Path of Radiance vs. Radiant Dawn

[skdyer]

I own neither Path of Radiance nor Radiant Dawn. I would like to purchase only one of these. Could some of the more seasoned FE players pitch one of these and provide some compelling reasons for why one is better than the other? Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Relatively new to the FE world so I want to invest my video game cash wisely! (My only experience with FE is via Sacred Stones)

[Vicious Sal]

POR, buy story 1 first, and when you have cash, buy Radiant Dawn, just for a good storyline lineup. :)

[Freohr Datia]

Well for one, PoR comes first in the story so it might make RD easier to understand in the future.

If you want supports that don't suck, get PoR because RD has stupid little one/two liners that don't change based on which character you support with. Supports in PoR have more meaning.

I think that PoR is easier than RD, but if you want a challenge with stinky weak people, get RD. But RD annoyed the crap out of me. Though I could just not be good enough for it lol I wouldn't think I'm the best in strategy but I have fun either way.

but, yeah, I'd recommend Path of Radiance

[Integrity]

If you're only going to get one in a reasonable timeframe, I would say Radiant Dawn is by FAR the better game.

If this is a "I can only get one now but I can get the next in about three months" I'd gun for Path of Radiance first and get RD later.

Either way ensures you acquire RD.

[Zkirsche]

Path of radiance for fewer boring routs.

[Anouleth]

If you're relatively new, I recommend FE9, since it's much easier.

[Life]

FE9 is also the better game. Like the more likable one.

[Celice]

FE9 is more polished and controlled--it's a relatively full experience from start to finish. Meanwhile, FE10 is episodic and sometimes sparse--it's usually not a big deal if you know the backstory, as that's what's expected somewhat, but the lack of knowing can make playing FE10 a bit more disorienting, if only because the sudden excuse of look-at-all-0this-future-stuff-happen-suddenly no long has that cushion of what it's all supposed to mean.

[dondon151]

FE9's difficulty leaves much to be desired, but if you're only a very average FE player, it should be fine.

[Junkhead]

FE9 is easily the better choice if you're planning to buy either of them.

[Cereal Bawks]

Buy FE9 first to get the story, then FE10. I like FE10's gameplay better. It also actually shows the hit, mt, and crit. when you're battling someone, just like the GBA games. It doesn't do that in PoR.

[Just call me AL]

PoR > RD, period. They're both parts of one saga, but PoR pulls the story off A LOT better. (Or in other words, the writing in PoR is a J.R.R. Tolkien epic when compared to RD's writing, which has a plot that seems like it came from a bad fanfic.) Everything just goes downhill in the transition from PoR to RD. Things get thrown out the window, the characters introduced in PoR get derailed in RD while the new characters in RD have little to no personality. It pretty much makes you want to say "Why, I.S.? Why?"

If only I.S. worked out the kinks in, and fleshed out RD before it hit the shelves.

[Florete]

If you're only going to get one in a reasonable timeframe, I would say Radiant Dawn is by FAR the better game.

If this is a "I can only get one now but I can get the next in about three months" I'd gun for Path of Radiance first and get RD later.

Either way ensures you acquire RD.

This pretty much. RD just does everything better, but PoR comes first, so if you can eventually get both, start with PoR.

(Or in other words, the writing in PoR is a J.R.R. Tolkien epic when compared to RD's writing, which has a plot that seems like it came from a bad fanfic.)

I don't know how someone can say something like this. RD's plot may have flaws, but holy crap it is not bad. At least it's not a typical FE plot of "good vs evil" where the good guys are obviously going to win.

[Radiant Dragon]

I don't know how someone can say something like this. RD's plot may have flaws, but holy crap it is not bad. At least it's not a typical FE plot of "good vs evil" where the good guys are obviously going to win.

I agree with this. In my opinion, RD's plot was not bad at all, it was simply executed poorly. I'll admit there's no redeeming the support conversations however, although they are better from a pure gameplay perspective.

As for the argument of character derailment, could you please provide some examples?

[Mikethfc]

I agree with this. In my opinion, RD's plot was not bad at all, it was simply executed poorly. I'll admit there's no redeeming the support conversations however, although they are better from a pure gameplay perspective.

As for the argument of character derailment, could you please provide some examples?

What about Shinon? In PoR he was bigoted and a bit of a dick, then in RD with no explanation they made him a bit of a dick and bigoted, what was all that about?

[Balcerzak]

As for the argument of character derailment, could you please provide some examples?

Zihark goes from being Crimean in PoR to being Daien in RD, doesn't he? That always confused me.

[El Rey León]

Zihark goes from being Crimean in PoR to being Daien in RD, doesn't he? That always confused me.

They never said where Zihark was from in PoR, but at the end he heads off to Daein. In RD, he's revealed to be Daein. It makes sense and is certainly nothing compared to the other derailments (*cough*SotheAstridJill*cough*)

Anyway, I'd get PoR. More polished, better story and easier if you're not that much into Fire Emblem. Graphics may look dated today, but that shouldn't be a problem.

[Life]

For the record, PoR actually showed characters change and mature over time. Check out Ike. He starts off insecure about being leader and stuff (Chapter 8 Info) but he really starts growing into the role as the game goes on. Look at the Sothe recruitment conversation.

RD COULD have done the same thing for Micaiah (obviously not age but just mature more in character) but that idea got kicked in the head around the time that she could see the future whenever the fuck she wanted to.

[Mikethfc]

They never said where Zihark was from in PoR, but at the end he heads off to Daein. In RD, he's revealed to be Daein. It makes sense and is certainly nothing compared to the other derailments (*cough*]SotheAstridJill*cough*)

Wha'choo you talkin' about Wylis?

[Florete]

I'll admit there's no redeeming the support conversations

That is a disappointment, but it's not the end of the world. This is a game, after all, and the supports don't usually expand the actual story at all.

What about Shinon? In PoR he was bigoted and a bit of a dick, then in RD with no explanation they made him a bit of a dick and bigoted, what was all that about?

I'm confused. Why are you confused? RD is a direct sequel. How is it "derailment" if he didn't change?

They never said where Zihark was from in PoR, but at the end he heads off to Daein. In RD, he's revealed to be Daein. It makes sense and is certainly nothing compared to the other derailments (*cough*SotheAstridJill*cough*)

Sothe isn't really a derailment. I'd call it more of an unprecedented expansion. We didn't know much about him in PoR, and in RD we get dropped right into his story, so obviously we're going to suddenly get a lot about him we didn't know. It's also three years later, and given how old he was in PoR, that is quite an important three years for him.

Astrid...kind of. If you read her supports with Makalov in PoR you can see where RD's use of her comes from. For some reason they decided to choose that as the canon. Otherwise, her personality didn't change as far as I could tell.

Jill? As far as I could tell, she just wasn't expanded on any more. That isn't derailment, that's just ignoring.

Anyway, I'd get PoR. More polished, better story and easier if you're not that much into Fire Emblem. Graphics may look dated today, but that shouldn't be a problem.

I already got to the story, so now I'll target "more polished" and wonder what the hell you're smoking. RD is way more polished than PoR in terms of being a game. As already mentioned, there's Atk/hit/crit display during animations that is strangely absent from PoR. In PoR you don't even have a WEx bar to see how close any character is to the next weapon level. When you activate a skill in RD, it tells you what it is, whereas in PoR you just get a random flash of light. Same for criticals. Hell, before a battle, RD also tells you skills and supports that are in effect. In PoR, you can't turn off map animations, whereas in RD you can have full animations, map animations, or no animations.

BEXP in PoR is abusable as hell. Forging is not bad but was done better in RD, Coins included. The 7 item inventory of RD is much better than the 4/4 split of PoR considering how rare it is for certain characters to actually make use of one or the other (Laguz don't use the weapon part except for storage, for example).

Laguz entirely were a hell of a lot less polished. Locked to the same MT weapon forever, no Olivi Grass and very limited Laguz Stones/Demi Band, just plain odd gauges, including not being able to transform/revert at will.

Skills are done better, especially being able to re-assign them. Masteries are still not perfect but much better (actually useful and everyone gets them).

I'm sure there's plenty more.

RD COULD have done the same thing for Micaiah (obviously not age but just mature more in character) but that idea got kicked in the head around the time that she could see the future whenever the fuck she wanted to.

1. It is not whenever she wants to. It comes fairly randomly.

2. Micaiah is also not some adolescent kid. I'll admit she could have developed more than she did, but she really wasn't in the same position as Ike.

[-Cynthia-]

For the record, PoR actually showed characters change and mature over time. Check out Ike. He starts off insecure about being leader and stuff (Chapter 8 Info) but he really starts growing into the role as the game goes on. Look at the Sothe recruitment conversation.

RD COULD have done the same thing for Micaiah (obviously not age but just mature more in character) but that idea got kicked in the head around the time that she could see the future whenever the fuck she wanted to.

Micaiah can't see the future whenever she wants to, the visions just sort of happen and they end up stopping midway through Part 3 anyway. Speaking of which, Micaiah's situation does change significantly as the game goes on. She goes from freedom fighter to trying to set her little sister on fire. Granted that's not exactly a personality change, but I think Part 3 would have been less interesting if Micaiah suddenly turned into a moustache twirling villain right before she started fighting the Laguz Alliance. Sure, Ike grows more confident as a leader, but his situation really doesn't change all that much. He gets named General and orders a few more people around, never really having to make difficult decisions.

@Character Derailment I don't really know what you're getting at with Jill, and the Sothe thing wasn't really a change (he was looking for Micaiah through all of PoR). Astrid I'll agree with.

I would play PoR first though, since PoR did do a better job introducing characters, even though I like RD better from a gameplay standpoint.

Edited June 2, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[skdyer]

Buy FE9 first to get the story, then FE10. I like FE10's gameplay better. It also actually shows the hit, mt, and crit. when you're battling someone, just like the GBA games. It doesn't do that in PoR.

Question: how the heck can you accurately anticipate the outcome of a battle without the hit, mt, and crit on the screen during battle? I heavily relied on that in Sacred Stones when deciding whether or not to attack.

[Mikethfc]

Question: how the heck can you accurately anticipate the outcome of a battle without the hit, mt, and crit on the screen during battle? I heavily relied on that in Sacred Stones when deciding whether or not to attack.

It tells you before you decide to attack but not during the actual battle animation, you can see it before you initiate the attack but that's about it.

[Life]

Micaiah can't see the future whenever she wants to, the visions just sort of happen and they end up stopping midway through Part 3 anyway. Speaking of which, Micaiah's situation does change significantly as the game goes on. She goes from freedom fighter to trying to set her little sister on fire. Granted that's not exactly a personality change, but I think Part 3 would have been less interesting if Micaiah suddenly turned into a moustache twirling villain right before she started fighting the Laguz Alliance. Sure, Ike grows more confident as a leader, but his situation really doesn't change all that much. He gets named General and orders a few more people around, never really having to make difficult decisions.

1. That's not Micaiah, it's the situation she's in. Her actual character has little to no development (learning shit like she's half heron is not character development, FYI).

2. If you actually think that Ike has no character development in FE9 and his situation is the only thing that counts towards characterization, go back and reread the story. Let's look at some tidbits, shall we?

Chapter 8:

Ike

So...where is everyone?

Titania

Ike, to tell the truth...

Ike

Yes?

Oscar

Boyd and I are back.

Titania

How did it go?

Boyd

I can't believe it! They just left, and they didn't take one look back! Heartless scum! I'll never forgive them!

Ike

Boyd? What's going on?

Boyd

Ike! Are you all right?

Ike

I'm fine. Tell me what's happened. Start talking.

Boyd

Well, uh, it's...What I mean to say is...Uh...

Soren

Shinon and Gatrie have left us.

Boyd

Soren!

Soren

What? There's nothing to hide, is there?

Ike

They left? Both of them? Why did they--Oh, I see. They left because of me, didn't they?

Titania

Ike...

Boyd

Titania told us you were going to be the new commander. Shinon just about exploded...He and Gatrie left not long ago.

Oscar

We went after them. We tried to talk things out, but it was a waste of time.

Soren

We all knew that Ike was going to inherit command of the company, didn't we? It just happened sooner than we wanted. It was Greil's decision. If some of us aren't satisfied with that, there's no reason we should stop them from leaving. As far as losing fighting strength is concerned, we can solve that by adding new members.

Boyd

How can you say that? After all the battles we've been through together, how can you say that?

Titania

Forgive me, Ike. I wasn't able to stop any of this...

Ike

It's not your fault, Titania. They did what they felt they had to do. They didn't want to lose their lives to an inexperienced commander.

Titania

Ike! Don't talk about yourself like that.

Ike

I'm not saying that to gain anyone's pity. It's the truth. But even so, I have no intention of giving up command of this company.

Titania

Ike? Then what will you--

Ike

I'm going to follow my father's wishes. I'm going to assume command. If everyone will accept me, that's what I'd like to do.

Titania

Of course!

Oscar

I'd already made up my mind. That's what I was going to do all along.

Boyd

What, so now you want me to start calling you Boss? Is that it? Well, I can do that. Boss it is!

Ike only accepts command because that's what his father wanted him to do. Why else would he say that it would be easier for Shinon and Gatrie to bite the bullet if he died?

Moving on to Chapter 12, he's got this convo with Sothe. I'll highlight the important line.

Ike

Nasir, who is this?

Nasir

A stowaway. I gather he boarded the ship at Toha.

Ike

What are you doing here? Why did you sneak aboard the ship?

Sothe

...

Ike

You won't talk? In that case...

Sothe

Hm? Ow...oouuuch!

Nasir

Ike, there's no need to be so rough!

Ike

I'm not going to waste my time playing games with this urchin. You want me to let you go?

Open your mouth and start talking.

Sothe

Owowow! Quit it! I'll talk!!

That's only 4 chapters and you can see that Ike's gaining confidence in himself. That's characterization.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Life

[Balcerzak]

They never said where Zihark was from in PoR, but at the end he heads off to Daein. In RD, he's revealed to be Daein. It makes sense and is certainly nothing compared to the other derailments (*cough*SotheAstridJill*cough*)

Anyway, I'd get PoR. More polished, better story and easier if you're not that much into Fire Emblem. Graphics may look dated today, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Lethe talks to Zihark

Zihark

Ah!

Lethe

Grrr! Flee. You're Crimean...I cannot fight you.

Zihark

Hold on! Please!...I am not an enemy to laguz.

Lethe

L-laguz...? How do you--

...