Amen to this! I hate to sound like a stuck-up purist, but I really feel that the Battle Saves were one of the worst additions to the lastest Fire Emblem. Because the game is so challenging, I get the impression that a large number of players are Battle Saving their way through each level - which pretty much removes the need for strategy entirely! Ugh. The designers should have made the game somewhat easier and left this feature out. Or, have it present on Easy difficulty but not the other ones. I'm playing the Hard difficulty (Japanese Maniac) right now, and it's very intense. By no means impossible... just you have to know EXACTLY what you're doing at all times. Finished the end of Part I this afternoon, the last chapter taking 27 turns and over two hours to complete. But no one died, and I racked up a ton of sorely needed experience in the process - woohoo! To get back to the original post, the Fire Emblem series is about as non-casual as you can get. Only serious, die-hard fans of strategy gaming should apply! I would recommend newcomers pick up the Gamecube Fire Emblem (Path of Radiance) before buying the most recent game. It's easier to play, a much better starting point for newcomers, and serves as a prequel to Radiant Dawn, so you can then proceed on to the current game if you liked it. As a Gamecube game, it doesn't hurt either that it's extremely cheap and backwards compatible with the Wii. Also the music for these games is great, that's one complaint I don't have about the series. (Don't get me started on "biorhythm"...)

Words Of Wisdom said: RolStoppable said: It's a very challenging game with a lot of depth. The inability to revive characters is a great and unique addition, because that way the characters grow on you and you actually care much more for them as in most other SRPGs in which you just let units randomly die in order to block for a strong unit you need in the next turn. The games are usually pretty long, so you get a lot of content for your money. And then there's always hard mode on which mistakes are punished even harder. Hard mode in Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is actually challenging (compared to the others) because you cannot battle save on every turn to see if something bad happens after you move your characters and then reload to stop it. And the music isn't that bad.

 Huh.  Never knew you even could do that.  Thought for sure it would delete the minute you un suspended play.  Go figure.

@Kasz216 : that was in Path of Radiance, it's different in Radiant Dawn.

I approve the love for FE in this thread :)

I left all the other games away to play PoR again so that I can max some levels and stats to have a good save for Radiant Dawn, before it's released here in 2 weeks if all goes well.

There's a limited way to grind actually in FE, but it's actually just a change of strategy. Thus why in the play I've restarted (in Normal mode), I'm way more level advanced than in the previous one (despite it being in Hard mode).

As for my opinion of FE, I bought the Wii mainly for this game, so I think I've said enough.

Most of the important bits have already been said but I'll toss my hat in the ring also:

1) Its not kiddy at all.
2) Very deep storyline
3) Mild depth in the combat system not too deep not too simply, I like it quite a bit
4) When characters die they are gone for good...which is a good imo..but there are usually a lot of characters to replace the ones that inevitably lost. There are also certain characters you can't let die or you are forced to start the level over (ie main plot characters).
5) The end of the game very hard!

Yep, I agree with what's being said already. Do buy this game, I want to play this game since I finished PoR (and Radiant Dawn wasn't even announced then).

One of my favorite series.

Storylines are deep and more focussed on characters and their choices than average RPG story. (Good vs bad blahblah)

Permadeath is a good thing, it forces you to think about the battle. You don't want to lose any character as this will impact the growth of other characters, the possibilities to find party members and the storyline.

And as mentioned before, definitely very hardcore. One of the hardest games around. Leveling choices are tough and cannot be reversed, character interactions impact the story and gameplay.

BUYBUYBUY!

blink182 said: So i'm in two minds as to whether to buy radiant dawn when it's released in the uk in a couple of weeks especially after watching the teaser trailer featuring two little kids playing it, it kinda put me off a bit.I've never played a fire emblem game so My main questions are whether it is a very kiddy franchise and also whats the battle system and control scheme like, is it a very deep game with a compelling storyline or is it saturday morning cartoon fare?? all opinions whether negative or positive would be appreciated, thanks.

just a quick update to say thanks for everyones 2 penneth, i've done some research on the fire emblem series aswell and i've gotta say i'm really quite excited about getting the game now,only problem is that it's launched on the same day as no more heroes in the uk, grrrrrrrrr, so i'm gonna be 80 quid out of pocket that week, thanks again for the opinions everyone.

Good luck and happy gaming!

Let us know how it turns out for you.  ^_^

blink182 said: So i'm in two minds as to whether to buy radiant dawn when it's released in the uk in a couple of weeks especially after watching the teaser trailer featuring two little kids playing it, it kinda put me off a bit.I've never played a fire emblem game so My main questions are whether it is a very kiddy franchise and also whats the battle system and control scheme like, is it a very deep game with a compelling storyline or is it saturday morning cartoon fare?? all opinions whether negative or positive would be appreciated, thanks.

Even know I'm a bit late...depending on which FE game it is, alot of the characters (or main characters to a certain point) tend to be age between late teens to mid twenties. One of the main reasons I like the FE series is because all the characters tend to have their own personalities aswell, aswell as different looks (age, height, weight, etc).