48. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
GameCube (2005)
Intelligent Systems
When it comes to my love for the Fire Emblem series, I actually owe it all to my now Call of Duty playin', NBA 2K13 lovin', brah-tastic brother. I only ever knew about Fire Emblem through its inclusion in Super Smash Bros., but other than that, I really had no interest in diving into the series. My brother, on the other hand, had already played and loved The Sacred Stones and hurredly picked up this title as soon as it came out. Now that it was on the big screen, I could see what this Fire Emblem series was all about. The moment he stopped playing, I selected my own save file and was immediately thrown into a fanstical medieval fantasty world, full of amazing characters, an engaging story, and mysteries abound. Fire Emblem goes above and beyond making this game more than just (tough as nails) strategy gameplay, but through it's amazing cast and epic tale, it really makes you care about the units you're controlling. And with the game's permanent death gameplay quirk, the GameCube's reset button was used many times during those playthroughs. No man (or woman) was left behind, and I came out of that war with a new franchise to love.
