, I feel that it took me out of the experience slightly due to my familiarity with the comics.
I would still recommend this game to anyone looking to experience the continued story of the Insomniac Spider-Men. However, I would say that this game is weaker narratively comparatively to its predecessor.
2024
Personally, I feel that this is the definitive version of Persona 3. Having played both FES and Portable, I feel like Reload fully encapsulated the best aspects of both, while adding a good amount of additional content that I enjoyed.
One of the new aspects that especially stood out to me were the brand-new Linked Episodes that they gave the male party members throughout the story. Given that these characters did not have as many interactions in FES, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to see how the male party members grew throughout the narrative. This is especially the case for Shinjiro, who got very little screentime outside of Persona 3 Portable and the Persona Q spin-offs.
I felt like that overall, the Social Links were greatly improved by having them be fully voiced in this game. For me, it added a lot more life to the game, and helped me become more invested in the characters. However, one change that I wish they had made was to properly adjust the female Social Links to better accommodate the new platonic routes in this version. I found it very jarring to have some of the female characters still bring up topics from their romantic routes despite having friend-zoned them. Additionally, I felt that some of the Social Links were oddly structured, as some of them will have little to no development of the focal character throughout the link, and then they will have a sudden revelation that addresses all of their flaws in the final rank. This is especially evident with the Moon Arcana Social Link. Some of the characters for these Links also do not feel like they develop, or even come to recognize their flaws by the end of their character arcs.
However, I believe the best change to this game would be the new iteration of Tartarus. I believe the changes helped to make Tartarus much less tedious to explore, and I appreciated the visual enhancements to each of the unique blocks. Many of the new additions to Tartarus helped to make it less grindy, and made it easier to use multiple party members within a playthrough, despite EXP not being shared across all of them.
Overall, I would be certain to recommend this particular version of the game to anyone who is interested in experiencing Persona 3 for themselves.
One of the new aspects that especially stood out to me were the brand-new Linked Episodes that they gave the male party members throughout the story. Given that these characters did not have as many interactions in FES, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to see how the male party members grew throughout the narrative. This is especially the case for Shinjiro, who got very little screentime outside of Persona 3 Portable and the Persona Q spin-offs.
I felt like that overall, the Social Links were greatly improved by having them be fully voiced in this game. For me, it added a lot more life to the game, and helped me become more invested in the characters. However, one change that I wish they had made was to properly adjust the female Social Links to better accommodate the new platonic routes in this version. I found it very jarring to have some of the female characters still bring up topics from their romantic routes despite having friend-zoned them. Additionally, I felt that some of the Social Links were oddly structured, as some of them will have little to no development of the focal character throughout the link, and then they will have a sudden revelation that addresses all of their flaws in the final rank. This is especially evident with the Moon Arcana Social Link. Some of the characters for these Links also do not feel like they develop, or even come to recognize their flaws by the end of their character arcs.
However, I believe the best change to this game would be the new iteration of Tartarus. I believe the changes helped to make Tartarus much less tedious to explore, and I appreciated the visual enhancements to each of the unique blocks. Many of the new additions to Tartarus helped to make it less grindy, and made it easier to use multiple party members within a playthrough, despite EXP not being shared across all of them.
Overall, I would be certain to recommend this particular version of the game to anyone who is interested in experiencing Persona 3 for themselves.
1996
The original Pokémon games still bring me good memories from when I was younger and playing through them for the first time. That being said, the game itself has not aged well, and I do think its hilarious to abuse several of the broken mechanics in this first iteration of the Pokémon franchise. I can safely say that outside of some unique challenge runs, I don't have much reason to return to this particular entry over the remakes, Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green. This might be the original Pokémon experience, but I would rather play just about any other entry in the franchise over this one.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is an old but beloved game by many veterans of the Fire Emblem series. This is a game that is good in its own right, but really shows its age as you play it.
Without going into too much detail, Genealogy of the Holy War introduces a number of mechanics that will take some adjustment for any player, even if they are experienced with other games in the series. This is also the first game in the series to feature child units, alongside inheritance for those child units. This game also introduces the skills and support systems that have since become staples of the franchise. The maps of this game are also incredibly large, and there are only 12 chapters to playthrough because of it. In spite of this, Genealogy of the Holy War still fits in a great deal of lore and story in those 12 chapters.
Much of the praise of this game is centered around its narrative, which is typically praised as having one of the best in the series. While there are certain aspects of the narrative that have not aged well, it still has some great emotional and tragic moments. Both of the main characters, Sigurd and Seliph, have great moments, with Sigurd serving as a great tragic protagonist during his arc of the story. It also has a strong antagonist, but also features some typical plot elements for the series that more experienced players will have come to expect.
This game has a surprising amount of worldbuilding, and those who have played Fire Emblem: Three Houses will likely recognize the similar elements that inspired the lore in Three Houses.
While the age and mechanics of this game will turn many away, I think this is a game that might be worth trying for those interested. However, there is a high chance that this game will receive a remake in the near future, so it may be best to wait for that to arrive rather than playing this version of the game.
Without going into too much detail, Genealogy of the Holy War introduces a number of mechanics that will take some adjustment for any player, even if they are experienced with other games in the series. This is also the first game in the series to feature child units, alongside inheritance for those child units. This game also introduces the skills and support systems that have since become staples of the franchise. The maps of this game are also incredibly large, and there are only 12 chapters to playthrough because of it. In spite of this, Genealogy of the Holy War still fits in a great deal of lore and story in those 12 chapters.
Much of the praise of this game is centered around its narrative, which is typically praised as having one of the best in the series. While there are certain aspects of the narrative that have not aged well, it still has some great emotional and tragic moments. Both of the main characters, Sigurd and Seliph, have great moments, with Sigurd serving as a great tragic protagonist during his arc of the story. It also has a strong antagonist, but also features some typical plot elements for the series that more experienced players will have come to expect.
This game has a surprising amount of worldbuilding, and those who have played Fire Emblem: Three Houses will likely recognize the similar elements that inspired the lore in Three Houses.
While the age and mechanics of this game will turn many away, I think this is a game that might be worth trying for those interested. However, there is a high chance that this game will receive a remake in the near future, so it may be best to wait for that to arrive rather than playing this version of the game.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is the direct sequel to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. While I don't think this game is quite as strong narratively as its predecessor, I do think it is very enjoyable in its own right, and the gameplay is much better.
This game takes place a couple of years after the main conflict of Path of Radiance, and it is very enjoyable to see all of the characters you came to enjoy in Path of Radiance once more, especially with how some of them have changed in the years since. This is especially true for both Elincia and Ike, as we get to see a great deal of development for Elincia, and how Ike has fully matured after the events of the previous game.
This game also introduces a number of brand-new characters, including a new protagonist, Micaiah. Micaiah's story offers a different perspective to the events of Path of Radiance, and does a lot to setup her eventual involvement in the main events of the game.
Radiant Dawn is rather infamous for a couple of things: its high difficulty, and its plot issues. The difficulty part is mainly attributed to the chapters involving Micaiah's faction, the Dawn Brigade, which generally consists of weaker units compared to Ike's Greil Mercenaries. Some of Micaiah's chapters can be tedious to get through, and may deter some players.
While the story issues bothered me less compared to most other players I've spoken with, I do think part of the issue has to do with localization. The original Japanese version had 3 different scripts for the game depending on the selected difficulty, with the "Lunatic" script having far more detail than the lower difficulties. The localization of Radiant Dawn tried to fix this by using a singular script across each difficulty, but they script they used was the less detailed one. For those interested, I highly recommend looking into the script differences upon completing/watching Radiant Dawn.
Despite the issues Radiant Dawn has, I ultimatelythink Radiant Dawn serves as a great culmination of Ike's character and story, and still has an enjoyable cast, selection of maps, and some strong emotional moments.
We don't need to talk about the voice acting though.
This game takes place a couple of years after the main conflict of Path of Radiance, and it is very enjoyable to see all of the characters you came to enjoy in Path of Radiance once more, especially with how some of them have changed in the years since. This is especially true for both Elincia and Ike, as we get to see a great deal of development for Elincia, and how Ike has fully matured after the events of the previous game.
This game also introduces a number of brand-new characters, including a new protagonist, Micaiah. Micaiah's story offers a different perspective to the events of Path of Radiance, and does a lot to setup her eventual involvement in the main events of the game.
Radiant Dawn is rather infamous for a couple of things: its high difficulty, and its plot issues. The difficulty part is mainly attributed to the chapters involving Micaiah's faction, the Dawn Brigade, which generally consists of weaker units compared to Ike's Greil Mercenaries. Some of Micaiah's chapters can be tedious to get through, and may deter some players.
While the story issues bothered me less compared to most other players I've spoken with, I do think part of the issue has to do with localization. The original Japanese version had 3 different scripts for the game depending on the selected difficulty, with the "Lunatic" script having far more detail than the lower difficulties. The localization of Radiant Dawn tried to fix this by using a singular script across each difficulty, but they script they used was the less detailed one. For those interested, I highly recommend looking into the script differences upon completing/watching Radiant Dawn.
Despite the issues Radiant Dawn has, I ultimatelythink Radiant Dawn serves as a great culmination of Ike's character and story, and still has an enjoyable cast, selection of maps, and some strong emotional moments.
We don't need to talk about the voice acting though.
This spin-off to Fire Emblem: Three Houses features an alternate-universe in which the main character of Three Houses, Byleth, never arrives at Garreg Mach Monastery, and is instead replaced by a new character, Shez.
Compared to Byleth, I found Shez to be much more enjoyable as a character, and they have many fun interactions with the already-solid cast of Three Houses.
The game itself provides resolution to many plot threads from Three Houses, and is also able to show many interactions between characters that we never saw before.
The gameplay itself is surprisingly addicting, and each character has numerous fun builds available to them. However, it can get rather repetitive, especially for players who are attempting to clear each story route within the game.
The soundtrack for this game is also fantastic, containing several great remixes of tracks from Three Houses while also having a number of new ones that are also great.
For me, the biggest flaw of this game has to do with its new narrative. While it does resolve some hanging plot threads from Three Houses, there are a few things and one major event that is left mostly unresolved by the end of each story route, with none of the routes actually providing a full explanation. Some of the story routes also feel underwhelming or lack a clear resolution to the main conflict. While the developers have gone on record to say that they didn't want to create route endings that were "better" than Three Houses, I truly wish they would have gone all the way with their ideas with this alternate universe to the main Three Houses timeline.
If you were a fan of Three Houses, I think this game is certainly worth a try, or is at least worth watching a playthrough of. Otherwise, I would abstain from touching this game until you have experienced Three Houses at least once. For those looking for a more ambitious title that fully explored the "what if..?" scenario set up by this game, then I think they will be disappointed.
Compared to Byleth, I found Shez to be much more enjoyable as a character, and they have many fun interactions with the already-solid cast of Three Houses.
The game itself provides resolution to many plot threads from Three Houses, and is also able to show many interactions between characters that we never saw before.
The gameplay itself is surprisingly addicting, and each character has numerous fun builds available to them. However, it can get rather repetitive, especially for players who are attempting to clear each story route within the game.
The soundtrack for this game is also fantastic, containing several great remixes of tracks from Three Houses while also having a number of new ones that are also great.
For me, the biggest flaw of this game has to do with its new narrative. While it does resolve some hanging plot threads from Three Houses, there are a few things and one major event that is left mostly unresolved by the end of each story route, with none of the routes actually providing a full explanation. Some of the story routes also feel underwhelming or lack a clear resolution to the main conflict. While the developers have gone on record to say that they didn't want to create route endings that were "better" than Three Houses, I truly wish they would have gone all the way with their ideas with this alternate universe to the main Three Houses timeline.
If you were a fan of Three Houses, I think this game is certainly worth a try, or is at least worth watching a playthrough of. Otherwise, I would abstain from touching this game until you have experienced Three Houses at least once. For those looking for a more ambitious title that fully explored the "what if..?" scenario set up by this game, then I think they will be disappointed.
Fire Emblem: New Mysetery of the Emblem introduces a lot of the mechanics that we have grown accustomed to in more modern games. The game itself, is massive, with a whopping cast of over 80 playable characters. However, similarly to Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, this game still lacks strong characterization for everyone outside of a select few major characters.
This game adds an additional story beat with the addition of Katarina and her group. I personally enjoyed the content with Katarina a good bit, and didn't feel that it hurt the original narrative with its addition. However, the rest of the story is rather barebones.
This game is the first Fire Emblem entry to feature an Avatar character to try making the player feel more invested in the narrative. How the Avatar character is implemented does take away from the game in my opinion, as Kris is treated as this perfect character that no one can find any fault in.
The gameplay itself is more player-phased oriented, and it is more enjoyable in comparison to the previous Shadow Dragon. I think this game is certainly worth a try for those interested, but Shadow Dragon should be played for the best experience.
This game adds an additional story beat with the addition of Katarina and her group. I personally enjoyed the content with Katarina a good bit, and didn't feel that it hurt the original narrative with its addition. However, the rest of the story is rather barebones.
This game is the first Fire Emblem entry to feature an Avatar character to try making the player feel more invested in the narrative. How the Avatar character is implemented does take away from the game in my opinion, as Kris is treated as this perfect character that no one can find any fault in.
The gameplay itself is more player-phased oriented, and it is more enjoyable in comparison to the previous Shadow Dragon. I think this game is certainly worth a try for those interested, but Shadow Dragon should be played for the best experience.
This entry is a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, the game has some enjoyable gameplay aspects, such as how hilarious powerful the Warp Staff is, and the Ballistician class being surprisingly fun to play around with. On the other hand, I find many of the maps to be boring, and many of the characters still lack any strong characterization beyond the most basic of traits.
I also loathe having to use Marth in this game. I don't understand why they decided it would be a good idea to make him unable to promote, but it cements him as one of, if not the weakest Lord character in the series.
This game is probably still better to play over the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, and it does a nice job with Marth's story. Besides that, I find this game to be a very boring entry.
I also loathe having to use Marth in this game. I don't understand why they decided it would be a good idea to make him unable to promote, but it cements him as one of, if not the weakest Lord character in the series.
This game is probably still better to play over the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, and it does a nice job with Marth's story. Besides that, I find this game to be a very boring entry.
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade is a game that attracts many people due to the popularity of the protagonist, Roy, in the Super Smash Bros. series. However, this is a game that is likely to be very difficult for anyone looking to enter the series with.
The Binding Blade is an entry that heavily favors an aggressive playstyle, which makes it beloved by some people, and hated by others. For those who know what to expect, this can lead to a very enjoyable, albeit challenging experience. For those I have known who were unprepared, they often dropped the game after becoming frustrated with this design.
Narratively, I don't think this game is particularly notable outside of its main antagonist, Zephiel. It is fine for what it is, but I don't think it is amazing by any means.
If you are interested in it, give it a try! Just keep the difficulty of the game in mind if you aren't as experienced with the Fire Emblem series.
The Binding Blade is an entry that heavily favors an aggressive playstyle, which makes it beloved by some people, and hated by others. For those who know what to expect, this can lead to a very enjoyable, albeit challenging experience. For those I have known who were unprepared, they often dropped the game after becoming frustrated with this design.
Narratively, I don't think this game is particularly notable outside of its main antagonist, Zephiel. It is fine for what it is, but I don't think it is amazing by any means.
If you are interested in it, give it a try! Just keep the difficulty of the game in mind if you aren't as experienced with the Fire Emblem series.
2023
I can confidently say that Fire Emblem Engage has some of the most enjoyable gameplay in the series for me.
The game is incredibly well-polished, and I appreciate it being well-balanced around the Emblems (barring Micaiah). The story is pretty basic by Fire Emblem-standards but has some great moments. I also appreciate Alear not being a silent protagonist, as I have felt that many of the Avatar characters, barring Robin and Shez, have taken away from the narrative of their games to some degree.
This game was made as a celebration of the series' 30th anniversary, and obviously has several references to all the entries that came previously. However, playing all the previous entries is by no means a requirement for Engage to be an enjoyable experience. Similarly, I could not recommend this game to someone who is looking to jump into the Fire Emblem series for the aforementioned reasons.
I have also seen many people criticize the cast for being rather one-note, but I disagree with this sentiment quite a bit. Many of the characters have unique sides to them that are only seen during specific support chains, so I recommend completing as many of them as possible.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time with Engage, and I appreciate the numerous ways there are to approach each map in the game. It could definitely use some more Warp staves throughout the game though.
The game is incredibly well-polished, and I appreciate it being well-balanced around the Emblems (barring Micaiah). The story is pretty basic by Fire Emblem-standards but has some great moments. I also appreciate Alear not being a silent protagonist, as I have felt that many of the Avatar characters, barring Robin and Shez, have taken away from the narrative of their games to some degree.
This game was made as a celebration of the series' 30th anniversary, and obviously has several references to all the entries that came previously. However, playing all the previous entries is by no means a requirement for Engage to be an enjoyable experience. Similarly, I could not recommend this game to someone who is looking to jump into the Fire Emblem series for the aforementioned reasons.
I have also seen many people criticize the cast for being rather one-note, but I disagree with this sentiment quite a bit. Many of the characters have unique sides to them that are only seen during specific support chains, so I recommend completing as many of them as possible.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time with Engage, and I appreciate the numerous ways there are to approach each map in the game. It could definitely use some more Warp staves throughout the game though.
Path of Radiance is easily my favorite game in the entire Fire Emblem series.
While it certainly has its flaws, such as the combat animations taking a long time, or an infamous 3-par chapter, I do think it still holds up decently by modern standards. The game itself isn't terribly difficult either, and relatively accessible by old and new players alike.
The cast itself is pretty good overall, although some characters get very little to work with, even in their support chains.
The biggest selling point of Path of Radiance for me is its narrative. I would argue it has one of the best narratives of any Fire Emblem game, and there is a good amount of world-building to help players get invested in the conflicts of this world. There are also a number of great emotional moments, on top of having one of the best antagonist/rival characters in the series in the Black Knight. Ike serves as a fantastic main character, and this game helped to cement him as one of my favorite characters ever. Many of the other major characters, such as Soren, Elincia, and Tibarn are also fantastic for me and are able to bring a lot to the narrative.
I cannot recommend this game enough to anyone who is interested.
While it certainly has its flaws, such as the combat animations taking a long time, or an infamous 3-par chapter, I do think it still holds up decently by modern standards. The game itself isn't terribly difficult either, and relatively accessible by old and new players alike.
The cast itself is pretty good overall, although some characters get very little to work with, even in their support chains.
The biggest selling point of Path of Radiance for me is its narrative. I would argue it has one of the best narratives of any Fire Emblem game, and there is a good amount of world-building to help players get invested in the conflicts of this world. There are also a number of great emotional moments, on top of having one of the best antagonist/rival characters in the series in the Black Knight. Ike serves as a fantastic main character, and this game helped to cement him as one of my favorite characters ever. Many of the other major characters, such as Soren, Elincia, and Tibarn are also fantastic for me and are able to bring a lot to the narrative.
I cannot recommend this game enough to anyone who is interested.
2017
Surprisingly, this game was fairly enjoyable for me for a long time for its character building. Compared to other gacha games, it is also a fair bit more generous compared to many others.
Recently, I've found myself to be quite bored with it and have only been playing every so often. A large part of this is due to the absurd levels of powercreep that are currently occurring in the game, with nothing being done to try mitigating it. Despite having not played the game as frequently in the last year, I still have no difficulty clearing any of the newer content in the game.
That said, I do appreciate that it has brought a lot of characters from older FE games to the forefront, and it is nice to be able to see many of these characters after being unacknowledged for years.
If you're an absolute diehard superfan of the Fire Emblem series, give it a go. But I don't know that I can recommend this mess to anyone else.
Recently, I've found myself to be quite bored with it and have only been playing every so often. A large part of this is due to the absurd levels of powercreep that are currently occurring in the game, with nothing being done to try mitigating it. Despite having not played the game as frequently in the last year, I still have no difficulty clearing any of the newer content in the game.
That said, I do appreciate that it has brought a lot of characters from older FE games to the forefront, and it is nice to be able to see many of these characters after being unacknowledged for years.
If you're an absolute diehard superfan of the Fire Emblem series, give it a go. But I don't know that I can recommend this mess to anyone else.