Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn Wii preview and video interview
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn has a release date of November 5th in North America and is the 10th game in the Fire Emblem series (no date for anywhere else yet, cross your fingers). The game is developed by Intelligent Systems, the same developer that made the last game, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for GameCube (they also made Super Paper Mario for Wii and many other Nintendo games throughout the years).
The game is a direct sequel to Path of Radiance and features the same cel-shaded FMV cut-scenes and an upgraded game engine.
Check out this amazing video interview to see the game in action. Looks impressive!
Storyline:
Three years have passed since the Daein-Crimea war, where the mercenary Ike led the Crimean army to defeat Daein’s mad King Ashnard. Both Daein and Crimea are still stabilizing after that war. Daein is ruled by the Begnion occupation forces, after Crimea relinquished rule over their defeated country, and they are oppressed by the imperial soldiers. In the first of the game’s four parts, a group of chivalrous thieves, which includes “the silver-haired maiden,” Micaiah, fight Begnion’s oppression and attempt to liberate Daein and bring back power to the royal family.
The efforts of the Dawn Brigade are the beginning of a much larger conflict. In the next part, Crimea’s Queen Elincia fights against conspiring nobles, who plot to overthrow her. The following part sees the Greil mercenaries assist the united Laguz army as they go to war with the Begnion Empire. The consequences of this war can be seen in the fourth and final part, where the Dawn Brigade and the Greil mercenaries join forces to defeat the Begnion senate and the goddess high above at the Guiding Tower.
Game Facts include:
* Second longest Fire Emblem in series history (38 Chapters)
* Brand new storytelling approach – Each chapter has a “Main Character” instead of constantly following one Lord
* Direct sequel to Path of Radiance (PoR)
* Saves from a GameCube memory card for Path of Radiance can be transfered over.
* A PoR save with high level characters will result in bonuses for those characters
* Largest playable cast in series history. All but one PoR character returns, and 3 characters who were not playable before now are. Additionally 20 brand new characters have been added for a staggering 72 recruitable characters.
* New weapon rank (SS) is added
* Dark Magic is back after an absence in PoR, completing the Magic Triangle
* Beorc characters can now promote TWICE
* Laguz can now grow up to level 40, and have a weak attack in their untransformed state. A new Laguz race has been added.
* Elevated Terrain now affects battles. This means 3D finally matters.
* Redone graphics and greatly improved animation
* A variety of control options, including playing with the Wiimote alone or using a Gamecube controller
* Sweet cut-scenes that are both more numerous than those in PoR, and of much greater scope and quality.
Additionally, Radiant Dawn features two types of supports: Buddy supports and Bond supports. Buddy supports (simply called “Supports” in previous games) increase their characters’ battle stats dependent on the elemental affinity and support level of both Buddies. Unlike in previous games, characters can be Buddies with any other character, but can only have one Buddy at a time. Characters in Buddy supports will have a short conversation at the beginning of each battle. Bond supports, which also appeared in Path of Radiance, are between two specific characters and are always present.
And finally, the game’s 38 chapters are unequally divided into four parts. Each chapter features a “leader” character, comparable to the Lord characters in previous games. For example, the leader of Part 1 is Micaiah, and Ike (Ike is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as well) is the leader of most of Parts 3 and 4. Other leaders, such as Elincia, Geoffrey and Tibarn, play minor roles. The 42 returning with 3 inaccessible characters from Path of Radiance, along with 27 new characters equals 72 playable characters.
This game will definitely keep you playing for a long, long time!
