Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

[IMJ]

Ah, great to see this topic pop-up again. Cuz right now, Im really immersed in this game. I'm on Normal mode Part 3-7 I believe. Story really gets interested and epic now.

 

I havent tried Hard mode yet (for obvious reasons), but so far I gotta say this game is a lot harder than POR. Im going through POR's Hard mode as well, and it's like RD's Normal mode. Maybe I just trained my units better in my second playthrough in POR.

 

I too have read that Aran is supposed to be pretty decent. Some prefer him above Nephenee and we all know how popular she is and what a monster she can become.

[Chris the great]

didnt use aran or nepheene in my first pkay though on easy (back off, its my first fire emblam) i used the greail mercinary spear guy, forgot him name, though my friend who watched me on it called him "the fucking unit" this time, on normal nephenee has shown to be good, and with a little tlc, aran is now a strong unit, able to at least do some damage and take a few blows.

[IMJ]

To make the most of the game, you need to plan ahead which units you want to use. But this Fire Emblem has that more than any other before it, at least the ones released in the West. It's really hard to train some characters if they're only available for a few chapters only to return halfway through the game.

 

Then again, this game tend to have more enemies than POR too, so there's enough opportunity if you're willing train specific units.

[Japjer]

Hard mode update!

 

Damn, it really takes ages to finish a chapter now, my current team includes Meg, Edward and Aran; extremely hard to lvl up. On top of that, they don't seem to level up properly either. Noone aside from the overleveled people can double and they're all as fragile as they were in the first few chapters. Exception for some weird reason is Micaiah, who capped def at lvl 12 (with dracoshield). She seems to be the only character doing well, but is also the only one capable of using paragon.

 

In the prison chapter now, only gave it a shot once. The stairs (Micaiah, Nolan, Edward) and east side (Sothe, Aran, Leonardo) are easy, but the northern part has 3 strong monsters all coming at you at once, something Meg, Jill and Volug can't handle.

[Ike]

Meg is terrible. Don't waste EXP on her.

[IMJ]

Meg is terrible. Don't waste EXP on her.

 

I think she'll want to have a word with you :P

Check this vid. She CAN be a monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8edGWytZ6g

 

Must have been a been in ass job to train her up.

 

On another note, this FE game has easily taken the longest time for me to complete. FE:POR took me about 26 hours saved time, which is about 40 hours playtime if you include the restarts i had. The GBA one were obviously shorter/quicker to play. So far, Im in endgame part III on normal, I'm already at 37 hours of saved playtime. If i'd include the restarts, I think im at 50 hours or so. Anyway, great game

[Chris the great]

meg CAN be a monster, but you need the paitence of a saint, and the time of a man who hasnt discovered masterbation.

[Ike]

I think she'll want to have a word with you :P

Check this vid. She CAN be a monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8edGWytZ6g

 

Must have been a been in ass job to train her up.

 

On another note, this FE game has easily taken the longest time for me to complete. FE:POR took me about 26 hours saved time, which is about 40 hours playtime if you include the restarts i had. The GBA one were obviously shorter/quicker to play. So far, Im in endgame part III on normal, I'm already at 37 hours of saved playtime. If i'd include the restarts, I think im at 50 hours or so. Anyway, great game

 

OK, that was impressive, but I still say it's not worth it :P

[Hero-of-Time]

Having finished Order Up! I am looking to start my next Wii game and seeing as I never really got into this I thought now would be a good time to have another crack at it.

 

A big problem I had with this is that I couldn't get used to juggling my units and I didnt have a clue which ones to level up and which ones to leave be. So with that in mind can one of the FE experts on here give me a list of characters I should concentrate on? I know everyone has their own favourites but im sure there are a few characters who everyone likes and uses.

 

Thanks.

[Tales]

Anyone is good enough on easy, but in my opinion you should stay away from the heavily armoured girl, Meg or something. Could have given you a few more tips about which characters to use if you asked several months ago. Forgotten most of the characters by now. Although I remember using Astrid a lot despite everyone bashing her on Gamefaqs. She ended up being one my most valuable characters.

[Guest Captain Falcon]

Are you starting from scratch or picking up a save file from later on in the game? If the latter, is everybody still alive?

 

As Tales said, anybody can be useful if you get lucky with leveling and pick the right supports. And so much of people's recommendations come down to personal experience rather than fact.

 

Meg is oft referred to as the worst unit in the game, but there are some youtube clips demonstrating how useful she can be if you are prepared to put the effort in. Unless you actually want to use her to prove how great you are (what other reason could there be to select her), I'd say avoid her - Nolan, Aran and Tauroneo can be your defensive units early on. On my play throughs, I always support Nolan and Aran to get the good avoid bonus and use them to block the main pathway the enemy has to my troops or be my main advance with others attacking from behind - they can take it and give it out.

 

Fiona also gets a bad rep. She's the only cavalier in Part 1, but the Cavaliers/Paladins from the first game have better average stats and since they come leveled higher it's not really worth wasting the experience on her.

 

In fact, few of the new unit's actually surpass the old ones - some come closer than others, but on the whole, they drew the short straw. And given the older units have been fleshed out more than the new ones, you'll more drawn to them from an emotional sense too. Double whammy!

[Hero-of-Time]

I started again as I couldnt remember anything from my previous game, not that it matters as I think I only got a few chapters into it.

 

I have just finished chapter 9 of the first act and was very surprised who showed up to help you. It took many reloads to do that chapter as I never used Machiah due to me hating her. I eventually found a decent route to take and swiftly killed all of the enemy units.

 

I did start endgame but Zihark ended up getting killed so I knocked it off. I will probably attempt it again later after I have had a bite to eat.

[Guest Captain Falcon]

I started again as I couldnt remember anything from my previous game, not that it matters as I think I only got a few chapters into it.

 

I have just finished chapter 9 of the first act and was very surprised who showed up to help you. It took many reloads to do that chapter as I never used Machiah due to me hating her. I eventually found a decent route to take and swiftly killed all of the enemy units.

 

I did start endgame but Zihark ended up getting killed so I knocked it off. I will probably attempt it again later after I have had a bite to eat.

 

Well, as a Lord... of sorts, you have to keep Micaiah alive and unless you like carrying round a dead weight, you might as well make the best of her. By the end of the game she'll be quite powerful, even if still somewhat fragile. But that's why you have her attack from behind the front line.

 

 

Micaiah promotes at the end of Endgame automatically, so if she is at a low level, I would give her the Paragon skill (she's the only non promoted unit with enough skill points to use it) and get her level raised as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

Part 2 is a bit weird. There are only 5 chapters in this section and your units are leveled as such that most gain minimal exp from the enemies due to being at a much higher level.

 

And since you don't have availability of all units in each chapter, you pretty much have to make do with what you've got. This section is much easier than the first part.

 

Key units to get into shape would be Nephenee and perhaps Keiran - Nephenee doesn't have the robust defence of Aran, but she is quicker and it's her greater availability for the rest of the game that see her usually ranked above him by "experts".

 

You can never go wrong with a couple of Paladins on the field and Keiran's a solid choice - though I prefer Titania and Oscar myself. I say perhaps due to both other good units to come later and the fact that he his leveled quite high anyway so if you ignore him but decide to use him later on, you won't have done much damage to his prospects.

 

There is one more unit worth paying attention to, and that's Haar. I've never bothered with him in PoR, always opting for Jill, but he is with out a doubt one of the best units in this game. So good in fact, that you won't have to go out of your way to train him in this section as you'll come to rely on him so much later that you'll be wary of over leveling him.

[Hero-of-Time]

Thanks for the tips Falcon : peace: Luckly I have been training Haar and Nephenee up as I checked a faqs on G-Faqs that gave me a list of units that I should consider using.

 

I have just finished chapter 2 now and WOW.

 

Hell Yeah! Ike and the boys are back!! I knew that they came back in the game it was just a question of when. As soon as I seen the camera pan out to the tree behind Lucia I knew that was the moment. The cutscene was fantastic which leads me to my next point...

 

 

While playing this I couldnt help but wondering what the game would be like if it had more development time and a higher budget. The cutscenes that do happen are very rare but are great and I wouldnt mind seeing some more. How big is the FE series anyway? Do they pull in big numbers?

 

I have read that chapter 3 is good but drags on, hopefully it will still draw me in with the awesome storyline.

[Chris the great]

i know fire emblem is fairly big in japan, pulls in some decent sales, enough to keep the serise going into what is this, the 9th instalment?

 

 

higher production values would of been nice, but ho hum, the cutscens they had were the shiznick.

[Japjer]

Radiant Dawn is the 10th FE.

 

And yea, i agree with the cutscenes. I'm fine with the normal dialogues, it's just the ingame scenes that play out horribly for me.

 

The part where Micaiah returns to the base camp and waves to the crowds comes to mind. Also, meeting Nailah & Volug would've been nice

 

 

It's a shame that there's not a single wolf in any cutscene and there's no way to really know what the order of ashera looks like, likewise with the spirits.

 

 

That reminds me..i still have to finish my hard mode.

I hate that damn bridge chapter...

 

[ghost_zero]

Is there known if there will be another Fire Emblem for Wii - or will we have to wait for Wii's successor?

[Guest Captain Falcon]

Is there known if there will be another Fire Emblem for Wii - or will we have to wait for Wii's successor?

 

All interviews as of late with the directors and producers have implied that they want to take the series in a different direction - either that or try spin off titles.

 

I think sales have been declining in Japan. Didn't RD sell more in the US than in Japan? Still, given Nintendo's stingy production values, it must be at least breaking even for them.

 

A while ago, the idea of it becoming an MMORPG was being muted and swear I've heard more recently about making an action based title so it has a counterpart game a la Advance/Battalion Wars.

 

I don't think we'll see another standard FE game on the Wii, as I think they might try to use the greater installed base to try a more mainstream title based in an existing FE universe.

[Hero-of-Time]

Being the ignorant git that I am I have spent most of Christmas day just playing on this rather than spending time with my family

 

I have just finished the 3rd part now and I have loved it to bits. Alot of people slag off the 3rd chapter but I thought it was brilliant especially how the story comes together. The only chapter I didnt like was 3-13 as I didnt really have to attack, I just let my Other untis do all the work and it was quite boring.

 

I have found that most of the units that you get with Sothes team are quite useless, especially when you compare them with Ikes team. I was quite happy I got to play most of part 3 with the Mercenaries though, there just so much better.

 

Also, having watched the opening to part 4 all I can say is its about time.

 

I was quite shocked to find out that Zelgius is the Black Knight, hopefully I get to carve him a new one with Ike!

 

[darksnowman]

Being the ignorant git that I am I have spent most of Christmas day just playing on this rather than spending time with my family

 

Well!

 

I have found that most of the units that you get with Sothes team are quite useless, especially when you compare them with Ikes team. I was quite happy I got to play most of part 3 with the Mercenaries though, there just so much better.

 

Didn't I always say during Path of Radiance that I was wary of Sothe (always expected him to turn against me) and found him to be useless...? Now you are coming see it too.

[Japjer]

Well!

 

 

 

Didn't I always say during Path of Radiance that I was wary of Sothe (always expected him to turn against me) and found him to be useless...? Now you are coming see it too.

 

Wasn't that Soren?

[darksnowman]

Ah... yes, Soren. He's that mangy mage isn't he? Thats the one I mean- shifty geezer!

 

Sothe is the thief with green hair, how could I forget. I found him to be good at the start of Radiant Dawn, but then when I started getting stronger characters and Laguz, he himself didn't seem that useful but I still liked his gang alright- even Micaiah.

[Guest Captain Falcon]

I have just finished the 3rd part now and I have loved it to bits. Alot of people slag off the 3rd chapter but I thought it was brilliant especially how the story comes together. The only chapter I didnt like was 3-13 as I didnt really have to attack, I just let my Other untis do all the work and it was quite boring.

 

I've got to say HoT, you're really flying through this game - how long do you spend a day playing it? Part 3's quite long but you've totally blitzed it.

 

I think people slag off the 3rd part because of how it jumps around a lot compared to the other 3 which are a lot more focused. It's also difficult to get attached to a character you play in one chapter, and then fight against in the following or vice versa.

[Hero-of-Time]

I've got to say HoT, you're really flying through this game - how long do you spend a day playing it? Part 3's quite long but you've totally blitzed it.

 

I spent about 8 hours solid on it yesterday and today I have spent 6 hours on it.

 

I have just reached the End Game on the final part. I havent used up any bonus exp yet so I will level all my favourite characters up before I start the final battle. Saying that I wont need to level Haar up as he is already maxed out, that guy is unstoppable!

 

EDIT: All done! Despite the story being fantastic in the game I thought the ending was very meh, nothing really happened. I mean they could have at least thrown in a few cutscenes for the major characters but instead they just put a couple of lines in saying what they got up to after the war.

[ghost_zero]

A while ago, the idea of it becoming an MMORPG was being muted and swear I've heard more recently about making an action based title so it has a counterpart game a la Advance/Battalion Wars.

 

I hope they won't make it into a MMORPG but I still think that though Fire Emblem might really didn't develop much, it was very unique and that is/was one of the main reason why I think it is great though.