Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

 Wii
User Score
8.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 308 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 262 out of 308
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 308
  3. Negative: 11 out of 308
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  1. sands777
    Oct 4, 2010
    7
    Overall, the game was a good addition to the series. The gameplay is very enjoyable, and somewhat addicting, the musical score is excellent and the artwork is great. However, the loss of personal support conversations has hindered the character development greatly. If you haven't played Path of Radiance before this, you will realize that you don't give a damn about most of theOverall, the game was a good addition to the series. The gameplay is very enjoyable, and somewhat addicting, the musical score is excellent and the artwork is great. However, the loss of personal support conversations has hindered the character development greatly. If you haven't played Path of Radiance before this, you will realize that you don't give a damn about most of the characters because you don't know anything about them, and even if you had played Path of Radiance, there are new characters that are introduced that have no backstory, personality or development whatsoever. So really, I would not recommend this game if you have not played its prequel, but if you have you will enjoy it immensely.… Expand
  2. rhaynes7
    May 29, 2014
    6
    I remember being one of those guys that hated on reviewers for hating on Radiant Dawn because I was a diehard fan that was convinced that the reviewers merely were too bad at the game and did not give it a fair shot and would gleefully point to all the good reviews.

    That was then, and this is now. I've revisited Radiant Dawn and the travesty that Intelligent System developed. Despite    I remember being one of those guys that hated on reviewers for hating on Radiant Dawn because I was a diehard fan that was convinced that the reviewers merely were too bad at the game and did not give it a fair shot and would gleefully point to all the good reviews.

    That was then, and this is now. I've revisited Radiant Dawn and the travesty that Intelligent System developed. Despite this games multiple flaws, the strategy elements can be appreciated by those who are fans of the series and who can overcome the difficulty.

    The first thing you would notice about this game is that it's ugly. It looks almost exactly like Path of Radiance which didn't look all the great on the previous system either. Although character models are more animated and less goofy than Path of Radiance, it fails to capture the awesome animations of the GBA before this game. Failed collisions may have your sword hitting at least 5 feet away, funny little animation gaffes, and slow generals taking their sweet time strolling up to you are the order of the overall botched animations. Despite this, some of the spells boost some interesting animations. Outside of battle, the low polygons and awful textures will catch your eye, especially with characters like Skrimir.

    As far as structure goes, this game is an ugly mess. 4 different stories try and paint an overall story that is slow to develop and is way overcomplicated. It's excellent at it's culmination, but there's so much pointless filler in between that it's rather a shame. The Crimean civil war is particularly unenjoyable. Any of the Dawn Brigade chapters feel linearized because there's only a handful of cool chapters. Even the Greil Mercenary missions which are the best, are bogged down with the useless laguz units. These laguz units transform into powerful beasts and are forces to be reckoned with, but they are employed for the sake of throwing in different types of tactics. They can only transform for a limited time and it's frustrating how little time they can spend transformed. They are also EXP hogs, which makes them impossible to level up consistently with their transformation limitations.

    The writing and/or localization is among the worst. There are several great moments (Aimee and Soren being the highlight), but the metaphors used by one dimensional bosses and the country jargon of Nephenee and Brom are nauseating. The characters themselves don't have much personality either and support conversations are barebones and give you little character background, forcing you to get glimpses of their character from the game's story, but most units are only highlighted for one chapter, giving them little material. And yet, I get so sad when I abandon Danved to his permadeath doom cause I refuse to restart the chapter. Despite this, permadeath ensures a bond between your character whether you hate the concept of permadeath or not.

    The character's strengths and weaknesses are a sprawling mess. The Dawn Brigade chapters are made with very specific tactics in mind, and their characters are suited to that and nothing more. This makes many units good for one thing only. They are otherwise weak and unable to hold their own. Crimea is given too many cavaliers, and the Greil Mercenaries are composed entirely of deities. The unbalanced strengths of characters and the fact that there are many different segments to the games give certain characters limited availability and acts to dismount the replay value of this game because ultimately, you'll pick the Greil Mercenaries and the Laguz royalty that is not bound by their transformation issues.

    Aside from these, there are other strategical issues. Crossbows have been added, and they are entirely useless. Although when faced with a Pegasus Knight, these things will be a OHKO guaranteed. Bows don't effect wyverns anymore now that their lumped with dragons. That doesn't have to be that way. They could have had multiple characteristics. Ordering and directing units is as worthless as Path of Radiance. Dark magic is severely limited and wind sword and reaper cards feel like broken concepts.

    And yet, despite all of these frustrations, there is enjoyment to be had. I'm still playing it, aren't I? I enjoy the game for it's difficulty and because of how much I loved the characters of Path of Radiance and trying to understand the game's nuances more. It's just something that you need to watch out for if for some reason you want to purchase today. This game is very far from perfect, but there is some fun in overcoming this game's nasty little tricks.    … Expand
  3. AlexS.
    Jan 28, 2008
    6
    The game has a great, complex story, but a number of drawbacks. I'm a huge fan of RPG's and turn-based strategy games, but this game doesn't carry it out exceptionally well. There's no free form play to the game at all, so you don't have the option to explore the world, which I think is one of the hallmarks of a good RPG. The game has an in-depth tutorial too, but The game has a great, complex story, but a number of drawbacks. I'm a huge fan of RPG's and turn-based strategy games, but this game doesn't carry it out exceptionally well. There's no free form play to the game at all, so you don't have the option to explore the world, which I think is one of the hallmarks of a good RPG. The game has an in-depth tutorial too, but it doesn't cover everything and the instruction booklet covers absolutely nothing. it would have been helpful to actually have a listing of what weapons do and who can use them instead of going into to battles blindly equipped with whatever weapons I thought might be best. Maybe I didn't like it, because I've never played any other Fire Emblem games, but one would think the publisher would want new players, so why would they make this one kind of inaccessible to new players.… Expand
  4. MadclownJack
    Sep 21, 2016
    6
    Jesus Christ, what sort of RNG **** is this? Character levels up, it levels up badly or barely. I've heard about games not lending a hand, but **** this. Story is boring as hell, stupidly boring too, like the basic red vs blue country cliche. I haven't played most of the other games, but what the hell? Who are these people and why the **** should i care about them? And why are 90% of themJesus Christ, what sort of RNG **** is this? Character levels up, it levels up badly or barely. I've heard about games not lending a hand, but **** this. Story is boring as hell, stupidly boring too, like the basic red vs blue country cliche. I haven't played most of the other games, but what the hell? Who are these people and why the **** should i care about them? And why are 90% of them useless? This is a bad game, because it's not fun, it's sadistic, demanding and unforgiving, and i have one of those already. I call it a job.… Expand
  5. DMcIntyre
    Mar 29, 2008
    7
    OK, first off, I'm not afraid of a little challenge, but the difficulty curve of this game and the punishments (perma-death) are driving me to drink. Visuals aren't much of an issue, it's a TRPG, what do you expect? Actually I really liked most everything about FE:RD, everything except for the unforgiving difficulty. In a game where they field you in one map with most of OK, first off, I'm not afraid of a little challenge, but the difficulty curve of this game and the punishments (perma-death) are driving me to drink. Visuals aren't much of an issue, it's a TRPG, what do you expect? Actually I really liked most everything about FE:RD, everything except for the unforgiving difficulty. In a game where they field you in one map with most of your units being flying oriented and then proceed to give every enemy AI unit some kind of FU damage against flyers, it gets to be a little much. If you are a super hard-core TRPG fan who can't get enough of that kind of stuff, then this is right up your alley. However, if your tastes lean to the more casual FFT modes of gameplay, then looks like you'll have to sit this one out, as you're liable to put your Wiimote through something.… Expand
  6. Starfree
    Jul 7, 2023
    7
    There’s a lot of changes from Path of Radiance that are quite nice, some aren’t great but aren’t awful. But the biggest thing that separates Dawn from Path is the story. Characters are morons in Radiant Dawn, including 2 characters from path that were tactical genius are now coming up with plans that would result in all of their deaths. Chapter 2 did absolutely nothing for the overallThere’s a lot of changes from Path of Radiance that are quite nice, some aren’t great but aren’t awful. But the biggest thing that separates Dawn from Path is the story. Characters are morons in Radiant Dawn, including 2 characters from path that were tactical genius are now coming up with plans that would result in all of their deaths. Chapter 2 did absolutely nothing for the overall story. Reveals aren’t set up at all and are revealed at terrible times. Pair the story with the massive level pacing problems. A third of the characters are straight up unusable in the endgame unless you dumb bonus Exp into them. Still the base game play is Fire Emblem, and the story is not so damaged that it pushes you away. Lot’s of really fun maps as well, escape maps, survive maps, some goals that are actually different from route enemy or kill boss, which is always a breath of fresh air. Overall good game, but lots of poor choices with the story and pacing, kinda disappointing that this is the sequel to Path.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best Wii Game of 2007
10
#10 Most Discussed Wii Game of 2007
6
#6 Most Shared Wii Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 36
  3. Negative: 1 out of 36
  1. RPG Fan
    88
    Even though this is not the definitive strategy RPG of our time, like some have labeled games such as Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Disgaea, it's pretty damn close.
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  2. Gamer.nl
    80
    Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn makes its Gamecube predecessor even more perfect on the Nintendo Wii. Nothing has really changed, but even on the Wii the game is still fun to play. With 38 missions, 72 characters and one hell of an in-game challenge this game really is worth the trouble. Especially if you like tactics.
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  3. Maxi Consolas (Portugal)
    80
    It’s one of those cases that could easily pass for an expansion of previous titles, but those similarities are also one of its stronger points. There are some highly challenging battles here, especially if you want to keep all of the party members alive. [Apr 2008]
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