RD Conclusion x5

Okay okay, I'm obsessed with this game.

The top five:
5. Rolf - 99
4. Ike - 103
3. Shinon - 108
2. Nephenee - 114


I'm not surprised that he ended up first, I'm more surprised that there were others that didn't. Namely, Brom or Nephenee. Seriously, those two rocked at the end.

Brom ended up at #6, and Leonardo was a total surprise at #8. (Soren was wedged between them.)

I don't think I've ever had so many people with maxed experienced. The list includes:

Ike - Lv 20 Vanguard - Ragnell
Soren - Lv 20 Arch Sage - Rexcalibur
Shinon - Lv 20 Marksman - Double Bow
Nephenee - Lv 20 Sentinel - Silver Greatlance
Brom - Lv 20 Marshall - Urvan
Rolf - Lv 20 Marksman - Silencer
Haar - Lv 20 Dragonlord - Silver Poleax

Shinon and Brom almost had maxed stats as well. Too bad I didn't have more Ashera Icons in my inventory, as they were both lacking in the luck department.

As for the rest of you slackers...
Pelleas - Lv 16 Arch Sage - Fenrir
Gatrie - Lv 16 Marshall - Silver Greatlance
Rhys - Lv 14 Saint - Ellight
Micaiah - Lv 11 Light Priestess - Thani
Sothe - Lev 9 Whisper - Peshkatz
Sankaki - Lv 9 Empress - Cymbeline
Naesala - Lv 33
Ena - Lv 25
And I kind of killed Kurth during the Ashera battle.

A-supports: Ike/Soren; Shinon/Gatrie; Brom/Nephenee; Rolf/Rhys; Boyd/Mist; Micaiah/Sothe

I like including their weapons in the list, because I select them so very carefully. I bought the Silver Greatlances and Poleax long before the endgame stated, because I knew I'd want them. I don't think I've ever used a Silver Poleax before. It's so awesome.

During the level with all the dragons, I kept Rolf & Shinon buddied up and they passed the Double Bow between them. Then I almost forgot to give Shinon his weapon back for the next level. heh

Supports make everything easier. I send Shinon and Gatrie one way (no one hits them), and Brom and Nephenee the other (likewise). Brom might be one of my new favorite characters.

And hey! This is the first time I didn't kill off Meg. If she had been leveled up a bit more I would have supported her with Brom, but I knew before I reached the tower that she just wouldn't work. She's not so bad once leveled up, though.

Best Game Ever

As I was driving home last night, listening to some Radiant Dawn tunes I had burned onto a CD, it occured to me that this game is, in fact, my favorite game ever.

It kind of doesn't make sense, since I consider the Zelda games my favorite series. So in theory, one of those should be my favorite. But despite my addition to Twilight Princess, I can stop myself in the middle of a game and go to sleep. With Radiant Dawn, I've had many moments in which I say, "Oh crap, when did it get to be 2am?"

For the longest time I couldn't determine whether I liked Radiant Dawn or Path of Radiance better, with one being the other's sequel, but because I played RD first I'm always going to be drawn to it. It's been about a month since my last completion of the game, and my hands are already itching to break out the disc again.

So what is it about this game, anyway? Plot, certainly. The age-old tale of knights and dragons and the like. But also the characters. The Greil Mercenaries are the ones that bring me back to this series. I know more than I should admit about this band of imaginary people: how they met, who loves/hates one another, and things they don't even know about themselves. They're just so well-developed.

And with the strategy-based RPG, it's never the same game twice. Since experienced is granted per character, not by group, you can really focus on making individual people stronger. And it's the ones you least expect that, if trained properly, knock everyone else out of the water. While Titania and Ike are naturally awesome, people like Soren and Edward—who are weaker at first—can far surpass them once they're leveled up.

It requires the brainpower for planning and strategy. You have to decide early on who you're going to train, because there are so many characters and they can't all gain adequate experience points. I have my standards, of course, despite my attempt to train someone else. Edward gets priority in the beginning of the game, and I always end up maxing out Rolf and Shinon (I love snipers). And even though he doesn't appear until later in the game, Stefan almost always gets a spot at the end. One of these days I'll give someone else a chance. But it's so hard when you're emotionally attached to your favorites.

Pelleas

For the first time, I was able to refuse Pelleas's request to kill him. After that incident, he became so much cooler.

Firstly, he avoided his mother more. I really can't stand Almedha, despite all her past hardships. Grow a spine and get over it. But during the endgame, you didn't see them together as much. You know she hated him going on the battlefield, and he did it anyway.

Speaking of the battlefield: I love playing as a dark mage. He has the coolest tomes in the world: they're all swirling pools of blackness. I purposely brought him with me on the endgame just so I could get him leveled up. Dark magic arc sage? YES. It's disappointing that he's not playable sooner, though.

It's bad enough that he's a dark sage—he's also incredibly emo. His support conversations?
C: I'm all right. I'll serve any way I can. I'd at least like to see some good come of my life.
B: Certainly. Let's combine forces. Perhaps by banding together, we'll actually save lives in the long run.
(Full convos here.) Even his theme song makes me want to cry.

I teamed him up with Tibarn. It was kind of awesome. Though I'm surprised they were able to strengthen their support, considering Pelleas was hanging out in the back with his long-distance magic and Tibarn was flying around everywhere on his own. But I dare you to give me a more amusing pair—the timid, depressed sage and the powerful hawk king. Come on. It's awesome.

He's definitely one of my new favorite characters.

RD Conclusion x4

I have finally learned what "clear data" is, so even though this is my fourth time completing the game it's really only the second play-through. Because that's what the system thinks.

Regardless, it was really fun trying new things. Like playing as Pelleas (LOVE HIM. More on that in another post, later). I also recruited Sephiran at the end, which explained so much of the back story. It was all pretty awesome.

My top five: [name - level - weapon]
5. Sothe - Whisper/14 - Steel Dagger*
4. Ike - Vanguard/20 - Ragnell
3. Haar - Dragonlord/20 - Tomahawk
2. Shinon - Marksman/20 - Double Bow

And number one...


EDWARD! I'm not even kidding, I had been working on him since chapter one. I wanted him in my top five, though I never expected him to be first. Edward, you rock. He was equipped with Alondite for the end.

*Sothe totally could have used something better, but I accidentally left the good stuff with Volke. Whoops.

And the rest of my endgame roster:
Rolf - Marksman/20 - Silencer
Rhys - Saint/20 - Purge (long-distance light magic!)
Titania - Gold Knight/17 - Urvan (I always give her Urvan. Sentimental reasons.)
Michiah - Light Priestess/7 - Thani
Sanaki - Empress/4 - Rexflame (coolest fire tome ever.)
Pelleas - Arc Sage/2 - Fenrir (long-distance dark magic!)
Nailah
Tibarn
Caineghis
Kurthnaga
Ena
And my heron, Rafiel.

I'm a little surprised that Rolf didn't make the top five, though. I was convinced that my sniper-in-training would be better than his master.

As you know from my previous post, Rhys was completely maxed out. I'm still proud of myself over that. Though my maxed-exp people were pretty close—most were just missing a couple points on two of the abilities. Also, having Yune bless two people with long-distance magic is pretty much the best idea ever. Pelleas was never near anyone.

As mentioned before, Sephiran joined me at the end, and I equipped him with SS light and dark magic (they happened to be in my inventory). While he can't do any damage on Ashera, since the weapons aren't Yune-blessed, he was still pretty handy to get rid of those nasty little spirits that kept on popping up. I didn't take everyone at the end, either. I probably only had about half come with me to Ashera, because I couldn't trust the rest not to get killed.

I seriously need to talk with someone who has experienced this "alternate" Sephiran ending. There's just so much that I understand better about everything.

Character Max: Rhys

I've finally achieved my first character max. And who knew it would be my darling Rhys?



Rhys is AWESOME.

And yes, I did have Yune bless Purge for the endgame. Best idea ever, or what?

I finished RD again but I'll write up that conclusion later. I'm more proud of this at the moment.

River Crossing

I'm sitting here in Radiant Dawn, having the Greil Mercenaries cross the river toward the Dawn Brigade. This should be a piece of cake, right?

I'm sending Haar over to Jill in attempt to recruit her. There are a lot of enemies over there. They all attack him, but there's little damage. Haven't reached Jill yet, though.

Zihark approaches us, chats with Ike, and is nearly beaten. Not quite, though. Next turn, Mordecai can chat with him. I recruit him. What? I never knew you could recruit Zihark in this chapter. I may have just screwed over the Dawn Brigade, though, because they kind of need him later on.

Approaching the enemy, and Leonardo goes after Zihark with a longbow. I scoff at him. HE CRITICAL HITS. $%#*! Leonardo with a longbow? How come he never does that when I play that side? I turned the game off in frustration because I'm in denial that Zihark just got beat by Leonardo.

Epic fail.

Rolf's Mother

In RD part III, chapter 2, there's a house from where you can receive a Seraph Robe if you don't visit with one of the three brothers. This time I did visit with one of them, because I learned there was a new base conversation if I did.

I figured the woman was someone from their past, someone they preferred to avoid, because when Boyd or Oscar visit they're very quick to get out of there. I visited with Rolf, and the woman was very vague yet friendly. At that moment, I knew she was his mother.

There's a little soap opera-type convo later, with Boyd arguing with her. This is why I love the three of them—they bicker like, well, brothers, and yet they'll do another for one another. Boyd wanted so bad to protect his little brother from this women who abandoned them years before. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

Come on, how can you not have a weak spot for Rolf? Especially after that?

20th Anniversary artbook

I'm debating on investing in the Fire Emblem 20th Anniversary art book. It looks really pretty, despite it being entirely in Japanese, and it cost more than any other book I've ever invested in. But it has artwork for all the Fire Emblem titles, which justifies the cost. Right?

I'd totally jump on it without question if it were in English. Or if I knew for sure it had RD artwork of the Greil Mercenaries. Oh, why do they always get shafted?

Unrelated: As we know, I have yet to attempt PoR on hard mode, because I'm a wuss. But for reasons I don't understand, when I load the data into RD to start a new game, this is how it pulls up. I certainly won't complain if RD thinks I'm better than I really am, but I can't quite figure out why it won't pull properly.

(Yes I am in the middle of three other games right now, but I just feel empty without a FE title in progress.)

Radiant Dawn Endgame, x3

Why yes, this is the third time I've completed this game in five months... (Though I think I need to take a break from it now. At least a month or so.)

Well. Endgame roster: Ike*, Micaiah, Rhys, Titania*, Soren*, Nailah, Tibarn, Shinon*, Caineghis, Rolf*, Stefan*, Kurthnaga, Sanaki, Renning, Sothe, Ena, Rafiel.

(Asterisks indicated maxed exp.)

It recently occurred to me, though I kind of always knew this, that I don't have to use everyone. So even though I'm forced to bring along Sothe, Sanaki, and the dragons, I didn't necessarily have to use them. Sorry guys. You're a liability.

By the Ashera battle, I was only using (of the list above) Ike through Kurth. And Kurth was only there to rescue Michiah the majority of the time, because Ashera kept on killing her. Of course, she eventually killed Kurth. Whoops.

I've never used Renning before. He's not bad. He starts as a Gold Knight level, like, 16 or something. So I've figured out he's a good selection at the end if you haven't leveled your other knights properly. I could have taken Oscar along and it would have been the same thing. But hey. He's cool.

Poor Soren got stuck as a healer during the last battle. But I didn't properly promote him beforehand, and forgot to buy an Arms Scroll to boost his weapon level, so he was stuck with Arcwind instead of Rexcalibur. He obviously got there eventually, but not fast enough for it to be Yune-blessed. Oh well. I certainly needed the healers, after all. (Good ol' Rhys; he was working so hard.)

Oh, and I obviously did reset just to include Stefan. I mean, come on. Someone had to use Alondite. Though the Vague Katti is better, anyway... curious. And I gave Titania Urvan, because it was only right.

I get way too emotionally attached to this stuff.

I won't even get into what I want to do "next time" because, like I said, I've got to take a break from this. And play Shadow Dragon. Perhaps try my hand at Sacred Stones again...

Stefan

Current addiction: This guy.

I don't know why. I haven't used this character in about a week, since I started the Radiant Dawn finale. And I kind of want to go back and start over (I've only completed part one, after all) and use him. Because I love watching him fight.

He should be pretty awesome, since I did the data transfer and he was level 20 trueblade in my PoR game. (Remember? I stopped using him because he couldn't gain any more experience?) I don't remember checking his stats. I was too excited to find him in the desert that I didn't bother. He just went at it.

And he's rather mysterious. Randomly appearing in the desert? Trying to recruit Soren into his colony? Weird man. But it's the mystery that makes me love him, the tortured soul that just wants his people to be accepted. He couldn't care less about anyone, beorc or laguz, but goes out of his way to help a fellow branded.

Yep. Definitely tempted to restart that endgame. Last time I played through the endgame he & Shinon achieved A-support, which made my little fangirl heart happy. Would they ever actually interact? No. Would I kick Gatrie to the curb and have Stefan replace him? You bet. (Come on, the visual. Just look at these two.)

Ahem.

No, really, Stefan is an excellent swordmaster. That's why I really love him. Really.

Marksman

Reason #10,542* I love marksmen:


57. TIMES TWO. Shinon, marry me.
(Also note how I didn't crop Gatrie from the screenshot. teehee)

And actually, Leonardo as marskman isn't doing too shabby, either. This is the first time I didn't kill him in chapter 13, and promoted him beforehand. Leonardo + deadeye = love.

Oh yeah, did I mention that deadeye is my most favorite skill ever?

*I probably don't have 10,541 other reasons, but sure enough I could make a list. But don't tempt me.

Strategy Guide

I just bid on a Radiant Dawn strategy guide. Not because I actually desire a guide for strategical purposes, but because I want [potentially] large photos of certain characters. And since I can't preview the interior, they better be in there.

Okay really, I just want it for Rolf. Is that weird? But I can find aboslutely no hi-res official artwork of him online. Anywhere. And I love his RD artwork. Shinon's is pretty hot, too.

Speaking of which, during my ebay searching, I stumbled upon a disturbing number of Japanese comics pairing my beloved Shinon with various other male companions. Why hello, mental scarring. Besides, we all know he would never tolerate being paired with Ike. Ever.

I mean, ever. Really.

But yeah. Strategy guide. I'm excited.

RD ch. 13: Blood Contract

This is probably the most terrifying chapter in any of the FE games I've played. Dawn Brigade v. Laguz Alliance. Yeah right. And they know it, too. They know Ike stands there at the bottom of the castle, waiting for his team to advance.

To begin with, the Dawn Brigade isn't really strong enough to battle all those laguz. Yeah, I've gotten better with promoting them rather quickly, and I do have Zihark and Jill to cover for me, but I still wince when those tigers approach anyone. So I'm sitting here, content that they're doing all right, and out of nowhere... holy crap, Greil Mercenaries. Best plan of action? RUN.

I know how good they are. I trained them. Seriously, any one of them alone could kill off the entire Dawn Brigade in one blow. Except maybe Mist. Maybe.

Someone always takes one for the team this chapter. Fiona and Meg have thus departed, because they protected my front line. This is the first time I've saved Leonardo, though; in previous play-throughs he had to be sacrificed. He better have survived. I just promoted him to marksman (haha yeah, and you know what? He's still not that good. But his outfit is really pretty, and he can attack from three squares away. That's why I love a marksman).

Random thought from the previous chapter: Zihark will not hurt Ranulf. I thought maybe he wouldn't battle anyone on Greil's side, being former allies and all that, but he had no problem trying to take down Ike. When I moved Ranulf to attack, he wouldn't retaliate. And it took the entirety of the next day to realize why... Zihark has a soft spot for laguz, thanks to personal history. Then I felt really bad for using the one guy he wouldn't hurt. But I should have known—remember how to recruit him in PoR? Stick a laguz in his path. Oh, Zihark. You may be the deadliest trueblade I've ever had, but you still won't hurt the kitty. It's probably the same with the other laguz, too, though I haven't tried.

My Imaginary Friends

We obviously get attached to those game characters we see often. And I tend to talk to them. Like, more often than I do real people. So last night I wrote down the things I shouted to my imaginary friends, and I've come to realize just how much of a geek I am.

"Dammit, Boyd!"
(When missing a hit and nearly killing himself.)

"Shinon, honestly."
(When not critical hitting with a killer bow.)

"Idiot."
(Any enemy going after any of my awesome characters.)

"Hey, Gatrie! What's up?"
(Sometimes, Shinon wanders away from him, but they always end up in the same spot. <3 A support.)

"That was both awesome and terrifying."
(Ike v. Zihark: Zihark does astra, twice, but misses half the time.)

"You just got beat by Mist."
(Okay well Zihark had 2 HP left, but still. Mist?)

RD: Death Quotes

I'm sure, at some point, I've killed off everyone in this game. You know how it is—you get overconfident, stick someone in the front lines, and whoops enemy didn't miss him that time. While I don't particularly enjoy reading death quotes on screen, there are a few that don't make me feel so bad... or make me feel worse (oh, Rolf).

Zihark: I guess this...is the end... of the line...for me... Thank you. I'll...be waiting...

Haar: Ah, my friend... I know I was a burden... But now...you too...are free... Finally... Commander Shiharam...!

Rolf: ...So this is what fate...had in store for me... I'm so cold... I still had...a lot...to learn. Oscar... B-Boyd... Shinon...

Mia: Why can't I stop the bleeding...? And I never...even met my... white-clad archrival...

Tormod: Uh-oh... I botched that one.

Shinon: Ugh... This is...such a crock... What a...boring way to die. Co...Commander...Greil... I... I... I'm...

Soren: ...Ugh... What a terrible place...to die...
Ike: Soren, retreat!
Soren: But, Ike...
Ike: Aren't you supposed to be my strategist? Use your head! I need your help.
Soren: ...I see. As you command...
(If I recall correctly, Soren actually smiles at the end of this.)

RD ch. 3: River Crossing

Firstly: I love when Ranulf "drops by" Zelgius and they banter before battling.

Ranulf: Sorry to drop by... unannounced.
*smirk*

Sure, he doesn't have the same sarcastic spark he did in PoR, but he's still a pretty awesome cat. And visually appealing to boot.

Secondly: The battle plan is for the hawk tribe to drop the mercenaries off at their point of battle. So the scene begins with them dropping Ike, Soren, and Titania.

Does anyone else see how strange this is? I know the hawk tribe is amazing and all, but how can someone possibly carry Titania and her horse? Just the thought of it keeps me giggling through the entire chapter.

Ike: Shinon wouldn't tell me he smelled smoke if I was on fire.

Muarim

Since doing the data transfer from Path of Radiance into my new game of Radiant Dawn, I hadn't seen any major change. Some additional conversations, recognition between people that had fought in the Mad King's War. But Muarim? Now is when I noticed a change in status.

(First number is standard RD base; second from data transer)
strengh: 18 - 36
magic: 3 - 6
skill: 14 - 28
speed: 11 - 22
luck: 12
defense: 15 - 30
resistence: 9 - 18

Thank you, data transfer. It's unfortunate that I know he'll be disappearing for a good chunk of the game.

I don't recall using him this often in prior play-throughs, but for some reason I absolutely had to have him in my last game of PoR. Probably just for the A-support with Zihark. But aren't they supposed to have an automatic bond now, or something? I should figure out how this works.

Okay so I was just putzing through character bios in RD (because I'm stalling before Micaiah's lone venture into the woods) and realized that Muarim has Mist's profile. Now, I know I sometimes confuse men for women in these games (they're just so pretty), but that's just not possible. Go check it out. Coding fail.

Shinon

If Shinon were a real person, I'd probably want nothing to do with him. He's a drunk, a racist, and there's only a small spark of compassion within him. That he doesn't want anyone knowing. Which is probably why I love him.

And the fact he rocks from his first appearance certainly helps as well.

Despite his inability to attack close-range the majority of the time, I still stick him in the enemy's path. They crowd around him, he misses all their attacks, and then my allies can ambush the enemy. (See, I would rock at tactician. Move over, Soren.) Well heck, I have a soft spot for anyone with a bow to begin with. Shinon. Rolf. Innes. Wil. They're always the first characters I level up because I use them so often.

But Shinon? He's awesome from beginning to end, and that includes his disappearance in PoR. I can still max out his exp points even if he's missing a good chunk of the game.

Rolf: Look, look, Uncle Shinon! Doesn't it look like a bow now?
Shinon: I guess you could...categorize it as a bow. Maybe. If you closed your eyes.

Can we also discuss how he doesn't say anything about being called "uncle"? He secretly loves it.

(ps, I have no idea where this fan art came from, but I'd love to find out. I have it tacked to my bulletin board at work.)

Also, I've been known to watch only the first 1:10 of this scene. Oh, if I had only played PoR first, I would have understood it all when this occurred in RD.

RD: Endgame

The endgame of Radiant Dawn annoys me for one reason—after all that work, you really can't use anyone. If you don't take pretty much all the laguz kings, you're as good as dead (or impossible, at least).

Let's remember that you absolutely must bring these people, despite the fact I'd rather not tote along numbers 2 and 6.
1. Ike
2. Michaiah
3. Sothe
4. Sanaki
5. Kurth
6.Ena

The first time around I played on "easy," so it wasn't absolutely terrible. I completed this probably three months ago so my character selection may not be completely accurate (I think I used the last two, at least, though I wonder why I have no healer).
7. Haar
8. Shinon
9. Zihark
10. Nephenee
11. Nolan
12. Boyd
13. Marcia
14. Skrimir
15. Naesala
16. Rolf
My aboslutely unstoppable people were #7-10. Nolan rocked a little more toward the end. In retrospect, I have absolutely no idea how I did it. None. If I had to do it again with this team, I would have failed miserably.

Second time around (on "normal"), I had:
7. Shinon
8. Nailah
9. Soren
10. Tibarn
11. Oscar
12. Titania
13. Stefan
14. Zihark
15. Edward
16. Rhys
Strongest units were #7-10, but I wouldn't necessary call them "unstoppable." I don't know why I didn't bring Haar. Or why I had three trueblades (Actually, Edward promoted to Trueblade during the endgame, which just made him rock that much more). But I did manage to max out Shinon, Oscar, Titania, & Ike in experience points, which is more than I can say last time (I think it was only Shinon the first time around. No, I'm not in love with him, not at all).

This, however, was nearly impossible against Dheginsea. The only people who could do any damage without killing themselves were Tibarn and Ike, and the latter only did 12 MT damage each time. Reyson and Rhys were seriously busy during that level, constantly singing and healing so Ike can go at it again. That only took me a week to figure out.

Next time? Bring more laguz kings. But my point of all this? You work so hard through the entire game to level people up, and you have to take the laguz at the end and pretty much ditch everyone else. I would have loved to tote along Rolf and Boyd as well second time around, but there's not nearly enough room. I'd really like to swap out Ena and Kurth for people I actually like using. Oh well.

RD: Game Music

(Excerpt from an entry on geekblog.)

One must have the full spectrum of nerditude to fully appreciate an essential aspect of the culture—video game music.

A game can be decent. But once you add the music, it can become awesome. And if both the game and the music are awesome, well... you now understand how Radiant Dawn is currently my second favorite game ever. For me to listen to something and picture an orchestra performing it (geek requirement #3: band nerd), you know it's good stuff. I invite you to check out the track listing for Radiant Dawn, found in its entirety here (I love this website), specifically the following tracks:
2: Echos of Daybreak (flute solo!)
5: Echos of Hope
20: Waves of Discord
62: Oliver's Fall (Harpsichord!)
64: Caineghis, King of Lions

Yes, I would totally see a performance of this music if it were to ever happen.