Nintendo’s Most Overlooked Masterpiece Just Came to Switch 2
A true all-timer.
The Fire Emblem series sure has come a long way: from a niche series on its last legs with Awakening, to a worldwide phenomenon and one of Nintendo’s heavy hitters with Three Houses. But amidst the series’ rise to prominence there’s one key title that, regretfully, never got the due it deserved. Unrightfully passed over during the GameCube days, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance isn’t just the best game in the series, it’s genuinely one of the best strategy RPGs ever made. But perhaps more importantly is the incredibly ambitious story — it’s one of the few titles out there that manages to tackle themes of prejudice and racism in a surprisingly thoughtful way. Even among a long list of Nintendo masterpieces, Path of Radiance is a game that deserves special mention. And while it’s been impossible to find a copy of the game for over a decade, it’s finally available for anyone and everyone on Nintendo Switch 2.
Before Awakening and then Three Houses, Path of Radiance was the most drastic shake-up the Fire Emblem series had ever seen to its formula. That’s largely for three distinct reasons: taking the series into the 3D era, the sheer ambition of its storytelling, and creating more control over how you build your army.
Fire Emblem’s storytelling has never been ‘bad’ per se, but it’s been exceedingly simple at times. These are sweeping tales of battles and bureacracy boiled down into a kind of stage play, where you embrace the drama and character dynamics. But Path of Radiance is different — it’s a meticulously plotted game drenched in topical themes, and not afraid to make you know it. And that’s starting with how different it’s main character is.
Every Fire Emblem game up until Path of Radiance features a protagonist that was royalty, typically a prince of princess fighting for their invaded kingdom. But Path of Radiance’s Ike is different. He’s not a lord, but the son of a mercenary company leader, living in the backwater woods of the country of Crimea.
After Crimea is invaded by its militaristic neighbor, Daien, Ike and the Greil Mercenaries find themselves put in the middle of a struggle to survive — forced to help support the country they call home. But what’s truly interesting about Ike, as a hero, is how “pure” he is, you could say. Ike has lived a sheltered life, and even though he’s the son of a mercenary, he’s entirely unwise to the ways of the world, specifically the nature of prejudice.
You see, Path of Radiance takes place on the continent of Tellius, where two different races live — the human-like Beorc, and the beast-like shape shifters called Laguz. These two races have coexisted in opposition for centuries, and the Laguz have suffered heavy prejudice and conflict under the overwhelming number of the Beorc. It’s a fairly obvious allegory for discrimination, but Ike puts a fascinating spin on it — because the environment he grew up in simply means he never experience prejudice. And when he steps into the larger world, he’s shocked at how others think of and treat Laguz, some of which he comes to see as allies.
Seeing the world for what it is, while fighting to preserve his morality and justice is exactly what makes Ike such a compelling, and complex, hero. And what’s absolutely crucial bout Path of Radiance is that it isn’t just using the theme of prejudice as a backdrop for its story, but it’s a game that wants to say something. It’s hard to overstate how much more complex Path of Radiance’s storytelling is than nearly every other Fire Emblem game, even Three Houses. It’s one of the richest tales you’ll find in any Nintendo game, and Ike one of the most complex RPG heroes out there.
But Path of Radiance was equally revolutionary for the gameplay of Fire Emblem, adding quite a few new idea that would become series staples. While it’s the same grid-based tactics and weapon triangle of every game, Path of Radiance introduced a wealth of new options pre-battle, where you can prep your armies and talk to allies.
The pre-battle camp helps the games strategic elements grow by giving you bonus experience to catch up lagging units, and enriches the cast of characters like never before. Meanwhile, a robust skill system gives you more room to customize the utility of your army, and fine-tune how each character works. On top of all that, the shapeshifting Laguz units bring an entirely new dimension to combat — useless in their human forms, but once able to transform some of the strongest characters on the battlefield.
Path of Radiance’s battles may feel a little slow and sluggish compared to modern entries, which is just an unfortunate side effect of the game’s age and when it was made. But the Switch 2 version does run more crisply than ever before, and give you the ability to use save states and instantly quit out — which helps.
Even for its elements that show age, Path of Radiance still feels like an unmitigated masterpiece. The game’s storytelling is on par with the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics, weaving an utterly engrossing tale the the series has never been able to match again. But maybe the easiest way to say it is that Path of Radiance is just a game that has heart — an undeniable spirit of optimism on how we can overcome our differences and work to make the world a better place, for everyone. And that’s a message that feels remarkably important, both 20 years ago and now.
