Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

I haven't yet played Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (or it's predecessor for that matter) but what did you think about it?

I'm kind of turned off from ever getting the game, as I've mostly heard complaints about it. Micaiah is hated on constantly, for one thing, as well as other characters from the game. If I end up getting a console Fire Emblem title in the future, I'd most likely wait until a Wii U release instead.

I have so mixed opinions on this game. I both love it and dislike it at the same time.

Radiant Dawn was a huge disappointment to me. Path of Radiance is one of my favourite games, and is one of the better Fire Emblem games overall (the script, supports and characters are possibly the series' best). Radiant Dawn couldn't live up to the expectations I had for the sequel.

The story could have been better. I liked how there was some focus on politics and that you got to see some interactions between the enemy commanders, but overall the script was poorly written (especially compared to Path of Radiance, which has pretty much the best writing in the series). Part 1 is basically Path of Radiance but shorter and on a smaller scale. Part 2 was short and somewhat of a filler, but had a decent story and also gave Elincia time to shine with her development from Path of Radiance. Part 3 is unbalanced and uncreative, though it's nice that you get to switch between different armies. Part 4 had some nice gameplay, the endgame chapters weren't too bad (except E-2) but the story was too cliched. Ranulf spoiling

Spoiler:

was bad too.

What I like the most about the game is the gameplay. Almost any unit can be used (some are more difficult to train than others, but no one is impossible to use), which adds some replayablility. The battle animations are much better than the prequel and Awakening (in my opinion) - the models look nice (for a FE game), the spells are at their best and the attacks and movements look good. I wish magic could have been better - they brough back both the Magic and Anima triangles, but made Mages slower and weaker, and gave enemies more speed and resistance. At least Paladin isn't one of the best classes in the game for once. I also like how the Skills worked, it was fun to remove them and give them to other units unlimited times. Mastery Skills break the game though (Eclipse is OP). Also, obtainable SS-rank weapons for all types.

The soundtrack is all right - it's not amazing, but not bad either. The CG cutscenes look great, but there are too few of them. The English voice acting is worse than terrible (except Shinon, his voice is very fitting). The Japanese voice acting is better, but most of the voices sound lazy like the voice actors are just reading the lines, and not "acting". I haven't listened to the voices in other languages yet.

Ike is a terrible Lord in this game. He never does anything wrong, he has a paper-thin personality, never grows or matures through the game and is liked by almost everyone. If he didn't have his development in Path of Radiance as a reason, he would have been very Gary Stu-ish. He and the Greil Mercenaries break the game both gameplay and story-wise (I liked then in Path of Radiance though.) Most of the rest if the cast are bland and boring also, which mostly is because of the poor writing and lack of real supports.

It's interesting how people hate Micaiah for "being a Mary Sue" while they hardly ever complain about other Lords like Robin, Celice, Marth, Ike and Roy who are just as "Sueish". I'm not a fan of Micaiah, but I liked how she was different from the average Lord. Her extreme loyalty to her homeland, even though she knows that what they do isn't always right, was a nice change of pace. She also isn't instantly loved by absolutely everyone she meets, unlike many other Lords (except Daein, who might love her a bit too much). Though being locked to the worst magic type through the whole game wasn't that good. Her backstory was a huge disappointment and ruined what could have been an interesting character.

I could go on about Radiant Dawn for hours. Overall, it's a decent game. It's nowhere as good as I wanted it to be, but I like playing it. It's nothing I'd recommend to someone who isn't a Tellius fan though.

^ Ah, so you seem to have liked more things about the game than disliked at least. I've heard it's unbalanced, but if it's only in the third section of the game, it's kind of strange. If the game is unbalanced in one part, it should be in every part as well. (I mean, not that it's a good thing to be an unbalanced strategy game, but it doesn't quite make sense that suddenly having the exact same characters and whatnot you played with throughout the rest of the game are no longer balanced against the other team)

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn apparently got a reprint recently in NA, as of last year. It's a pretty rare game, so this makes sense considering the huge popularity of Awakening. They would want some new people to try out Radiant Dawn as well.

For me personally it's the only Fire Emblem title that I hated due to how imbalanced the gameplay felt. Usually the main characters are more balanced then what is actually experienced in the Wii version. Impo the GC version is way more superior.