There’s a lot of apprehension when reviewing a game from a series you are not familiar with. I realize Fire Emblem has a long, and rich history of high quality games and that most people will be disappointed if this review is anything other than stellar; but my review of this game is a judgment solely on this game, not on the series as a whole. For those familiar with the series, you already know that Fire Emblem is part RPG and part tactical game in which you move your party’s characters individually on a grid. You would also be familiar with the series’ difficulty, and from what I hear is unmatched by Radiant Dawn’s pure indifference to casual gamers (i.e. This game is hard!). 

When I started Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, I was greeted with a stunning, beautifully rendered CG sequence, with top-notch voice acting and a haunting musical score. The characters were in full 3-D, yet retained a distinct anime quality that was both smooth and fluid. The story of this sequence conveyed mystery and introduced me, the first-time viewer, to a conflict that was raging in this fictional land…. So let’s just say my praise stops there. Right after that sequence I was dropped into the real game and saw the real animation. Did I say animation? I meant cut out characters who don’t move and who are pasted against a painted backdrop with dialogue boxes streaming below them.  Excuse me, is this new-gen? Or last-gen?  How about Super Nintendo, does that sound familiar?

 
“Yup, that’s what it looks like”

While the reception of this game has been very divisive, I don’t think Radiant Dawn deserves a free pass on its horrendous presentation. The graphics of the levels (the real levels you fight in) look slightly better than N64 – and I’m not exaggerating. Combine that with the aforementioned “cut-outs” and you’ve got yourself what could have been a great DS title. The close-up battles, after you engage an enemy on the tactical grid, actually look decent, with fluid animation and sparkling effects; however, that is the only exception. The bland environments that you move your band of fighters around on are washed with a dull brown color and feature very untextured models.

And as I mentioned above, this game can be merciless in its difficulty. When I started the game, I chose Normal difficulty (not too cocky, not too humble) like any gamer would. After dying very quickly two times in 5 minutes on the first battle, I switched to Easy. Now I realize that anyone unaccustomed to the unique battle system of this game, might be allowed two deaths at the beginning – but just wait. After starting the same battle again, while on Easy, I died even quicker than before.  I do have to say, that while I didn’t discover this feature until later on in the game, the developers kindly included a Battle Save feature that will at least slow down the hair-pulling. But if a key character dies in the battle, you’re dead – no questions ask. And what makes it worse is that some of those key characters in the beginning will die in one hit. Sadly, the developers made those characters women - a sexist tendency that the games industry just can’t quite get over.

What salvages Fire Emblem from being truly forgettable is that somewhere within those dialogue boxes is a strangely deep, intellectual story. The wars being fought and the characters caught in them could be seen in both Spirited Away and Homer’s Illiad. While that might be a stretch, the story is not to be taken lightly. The politics are realistic and don’t cater at all to the passive listener. However, while the story is rich and rewarding for those with the will to stick with it, the presentation is so lackluster and bland that it pulls everything else down with it. Frequently, huge plot changes of dramatic significance will be told with a moving still of a painting while a narrator explains the problem. Also, a lot of the scene changes make no sense because they move so fast with so little being represented on-screen. 

The characters you control are a wide array of different abilities and weaknesses. Some characters are so weak that you will be forced to build a defense around them, to stay alive, while others are armies unto themselves. Your characters will upgrade with experience as you progress, though with so many characters to keep up with I found managing them individually was a headache. This is especially true when you are at your base/store and can buy and sell new equipment for your team; or you can trade items with one character to another. But you have so many team members that keeping track of who has what, buying weapons for each person, and weighing strengths and weaknesses for the next battle can become insurmountable for even the best manager.

 
“Getting tactical? Don’t forget your herbs”

The combat and tactics I found to be a rewarding part of the game, despite the oppressive difficulty. The battles are also paced and designed quite well, except for the devastating one-hit kills that can ruin your match in a blink. Increased difficulty in games is one thing, but when that difficulty is unpardonably high on Easy mode, come on! But Wii owners are not going to appreciate such a high learning curve and unforgiving mechanics. Also, the exclusion of the Wii’s motion controls was unfortunate and will surely cut down the game’s potential audience.

Gameplay: 8.0
While it jettisoned motion and IR control in favor of GameCube button mashing, the mechanics are solid and still fun to play.

Graphics: 4.5
While the CG scenes are breathtaking, they are few and far between. The in-game graphics are generally horrible and the use of cut-out characters on painted backgrounds to tell such a deep story is a major step back in time.

Sound: 8.0
While nothing close to the remarkable soundtrack in Mario Galaxy, this game holds its own.

Difficulty: Hard
I played this game through on easy, and still had a difficult time. Turn back now casual gamers!!

Concept: 8.0
This game is strange in that so many parts are of such varying quality; but this is a high concept, artsy game that deals with layered political issues. Take that Mario.

Overall: 6.5
Those who have stuck with the franchise for a long time will likely consider this score to be too low; and more power to you. But my judgment is coming from someone fresh to the series, and I found only little enjoyment out of playing it.