Why do some people say the path of radiance is the best in the series story wise?

[Dinar87]

Hi guys! You probably know me as that one person who gushes constantly about the tellius series...but recently that's starting to change ever since I've truly asked myself "why do I actually like these games so much?".

At first I thought it was because they were more serious than the newer games (where things like crashing into Camilla's...assets...wasn't a thing) but then I thought about the fact that fates has loads of death and sadness in it. I thought it was the one note characters but then I thought about how I like characters like heather (mainly because the rogue class is my favorite) even when they are pretty one note.

Basically, long story short, I'm wondering why I began thinking that the tellius series were some sort of holy grail that all future games should've aspired to become like. Now that I think about it, the fact that I paid so much money of it, combined with the fact that it seemed like everyone was praising that one game (as well as the Jugdral ones), could it be that others like me have possibly been influenced into thinking they were special when really they weren't any different from the newer ones?


I'd like to hear what you all think about this. If you like or dislike path of radiance (and other highly praised games on serenes forest) could anyone explain why they like it/hate it/or a meh about it.

[NekoKnight]

It's not the holy grail of story telling but it's competent and the world made memorable through effective world-building.

[Dinar87]

It's not the holy grail of story telling but it's competent and the world made memorable through effective world-building.

Could you point me to something that is the holy grail of story telling since I'd very much like to read something like that.

[Thane]

It's a fairly safe story told somewhat competently, which is more than can be said for other entries in the series.

I personally am not much of a fan. I do appreciate the attempts at worldbuilding and several characters, but I think the real payoff comes from Radiant Dawn for the most part.

[Tuvy]

I feel POR has a pretty strong story, but maybe you liked it because it had many different game play features, like rescuing and skill costs, and maybe because of some characters just clicked for you.

and the holy grail of storytelling you say? Well you can't read it but-

(Its an anime. If you are interested watch the dub, which you will have to watch illegally unless you want to spend $200+ dollars on 12 episodes)

Edited January 5, 2017 by Tuvy

[NinjaMonkey]

I don't usually care for stories in videogames (outside of the Ace Attorney series), but PoR's story is so bland, dull and predictable that I just skip all the story scenes whenever I play it. It's just a generic "bishonen coming-of-age story", and even the supposed "plot twists" can be seen coming from a mile away, meaning, in all essence, that they're not really twists at all.

Edited January 5, 2017 by NinjaMonkey

[Quintessence]

I think it's because of its simplicity. The story telling is well done overall, yet the plot is still standard. I think the pace, the lore and the character interactions made it a solid blend.

[Etrurian emperor]

Its probably because Path of Radiance might be the perfect middle ground which ensures it doesn't do anything to badly and as a result its story doesn't have many noticeable flaws.

Por (naturally) shares the strong world building and a lot of interesting plot points with Radiant dawn but it lacks the less impressive aspects like the blood pact, the decline of the Black knight and a lord that was highly controversial before Corrin came along. Its got a lot of its sequel's strengths while missing out on a lot of its weaknesses.

Its indeed a safe story that's told very conventionally. But it does this while still making things happen, still provide interesting bits of story, a strong world and a plot that is very clearly going somewhere. In this it differentiates itself from games like Awakening or Shadow dragon where a simple story was just having a very bare bones one. The story in Por is safe but it clearly got meat on its bones.

Tellius also shines all the more because world building and storytelling took a very steep step down in the following Fire emblem games. Perhaps if the story of those games had been stronger then there would be less praise getting heaped on the Tellius games.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Etrurian emperor

[Magical Glace]

I personally think FE8 is better, but I more or less consider FE9 a simple story that simply doesn't have much to drag it down. There's no real highs of the story of FE9 to me, but nothing is really, really terrible to drag it into bad territory either.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Glaceon Mage

[Luchi]

It's not terrible, but I still wouldn't call it a 'masterpiece'. While the plot is incredibly banal and suffers from an incredibly uninspired lead, it is saved somewhat by its world-building. I mean, this is FE we're talking about; a series that isn't known for its great plots or characters. While there are some stand-out characters in the series, 99.9% they're not the main lord. Think of how much different FE9 would have been if Jill, or heck, even Elincia, had been the main character...

[Etrurian emperor]

It's not terrible, but I still wouldn't call it a 'masterpiece'. While the plot is incredibly banal and suffers from an incredibly uninspired lead, it is saved somewhat by its world-building. I mean, this is FE we're talking about; a series that isn't known for its great plots or characters. While there are some stand-out characters in the series, 99.9% they're not the main lord. Think of how much different FE9 would have been if Jill, or heck, even Elincia, had been the main character...

The lords generally aren't the ones I find the most interesting either but its worth noting that the lords all ranked very highly...heck, even dominated some poll about the favorite Fire emblem characters so they must be doing something right.

I never really thought much about Elinciia before the return to Crimea but after RD, yeah I think she'd make a great lead in her own right.

[Anacybele]

People have already mostly said what I could've said. PoR has a safe, effective story and writing. And FE stories these days make PoR look like a masterpiece, man. Tellius has the best world-building, lots of good characters, and an original take on an FE lord in Ike who is not a noble or noble-born, but a simple mercenary who achieves lord status through his deeds and efforts. His personality and attitude are different from other lords like Eliwood and Marth as a result, even down to actually hating nobles! This felt fresh and nice to see in a series that thrived on royal princes and nobles with sophisticated and high-class tones. It's a reason Ike is by far my favorite lord and character in the series. <3

WE LIKE IKE!

[MCProductions]

POR is a story, much like FE7 and 8, got noticeably worse the older I got. I used to consider the best story in the series, but honestly, I can't now beyond saying at best it's the best smelling piece of shit in a pile of shit, which isn't by any means good. Like my opinion on FE3, the story itself is garbage, but the development of the main Lord was very well handled, but unlike FE3, I can't look at POR's story and think it's a finished story, which was a complaint I had during my first run, which is prolly why I was so dissapointed with RD's story, because I really liked POR's story my first run. I will say that while I consider FE3 and 4 to have more plot elements I like in them so I consider them more enjoyable stories overall, FE9 is by far more consistent with it's quality. It starts and ends with the same level of poor for storytelling standards, but high for FE standards, quality throughout the whole game, which is something I can't say about other FE's I like the story of, or in the case of FE8, really want to like but always seem to forget the game actually exists.

[NekoKnight]

Could you point me to something that is the holy grail of story telling since I'd very much like to read something like that.

Games or other media? Games can be a bit limited in story but there are games that excel in certain categories. I'd call the The Last of Us a brilliant character story. For other media, the Berserk manga (and first anime series) is absolutely superb for character writing and story.

[Ken Masters]

My only real complain with the storytelling of PoR is that the Master-Slave cultural exchange is extremely one-sided. Humans are the evil ones for being enslavers, so the Furry People justify absolutely everything they do on that as a free pass. The issue is not that it happens (because is a completely understandable reaction), but that the storytelling validates them on their actions, which is not correct when the message you want to send is "Sins of the father shouldn't punsih their kids" and "Forgive and forget".

But the rest is pretty cool.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Ken Masters

[NJ7009]

Path of Radiance is my favourite game in the series. It also has my favourite plot... but honestly, it doesn't have much competition. There is a lot wrong with it.

As others have pointed out, the plot is very by-the-numbers - Hero helps innocent princess regain her kingdom. The main antagonist is also one-note and dull (although his whole 'strong should rule' ideology is interesting). I think the plot would have worked a lot better if Ashnard had killed Greil as there isn't much reason for Ike to want to kill him, really, other than it being morally right. Elincia has more reason but she is shelved into being a damsel who does nothing but fawn over Ike... I wish we had gotten more of her Radiant Dawn self in this game.

What I do like about this game's story, though, is that it has one of the better worlds in the series. Every place seems so interesting with its own politics and culture. Ike is my favourite lord in the series purely because he is so different from the standard Fire Emblem protagonist. I also liked that the story was more grounded with only a few supernatural (like the Medallion) elements sprinkled in.

The characters in this one are also favourites of mine, although there are quite a few one-note characters (like Makalov and Illyana). With such a large cast, you kinda' have to expect them.

PoR's plot works for what it is. A small plot to set up the characters and world for the larger conflict in Radiant Dawn. It is not 'the holy grail of storytelling' exactly but it is executed decently enough.

The Jugdral games are far from that also as those games suffer from their fair share of issues, especially in Genealogy (The weird tone issues, Seliph having the personality of wet tissue paper, the constant time-skipping in part one; the weaker antagonist in Julius ect). Sometimes I wonder if people would even care for FE4 as much if it wasn't for that whole... ahem... incident in it before the second generation. Thracia fares a little better but even that game has issues like retcons.

Overall, the plot is fine and non-offensive. Nothing absolutely major to hate about it but when compared to the plot of, say, Fates... yeah, it seems a lot better than what it is.

[SullyMcGully]

PoR doesn't have the best actual storyline in the series. From the moment you meet Elincea, you can pretty much tell that you are going to spend the rest of the game fighting Daein. The villain is bland and generic. I wish you could have fought the Black Knight gone berserk instead.

However, Ike has the best character development of any character in the series. He is one of the few characters in Fire Emblem who actually changes over the course of the story, going from fledgling rookie, to competent warrior, to bold commander. The best story moments in PoR are defined by his personality. His no-nonsense demeanor stands in stark contrast to more mushy-gushy characters like Eliwood and Roy, and the fact that much of what he does is driven by a more mature desire for revenge makes him stand out from every other hero we've seen so far. It also helps that you are directly involved in several of Ike's decisions, which is a feature I think the series should implement more often.

[Laura]

.... people say that? lol.

[geraq]

Path of Radiance is my favourite game in the series. It also has my favourite plot... but honestly, it doesn't have much competition. There is a lot wrong with it.

As others have pointed out, the plot is very by-the-numbers - Hero helps innocent princess regain her kingdom. The main antagonist is also one-note and dull (although his whole 'strong should rule' ideology is interesting). I think the plot would have worked a lot better if Ashnard had killed Greil as there isn't much reason for Ike to want to kill him, really, other than it being morally right. Elincia has more reason but she is shelved into being a damsel who does nothing but fawn over Ike... I wish we had gotten more of her Radiant Dawn self in this game.

What I do like about this game's story, though, is that it has one of the better worlds in the series. Every place seems so interesting with its own politics and culture. Ike is my favourite lord in the series purely because he is so different from the standard Fire Emblem protagonist. I also liked that the story was more grounded with only a few supernatural (like the Medallion) elements sprinkled in.

The characters in this one are also favourites of mine, although there are quite a few one-note characters (like Makalov and Illyana). With such a large cast, you kinda' have to expect them.

PoR's plot works for what it is. A small plot to set up the characters and world for the larger conflict in Radiant Dawn. It is not 'the holy grail of storytelling' exactly but it is executed decently enough.

The Jugdral games are far from that also as those games suffer from their fair share of issues, especially in Genealogy (The weird tone issues, Seliph having the personality of wet tissue paper, the constant time-skipping in part one; the weaker antagonist in Julius ect). Sometimes I wonder if people would even care for FE4 as much if it wasn't for that whole... ahem... incident in it before the second generation. Thracia fares a little better but even that game has issues like retcons.

Overall, the plot is fine and non-offensive. Nothing absolutely major to hate about it but when compared to the plot of, say, Fates... yeah, it seems a lot better than what it is.

I agree with everything NJ7009 said.

I'd like to add that at first I was skeptical of FE9 because it was a 3D game and I believed the focus would have been put on graphics to the detriment of gameplay and story. I was so glad to be wrong, because the gameplay was very solid and the story was very compelling and well-paced.

For me, FE9 felt longer and more fleshed out that previous titles. I don't know if it's because of the amount of dialogue, but every character felt well developed and none of them was just an anonymous face (well, maybe one or two that I neglected). None of the chapters seemed like filler to me, even if Duke Tanas' subplot felt a little tangential to the main plot. The world itself, with it's cultures and legends, was very well developed and it was easy to relate to the characters and care for their stories.

About the plot itself, I like to add that besides being very well rounded and paced, it also tried to talk about things like racism, xenophobia, class issues, slavery, genocide and things like that. These topics may have been covered in previous entries, but I felt the scope and importance of such topics was bigger here in FE9. Having Ike as a commoner instead of a noble and having very different races helps too, as it makes these points more evident and more relatable. Even if it featured cat people, the game felt a little more serious than other entries, although its level of drama does not reach the heights of the tragic story told in FE4 (I love its plot, just not its gameplay). I guess this level of drama is what makes FE4's plot so popular.

I enjoyed FE10 very much, and liked its plot until halfway in Part 3, when the blood pact was introduced and everything fell apart. After that point, everything felt rushed, incoherent, confusing, and badly-written to me, but I was too much blinded by its amazing gameplay to consider it a problem until I beat it.

[Sentinel07]

For me personally, I just love how it's a brilliant execution of a simple concept. There's nothing super original about it, but there doesn't need to be because it's so well told.

For one thing, the world building is fantastic. You really get a sense for each nation, how they operate, how the people are, etc. The themes of racism and genocide that it touched on were quite daring as well which I appreciated.

I also think it's structured well, with very few contrivances randomly inserted in to move the plot along. That's what Fates' plot suffers from: random plot points that make no sense and are only there to move the plot.

[vanguard333]

I agree with a lot of what the people above have said: the story, characters, and worldbuilding of PoR are a lot more detailed and fleshed out than other FE games, almost to the point where I would disagree with previous statements that PoR's plot was "safe". I like how it tried to cover all those topics the people above mentioned. Their is one more topic PoR touched on that, as far as I know, no other FE game did: it actually challenged the idea of inherited power and its ups and downs. Ike being a commoner rather than another prince (and having no dream or ambition for wealth or influence whatsoever), the rampant classism in Begnion compared to the way the Laguz live (Kings have to earn their title), and Ashnard being a radical Social Darwinist are just a few examples of just how important a topic it was in Path of Radiance, and I don't think any other FE game really dived into that particular topic.

[eclipse]

Fire Emblem is the wrong game to play, if you're looking for good story-telling.

However, Tellius is one of the most detailed worlds in the Fire Emblem series. Between both games, you get to visit each country, and see how the world interacts with itself. Some of the non-main characters change (Jill is a notable one), while others don't do much (Ilyana). Overall, it's the closest I've seen to a Fire Emblem game that tried to make a world I could see.

For better story-telling, please refer to Falcom's Trails series. It's still not perfect, but the world-building is top-notch, and the game does a fairly good job of making characters as opposed to tropes (I think Sky does it better than Cold Steel, though). Unlike Fire Emblem, the characterization is a part of the game, not tucked away into some optional conversations.

[Ryo]

I wouldn't say it's perfect or the best, but the reason why I personally like FE9's story the most was because of the world-building and character developments/interactions.

[Darros]

Because it's their preference. Everyone's entitled to their opinion on things like this. The thread title here kind of sounds like you're trying to pick a fight.

[Sentacotus]

Probably because among them it does have the best world building in general. Also I think where PoR holds a leg up above all the others even its sequel is that it doesn't get over complicated. The game and its story knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything its not. Its a simple story about a commoner boy learning to lead his mercenaries and beat the bad guys. Compelling but simple.