Wii... iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

[Kim]

Actually, for Metroid Prime, just get the Metroid Trilogy thing for the Wii.

[mauve]

Originally Posted by Nique

Tell me more about Fire Emblem - I'm looking to expand my Gamecube collection but I have all the stuff you mentioned already besides this.

It's a strategy game-- You recruit and command various classes of soldiers throughout the game and then lead them into battle.

There is a plot-- and Path of Radiance boasts a fairly engaging one spanning several kingdoms.

My favorite part of the Fire Emblem system is that all of your minions are unique individuals with their own backstories, personalities and motivations for joining you. Throught the course of the game you get the opportunity for those units to interact and form friendships with your main character and each other, depending on who you bring into battle and what they experience.

The downside to such characters? The game kills them off permanently if they fall in battle. So if you lose a minion because you put them somewhere stupid on the battlefield and they got shot full of arrows, they're gone forever unless you do what I do and hit the reset button on the Wii every time you lose a character you really like. The game also tends to guilt-trip you when they die: you'll get a "last words" speech from the minion who died just to make you feel worse. "Ah.... I shall never see my children again!" "I hope my younger brother will be okay all alone, now that I'm joining our murdered parents in heaven!" etc etc.



Gameplay is turn-based, with you moving your minions around a battlefield to achieve certain goals. Attacking enemy units brings you into an animated battle menu somewhat similar to Final Fantasy's random battles, wherin your minion and the enemy duke it out. You have control over what your minions do in said battle, too.

Gameplay is pretty fun and surprisingly involved. The various playable units have a rock-paper-scissors system of strengths and weaknesses against each other, and the game provides you with details on your character's chances to hit, do critical damage, or make multiple hits on their opponent before you even command them to attack, which is useful for planning which minion to hurl at which enemy.

I'm almost finished with Path of Radiance and haven't played any of the other Fire Emblem games, but I'd recommend it!

[Loyal]

Originally Posted by Nique

Tell me more about Fire Emblem - I'm looking to expand my Gamecube collection but I have all the stuff you mentioned already besides this.

Adding to what Mauve said:

It's a tactical RPG series, emphasis on the "tactical". Besides the permadeath, you get a finite amount of resources (including experience) on a per-playthrough basis. There's no level grinding and no farming, so you'll have to make your resources count. (not counting the high-risk arenas in the GBA games, and Sacred Stones in general)

The music is pretty fantastic overall, and that's really all there is to say on the matter.

While I'm on the subject, Radiant Dawn for the Wii is a direct sequel to POR, and is better in some ways, worse in others. Though most of the bad is the sort of thing you'll only notice if you're sufficiently 'into' the series. It's also much tougher than the other Fire Emblem games that made it out of Japan, so I wouldn't recommend it as your first venue into Fire Emblem.

[Kim]

Oh, Nique. Good question for you. I'm pretty sure you live in the states, but on the off-chance that you don't: Do you have a PAL Wii? Second question: Do you have a DS? If the answer to both questions is yes, then get Trace Memory (Another Code in PAL regions) for the DS. After you beat that, get Another Code R for the Wii, which is Trace Memory's sequel. I ask because, unfortunately, Another Code R was only release in Japan and PAL regions, and it really is an enjoyable game, assuming you like point-and-clicks. But, unless you have a PAL Wii, or a modded one, you can't play it.

[Nique]

NTSC all the way, baby.

[Kim]

Dang, yo.

[Nique]

Thanks @ Loyal and Mauve for the input on Fire Emblem. It sounds pretty good, is there a multiplayer mode in either of those Fire Emblem titles?

[mauve]

Not that I know of.

[phil_]

Hey, Nique, download Sin and Punishment, then buy Sin and Punishment 2 if you thought anything like, "This would be better with non-f-tarded controls" about Sin and Punishment.

Also, totally backing up the Metroid Prime games (so, Trilogy) and Okami. Okami's really nifty, though the pop-in is a touch annoying.

[Loyal]

Originally Posted by Nique

Thanks @ Loyal and Mauve for the input on Fire Emblem. It sounds pretty good, is there a multiplayer mode in either of those Fire Emblem titles?

None to speak of. There's the link arena in the GBA titles, but that doesn't count.