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What is your favorite "Part" of Radiant Dawn?


Jedi
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58 members have voted

  1. 1. Favorite Part? Storywise

  2. 2. Favorite Part? Gameplay wise

  3. 3. For a bonus. Least favorite overall?



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So as most of us know. Radiant Dawn was divided into 4 parts which served to split the game up into arcs of sorts.

Part 1 was the Dawn Brigade and I feel this part is pretty solid, introduces our new protagonist and how Daein is liberated

Part 2 was Crimea, which serves as a capstone and book ends to FE9 in general (Which I feel is where the writing is strongest in the entire game)

Part 3 was the beginning of the War. Ike comes in with his badass crew and wrecks things, we see things from the Daein and Crimea POV every now and again but Ike takes center stage (Story wise I feel its both one of the stronger at first but then becomes one of the weakest as we continue through it to the Blood Pacts)

Part 4 was the coming together and defeating the true evil. Basically Autobots roll out. (Thematically interesting but the writing could have used the longer Japanese script as could the rest of the game)

My personal favorite would be either 2 or 3 thematically. From a gameplay perspective however 3 is the most yeah we are back baby

Part 1 reminds me semi of Thracia starting off because Miccy is just plain out gunned for the first half or so.

All n all I like this game and its various parts. The game has weaknesses yes but I want to here what your favorite part is and why?

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I like Part one most. We get Micaiah and pretty hard chapters, but not too hard. Also, EDWARD. I would have really liked for this to be its own game... expanded, of course.

Least favorite is Part two, actually... tbh, I never got more than a "filler" vibe from it, to the point where it's my least favorite filler arc in the series. With the exception of the prologue by the sheer virtue of being set in the clouds and the endgame, I'm not fond of its maps either. Particularly the lack of healers that you have complete control over.

Part three gives too much bias to a shit lord and not enough bias to Micaiah. End. of. Story.

Part four is Gaiden 2.0, but I really like the endgame except for the fact that Micaiah doesn't have a personal divine weapon and shit lord has to kill the final boss.

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Part 3 is the best because you get all the griel mercs who are overpowered and can kill enemies easily save mist, the story gets more intense and its the hardest part gameplay wise but fun still the same.

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Part 1: I found this entire part to be incredibly meh, The new cast was boring and so was the story. Easily my least favorite part.

Part 2: Amazing writing and character development for Elincia. It's a shame how many people underrate it just because it's "filler." My second favorite part.

Part 3: My favorite part due to how hectic the game becomes with the escalating war and how you finally take control of Ike and the GMs. I especially loved how you controlled all three groups throughout the course of this part and how they can fight against each other on the map.

Part 4: Incredibly boring until you get to endgame since every chapter is rout and the story goes nowhere. It also made me go from being indifferent to Micaiah to disliking her completely. Endgame though is a blast and has easily the best final boss in the series.

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Least favorite is part I particulary on higher difficulties its just torturous.

Favorite part gamplay wise is part 3 getting the greil mercenaries is just awesome and if I recall it has you switch sides throughout and battle against your part I units

Favorite part storywise is part 2 the whole rebellion thing mixed with the whole Daein beat Begnion thing gave a somewhat complex political picture

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If I had to rank them I'd go 1 = 2 > 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 4

Part 1 is fantastic. The only chapter in part 1 I don't like is the Fog of War map with Miccy and The Black Knight, and even that chapter was fun on the first playthrough just for the fansverice of getting to wreck people with The BK.

I know people don't like Part 2 because its 'filler', but Elincia is my favorite character in the Tellius games and 2-E is my favorite chapter in the entire game, so I didn't have much of an issue with it.

I really enjoyed part 3, but the Greil Mercenaries are just so over-powered that their chapters were a little boring at times, although they somewhat make up for it by having very interesting map design and objectives.

Part 4 is where everything falls apart for me. The level design of the maps declines considerably and the ridiculous enemy density and constant reinforcements in each chapter just makes everything drag on and on. Those missions really needed to be defeat the boss instead of rout. Things do get a little better once you get to the endgame though.

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Storywise part 3, because Greil's Mercenaries vs. Daein. I also like part 1 the liberation of Daein.

Gameplaywise all the chapters with the Dawn Brigade (that means part 1 and 3), because they're the most challenging in the game especially 3-6 and 3-13 in hard mode. Part 2 is kinda boring storywise, but 2-Prologue and 2-Endgame are awesome maps! Ones of the very best maps, I've played.

Part 4 excluding endgame are just training chapters with boring rout mission and almost no plot. By far the worst part.

Endgame-1 is by far the most annoying map of endgame. However not a very good rout mission.

Endgame-2 and 4 are really lame gameplaywise. Ike can kill BK with hammer and parity in the first turn. Sephiran is also not hard to beat in turn 1.

Endgame-3 is also easy, but the fight against Deghinsea with the theme "Wisdom of Ages" is just awesome.

Ashera is the best final boss in the FE series.

Edited by The Taninator
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Part 3 is my favorite, no contest! Because badass sexy Ike, Greil Mercenaries, badass sexy Ike, awesome story, badass sexy Ike, awesome chapter objectives and maps, and did I mention badass sexy Ike? RD Ike is the best character design in the whole series, he's so awesome. Those muscles and armor. <3

But I also like Part 2 because of the development it gave Elincia. :)

Part 1 is my least favorite because Micaiah and the DB are trash, and the whole thing just feels like a rushed version of PoR. The DB members don't even become very relevant later on. They just didn't get much availability or development. Plus, it's annoying trying to keep Frailcaiah alive.

Part 4 is okay, but not spectacular. Still, it gets some points for Vanguard Ike, my absolute favorite design of all. DAT ARMOR.

Edited by Anacybele
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Part 3 is the best because you get all the griel mercs who are overpowered and can kill enemies easily save mist, the story gets more intense and its the hardest part gameplay wise but fun still the same.

Yeah I meant to say part 3 is the easiest :-)

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Part 2 is pretty awful. Although the writing and plot are good, the events that transpire are never even mentioned again throughout the rest of the game save once or twice, making the whole part seem insignificant. That being said, the real problem with part 2 is the maps. 2-P and 2-1 both feel like tutorial maps and, while they're a nice winding down from 1-E, they just feel like a waste of time since you're not progressing your units in any meaningful way. 2-2 is not a great map either since the difficulty is too easy and almost all the units you're given are pretty awful for various reasons. 2-3 is one of my least favorite stages in the game; it's trivially easy because of the low ranked units, but it takes FOREVER to get through because of all the allied and enemy units. I feel bad for anyone who accidentally leaves battle scenes on for 2-3, it must be truly miserable. 2-E is by far the best stage, but still suffers from being too easy. Overall it's a pretty disappointing chapter that seems to only exist to setup the GM's entry into the game.

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Part 2 was by far the best part of the story. It's not just that the writing is good but everything is put together real well. Like, just as an example think of that CG at the very beginning with the nobles at the table:

http://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/fe10-crimea-nobles.png

You look through Elincia's eyes, seeing all the nobles showing emotion to you that go from pleading to change your mind towards silent contempt. All the while your friends are the ones most distant to you. Also, to highlight the effect, they made Elincia the only one in this scene who does not have a portrait during her dialog.

It's amazing how intimidating this scene feels despite it only using some voiceless dialog and a simple CG. It perfectly sets up this arc.

Although I guess one could hold against it that it doesn't fit too well into the remaining part of the story, I think it's a nice addition to it, seeing how the relationship between authority figures and their subject seems to be one of the game's main themes, be they Kings, Generals or Gods. But one way or another, it holds up very well on it's own, without even sharing the messy writing of the remaining parts. I think the only real weakness to that story, is that the climax of the arc is overshadowed by the return of the Greil Mercenaries.

It's also my favorite part in terms of gameplay. No, seriously.

First of all, story matters here too. The gameplay feels way better if the narrative supports in properly.

But the maps are pretty good too. It starts with sky stage. It's a simple map, sure but still unusual. and not just because of it's setting but because of Leanne. On this map, Leanne is both your strongest weapon and your greatest weakness. Using her abilities while covering her low-move ass from Dragon Knights makes for a very unique experience. Map 2 is similarly interesting. Given that you only got two units to work with, it requires some thought on what goals to actually pursue and how to use their limited abilities for that purpose. Map 3 is kinda the opposite of that, given that you get a very colorful bunch of units to work with but nothing else. I guess Map 4 is a bit of a weakspot but I still like the large battle scale of it, as well as babysitting the allies. The optional goal of leaving enemies alive also helps. And the finale is just awesome, 1-turn clear be dammed.

I actually think the fact that you can't choose who to deploy is actually a bit of a strength to some extend. Since you can't just stick with what is boring and reliable, there is more of an incentive to pull more out of the limited resources that you do have... unless it's Haar in the finale, obviously. Besides, it's always kinda nice playing as these guys again, given how awfully underpowered a lot of these guys are once they have to compete with the Mercs.

My least favorite is Part 3 by a long shot. The writing is awfully messy, especially when it comes to the Blood Pact, which kills all the drama in the Daein conflict.

There doesn't seem to be much of a point to all of it either. It's like the game just goes through all the things that PoR already did, namely developing the Laguz-Beorc relationship in preparation of Ashera's judgment. Except here it's done really awfully.

Also, because of Ike's overwhelming power, maps have the tendency to play out in a very similar fashion. And I am really not a fan of fixing that by just letting the Lord stand around like an idiot. That always feels awkward.

Edited by BrightBow
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Pretty much everything BrightBow said. All my favourite characters appear in Part II ( in terms of personality, they've got the best bunch. Kieran, Calill, Danved, and Ellie and both her gorgeous retainers. Too many fans base their favourites off stats -_- ), Ellie goes through some amazing character development and regardless of what people might say of the GMs stealing the show, the real star was Lucia herself.

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  • 4 weeks later...

part 1: is mostly easy 3 chapters in my option are annoying

part2: final chapter is very annoying

part3: finally get to control the greil mercenaries using ike to destroy stuff is fun

overall radiant dawn is a good game its just part 1 is slow and yes l know its slow because its the first part of the game part 2 the story is getting good by this point and the game play is less slow than part 1

part 3 you get to control the greil mercenaries the story by this point gets better having the greil mercenaries battle daein is awesome and having ike destroy everything is very fun in my option

part 4 its the endgame you do get to use the dragon race finally but to me its kinda boring well except for the part where you battle ashera. overall this is a good game most people may don't like part 3

because ike is a powerhouse and if mist is nearby can kill alot of enemies but to me part 3 is my favorite part of the game.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't get the hate for Part Two; I enjoyed that one a lot, and it was really interesting to see how Elincia had become such a powerful character when she started off as a cliche damsel in FE9. I only found it odd that the Crimea rebels had soooo many soldiers on their side in the endgame. Like I thought rebels are the ones who are supposed to be outnumbered.

Part 3 is my favorite, because the GM's are amazing, but at the same time they do a good job about making their enemies challenging, unlike PoR, where Ike or Titania could solo everything.

Part 1 is my least favorite, because the gameplay is just so unforgiving and one slip up will result in death. It's also hard to train the characters because they die so easily, and if you use BK, he ends up being a massive exp suck.

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Part 2 is definitely my favorite story wise.

For gameplay that goes to part 1. I love the diffivulty of it and training up the dawn brigade is super satisfying for me. (especially getting my WrathResolve!Edward even though the skills are nerfed). Though my favorite chapter in the game, 3-13, is in part 3 I find the ease of the GM parts just drain my motivation to play through it.

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Pretty much everything BrightBow said. All my favourite characters appear in Part II ( in terms of personality, they've got the best bunch. Kieran, Calill, Danved, and Ellie and both her gorgeous retainers. Too many fans base their favourites off stats -_- ), Ellie goes through some amazing character development and regardless of what people might say of the GMs stealing the show, the real star was Lucia herself.

Really late but I haven't seen this post yet but I agree with the sentiments here.

Elincia's development which started in PoR is completed here, and in a way Part 2 feels like the true ending of Path of Radiance.

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  • 5 years later...

My favorite part story-wise... I'd say that honor goes to Part 2, followed closely by Part 1.

What I love most about Part 2 (aside from managing to have a nice plot despite it only lasting 5 chapters) is how everyone has a reason for being there, and are all happy to help Elincia in her struggles. I love how it focuses on smaller characters too: Brom and Nephenee didn't have to get their own chapter, and yet they did; Marcia and Haar didn't have to have all that much presence in the plot (Marcia cheering up Elincia and accompanying her and Haar eventually joining them, etc.) and yet they also did. The dialogue where everyone supports Elincia during the Endgame right before battle starts is also a huge bonus for me. Overall, aside from a few flaws (the complete annihilation of Astrid's character and the way they just took Heather out of the plot for Chapters 1 and 2 for no reason whatsoever), it's just nice to see these characters shine a little bit on their own without Ike or Micaiah's presence. Like seriously, Lucia is a cunning one (sorry, not sorry, Ludveck), and I'm here for all of it. XD

Part 1 is a close second for me because I really enjoy Micaiah's character and her love for Daein, and I find it to be a very nice introduction to the game.

Gameplay-wise for me it's definitely Part 1. I love having to work with weak units and making them grow into stronger units. I love how during the first four chapters, if a unit dies, then it's automatically game over. For me it made it seem like everyone was integral to the overall success of the battle, plus I find that getting a game over is way quicker than restarting from the wii menu whenever someone died, although I'm aware that that's not eveyone cup of tea. Also, the ambience and overall feel that the "Dawn Brigade" battle music and the enemy's theme "To war" manage to create is my favorite in the entire game.

Moreover, this may sound weird, however I've always loved watching everyone's stats at the beginning (you know, like 7 magic, 7 speed, 5 defense, all those stas with only one digit) and watching them grow into 2-digit stats later on, which kind of felt like it simbolised their growing strength.

I've always especially appreciated the HP bar. Watching it grow from numbers like 15, 17, 22 all the way to 30 always made it seem like they had so many HP by the end, especially if the number went from 31 onwards. For example, even if it's not true, a 31-HP Rafiel seems to me like he could take more hits than a 28-HP Edward ever could. When that number goes over 32 it really feels as thought that unit has finally become someone difficult to bring down for the rest of Part 1. I don't know if this is true for anyone else, though.

Part 3 for me is a close second. I somehow manage to not always have the easiest time with the Greil Mercenaries in battle, which I wholeheartedly appreciate. They are very fun to control, and their chapters just run so smoothly. Unlike the roughness of Miacaiah's and Geoffrey's chapters, which I love nonetheless.

I love jumping form army to army. Just wish it was done more seamlessly, but hey, we still got what we did, so hooray for that!

My least favorite part has to be Part 4. Although I love Yune and Ashera, the road to the tower just ruins it for me. Honestly, no support conversations and NO info conversations while at base either aside form the main characters?! How can you mess up at writing so much?! This was already a problem during Part 1, where the others (Leonardo, Edward, Nolan, Laura etc.) never reacted to the laguz ruing, to joining the Daein Liberation Army, or even just reaching Daein Keep. This was especially a problem since their characterisation is close to non-existent.

However here there is no possible excuse. Path of Radiance had loads of great characters. What do the minor characters have to say about their current situation? Why is everything a boring rout mission with endless reinforcements? Why couldn't they come up with something more creative in terms of map objectives or plot during the en-route part? I'm honestly flabbergasted.

Every other chapter in the game felt as though it had its own personality, while here everything just feels... empty... I don't care that it's possibly on par with the world turned to stone theme. Everyone in the enemy army is human, for crying out loud. How does it manage to be so black-and-white?

The bosses are still fun to kill and bring down, at least (I'm referring form Valtome onward, obviously). Also, the Endgame, although far from my favorite, is great as well.

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  • 1 month later...

This was really hard tbh. But I chose Part 3 as my favorite story wise since that's where most of the story is. It's also really good and I find the blood pact stuff super interesting. I'd say Part 1 is a close second. Gameplay wise falls between Part 1 and 3 again. I hate having to choose tbh because they're both so good. Part 2 would be my least favorite overall just because it has the least to offer. I didn't mention Part 4 at all, but I really like it too and loved the splitting into three armies. I wish it was longer tbh and the endgame is really fun. What I hate the most is not being able to use very many characters at the end. Really, I always want to use the characters I've worked up with at that point. But most of the characters you unlock by the end are super interesting and cool. I have played all of them of course. And also all of these parts are still good and awesome.

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