Much like Path of Radiance was to the Gamecube, Radiant Dawn is my favorite game for the Wii, hands down.
GAMEPLAY - The gameplay here remains mostly the same as PoR, although I'll admit I do have some griping to do here. Remember in Path of Radiance how there were basic and advanced classes for each unit? Well they're here, but now there is a third class for all Beorc units to level up in. Meanwhile the Laguz just go up in levels until they reach their cap. But anyways...the reason why having three class levels per character can be a problem is because the units you get at the beginning of the game don't hold a candle to those you get later on. If you don't level up these low level units, they become lost in the shuffle. Crazier yet, you get more units than in PoR, and can only apply XP to characters you'll use in upcoming fights (not to give too much away, but you don't always control the same units chapter to chapter). The bottom line is that this game has a much different feel to it than Path of Radiance did. In PoR, you had one army that you continually built-up as the game progressed, and you always had constant control of your units throughout the game. Here it's much more touch and go. Oftentimes you'll be switching between multiple armies or factions and you won't be able to spend bonus XP on units you don't currently control.
I will say though that for all the spontaneous switching between groups goes, you do enter the end of the game with only being able to choose your 15 or 16 strongest units, and you are given a few godlike characters if you don't have that many units to pull from your armies. Also, having your army separated lets you focus on more individuals rather than just your favorites. So yes, it's a very different feel from the previous Fire Emblem, and it's hard to get used to at first. Even more strenuous is the difficulty, which is made to be much more complex than in Path of Radiance. Here easy feels more like normal, normal feels more like hard, and so on. Finally, some character classes have been tweaked. For example, knights and generals now are much more mobile on the battlefield, but warriors can no longer use bows. There is a lot more to go into here, but some of it you'll just have to find out about yourself. - 9.5/10
STORY - This game takes place three years after the events in Path of Radiance, and without giving too much away, you do reunite with every character from the previous game in at least some capacity here. One thing to keep in mind though is that this game is split up into 4 parts. Each one is sort of a mini-story that, combined with the others, makes up a whole. The new protagonist, Miciah, isn't as well-received as other main characters have been in past Fire Emblems. Personally though I think she is a good character. She's very reminiscent of Joan of Arc, as she has a voice in her head that guides her to do things, and she puts the good of her countrymen above all else. While she doesn't meet the same unfortunate end, the similarities are evident. I won't spoil anything about the story or how it unfolds, but I will say that by the 4th act it treads a tad bit on the ridiculous side. It goes from being about war to being about the supernatural, and I personally didn't like the direction it went in. Still, this is a great story to conclude the events from the previous game. My biggest gripe here, however, is how underdeveloped the characters are. Some characters you'll hear about once will just fade into the background for the rest of the game. Even ones who were once main characters in the previous game seem so minor here that it's a little disappointing. They definitely could have used more development here, especially with the new characters that you don't find out much about at all, generally speaking. - 8/10
GRAPHICS - The graphics are similar to the Gamecube version, but are noticeably better. They didn't receive a huge overhaul, but they do look good for what they are. - 8/10
SOUND - Memorable music and good voice-acting are definitely apparent here. I just wish that more of the voice-acting was seen outside of the cinematics, as there are way too many conversations that just give you dialogue to read. - 8/10
LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - If you're like me and didn't think PoR was quite long enough, well, be careful what you wish for. This game isn't much longer, but it definitely does have an extra 5-10 chapters more than Path of Radiance. Sometimes you'll think the game is coming to an end, but really it's not. This is just a very long and fun game all the way through. And yes, the replay value is just as great as it was in PoR. After nearly 30 hours of playtime, I still wanted to go back and start playing again right away. - 10/10
BOTTOM LINE - Radiant Dawn does have its share of problems, but I'm glad that the developers continued to evolve this series rather than just keep it confined to what Path of Radiance was all about. I'll admit that some of the changes are good and some are bad, but in the end I was pretty happy with the outcome. The originality and great story aren't up to snuff with PoR, but the mechanics and variety are definitely better. This is definitely a must-play for RPG and strategy fans alike. While not the most popular game amongst critics, I do think that it is the best game on the Wii yet. If you can get past the punishing difficulty and poor character development, this is easily one of the best games of its kind ever made. - 8.5/10