I love tactical rpgs and haven't played these two games yet.

What do you think of these games? And how do they compare to other console trpgs?

Has anyone played both games? How do they compare to each other?

The Wii game (Radiant Dawn) is a direct sequel I read, so I rather start with the GameCube version (Path of Radiance).

I had the Wii version it's a pretty good srpg and very challenging

I wish I had more time to explore it, they are genuinely good games

pretty good i guess, not good as Awakening or the original GBA one, but still good.

Both are quite good. 

You should play PoR first not only for the story and characters, but you can transfer your save so your characters get a boost to their stats (helpful in RD's hard mode).

Now on the differences:

PoR is a lot easier than RD tho. Only FE 12's Reverse Lunatic and Awakening's Lunatic+ are the only FE's harder than RD hard mode.

PoR's story is kinda generic for Fire Emblem, RD has a very good storyline tho. 

PoR's support conversations are quite good, RD's are generic minus interactions between certain characters.

RD is a longer game than PoR.

Reforging system RD > PoR.

I disagree. Awakening is better in a lot of respects — better combat flow, better characterization, better customization — but the Radiant games win in one particular aspect that trumps everything for me:

No grinding.

It keeps the challenge nice and steady and keeps decisions relevant. Also, area control feels more important in the Radiant games and damage is less bursty, both traits are more rewarding to careful planning.

The Radiant games have their problems too, of course, but the lack of grinding feels so right, that I was sad to see Awakening backpedal on it. Awakening was successful enough that I expect future FEs will all be grindy. It's a shame.

Agreed.

Also the PoR and RD had varied map objectives.

While 90% of Awakening was either, clear the map or kill the boss.

        Even though Fire Emblem Awakening is way better than both of them, I still think you should at least try them.

I know this may be a silly question but: how essential is Path of Radiance's story to understanding Radiant Dawn?

I've been meaning to give this series a try and since I have a Wii I thought I'd dive in with the console versions.  But PoR is ridiculously priced whereas RD is within the realm of what I'd be willing to pay to try out a new series (just about).

Grinding is unessential in Awakening, however. If you're willing to work to spread character usage, I imagine you could dodge grinding and still get all the marriageable women paired off (as there are fewer eligible mothers than eligible fathers). The higher difficulties actively discourage grinding due to the high costs of Reeking Boxes, and the paralogues are purely optional (it did wreck the difficulty curve for me, doing no non-relationship grinding outside of the paralogues, but without it the flow would have been just so).

Plus PoR and RD had BEXP, which was grinding without the grinding. Not that I disagree with you otherwise, as i favor 9 and 10 over 13, 11, or 8 (the only other ones i've played)

I disagree that BEXP is equivalent to grinding. It's a resource, like money. You can spend it efficiently and earn more with better performance, but you can't amass it endlessly to trivialize content. And because its dispersal is measured like money, it doesn't interfere with difficulty balancing.