I've been wondering the same thing. FE is not an RPG as far as I'm concern (but then I don't consider most JRPGs as RPGs since their is no role playing involved). But as a strategy game (with a good story and RPG elements) I am interested in it. But I'm just not sure if I'd like this or not.

I do like strategy, but not the pure strategy games where you have to deal with supply lines and crap. But it sounds like this is more pure combat. Is that true? Is it more like Buldar's gate where you can position people on the fly, pull out wounded members and lure enemies into ambushes and stuff or more like a JRPG fighting where it's a line of heros and line of enemies exchanging blows?

Also what's the time investment involved? I rarely have more than 10-30 minutes to play a game. Is it even possible to play in that time? Can you save in the middle of a fight?

@Noname

Believe me I probably will get pissed and try to put a hole through the wall a time or two, but if I don't do that once or twice during the course of playing a game it's probably not a good game :)

It is the kind of game where you try and lure enemies into traps and pick them off slowly. There is no supply lines or anything like that. It is entirely about positioning your people in the right spots to crush the enemy with minimal damage to your units. I think comparing it to Baulder's gate would be fairly accurate. Think of it like a game of chess meets a JRPG. You have all the wacky fun and uniqueness of JRPG characters moving around a chess board of varying shapes and sizes.

The time commitment is going to be rough though. A signle battle can last an hour or longer if it gets bogged down, and that is not counting time lost because you messed up and need to restart. You can save mid battle though so maybe that will be good enough for you. If you can find a way to schedule time for it the game is really worth it though.

Can't believe noone has mentioned the battle save!!

Whenver it is your turn you can do an in game battle save so you can try a strategy and if it doesn't work and someone dies, reset and you will load right where you saved.

just one of the best Wii hardcore games ... what are u waiting to buy it !!!

I've never been a fan of SRPG's, but my younger brother bought Path of Radiance for the GameCube and when he was finished with it (aka got half way and gave up :P) I decided to give it a try. What I found was an deep gaming experience with an epic and twisting story embedded in it. And unlike other games, if your character dies, (s)he's dead. You either restart the level or continue the quest without that character. Now going on without one measly character wouldn't be a problem... but the thing is, with Fire Emblem, you really start to care for your characters. You start to have favorites (Illyana and Jill for some reason :D) and you root for them as they engage in battle. In the end you start to grow with them. It's a really great experience.

Of course I had to get Radiant Dawn, as a continuation of the story line of Path of Radiance, I didn't have a choice. So I would recommend buying Path of Radiance first and then continuing with Radiant Dawn. They're great and rewarding games, and I definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a challenging yet fun gaming experience.

So you can save at any time. Good. That makes this a much more likely purchase.

Do you get to select which characters your using or do you have a set party or are certain character types/party configurations simply mandatory if you hope to succeed?

Shinon kind of sucks IMO.  Haar is only great until you get to the Endgame with a low Resistance.

I'll endorse Radiant Dawn as well.  It's tied for my favorite Wii game.

 Thanks.  I think I'll pick this up.  What happens if one of those main characters dies?  Does the story continue without them or do you have to keep them alive?

Should I get the gamecube FE first? If I can even find it... 

Fire Emblem is nothing like the Baldur's Gate line of games (which were excellent in their own way). The comparison to a chess board is much more accurate; think of it as a chess game with a huge board and many extremely specialized pieces. We refer to Fire Emblem as a "strategy" game, but it really doesn't involve much pure strategy; the game is actually almost entirely tactical in nature, like a wargame in a lot of senses. Positioning of units is incredibly important. It's not unusual to be in situations where moving a unit one tile in any direction will result in instant death.

You have some control over your party members, in terms of picking which ones are active for each mission. One of my main criticisms of Radiant Dawn is that you have far less control over your party than any previous game in the series. (It's much more cinematic/story-driven than previous installments. Many players like this, I'm less of a fan.) Any character CAN become strong with repeated use, but some are generally much stronger than others. No one is mandatory, except the hero/leader unit (but you'd want to use Ike anyway...)

I love the Fire Emblem games, just keep in mind they are very, very difficulty and frustrating. I echo Chrizum's recommendation to try the Gamecube FE game first (Path of Radiance) which is a lot less intimidating for newcomers to the series. And as an old game, it's also dirt cheap today.