Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - E10+
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game involves mild but frequent fantasy battles. However, while the violence is relatively tame, characters who perish remain dead for the rest of the game -- a significant and potentially unsettling departure from the traditional "re-spawning" systems at work in most games. Also, the difficulty level is high, which could make it frustrating for players who have never played a turn-based strategy game before. Because of this difficulty, we set the age at 11.
Families can talk about how death is presented in video games. Why do most games simply allow characters to come back to life when they die? Does this idiosyncrasy make video game stories less believable than tales presented in other media (for example, books and movies)? Does the fact that most of this game's characters remain deceased when they die make it more believable? Does the threat of permanent death have an impact on your emotional connection with them?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chad Sapieha
On the surface, FIRE EMBLEM: RADIANT DAWN, a direct sequel to the GameCube's Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, is just another turn-based strategy title in the same vein as games like Advance Wars or Final Fantasy Tactics. It's a chess-like experience in which you shuffle units with varying skills and movement abilities around a grid superimposed onto a 3D environment.
However, dig a little deeper and you'll find it has an emotional element uncommon to the genre.
The key is something called "permanent death" -- a rare concept for video games in general, but a defining trait of all titles bearing the Fire Emblem brand. Every unit at your command has his or her own back-story and compelling, ongoing drama -- that is, until he or she dies. If it's a primary protagonist who perishes, it's game over. But if any of the dozens of secondary characters bites the dust, the game continues and he or she is gone forever, their story cut prematurely short as a direct result of your shortcomings as a commander.
The consequences are twofold. First, if you've grown attached to the recently deceased, you'll feel guilty, and wonder just what their life in the game would have been like had you not walked them chest first into an enemy's lance. Second, if the dead characters were among your more powerful units, you'll find you sorely miss them in future missions -- which is why many players wind up replaying battles with an aim to make it through with all their beloved characters intact.
But take our advice and do this sparingly; as in all Fire Emblem games, Radiant Dawn is best enjoyed as it was designed to be played: With unpredictable, melancholy death lurking around every corner. Not only does it make battles more emotionally charged, it also forces you drum up better, more prudent strategies to ensure your heroes' survival.
However, it also makes an already difficult game much more challenging. Fire Emblem games have always required a keen tactical mind capable of thinking several moves in advance and keeping tabs on each unit's unique skills and weapons. However, brute strength is also required, and if you've lost your most powerful units, some missions will become an exercise in frustration. Series veterans be warned: Radiant Dawn is the hardest game in the Fire Emblem franchise to date.
Unfortunately for Wii fans, there's little else like it available for Nintendo's svelte white box. However, another great game on the Wii for this age is Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. PlayStation Portable owners can give the brilliant strategy game Jeanne D'Arc a go, while DS players can try the light-hearted tactical romp Luminous Arc.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentHas a negligible amount of playful, flirtatious banter. |
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ViolenceWe see arrows, swords, and magical energies used in battle, but it is far from excessive; there is no blood and no gore. |
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LanguageIffy words are infrequent and always mild -- stuff you can see on prime time TV. |
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Social BehaviorAt its core, this is a game about heroes performing heroic deeds. However, there are no lessons here that players can practically transfer to the real-world, save perhaps the notion of camaraderie. |
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