0:00

Since then, though, Nolan has picked

0:02

up the controller, replaced his

0:04

teddy bear with it next to

0:06

him, and gone to sleep, caressing

0:08

it. I do caress, I do

0:10

caress. Yeah, it gets the love

0:12

that it deserves. Welcome

0:35

to New Game Plus. This is

0:38

a retro gaming podcast for three

0:40

guys. It's been seven days playing

0:42

one old game and then we

0:45

talk about it. My name is

0:47

Kenny Nolan. And this is

0:49

episode four hundred and sixty

0:51

one and it is a

0:54

director's episode. Question of the

0:56

week. What one video game

0:58

announcement would break the internet?

1:01

There's an easy answer that I'll

1:03

just get out of the way so

1:05

that we don't have to say it

1:08

each. Is it a sequel? Yeah, it's

1:10

half like three. It's a it's a

1:12

trequil. Yeah, we all had it

1:14

on our list as the low-hanging fruit,

1:17

I think. I wouldn't freak

1:19

out. Honestly, at this point,

1:21

I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I'd

1:23

be freaking out because at

1:25

this point, it's too maimed

1:27

to even be hype. It is. We

1:29

know Nolan wouldn't freak out at

1:31

almost anything though, unless they were

1:33

like, path of exile three. Gross.

1:35

Just out of nowhere. They said

1:38

that, I'd be like, wait. Yeah,

1:40

I don't know what. I've got

1:42

one thing on my list here.

1:44

I've got a list. Um, I

1:46

know I said, but one thing.

1:48

I'm just gonna go through them

1:50

in anything that stands out to

1:52

you. We can dialogue over, sort

1:55

of, okay. Switch 2 canceled? Yeah,

1:57

switch you canceled. I'll be hype

1:59

about that. still stuck on world

2:01

with Starcraft. Hollow Night, a Hollow Night,

2:03

Stoic song, GTA 7 before GTA 6.

2:06

And Ocurena of Time remake. I know

2:08

they've done something like that before Nolan,

2:10

but I'm talking about a like ground

2:13

up remake. At this point, it wouldn't

2:15

break the internet. I don't think, I

2:17

think a lot of people don't even

2:19

know what that game is, unfortunately. Really,

2:22

really. You're thinking too narrow, and I

2:24

know you wanted. Video game announcement, but

2:26

like but here's here's a more likely

2:29

thing don't say mine Russia Ukraine. No,

2:31

no we get a presidential Wow that

2:33

video games are now illegal for minors.

2:36

Look I wasn't too far off. Yeah,

2:38

wait. No, I was so people that

2:40

get or and gold aren't able to

2:42

play video games anymore. Oh our s

2:45

don't act dumb. Listen young people. No

2:47

a fortnight movie that would break the

2:49

interest Oh no! That's right. That's so

2:52

many things. Oh that just happened. The

2:54

Minecraft movie didn't break the internet? Yeah

2:56

it did. Yeah it did. Everyone aimed

2:59

on it and they were like don't

3:01

do this please God and then they

3:03

released the trailer and they were like

3:05

why did y'all do this? Really? It's

3:08

so stupid. It's gonna be exactly what

3:10

little Minecraft boys. Everyone whined about the

3:12

fact that they were gonna make a

3:15

Mario movie and then they did a

3:17

great job with that. I didn't mind

3:19

about that. I thought that was a

3:22

great idea and I knew they'd be

3:24

fine. Because they had that animation team

3:26

that everybody likes. But this is Jack

3:29

Black Real Life with Jason Momoa and

3:31

they're like mining. It's gonna be really

3:33

stupid. And for little babies, you're right.

3:35

That's who they're making it for, which

3:38

is fine. But like most of the

3:40

fan base doesn't want that movie, I

3:42

don't think. Kenny, you want a world

3:45

of Starcraft? I do. But I want

3:47

it like 15, like 15 years ago.

3:49

Right, it's a different world that we

3:52

live in and I don't know if

3:54

I have an MMO in me these

3:56

days, honestly. I certainly don't. Screw that

3:58

now. But do you have a video

4:01

game now? in you or did you

4:03

already was the one that you said

4:05

for Nolan was that yours? Yeah I've

4:08

already said two things. Okay so then

4:10

we all share them. And my was

4:12

the fortnight movie. And mine was GTA

4:15

7. That's a really good one. That's

4:17

funny that comes out before sick. Thank

4:19

you for bearing with us as we

4:21

just had this lengthy discussion. I'm sorry

4:24

you couldn't just mash through the dialogue

4:26

to get to the part that you

4:28

would actually enjoy. Kenny shots fired. Wait,

4:31

you dropped his name. All right. Rude.

4:33

Like in our retro game of the

4:35

week, fire emblem, path of radiance. I

4:38

like games that have path of and

4:40

then overview. We'd like to begin by

4:42

welcoming our newest director Brandon to the

4:45

show. Thank you for joining us today.

4:47

Take a moment and introduce yourself to

4:49

us to our listeners and Tell us

4:51

all why you decided to have us

4:54

and our community play path of radiance

4:56

when you could have selected any game

4:58

in the world you selected this fire

5:01

emblem game. So give us the run

5:03

down. Sure. Hi everyone. I'm Brandon. I'm

5:05

from Northern Illinois here and Been a

5:08

long time listener of the podcast. You

5:10

guys are part of the reason I

5:12

survived the COVID actually. That's how I

5:14

found you guys. So I just needed

5:17

something to keep my mind off things

5:19

and my wife's like, you should find

5:21

a podcast. And I love retro video

5:24

games. I'm a Nintendo diehard fan at

5:26

heart. So that's how I found you.

5:28

We'll be there for the next one

5:31

too. The next pandemic? And also, if

5:33

you raid and review us on iTunes

5:35

or anything else, the cure for COVID

5:37

would be a good tagline there. Let's

5:40

say I had a good ring to

5:42

it. And then, and then path of

5:44

radiance. Why that game? So it's my

5:47

first entry into the Firemoom series, my

5:49

first entry into tactical RPGs actually, and

5:51

it is probably one of my favorite

5:54

games on the Game Cube. I have

5:56

actually played this game 15 times now.

5:58

and I've avidly added for a transfer.

6:01

for the sequel, Radiant Dawn, because if

6:03

you max out your characters and all

6:05

that, you can actually transfer your data

6:07

over. Yeah, and that is a week?

6:10

Was that on week? On week? Yes,

6:12

it was on the week. Yeah, yeah,

6:14

yeah. Yeah. And one of the only

6:17

fire albums I have never played. But

6:19

it is considered one of the best.

6:21

Yeah, I don't know why I haven't

6:24

got around to it. Oh, yeah. I

6:26

love when they give you that option.

6:28

The whole, like, you played a previous

6:30

game and now you get, like, extra,

6:33

you know, bonuses from that for loyalty

6:35

is such a cool developer choice. So

6:37

that's more fun. No, and I'm actually

6:40

surprised that you played that many fire

6:42

emblems. I know that you've been a

6:44

fan of the series. I didn't know

6:47

you've played almost all of the old

6:49

ones, like on the NES and the

6:51

Super Nintendo. Well, the Famicom and the

6:53

Super Fam. Exactly, we didn't have them

6:56

yet in states. I've played all those

6:58

and then, like, the more modern ones,

7:00

there are some re-releases of those old

7:03

games on DS as well, but I

7:05

don't know why I never... I don't

7:07

know, the Wii is weird and I

7:10

was like, I don't feel like breaking

7:12

out the joy cons, that's not what

7:14

they're called, the Wii mode, yeah. Yeah,

7:17

you're dating yourself. Yeah. Fire emblem, half

7:19

of radiance, is the ninth Fire emblem

7:21

title, although only the third to be

7:23

released over here, and it's the first

7:26

to make its way to a home

7:28

console in quite some time. Obviously there

7:30

were earlier titles on Famicons, Super Famicom,

7:33

whatever else. But most of the titles

7:35

before this were handheld specific. Masayuki Horakawa

7:37

led a team from Intelligent Systems in

7:40

producing this title, which was published by

7:42

Nintendo for the Game Cube in 2005.

7:44

You find yourself in the story of

7:46

Ike, who is an up-and-coming mercenary. He's

7:49

following in his father's footsteps by training

7:51

to be a professional soldier. Pretty soon

7:53

though, you and the entire nation are

7:56

surprised by an unexpected invasion into Crimea

7:58

from the nation of of Dane and

8:00

your band of professional soldiers finds

8:02

a girl. Of course, she's a

8:05

princess and you're quickly pulled into

8:07

much broader intrigue across the continent

8:09

of Tellius. I can all of

8:11

them were surprised at the invasion,

8:13

but player was not because of

8:15

how every single player and look.

8:17

Yeah, that's how every game goes.

8:19

Yeah, I don't, that's just their

8:21

thing. I think it's funny that

8:23

they've committed so hard at this

8:25

point that they just, that's how

8:27

every story starts. Yeah. Just game

8:29

tropes. You're like, oh, we rescued

8:31

a crazy woman? Right. Of course

8:33

she's the princess. They don't mind

8:35

leaning really heavily into some of

8:37

the trophy storytelling. I wish Kenny

8:39

liked story because I like listening

8:41

to Kenny talk about story. Like

8:44

when, like, man, I just, he

8:46

doesn't care. Here's a thing he

8:48

just like story. He just doesn't

8:50

like story in video games. And

8:52

I don't mean to do this

8:54

all the time. False. False? balls.

8:56

He just like smashing buttons is

8:58

all it is. It's not the

9:00

primary thing I play video games

9:02

for, but a good well-told story

9:05

is still enjoyable. Well, he just

9:07

doesn't like reading it. That's it.

9:09

In the first play, there's something

9:11

that makes him think that I

9:14

can't, it's like rushed. Look, I

9:16

don't agree with, but I understand

9:18

the first play situation because you're

9:21

trying to entertain and in his

9:23

mind, that's not entertaining. He wants

9:25

these sultry tones to narrate life

9:27

for him and when I deprive

9:29

him of that joy he gets

9:31

salty about it. I simply want

9:33

to ask though and we probably

9:36

shouldn't have gone here this is

9:38

my fault. Kenny this week did

9:40

you engage with the story or

9:42

did you mash a? I mean

9:44

we got a whole podcast to talk about

9:46

this game and what it was

9:48

about including how it tells its

9:50

story. If you want me to

9:52

spoil that a little though. I

9:55

will tell you there was

9:57

a little bit less overwhelming

9:59

text here. a little bit more

10:01

restraint in giving you things that

10:03

mattered and getting quickly to the

10:05

point and the pacing of the

10:07

story pulled me in and kept

10:09

me up to speed generally throughout.

10:11

Hey, that's good to hear, Kenny,

10:13

because just so y'all know, Dustin,

10:15

you might know this because you've

10:17

played a couple at this point.

10:19

Well, we all have played a

10:21

couple. Sure, but you played through

10:23

Sacred Stones all the way. So

10:25

yeah, this this game has one

10:27

of the better stories in all

10:29

of fire emblem in my opinion

10:31

And I think in a lot

10:33

of people's opinion Yes, so that's

10:35

good to know Kenny that you

10:37

gave it a chance But all

10:39

fire emblems are pretty story dense

10:41

like that's one of the things

10:43

they're known for like it's tactical

10:45

RPG heavy on the RPG like

10:47

there's a lot of it's heavy

10:49

on the tactical as well But

10:51

there is a lot of a

10:53

lot of story you've got often

10:55

like different factions and governments. It's

10:57

usually across a whole continent or

10:59

multiple continents. So you've got a

11:01

cast of not just one, two,

11:03

four, ten, but a cast, a

11:05

playable cast of dozens and dozens

11:07

and dozens. Yeah, I think there's

11:09

46 characters here, which is more

11:11

characters than some lines total in

11:13

video games that I've enjoyed. You

11:15

know? It's not worth using them

11:17

all though. I'll tell you that

11:19

some of those characters are pointless.

11:21

Oh, we'll get into that. I

11:23

need your full entire tier list.

11:25

We probably give you that. We

11:27

have only played two other fire

11:29

emblems on the podcast. Yes. They

11:31

are sacred stones. Yeah. Sacred stones.

11:33

And a Japanese name that I

11:35

don't remember. Well, we say it

11:37

in English. You say it in

11:39

English as mystery of the. History

11:42

of the emblem. There we go.

11:44

Mystery of the emblem. And this

11:46

is. Kenny already said, but this

11:48

is a Game Cube game. We've

11:50

played a couple of games somewhat

11:52

recently that are also on Game

11:54

Cube, but on... other

11:56

consoles, what's the

11:58

last Gamecube exclusive

12:00

game we played,

12:02

hint, it was

12:04

also a director's

12:06

episode. Pikmin? No,

12:08

not Pikmin. Ooh,

12:10

exclusive. Yeah, because Pikmin

12:12

was on different things well. No, no,

12:14

no, it was exclusive, but like I'm

12:16

just trying to think of other exclusives.

12:18

You're right, it was exclusive. We played

12:20

one since then. I would have said

12:22

Resident Evil 4 because that was a

12:24

director's episode, but that came out on

12:27

PS2 as well. Right, I don't know.

12:29

Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness. Was that

12:31

the one? I think that's the Pokemon

12:33

game you all don't remember, right? It

12:35

is correct. I remember it. Nolan has

12:37

no recollection whatsoever, I don't think I

12:39

played that. I don't think any of

12:41

us did. That didn't happen. It was

12:44

a fever dream. Oh, you guys did.

12:46

We did. Oh, we made you... Oh,

12:48

you did, and I own that game

12:50

actually. Hey. OK. That's a great game.

12:52

So we're not only coming back to

12:54

the Fire Emblem series after a long

12:56

hiatus. We're coming back to the Gamecube

12:58

exclusive after a fairly lengthy hiatus. Another

13:00

reason I chose it because the Gamecube

13:03

is such an underrated, underappreciated system. Hard

13:05

to agree. I mean, it was really

13:07

slept on because PS2 was so prominent

13:09

in Xbox. Yes, it was. Gamecube kind

13:11

of got forgotten about in that time.

13:13

Since then, though, Nolan has picked up

13:15

the controller, replaced his teddy bear with

13:17

it next to him and gone to

13:19

sleep caressing it, so... I do caress.

13:22

do caress. Yeah, it gets the love

13:24

that it deserves. I mean, it is

13:26

the best controller ever made. From Nolan.

13:28

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Whoa, whoa.

13:30

It's a reason. Finally on this podcast.

13:32

That's why it came out on three

13:34

systems after the Gamecube, Dustin, because we

13:36

love it. Because of the controller? What

13:38

are we talking about here? Dave Kemp's

13:41

support for it all the way up

13:43

until now. Yeah, the Gamecube was supported

13:45

on the Wii, the Wii U, and

13:47

the Switch. It is most notably used

13:49

for Smash Brothers. It is like the

13:51

go -to controller. Another game we don't

13:53

really love around. Yes, some of the

13:55

same ones of us do. Cut the

13:57

tapes. Quick

14:00

reminder that the new Game Plus

14:02

podcast is entirely supported by your

14:04

contributions on Patreon. For as little

14:07

as $5 a month you can

14:09

support your favorite retro gaming podcast

14:11

and also get really cool perks

14:13

like early access first plays to

14:15

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14:17

episodes all kinds of cool stuff

14:20

is on there. If you want

14:22

to check it out all you've

14:24

got to do is head on

14:26

over to Patreon.com/NGP podcast we so

14:28

appreciate your support. Gameplay.

14:32

Every fire emblem we've already

14:34

said has a wide cast of

14:36

characters, but you always have your

14:39

lord, or in some games it's

14:41

not your, the class isn't lord,

14:43

it's Ranger in this case, but

14:45

you have your main character

14:47

that's going through the story. And

14:49

Ike, I think, I know, this is just

14:52

a fact, that Ike was introduced

14:54

to a lot of people through

14:56

Smash Brothers, just like Martha was.

14:58

Oh yeah, just because we didn't

15:00

have the series, right? I was

15:03

introduced to him through this game,

15:05

but he was in Broll. And

15:07

so again, Smash Brothers brings fire

15:09

emblem to people, I think. And

15:11

I mean, or you just confused

15:13

him with Mark because he kind

15:15

of looks just like Mark. He's

15:18

got blue hair, you know. There

15:20

is a there is a look.

15:22

Yeah, this whole universe has. Yeah.

15:24

We talked about it before, but.

15:26

Japan didn't send fire emblem our

15:28

way for the longest time, our North

15:30

Americans, because they thought we were stupid.

15:33

And they're not wrong. Yeah, yeah, the

15:35

right. We had advanced wars, which is

15:37

later, is that what it's called? Yeah.

15:39

It wasn't much later, even the early

15:41

ones? Yeah. Well, yeah, earlier, later than

15:44

96 and stuff, but like, like,

15:46

even, like in the early 2000s

15:48

and stuff, I think was some

15:51

advanced wars, and that was our

15:53

Americanized version of fire emblem. I

15:55

mean, it was like, let's make

15:57

it war. Yeah, you're right, war.

16:00

tanks something they can comprehend if fire

16:02

emblem is anime chess you know then

16:04

this is just yeah it's war chess

16:06

yeah you know I don't know but

16:09

it's um and it was our version

16:11

then eventually what was I guess I

16:13

should have done my research a little

16:15

bit better what was the first fire

16:18

and my favorite one came out in

16:20

2003 sacred stones no fire one's seven's

16:22

called the blazing blade is the trans

16:24

letter name And it was handheld both

16:27

the first two were handheld. Yeah. We

16:29

already said this one was the first

16:31

one to Game Cube a fire emblem

16:33

all has the same kind of you

16:36

said you said Ranger for I didn't

16:38

even know who's Yeah that's a class.

16:40

Oh I didn't even I didn't even

16:42

recognize. But the thing that does make

16:45

him a little bit unique here not

16:47

only is that Ranger is his class

16:49

instead of Lord is that I think

16:52

this is the only one or at

16:54

least at the time was the only.

16:56

protagonist or lead character that wasn't a

16:58

part of the nobility. Like he's just

17:01

kind of a commoner. He's he's a

17:03

mercenary at the beginning of this game.

17:05

And he's a pretty poor one. Like

17:07

he's, I mean, at the opening cut

17:10

scene is him being beaten by his

17:12

dad basically. And then you do the

17:14

tutorial. And if you're Kenny, you're running

17:16

away the whole time. So interesting. We'll

17:19

have to talk about that. And but

17:21

the arc. of Ike in this one,

17:23

I think, was the thing that was

17:25

most interesting to me because he starts

17:28

as a commoner, not as a lord,

17:30

and he doesn't start off as some

17:32

skilled warrior. He's just a part of

17:35

Merck crew, and by later, he's different.

17:37

Immediately more interesting to me as well.

17:39

Like, I love that setup, always have

17:41

in this game. I... I like Ike

17:44

as a lord, he's up there for

17:46

me. Which I've got to ask, and

17:48

I don't mean to just take over

17:50

the conversation the whole time. I've heard

17:53

people say that he's more relatable since

17:55

he's not a lord and he's this.

17:57

I've heard a lot of people when

17:59

they talk about games and movies and

18:02

other things, but games often that... I

18:04

can relate or I can't relate to

18:06

this character. I've never needed to relate

18:08

to any I haven't heard like I

18:11

don't need to see me as the

18:13

protagonist. I'm not cool. I don't need

18:15

to tell tell me their story because

18:17

life is boring. Yes. One thousand percent.

18:20

Now is that you or do you

18:22

like to see yourself in the video

18:24

game? And I know this might be

18:27

privileged because there's a lot of like.

18:29

I don't know. My type of people

18:31

in video games, but I don't know.

18:33

I never need need to see myself

18:36

represented. I'm definitely not a self-insert like

18:38

player either. Yeah. Like I just want

18:40

the character to be who the character

18:42

is. Yeah. I will say though, I

18:45

like the fact that I is like

18:47

a commoner and throughout the story. You

18:49

see how, you know, somebody, like I

18:51

think it's inspiring for people because you

18:54

could see how you can come from

18:56

like being a commoner and work your

18:58

way up in the world and really

19:00

become someone like it doesn't matter if

19:03

you're born into like royalty or privilege

19:05

or whatever it's about your actions and

19:07

what you do with your life that

19:10

defines who you are not your birth

19:12

status. Oh yeah capitalism. Yeah, no, and

19:14

I agree with being inspired by some

19:16

of those things for sure. And I

19:19

do think like for me, why it's

19:21

interesting is because it is different than

19:23

the rest of the stories and the

19:25

rest of the games. Like having a

19:28

commoner that does rise up and become

19:30

something new and different is, yeah, it's

19:32

great. I love that. I mean, sure,

19:34

you've got to help out royalty one

19:37

way or another. Right. But characters are

19:39

a very centralized. Huge thing in the

19:41

series, and it's no exception in this

19:43

game. They start you with in chapter

19:46

one, the game's broken up into chapters

19:48

versus, I mean, you could call them

19:50

stages, they're called chapters because that's it's

19:53

selling a story. They give you a

19:55

group of characters that you can start

19:57

with, you can invest in those, or

19:59

as you progress in the chapter. you

20:02

will come across new characters and you

20:04

might go, oh, I like their look,

20:06

or oh, I like that class, that

20:08

might be interesting, and you can invest

20:11

in them, or you can bench them,

20:13

is what people typically say. But did

20:15

you guys have a standout in like

20:17

the early chapters, like in the first

20:20

ones? Because another trope in fire emblem

20:22

is giving you a Marcus. Oh, you're

20:24

talking about like an overpowered unit. Yeah,

20:26

overpowered. I mean, you get you get

20:29

that year absolutely night. Yeah, titty is

20:31

great. Still color that? You can't. It's

20:33

crazy. Set in sacred stones. How do

20:35

you pronounce it? titanium. Oh, titanium. It's

20:38

probably tautania. It's a tautonia. It's a

20:40

tautonia. Oh, tautanium. My bad. For sure.

20:42

I was close. Yeah. Great unit I

20:45

wreck some people are like no don't

20:47

use them. They're already promoted like they

20:49

Um Brandon's it's a waste of X

20:51

P give the X P to other

20:54

underlevel characters and yeah do that but

20:56

don't bench your Marcus character. There's two

20:58

good. They're way too quick call in

21:00

your Marcus character. Okay. I also play

21:03

on hard mode and you have to

21:05

use them like earlier strongly disagree. I

21:07

have been hard mode five times I

21:09

disarm her I never use her I

21:12

Your life's miserable for the first 10

21:14

chapters? No! Yeah. But why? Is it

21:16

because you kind of guys want to

21:18

make the game harder for yourself? Like

21:21

she, here's the thing, I wouldn't use

21:23

her if she leaves the party or

21:25

whatever, but she stays with you. So

21:28

like, why would you not? Yes. Harder.

21:30

Don't. It hurts the other player, gross.

21:32

Yeah, sure. You've got to balance it

21:34

off. But use her. Like. strategically and

21:37

so that your other characters can get

21:39

the easier units and you can maybe

21:41

take her down a difficult path because

21:43

the map design in this game is

21:46

fantastic and really challenging unlike a lot

21:48

of the other fire emblem games that

21:50

can get kind of cookie cutter. Nolan

21:52

talks about benching characters. It's the choice

21:55

you're gonna have to make to figure

21:57

out who else you're gonna have to

21:59

play. For a lot of us,

22:01

it's not benching characters that defines

22:04

your roster, it's the fact that

22:06

your characters are dying off and

22:08

they're getting cold because this game

22:10

has permedeth. It does. It's another

22:13

fire emblem staple. And Kenny, I

22:15

was thinking about that this week

22:17

and I never put two and

22:19

two together. I think that's why I

22:21

like hardcore mode and ate my

22:23

ARPGs and like any game that

22:25

offers a one death solution. I

22:27

love the challenge of that. Fire

22:29

and One Path of Radio. Yeah,

22:31

because when I play these games,

22:33

if I characterize, I don't reset.

22:35

I play Iron Man, I just

22:38

got. You're the only one though,

22:40

like, it's such a bad, forced

22:42

mechanic. It's not great, and they

22:44

know it's not. That's why in

22:46

recent Fire Imblems, what do they

22:48

allow you to do? No. Those

22:50

games suck. I'm sorry. The reason

22:52

it is good is because it

22:54

makes gameplay decisions matter. Good

22:56

game design. That's flawless game design. Actually,

22:58

when your when your choices have weight,

23:00

Kenny, you agree with this. So don't

23:03

try to rebuttal. No, no, no, I'm

23:05

going to take it a step further.

23:07

It's only fun when you have that

23:09

kind of mechanic, if you can't save

23:11

scum, and the nature of these games

23:13

mean if you want to go and

23:15

unkill that character, you just start the

23:17

fight over. That's fine. No, no, no,

23:19

no, no. It's only fun if the

23:21

decisions you make. If the decisions you

23:23

make. are always the determining factor and

23:25

that's not the case in fire emblem

23:28

it's not the case in this game

23:30

you can make fine decisions and then

23:32

the game roll the rolls behind the

23:35

scenes can make it to where it

23:37

doesn't matter how well you plan you

23:39

could still lose and the characters that's

23:41

how the end works too right and

23:44

life and life And I don't like

23:46

it! I love games that don't let

23:48

you just be God mode. And I

23:51

just, I like this as a fundamental

23:53

mechanic of dead is dead on your

23:55

characters. Way better. Way

23:57

better. You've always enjoyed pain.

24:00

your video games. You always enjoy

24:02

that and in real life. I

24:04

have historically never in a fire

24:06

emblem allowed any character to die

24:08

until this week. This week I

24:10

allowed a character to die. Who

24:12

do you not like? I think

24:14

Who was it? Well, it's not

24:16

just that. It's, it's, I think,

24:19

just that. Did you hear it?

24:21

Yeah, I understand that your majors

24:23

and your healers need to be

24:25

weaker to some degree or have

24:27

some, if you're gonna give them

24:29

strings on one hand, you need

24:31

to limit their movement or you

24:33

need to limit their, uh, their

24:35

defense or something. You know, they

24:38

do need to have some kind

24:40

of balance like that. You have

24:42

to get them experienced to level

24:44

them up to make them strong

24:46

enough that they can be viable

24:48

in battle. And once they're viable

24:50

in battle, they're very strong. But

24:52

you can't get them the experience

24:55

because they can never make it

24:57

to an enemy to fight them

24:59

in the first place. You put

25:01

them behind your other troops. They

25:03

can't get there. They're too slow.

25:05

They're too slow. I let him

25:07

stay dead. I don't care all

25:09

use. All use, all within the

25:11

areas to heal. I'm not gonna...

25:14

He is too slow. He doesn't

25:16

get enough experience. He's only healing

25:18

for 6-H-P and then he gets

25:20

6 experience. That's not... It's poorly

25:22

tuned. It's poorly tuned. And they're

25:24

too slow to even get into

25:26

battle. The battle's done before they

25:28

can even get to the first

25:30

person. He's not there to fight.

25:33

We can talk about the other

25:35

guy that starts with the letter

25:37

S. This is the winment. Thank

25:39

you. Um, he don't. He is

25:41

there. What about say about Sorn?

25:43

He's great. Okay. I love him.

25:45

Okay. Does he ever get to

25:47

fight anybody? No, because he's so

25:50

far away. You know, you go

25:52

use him properly then. I do

25:54

know. I go. No, no, no,

25:56

no. Yeah, we clearly do. Please

25:58

you know if I played again.

26:00

I'd let rise die again. If

26:02

you know, dude, if you told

26:04

me that only for story reasons

26:06

and not for functionality reasons, I'd

26:09

give you a break. But he's

26:11

a great useful care. Oh, he's

26:13

very useful. He's vital. Yes, he

26:15

is. Vital. He's very important for

26:17

story as well. If you let

26:19

him tell you, you miss out

26:21

story wise on a whole bunch

26:23

of stories. I don't even understand

26:25

how that makes sense. How can

26:28

you have, because I, my understanding,

26:30

every character can die except you,

26:32

permit death except you, Ike? Game

26:34

over, Ike dies. Correct. So what

26:36

happens if you're rolling the whole

26:38

game with Ike? You don't got

26:40

any story anymore? Well you do,

26:42

but you will miss out on

26:45

parts of the story. It depends

26:47

on who's alive, because after each

26:49

chapter, when you get to the

26:51

base part, you have your support

26:53

stats, you have your other information.

26:55

You have certain characters who aren't

26:57

in your party, you're going to

26:59

miss out on those parts of

27:01

the story. Yeah, but I'm saying

27:04

if Ike's your only guy that's

27:06

alive, and I know that's probably

27:08

not actually possible, without some kind

27:10

of cheap. Or maybe that's ridiculously

27:12

strong. They say Ike, I've heard

27:14

rumors that Ike is a weak

27:16

lord in the series. You can

27:18

take hike by himself and beat

27:20

this game, honestly. Okay, then you

27:23

can literally permaloose all the rest

27:25

of the characters. What story is

27:27

there then? Because in each cut

27:29

scene in between the, you know,

27:31

the battles, there's a lot of

27:33

dialogue. That actually sounds great to

27:35

me. Okay. 46 characters is overwhelming.

27:37

I want a traditional RPG. Yeah.

27:40

Let me just take Ike through

27:42

his stuff. You're still going to

27:44

get the core story of the

27:46

game as you progress. really great

27:48

about these games is the support

27:50

conversations that the relationship. So in

27:52

the base, you can talk if

27:54

I forget the role. because each

27:56

firearm alone has different rules about

27:59

how you unlock support conversations. I

28:01

believe it's the traditional one still

28:03

in path of radiance where if

28:05

you are fighting alongside another unit

28:07

like spatially you get this hidden

28:09

XP bar for lack of a

28:11

better term that that goes up

28:13

and you can hit break points

28:15

and start conversations with them in

28:18

the base and you get their

28:20

backstory and they have like Ike

28:22

has a different backstory with Taitiana

28:24

than he then he has with

28:26

mist and sorin, whoever else he

28:28

can support with. And it goes

28:30

from C to S or C

28:32

to A, A conversations. C, B,

28:35

A, and then you get bonuses

28:37

in battle for higher ranks of

28:39

support conversations if you're close to

28:41

that unit. It's a great hidden

28:43

mechanic. and it's tied to the

28:45

story. I think it's another staple

28:47

of the series and I think

28:49

it's done well. I'd buy it.

28:51

It's that whole like mom lifted

28:54

a car off their kids' strength.

28:56

Like when you care about someone,

28:58

you're gonna go to back for

29:00

them. And I think it's a

29:02

fun mechanic that like isn't required,

29:04

but that encourages you to learn

29:06

the characters a little bit more,

29:08

encourages you to think one level

29:10

deeper in battle when you are

29:13

trying to try hard and be

29:15

strategic. And like it's an optional

29:17

thing. but it's a nice sort

29:19

of extra set of flavor that

29:21

you can get into and gives

29:23

you more reason if you have

29:25

favorite characters to like kind of

29:27

just focus on and use them

29:30

all together just tons of options

29:32

and huge replayability factor too that's

29:34

actually the reason why I replayed

29:36

FE7 so much growing up was

29:38

like I want to support Matthew

29:40

and um guy and see what

29:42

that does and I like you

29:44

know do you know this whole

29:46

conversation started with what are our

29:49

favorite characters at the early game

29:51

that we never answered well hold

29:53

on Brandon I want to I

29:55

want to clear up here so

29:57

uh no what it is is

29:59

they got to be within three

30:01

spaces of each other and it

30:03

It's about how many chapters they're

30:05

around each other. And like, for

30:08

example, Soren and Ike, if you

30:10

keep them around each other, and

30:12

on your menu screen for your

30:14

characters, if you tab over, you

30:16

can see the support boost. But

30:18

like, Sorn and Ike, they have

30:20

like one of the best ones.

30:22

Like, if you keep them together

30:25

and their support gets to A

30:27

level, Soren will basically dodge every

30:29

attack. Oh yeah, he becomes a beast

30:31

if he levels up with Ike.

30:33

And like if you pair like

30:35

Nifini and Brom, she's a tank.

30:37

Oh, interesting. Yeah, she's my go-to.

30:39

I like not knowing the specific

30:41

bonuses. I think that's fun to

30:44

try to like figure that out

30:46

later as you unlock it. Like

30:48

I don't I don't remember if

30:51

the more modern entries reveal those

30:53

stats or if they keep them

30:55

kind of like behind the scenes

30:57

still, but I. people always figure them

30:59

out whether they're surface or not and

31:01

it can be fun to do that

31:03

one or two times by the time

31:05

you've played the game 15 times though

31:07

you're gonna have a sense of who

31:10

gets along well with who and like regardless

31:12

that's just how that's gonna go well

31:14

I have the players guide I'm a

31:16

big strategy guy when I play games

31:18

like this because I want to know

31:20

all the information and yeah so like I've

31:23

even gone as far as like

31:25

make notes for like my starting

31:27

position for my units, how to

31:29

do the first or second move

31:31

for the best playthroughs, like what

31:33

items can you not bypass this

31:35

point, like how to maximize your

31:37

support at each chapter. Like I've

31:39

really, really gotten into this game.

31:41

There's even a YouTube channel that

31:43

goes through and shows you in

31:45

hard mode how to get through

31:47

the prison chapter stealthwise to get

31:49

the mass bonus experience. And I

31:51

actually studied that video so much I

31:53

wrote down a... step by step by turn

31:56

how to do it for people and have

31:58

helped people get through that chat. Are

32:00

you talking about Chapter 10? I

32:02

believe so the one where you're

32:04

getting the Feeney and Brahmin and

32:06

all that. Yeah, the prison, yeah,

32:08

that chapter is pretty brutal. Yeah,

32:10

if you get through its stealth,

32:12

you get like 900 bonus experience.

32:14

You talked about one of the

32:16

important things that you do is

32:18

like finding all of the weapons

32:20

that your characters need. I think

32:22

it's worth pointing out that there

32:24

is durability. on your weapons in

32:26

this game, which is not always

32:28

a mechanic that you have. And

32:30

you also have weapon selection choices

32:32

as well, which is super helpful

32:34

because, like many other fire emblem

32:36

games, you've got the triangle system,

32:38

the rock, paper, scissors, axe, sword,

32:41

lance, strategic circle that you've got

32:43

to pay attention to. Yeah, strategic

32:45

circle is crazy when it's a

32:47

triangle. Way you could have said

32:49

that incorrectly because that's not how

32:51

they line up It's a triangle

32:53

you can list them in any

32:55

order and that's how they line

32:57

up No, it's no because I

32:59

want to know one is better

33:01

than the other I was listing

33:03

them in a circle and a

33:05

triangle fits exactly in a circle

33:07

everything dust a second way your

33:09

reasoning is crazy to y'all are

33:11

both crazy brand is going to

33:13

explain the triangle really quick. Yeah.

33:15

We should actually explain it And

33:17

at some point, y'all will allow

33:19

me to get back to the

33:21

character question, which I don't know

33:23

why we're allowing us to go

33:25

about. This is crazy. So it's

33:27

sword to axe that has an

33:29

advantage, axe to lance it has

33:31

an advantage, and lance the sword

33:33

that has an advantage, and lance

33:35

the sword that has an advantage.

33:37

And if you think about a

33:40

real-life battle, that's exactly how it

33:42

would work out. Yeah. You know,

33:44

you can get in on like

33:46

a Lance user pretty decent and

33:48

a Lance can get to a

33:50

sword person pretty easy. A gun

33:52

would beat him all. Guns a

33:54

coward's weapon. Yeah. Ike would never.

33:56

Okay, Dustin's favorite unit. Speaking of

33:58

Ike, he's a character. Oh. You

34:01

just want to tell us who

34:03

your favorite character is and you

34:05

won't want to ask any other

34:07

question for ever ago. Answer, Nolan's

34:09

question. It's clearly not rice, so

34:12

who is it? Rice dead. Yeah.

34:14

Poor rice. Rest in peace. I

34:16

hate shh. Shinone Shinan? I don't

34:18

know. All of these are as

34:20

a person because he's very racist,

34:22

which is a big part of

34:24

the story here, which you wouldn't

34:26

expect in a fire emblem, I

34:28

don't think. Although maybe there are

34:30

some of those kinds, because you

34:32

always have different instructions. Yeah, that's

34:34

a big plot point here is

34:37

the lagoons. And the other. is

34:39

mounted, which by the way, I

34:41

think in any fire emblem, your

34:43

mounted units are just opie. Like,

34:45

they can move so crazy, they

34:47

do so much damage. Mobility is

34:49

super. Well, your favorite, especially being

34:51

able to get in and then

34:53

back out when you need to.

34:55

It's crazy. Your favorite and least

34:57

favorite line up with truth. Yes,

35:00

mounted units are amazing. Archers and

35:02

fire emblem typically suck. They have

35:04

one purpose and it's to. kill

35:06

flying units really well and that

35:08

happens you know that that happens

35:10

and they can be fine but

35:12

they need like they need to

35:14

be promoted all the way and

35:16

then have like the best bows

35:18

in the game to give them

35:20

extra range and stuff to be

35:23

good so that lines up majors

35:25

are better yeah majors are better

35:27

than archers yeah yeah can never

35:29

get to any enemy I also

35:31

really liked Marcia because she is

35:33

She's a little bit later in

35:35

the early game, but first Pegasus

35:37

night being a yes I think

35:39

she's the first peg night you

35:41

get right so just being able

35:43

to I'm telling you any mounted

35:45

unit is just right strong so

35:48

not I agree Marci is my

35:50

answer I love that oh really

35:52

yes yes not only for what

35:54

you said get in get out

35:56

but but for being able to

35:58

pick up units and keep them

36:00

safe like and transport them out

36:02

of battle if they're into something

36:04

dangerous. Huge mechanic. Very good. All

36:06

right, Kenny, did you have a

36:08

favorite, least favorite? No, I'm surprised

36:10

that two of the ones you

36:13

listed as some of your favorites

36:15

were favorites though, Boyd and whatever

36:17

forgettable. You're just trying to make

36:19

me mad that. No, it's Boyd

36:21

and Oscar, Kenny. Yeah, they're brothers.

36:23

The first character that I lost

36:25

and I was like, oh, maybe

36:27

I'll just let him stay dead.

36:29

No, no, no. I went back

36:31

and like a normal person replayed

36:33

the map and saved him. But

36:35

how did you lose him? He

36:38

got it. I, uh, I sent

36:40

him out too far by himself.

36:42

And it was, it was for strategy.

36:44

I learned. And he, I, I, I

36:46

treated him like I treated Satania and

36:48

he's not that strong. No. And so

36:50

I sent him off to like. skirmish

36:52

little thing and try and get out

36:55

of there and he didn't have quite

36:57

the mobility and then he got swarmed.

36:59

I learned my lesson. We did better

37:01

with him in the future, but he

37:03

was my first casualty. That's unfortunate man.

37:05

Paladin's one of my favorite classes in

37:07

all fire emblem and he gets. Which

37:09

is to Tanya, right? Yes, which is

37:11

to Teton. She starts as one, but if you

37:14

get Oscar up there, I mean, it's GGs.

37:16

Brandon, who are a couple of your favorites?

37:18

My favorite is probably Naphini who you get

37:20

when you rescue her from there like I

37:22

said I feel like she's very underrated I've

37:24

read online a lot of people like oh

37:27

she's not that good unless you invest about

37:29

at a time in her investing yeah

37:31

yeah I'm like you just use some

37:33

bonus exp on her right away get

37:35

her levels up and like I said

37:37

if you pair her with brom she

37:39

is a tank and especially in the

37:41

sequel oh Naphini is a boy she

37:44

will take out entire chapters by herself

37:46

she can become a general I love

37:48

that character yeah that's fun Uh, a

37:50

hell breeder or whatever? Oh, there's like

37:52

a different game for it. Yeah, okay.

37:54

Yeah, that's what, uh, that's what, uh,

37:56

gat street, right? Oh, my god. General's,

37:58

yeah, she's the other one. So she's

38:00

one of my favorites. I also

38:02

like Marcia as well. And then

38:04

Boyd Oscar. Yeah, and. He's 46

38:06

kids. He just keeps going. No,

38:08

I also like Jill a lot.

38:11

Another. Oh, yes. Jill is awesome.

38:13

Unit. She is a unit and

38:15

a unit. And I like Asterid

38:17

as well. Did you just say?

38:19

Seven times. They just said it

38:21

too. But, and I followed. I

38:23

also like Iliana. I think she's

38:25

better than Soren. You think so?

38:27

Like stat-wise? If you invest in

38:29

her, she's awesome. For folks who

38:31

didn't play along with us this

38:33

week, we should explain the difference

38:35

between the races that you come

38:37

to learn about here. Oh yeah.

38:40

Because that's an important thing with

38:42

like gameplay elements, especially as you

38:44

get later into the game, and

38:46

aren't just playing as the humans.

38:48

The Bayork is in this. World

38:50

but also get to play as

38:52

the I'm gonna pronounce it wrong

38:54

the the lag is the lag

38:56

is the laggoe How would you

38:58

say it? That's probably better. You've

39:00

got three or is just those

39:02

two? It's sleep. Those are like

39:04

the primary ones, but and yeah

39:06

more not more. Well, I wasn't

39:09

saying units. No, he's saying races.

39:11

It's just the two different races

39:13

or is there three? I think

39:15

it's just two. It's two races,

39:17

but there are four types of

39:19

lagoons, which is worth pointing out.

39:21

You have the beast tribe, you

39:23

have the bird tribe, which you

39:25

have hawks, and you have the-

39:27

That's the honest. Nolan? I don't

39:29

like birds, guys. Squire's straight for

39:31

real ones. I forget what the

39:33

other one is. What's the other

39:36

one? No. Because you got the

39:38

hawk birds and then you got

39:40

the black birds. I forget what

39:42

they are. I think they're raven.

39:44

Oh, raven and heron. There we

39:46

go, yes. And then heron, yeah.

39:48

And the dragon as well. So

39:50

you've got different categories in each

39:52

of the broader. But anyway, they're

39:54

beast people. Yeah, their main thing

39:56

is they're animals. And they are

39:58

very different from your other units

40:00

as well, gameplay wise. The mechanic

40:02

with those characters is, they're very

40:05

strong when they are in animal

40:07

form. Correct. When they are in

40:09

animal form, which is the trick.

40:11

They have a meter that builds,

40:13

that allows them to assume that

40:15

form and get their abilities. And

40:17

most of them, if not all

40:19

of them, are melee, and you

40:21

have like, they're not a. Are

40:23

any of them ranged? I think

40:25

they're all melee. All melee. They

40:27

hit very hard, but when they're

40:29

out of that form, they're very

40:31

vulnerable. And personally, I don't like

40:34

dealing with them. They're good. I

40:36

do use the more damage they

40:38

take, the faster they transform to.

40:40

A little bit of risk reward.

40:42

Right, which I don't like. I

40:44

don't like taking damage mechanics because

40:46

I like to play carefully. So.

40:48

Oh yeah, no. I'm not a

40:50

fan of them either. No one's

40:52

the whole reason these countries are

40:54

at war. Like that! I didn't

40:56

mean I didn't like them. We

40:58

don't like using them, Dustin. I

41:00

don't like using them. They're just

41:03

not the best choice of characters,

41:05

honestly. Except for the heron. When

41:07

you get the heron... I don't

41:09

remember what that is. He looks

41:11

like an angel. And he transforms

41:13

into a swan. Tabarn? You get

41:15

him. The character to barn? Is

41:17

he what you're talking about? No,

41:19

no, no, no. He is, you

41:21

probably didn't get that far in

41:23

the game. I didn't. But he,

41:25

okay, yeah, he is a support

41:27

character and you can use him

41:29

for a distance when he's in

41:32

his human form. He can reactivate

41:34

four people. That's insane. Wow. Yeah,

41:36

that is huge. So. So you

41:38

just get four people all around

41:40

him reactivate them and you can

41:42

use four people twice. He is

41:44

a like S-tier character for sure.

41:46

Yeah dancers always are like reactivating

41:48

a unit that's already gone on

41:50

the field. is just a P.

41:52

Yeah, it's awesome. I know that

41:54

this is going to be hard

41:56

to believe if you are a

41:58

fan of the New Game Plus

42:01

podcast, but we are nearing the

42:03

end of our gameplay section and

42:05

haven't talked about how to play

42:07

the game yet. I have scattered

42:09

in very, very many important game

42:11

mechanics. We have talked about fire

42:13

emblem two podcast episodes before, so

42:15

it's the same. We said anime

42:17

chess. It really is out. It's

42:19

a grid-like stage where you're able

42:21

to move your units around. Each

42:23

unit is different. than the other

42:25

and they have different, they have

42:27

different abilities. We've talked about the,

42:30

you know, the weapon circle according

42:32

to Kinney and how those interact

42:34

with one another. Every triangle can

42:36

fit in a circle. Which has

42:38

no bearing to the conversation. But

42:40

you're moving these units around and

42:42

you have a different, one thing

42:44

that I really respect about the

42:46

fire emblem series at large, but

42:48

particularly path of radiance because I

42:50

feel like every, I really felt

42:52

like more than my. previous fire

42:54

emblem experience, that each stage is

42:56

different, not just in its layout,

42:59

but each stage is different in

43:01

what is being asked of you.

43:03

Now, they're gonna have to cycle

43:05

through some of them, but you've

43:07

got a lot of different wind

43:09

conditions. You've got C's, route, escape,

43:11

defend, survive, just are just some

43:13

of the few, but like, they're

43:15

drastically different. So on one, you

43:17

might be trying, you're overwhelmed, and

43:19

there are more reinforcements coming in.

43:21

You don't need to stay and

43:23

fight. You need to try to

43:25

get out, escape, so you have

43:28

to try to get to a

43:30

particular point on the map. And

43:32

once you get there, then no

43:34

matter how many rounds in or

43:36

how many enemies left, you've completed

43:38

that battle. There's another one where

43:40

it's survive. You have to survive

43:42

six, you know, or so rounds.

43:44

And so it's just like waves.

43:46

It's hard. Defend up and try

43:48

to survive as much as possible.

43:50

You've of course got the ones

43:52

that are clear the map that

43:54

are clear the map and stuff.

43:57

tethered into the story. I really

43:59

appreciate. I also love that within

44:01

those maps, there's also other interactibles. There's

44:03

bushes you can stand on that kill you.

44:05

There's houses you can go talk to people

44:07

that are optional, but that they may thank

44:09

you for coming in and rescuing them and

44:12

give you an item or give you something

44:14

helpful. There's all kinds of things to do

44:16

that are sort of, I don't know, icing,

44:18

like stuff that they wouldn't have to put

44:20

in there, but they were like, if we're

44:22

letting someone go in and. Spend all of

44:25

this time doing things if they're going to

44:27

be thorough and explore and be creative. We're

44:29

going to reward them for that. Yeah, later

44:31

in the game there's also desert, there's

44:33

like hills and rocks and things that

44:35

will affect like if you can avoid

44:38

or if your accuracy is lower and

44:40

things like that too. So many of

44:42

the things on the field that really

44:44

impact the gameplay too, which is awesome

44:46

because like you said, Dustin, it really

44:49

makes it feel different every stage you

44:51

go to. And it gives us that

44:53

more realistic feel like when you're in

44:55

the desert, your heavy units will not

44:57

move very far. Well, because you think

45:00

about sand, right? If you're wearing armor,

45:02

you're going to sink. You know, and that's...

45:04

Some games, it's not like that. You know,

45:06

it's just, it's the same, even though it's

45:08

different, it doesn't impact that. Where fire them,

45:11

it's more realistic, and I like that. I

45:13

mean just to add on to that like

45:15

there are some where there's bridges so that

45:17

you have to cross so that serves as

45:20

choke points there are some that are like

45:22

in the forest but there are some that

45:24

are in a fortress you know which are

45:26

similarly spelled but very different experiences in the

45:29

game I I just really felt more than

45:31

any other fire emblem that I was doing

45:33

something very different on each stage. And

45:35

that's a really hard thing to do

45:37

with so many chapters. And so many

45:39

fire emblem games. But I really do

45:41

think they did it here. Speaking of

45:44

bridges later in the game, there's a

45:46

bridge level that has booty traps on

45:48

it. Where if you step on the

45:50

wrong space, you fall down on spikes

45:52

and it paralyzes you for like a

45:54

turn or two. It's pretty brutal. Because

45:56

it's like reinforced bridge bridge by the

45:58

enemy. That's another interesting aspect. There's really

46:00

no good way to tell it's just

46:02

random and you just you might get

46:04

messed up wherever you land and you're

46:06

like, oh great. One of the things

46:08

that I really respect about this game

46:11

is that. It's got so many options

46:13

for you to customize and tailor your

46:15

experience so it's more enjoyable for you.

46:17

Now I've seen in another fire and

46:19

limbs where you can turn off the

46:21

battle animations and people like y'all just

46:23

do it for speed as if you're

46:25

not trying to get into the story

46:27

and really watch him slide across and

46:29

do a crit hit with the sword.

46:32

Like I never turn those off. I

46:34

just turned like dialogue speed up and

46:36

I turn battle speed up and movement

46:38

speed and some of those things but

46:40

you've got so many options and then

46:42

on top of that. In contrast to

46:44

last week's game, which was red alert,

46:46

that had no tutorial, this game has

46:48

a robust tutorial that... It's completely optional.

46:50

Like you can turn it on, you

46:52

can turn it off, you can decide

46:55

early on, you can decide to watch

46:57

them later. And they are so helpful.

46:59

It's not just text, it's a visual

47:01

showing you how to do each and

47:03

every component. Now, here's a thing. I

47:05

played fire in them, so I really

47:07

didn't need them, but it was a

47:09

good refresher and they were pretty quick.

47:11

It was just so nice. I'm just

47:13

talking about from, they thought about so

47:15

many things from the options to customize

47:18

your experience to customize your experience to

47:20

the. to the tutorial, so many things

47:22

make it where it doesn't necessarily make

47:24

the game easier, but it does make

47:26

the game easier to play. That's what

47:28

it is. It doesn't make it easier,

47:30

but easier to play. Let's you play

47:32

it the way you want to and

47:34

still give you the experience of the

47:36

game, both from characters and strategy viewpoints,

47:38

but also UI and customization and all

47:41

those other things as well. Just, they

47:43

really went the last mile in making

47:45

a fully fleshed out game and world

47:47

experience. I just wish you could have

47:49

had a choice in where your level

47:51

ups went. Like, I know you mentioned

47:53

at your first by Kenny that always

47:55

just kind of randomized, you don't really

47:57

get a choice. And I don't know

47:59

if you guys were unlucky enough to

48:02

get it, but sometimes you'll level up

48:04

with no stat changes. at all, which

48:06

is horrible. There were, like, it's terrible.

48:08

It is, y'all, listen. One or two

48:10

times where I got, like, it's terrible.

48:12

One stat, I got so sad. Same.

48:14

One's better than nothing. Why is that

48:16

fine? Yeah. Why is that not fine

48:18

here, but it is fine in, like,

48:20

rogue lights, where you, I mean, you

48:22

deal with it. Like, that's the run.

48:25

You're, oh no, my sore in this,

48:27

this run is like, kind of bad.

48:29

I need to replace them. So 37

48:31

hours later when I play the game

48:33

again, then Soren will be viable? That's

48:35

not fun. That is fun. That's good.

48:37

New experience replayability is a good mechanic.

48:39

I don't want to automate. If they

48:41

let you automatically assign those stats, come

48:43

on. It would be too easy. Wait.

48:45

Dustin plays D&D without dice. No, no,

48:48

listen, I don't, I don't think that

48:50

you should select where the stats go.

48:52

I do think that would not be,

48:54

that's not what it is. But I

48:56

do think it could have been a

48:58

little bit more balanced. I don't think

49:00

you need a level up where you

49:02

have zero things increasing or even just

49:04

one. I think that it should have

49:06

been fine tuned a little bit more,

49:09

where you have a little bit more.

49:11

I had one level up where I

49:13

think I only missed one or two

49:15

stats, everything else went up. And I

49:17

felt like such a boss. I was

49:19

like, what? We're about to do some

49:21

work. So you like you get the

49:23

you get the lows, but you get

49:25

the highs too. And so I don't

49:27

know, I'm kind of with Nolan here.

49:29

I think overall, I think it works.

49:32

Ageed. Correct me if I'm wrong. What

49:34

I believe this is the first Firemoom

49:36

game that is in 3D. You're right.

49:39

Yes, you're right, but like that is

49:41

one of the biggest things about this

49:43

game. So you that you should be

49:45

confident on now. I knew this game

49:48

was in 3D. I wasn't 100% confident

49:50

that it was like the very first

49:52

one to do it was correct me

49:55

if I'm wrong. This game's in 3D.

49:57

I give a GBA which I mean

49:59

the. 2GBA titles before it and all

50:02

the ones before that in Japan were

50:04

not 3D. They were pixel art, 2D

50:06

games. Which I loved the art

50:09

of the other fire emblem games,

50:11

particularly the character portraits. I've always

50:13

thought those are so. interesting and

50:16

unique to look at. I was

50:18

concerned with going to three. My

50:21

honestly, my biggest concern was that

50:23

we weren't going to have those

50:25

kind of portraits, that kind of

50:28

art. I really like that. I'm

50:30

happy to report that I think

50:33

the feel of the fire emblem,

50:35

even with the art, is still

50:37

here. And You're only in 3D

50:40

on the cutscenes, which are not

50:42

too many, and we can talk

50:44

about those, and on the battlefield.

50:46

But all of the dialogue, which

50:48

there's a lot of, and the

50:51

storytelling, is still kind of the

50:53

flat surface that you would expect

50:55

from a fire emblem. So you

50:57

still have the portraits, you still

51:00

have these kind of comic book-like.

51:02

styled characters during the dialogue sequences

51:04

that you would have from other

51:06

fire emblems. They're just slightly animated.

51:08

So like they'll blink or there

51:11

might be a slight nod of

51:13

the head, which they probably may

51:15

have done in other games as well.

51:18

But I think this is still very,

51:20

even on the art front, still

51:22

very fire emblems. We have

51:24

to lose anything. Yeah. And I

51:26

think the character models. in the

51:28

3D space. The portraits are great.

51:31

It's a different style than the

51:33

pixel art. It's obviously not as

51:35

pixel-y. But they did a really

51:37

good job, I think. I like

51:39

that tone of the visuals. But

51:42

then the 3D aspects too, honestly? I thought

51:44

coming back to this, I was going to

51:46

be like, oof, that's kind of rough, but

51:48

it's not that rough. Like, they are stiff

51:50

at times. Yeah, there were a few animations

51:52

that I was like, eh, that looks pretty

51:54

unrealistic. Or, you know, there were some moments

51:57

where it kind of showed that it was

51:59

their first one. but nothing that I

52:01

was like problematic to me just places

52:03

that I was like that could have

52:05

used a little more polish. But like

52:08

you're playing chess so you don't need

52:10

them to you don't need the night

52:12

to rear up on his back legs

52:14

like they're doing what they're doing. They're

52:16

doing what they're doing. They're figures. I

52:19

don't know what kind of chess you

52:21

play and play battle chess. It was

52:23

really cool to see the beginning of

52:25

where the series was going after this.

52:28

in awakening in the 3DS, it was,

52:30

it's a different kind of 3D because

52:32

it was a smaller screen and it

52:34

wasn't a home console, but like they

52:37

didn't go back to, well, they kind

52:39

of did actually in awakening, it's more,

52:41

it's more the traditional style, I take

52:43

that back, but to me, I've played

52:46

Engage, which I think is the most

52:48

recent one on the switch. It is,

52:50

looks a lot like this game, honestly,

52:52

in a lot of ways, and I'm

52:55

really impressed when they can take a

52:57

series. intelligent systems in this case from

52:59

2D to 3D. Very huge jump for

53:01

a lot of these companies, especially around

53:04

this time, and they successfully did it.

53:06

completely successfully. One of the areas you're

53:08

going to see 3D is in the

53:10

cutscenes. There's a cutscene up front that's

53:13

just an anime. I mean it's like

53:15

it's a fully cartoon anime experience that

53:17

is done remarkably well. I mean like

53:19

it looks really good. There's voice acting

53:21

all throughout this game during the cutscenes.

53:24

That's also new. You're kind of... over

53:26

the top cartoony right but like I

53:28

think it I think it all worked

53:30

really really well particularly for the time

53:33

yeah I mean it feels like you're

53:35

watching an enemy which for the Game

53:37

Cube era was amazing graphics on that

53:39

system you never saw that before and

53:42

it was like wow until this day

53:44

like even like now you go back

53:46

and you play this and like wow

53:48

these graphics look way ahead at their

53:51

time like it's beautiful it doesn't look

53:53

bad like you go back to play

53:55

some games like oh this is rough

53:57

to play you can play this today

54:00

and still feel really at home with

54:02

like Graphically how it looks like the

54:04

voice animation like it's it's beautiful. I

54:06

would say this isn't the earliest game

54:09

cube game So it's like later in

54:11

the game cubes life cycle. So there

54:13

was you know more time where where

54:15

things at advanced But I don't think

54:18

but we always talk about when you

54:20

go when you go from 2d to

54:22

3d There are some aging factors that

54:24

we typically see I look I do

54:27

agree that when you're on the battlefield.

54:29

That's where you'll notice some things. Yeah

54:31

But nothing in my opinion was detrimental

54:33

in this game due to the switch

54:35

from 2D to 3. It still functions

54:38

perfectly as a fire emblem game. And

54:40

so nice that you do have the

54:42

option to shift your camera when you

54:44

are on the battlefield, that was helpful

54:47

sometimes even like tactically. In the new

54:49

one you can fully swivel the whole

54:51

thing. Like you can really. Which is

54:53

so nice for a game of this

54:56

type. So that was a great thing

54:58

for them to implement. Nolan Brandon when

55:00

it comes to the music. And for

55:02

me, for me, it feels like fire

55:05

emblem and it's good for that. Gotcha.

55:07

None of the tracks stand out to

55:09

me. It's very fantasy, very fire emblem,

55:11

but I want to hear from the

55:14

fire emblem guys of like what, what

55:16

is, how does this OST line up

55:18

with, you know, some of the others?

55:20

Second best? My second favorite favorite. Awaken?

55:23

Okay. Yes, the soundtrack is massive for

55:25

Awakening and every track is like orchestral

55:27

and amazing. Okay. Yeah, I will say

55:29

I think the music in this game

55:32

is beautiful. I mean, it's not the

55:34

best, but I think for the setting

55:36

for each, like, where they're using the

55:38

music for the individual characters, like I

55:40

do think there's a lot of diversity

55:43

with it. I like that every character

55:45

has their own music, every type of

55:47

interaction and combat has different music, like

55:49

when you're shifting from something. like good

55:52

to bad or whatever like you could

55:54

definitely hear like the the sudden change

55:56

in music you're like oh you know

55:58

something's coming especially like the black night

56:01

whenever you hear his music come on

56:03

it's like oh geez star hole one

56:05

of my favorites yeah I pulled up

56:07

a list a couple of years ago

56:10

IG and put out a top 10

56:12

listed the best tactics RPGs of all

56:14

time they have path of radiance at

56:16

number eight of all time yeah they've

56:19

ended their top 10 I think it's

56:21

the yeah it's the only fire emblem

56:23

there so it's their I'm not surprised

56:25

they picked that one to put on

56:28

the list either It's interesting. I thought

56:30

you were going to ask us to

56:32

guess, and I was going to guess

56:34

six. Guess. You were going to just

56:37

hire. I mean, you already, you all,

56:39

the largest answer, but. No, and do

56:41

you want to guess? I'm going to

56:43

guess eight? Yeah. What's number one? Just

56:45

curious. This can be some random series.

56:48

No, no, no. It's Final Fantasy Tactics.

56:50

It's a good game. I know it's

56:52

a good game. You've got other games

56:54

on, oh no, no, no, sorry, Fire

56:57

emblem Path of Radiance is not the

56:59

only, it's not even the highest, three

57:01

houses is not. I was gonna say,

57:03

like, if this came out before three

57:06

houses, because my sister's a bigger Fire

57:08

emblem fan than me, she played every

57:10

single one of them, and three houses

57:12

is by every single one of them,

57:15

and three houses is by far her

57:17

favorite, but if I were to rank

57:19

for you, the Fire emblem games. Your

57:21

sister will be pissed off. Your sister

57:24

will be pissed on that one. And

57:26

I've got more to say on that

57:28

in summary section, but no. There's a

57:30

lot of other fire emblem games in

57:33

the series we've talked about and we've

57:35

even alluded to them right now. I

57:37

think that someone or I think said

57:39

16 up front, I think there's 17

57:42

core entries and five spin-offs right now.

57:44

And we still haven't got them all

57:46

in the US, which is unfortunate. Some

57:48

of them are still Japanese exclusive. It's

57:51

so sad. Genealogy of the holy war

57:53

I think is still Japan exclusive. 776

57:55

or whatever I think? Translated by fans

57:57

for emulation? There's ways to play them,

57:59

yes, just official. releases, there's some still

58:02

in Japan. And then we set it,

58:04

but it's so interesting and such a

58:06

good thing, but the story of Path

58:08

of Radiance continues in its direct sequel,

58:11

Radient Dawn. And thankfully, Reese would still

58:13

be dead in that game. Oh God, terrible,

58:15

no! He would not. And then,

58:17

hardcore fans will probably know that

58:19

one of the reasons Path of

58:21

Radiance has talked about in the

58:23

retro gaming community is because of

58:26

how rare and expensive the physical

58:28

media is. Because I believe they

58:30

only released to... 250 copies in

58:32

the US. It was a very

58:34

limited release when it came out.

58:36

I didn't know that was the

58:38

first entry like for like the

58:40

3d count. Yeah, and they didn't

58:42

think it was going to do

58:44

very well. You know, like I picked

58:46

up mine back in the day for like

58:49

25 bucks from Game Stop. You

58:51

know, lucky. Dustin, tell me the

58:53

prices and I'll tell you something

58:55

after that. It's $157 used or

58:57

loose. Yeah. It is $425 new.

58:59

I own this game. Yeah, it's, you

59:02

got lucky, it came down. Back

59:04

in when my sister was looking

59:06

for a copy, it was 250

59:08

used. That's crazy. I didn't realize

59:11

there were so few copies that,

59:13

that, that tracks. Yeah, that's why,

59:15

yeah, if you have a copy,

59:17

you're lucky, like myself, I've had

59:19

mine since 2007, so I'm very

59:22

grateful and I still have my

59:24

OG Game Cube that I play it on.

59:26

Nice. Oh, that's great. Can I have it?

59:28

Something I wanted to mention about age two

59:31

that I think is a really big factor

59:33

with this game is for a transfer run

59:35

like on the Wii. You had to have

59:37

an original Wii that had the Game Cube

59:40

port because later in the Wii's life

59:42

cycle, they took away the Game Cube

59:44

option because you would need to put

59:46

in your Game Cube memory card with

59:48

your completed file on this. to be able

59:50

to do a transfer run to get all

59:52

your staff boost. Unfortunately, like my sister who

59:55

has a newer Wii, she can't do a

59:57

transfer run because she doesn't have that Game

59:59

Cube port on. I didn't realize they removed

1:00:01

that. Yeah, that's frustrating. They ain't got

1:00:03

a dongle? No, I don't think so.

1:00:05

No, for like the memory card, though,

1:00:07

Dustin. You got to put the memory

1:00:09

card in your Wii, and they removed

1:00:11

that on the newer Wii, because they

1:00:14

figured that halfway through the Wii's life,

1:00:16

nobody's really bringing Game Cube games for

1:00:18

backward compatibility anymore. So to save money,

1:00:20

they took that away. I would love

1:00:22

for Nintendo to re-release this as like

1:00:24

a dual pack. with both games where

1:00:26

you could finish one and be like

1:00:28

do you want to continue and go

1:00:30

right on into the next one. That'd

1:00:32

be awesome. They don't believe in fire.

1:00:34

Nintendo hates us. I know that fire

1:00:37

emblem they've never put in the I

1:00:39

mean there's a lot of entries but

1:00:41

they've never put in yeah it's not

1:00:43

the same as Mario or some of

1:00:45

the other things obviously but But even

1:00:47

with sales, like it is actually tremendously

1:00:49

low comparatively speaking. But they have re-released

1:00:51

some fire emblem and stuff, right? So

1:00:53

like, yeah. I think it's prime. I

1:00:55

think it's gonna happen on switch too,

1:00:57

especially now that we did an episode.

1:01:00

Oh yeah, they'll listen and just be

1:01:02

like, oh, we'll do that for you

1:01:04

boys. Yeah, you know how it works.

1:01:06

Nintendo hates her fans, I feel like

1:01:08

they don't care about us. The decisions

1:01:10

they make I don't understand and I

1:01:12

feel like they have forgotten about the

1:01:14

game cute mostly I'll talk to the

1:01:16

CEO will see what I can

1:01:18

do final thoughts At the end

1:01:21

of each and every one of

1:01:23

our episodes we determine whether or

1:01:25

not the game gets our vote

1:01:27

for new game plus status, which

1:01:29

is our general thumbs up or

1:01:31

thumbs down. It does require the

1:01:33

majority of the vote to swing

1:01:35

one way or the other. We

1:01:37

typically do not do this on

1:01:39

a director episode, but Brandon, before

1:01:41

we recorded, requested that we do

1:01:43

this, I told him that we

1:01:45

don't want to hurt our guest

1:01:48

feelings, but he said bring it.

1:01:50

It's not gonna change his opinion

1:01:52

one way or the other. So

1:01:54

Nolan will let you start at

1:01:56

least so that we'll begin in

1:01:58

Brandon's camp. What did you think

1:02:00

of path of radiance? Okay, obviously

1:02:02

give a new game plus. I

1:02:04

really really love this game. I

1:02:06

rank it very high on my

1:02:08

list of fish. Fire emblem games

1:02:10

and just best ones that I

1:02:12

think are the best designed and

1:02:14

well-written and because that's one of

1:02:17

the big issues with this franchise

1:02:19

is poorly written characters dialogue cheesiness

1:02:21

and if you care about those

1:02:23

things it can really distract you

1:02:25

like I get it and I

1:02:27

think I would tell us to

1:02:29

avoid some of the games it's

1:02:31

so bad but this one's good

1:02:33

and and did something very different

1:02:35

so I love this game but

1:02:37

I do want to say Revis

1:02:39

it now, after having more of

1:02:41

the more modern fire emblems under

1:02:44

my belt, engage three houses, fates,

1:02:46

and this is gonna be a

1:02:48

controversial take for some, but this

1:02:50

was the beginning of the end.

1:02:52

And by the end, I mean

1:02:54

classic style, no shipping, no kids,

1:02:56

like no birth units, fire emblems.

1:02:58

You can see the wheels turning

1:03:00

on the creators of the voice,

1:03:02

like they introduced the voice acting.

1:03:04

They got even more anime with

1:03:06

it. And they were like, what

1:03:08

if we had them so they

1:03:11

can ship them and they get

1:03:13

married and have kids and you

1:03:15

can use the units? And that's

1:03:17

my problem with three houses. That

1:03:19

game is not a fire emblem

1:03:21

game. It is a dating sim

1:03:23

first. I like anime chess, not

1:03:25

chess, and a rant of rant.

1:03:27

Okay. I don't think moving to

1:03:29

3D added or subtracted anything from

1:03:31

the fire emblem formula. And I'm

1:03:33

okay with that. I mean, I'm

1:03:35

glad that it didn't subtract, but

1:03:37

it didn't add anything. Honestly, this

1:03:40

felt just like any other fire

1:03:42

emblem game, which if you are

1:03:44

a fan of the fire emblem

1:03:46

series says good things. If you're

1:03:48

not, I guess it says it's

1:03:50

just more of the same. Honestly,

1:03:52

and... The people Brandon and others

1:03:54

would be able to like pick

1:03:56

out all of the new things

1:03:58

and the change. and for me,

1:04:00

I'm sure I could point out a

1:04:02

few new things or things that

1:04:04

were like completely added or changed,

1:04:07

but honestly, it just felt like

1:04:09

fire and bloom. It didn't feel

1:04:11

like anything new or changed to

1:04:13

me. The story of course is

1:04:15

different, and the story is good.

1:04:17

The story is robust. There is,

1:04:19

I do give Kenny some credit

1:04:21

and he hasn't necessarily said, but

1:04:23

there's a lot of reading, a

1:04:25

lot of, and I'm not going

1:04:27

to mash through. I'm going to

1:04:29

read, I'm going to try to

1:04:31

internalize, I'm going to try

1:04:33

to understand the story and figure

1:04:35

out what's going on. There are

1:04:37

some fire emblem tropes that I

1:04:39

don't love, Permideth being one of

1:04:41

them. I respect that in more

1:04:43

recent iterations of fire emblem, they

1:04:46

give you the ability to turn

1:04:48

that off. I've already made my

1:04:50

piece about slow units that can't

1:04:52

even get into the frame, etc.

1:04:55

However, this is a fire emblem

1:04:57

game. And fire emblem is a

1:04:59

good series that puts love into

1:05:02

the creation of the franchise. There's

1:05:04

a lot of interesting characters here.

1:05:06

They're not all like, I didn't

1:05:09

get to 40. I probably got

1:05:11

to, I don't know, 15 characters.

1:05:13

And they're all somewhat interesting.

1:05:16

They all have their own.

1:05:18

unique things about them that

1:05:21

make them worth wanting to

1:05:23

build out except the really

1:05:25

racist archer and and Reese.

1:05:28

I think this is another

1:05:30

fire emblem entry that doesn't

1:05:32

move the franchise forward in

1:05:35

any crazy way but definitely

1:05:37

doesn't detract is a good

1:05:39

solid entry in the series

1:05:42

and I give it my vote for

1:05:44

new game plus status. Kenny. This

1:05:46

one. Got great music, decent visuals,

1:05:48

fairly good pacing, assuming that you

1:05:50

can embrace the long battles and

1:05:53

the fact that you're gonna have

1:05:55

to read and scroll through some

1:05:57

text and story. That's just fire

1:05:59

emblem. But it leads to a pretty

1:06:01

fun game. There's lots of really nice

1:06:04

stuff that they put in here that

1:06:06

they could have not included. Just very

1:06:08

sort of fleshed out. The game, the

1:06:10

story, the whole package feels very full

1:06:12

and meaningful without feeling bloated or too

1:06:14

meandering, which I think is one of

1:06:16

the things that some fire emblem games

1:06:19

I feel like have fought with, where

1:06:21

I'm carrying too much about too many

1:06:23

people too broadly. 46 characters is too

1:06:25

many. I'm still not a huge fan

1:06:27

of just the amount of walls of

1:06:29

text I'm getting with this type of

1:06:32

game in general, but this one didn't

1:06:34

cause problems for me like some of

1:06:36

them have in the past. So I

1:06:38

think there's even a decent chance that

1:06:40

I will revisit my run through and

1:06:42

possibly finish playing through. which I certainly

1:06:45

don't do often and I think is

1:06:47

a really good sign. Realistically, I probably

1:06:49

won't. My intention is to and often

1:06:51

I'm like, okay, well, let's put that

1:06:53

game in the back burners, we never

1:06:55

have to touch it again. You know,

1:06:57

and it's not one of those. And

1:07:00

that is big. So, all of that

1:07:02

to say, a new game plus for

1:07:04

me as well. Brandon, wrap it up.

1:07:06

I am honestly surprised, Kenny. I did

1:07:08

not think you would give a new

1:07:10

game plus. So thank you so much

1:07:13

for that. It makes me so happy.

1:07:15

Yeah I will agree with you Nolan

1:07:17

I do like the handheld option this

1:07:19

is another reason I really wish they

1:07:21

would bring it to switch where you

1:07:23

had the option to play it on

1:07:26

TV or handheld you know that is

1:07:28

one of the drawbacks I feel like

1:07:30

is I have to be tied down

1:07:32

to my TV to play this game

1:07:34

but overall I loved it I thought

1:07:36

the music was great I think the

1:07:38

graphics hold up to this day it's

1:07:41

beautiful you can go back and enjoy

1:07:43

it even if it's your first time

1:07:45

playing here in 2025. You can still

1:07:47

really enjoy this game, but it does

1:07:49

not look rough. And I really love

1:07:51

the diversity in the story. I think

1:07:54

it brings so much here. You do

1:07:56

have racism in here, you have prejudice,

1:07:58

you have like, you know, different struggles

1:08:00

and things that I think people can

1:08:02

relate to. And it's even educational in

1:08:04

a way, because it's like, wow, you

1:08:07

can really learn to love characters or

1:08:09

hate characters. Like I. I think he's

1:08:11

a race as big and I cannot

1:08:13

stand that guy. But I think it's

1:08:15

very eye opening too that, you know,

1:08:17

they're not sugarcoding it. You're gonna encounter

1:08:19

people in the real world who are

1:08:22

like this, like, and it really addresses

1:08:24

that and teaches you how to cope

1:08:26

with it. And even with him being

1:08:28

as racist as he is, I still

1:08:30

try so hard to work with him.

1:08:32

And, you know, later in the game,

1:08:35

you see, like, that he can. I

1:08:37

don't want to spoil anything, but you'll

1:08:39

see progression later in the game where

1:08:41

some of these characters, how they originally

1:08:43

started out looking at things one way,

1:08:45

you know, over time can start changing,

1:08:48

seeing things different with persuasion and having

1:08:50

their eyes opened up bigger scenarios. So,

1:08:52

you know, overall, like I said, everything

1:08:54

around this game, I think it's amazing.

1:08:56

I love it. I've played through this

1:08:58

game so many times. It is absolutely

1:09:01

my... favorite Firemblum. I love the sequel,

1:09:03

but this one is what brought me

1:09:05

to Firelum. I love it, and the

1:09:07

story only continues, and I will tell

1:09:09

anybody if you played this one, you

1:09:11

have to play the sequel. I mean,

1:09:13

it's like Kenny says, this particular series,

1:09:16

the sequel did it better in every

1:09:18

way. Like it really did. Well, thank

1:09:20

you for bringing Firemblen Path of Radiance

1:09:22

to our community this week and, uh...

1:09:24

I guess Fire emblem Path of Radiance

1:09:26

is new game plus certified. Oh yeah.

1:09:29

But what did you think on our

1:09:31

YouTube poll? 45% said yes, it's worth

1:09:33

playing today. 4% said no, go play

1:09:35

something else. And 51% have never played

1:09:37

it before. And 51% have never played

1:09:39

it before. And 51% have never played

1:09:42

it before. They didn't have a game.

1:09:44

Well, it's not a popular series too.

1:09:46

Yeah. And it's rare. Like it's never

1:09:48

been re-released. Everyone knows three houses. Most

1:09:50

people don't know this one and it's

1:09:52

got a phenomenal story. 250 sounds criminally

1:09:54

low by the way. I know, it

1:09:57

is. I think Japan must have been

1:09:59

right, right? It doesn't, it doesn't so

1:10:01

well, yeah, they're right. Yeah. We're done.

1:10:03

Which, by the way, imagine a crossover

1:10:05

series between advanced wars and fighting. No,

1:10:07

I'm not going to do that. Yes.

1:10:10

I can take a sword to a

1:10:12

tank. There's something there. And watch, it's

1:10:14

going to happen. It's going to happen.

1:10:16

Many from our community played along this

1:10:18

week and rode in. Here's a few

1:10:20

of your thoughts. T. Morris said, I

1:10:23

don't like 95% of anime. I tried

1:10:25

Final Fantasy tactics 20 plus years ago

1:10:27

and basically swore off strategy RPG. but

1:10:29

you're gonna love fire them. I decided

1:10:31

to give this a go anyway knowing

1:10:33

that my taste has changed drastically and

1:10:35

I love games I can take a

1:10:38

small small bites out of. I might

1:10:40

now understand why food culture as Titania

1:10:42

is incredible. I'm only about halfway through

1:10:44

which is all I'll be able to

1:10:46

do this week due to work but

1:10:48

it's already made me add all others

1:10:51

in the series to my backlog. Easy

1:10:53

and I hope the last half of

1:10:55

the game sends this up into the

1:10:57

top games of all time. Whoa. Oh

1:10:59

nice. You've got a, by the way,

1:11:01

you have a lot of time ahead

1:11:04

of you to play through the series.

1:11:06

And maybe you do like anime. You

1:11:08

just had to see the anime girls,

1:11:10

I guess. Garlile. Garlile said, the upgraded

1:11:12

to 3D may not have come with

1:11:14

the most gorgeous textures and the models

1:11:16

don't look so hot if you pay

1:11:19

too much attention, but the style is

1:11:21

also extremely distinctive and clear. They animate

1:11:23

well and give the battlefields a close

1:11:25

quarter feeling more than ever before. The

1:11:27

solid presentation also combines well with the

1:11:29

game just nailing everything else in the

1:11:32

franchise formula. Generally solid map design and

1:11:34

a variety, memorable and useful characters, a

1:11:36

solid soundtrack and one of the best-filled

1:11:38

stories in the franchise, which can stand

1:11:40

alone even if it's just the first

1:11:42

half. It's one of the series' easiest,

1:11:45

even on its hardest settings, but that

1:11:47

also makes it a great jumping-on point.

1:11:49

It's one of the most beloved in

1:11:51

the franchise and probably in my own

1:11:53

top three. I'm assuming. Yeah, valid. The

1:11:55

gaming dream. it said selling path of

1:11:58

radiance to game stop for a couple

1:12:00

of dollars or score credit is my

1:12:02

greatest regret in all the hell store

1:12:04

credit every time that I see either

1:12:06

of these games on sale for hundreds

1:12:08

of dollars it sends a shiver of

1:12:10

depression down my spine and this isn't

1:12:13

just because the game is worth a

1:12:15

lot it's also just a fantastic game

1:12:17

sure it doesn't have a lot of

1:12:19

the quality of life features of modern

1:12:21

fire emblem games released since awakening but

1:12:23

it is excellently designed in nearly every

1:12:26

way I've only played the game for

1:12:28

a couple of hours this week, but

1:12:30

I really enjoyed revisiting it. And

1:12:32

I plan on continuing my playthrough

1:12:34

in the weeks to come. Easy.

1:12:36

NGP for me. I'm liking all

1:12:38

the positivity that we're here. Yeah.

1:12:40

NGP community likes fire emblem, dude.

1:12:42

Even though, maybe it's just because

1:12:44

it's not a bunch of Americans.

1:12:46

We've got Canadians on here, and

1:12:48

we've got these people on here.

1:12:50

For now, though, it is time

1:12:53

for us to set aside path

1:12:55

of radiance, although Kenny going to

1:12:57

come back to it. older any

1:12:59

console any genre randomizing now believe

1:13:01

it or not we're remaining on

1:13:03

the game cube if you would like to really

1:13:05

wow I'll take that well okay for sure

1:13:07

yeah but it's one of those that

1:13:09

was on at all so you've got

1:13:12

game cue PlayStation 2 Xbox still could

1:13:14

be okay you've also got PC-boka you've

1:13:16

also got PC-boka you've

1:13:18

also got

1:13:21

PC-a-b-b-k-b-b-oka you've

1:13:23

also got

1:13:26

PC-like-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a It released

1:13:28

in 2003 and it was developed

1:13:30

by shiny entertainment and

1:13:32

published by info grains.

1:13:34

Oh screwed. This sounds

1:13:36

terrible. I don't know.

1:13:39

It is based on a different

1:13:41

media, something from a

1:13:43

different media. Saw a movie. Show.

1:13:45

Or like a newspaper article.

1:13:47

Correct. It's one of those. One

1:13:50

of those two. I'm saying movie.

1:13:52

I think it's a movie. It

1:13:55

features over an hour

1:13:57

of original footage from

1:14:00

the film. Okay. Is it a

1:14:02

Harry Potter game? Oh no. We

1:14:04

are playing an action and venture

1:14:06

game and it is enter the

1:14:08

Matrix. Oh wow. This is probably

1:14:11

bad, but what if it's good?

1:14:13

How cool would it be? It's

1:14:15

not though probably because it's the

1:14:17

first game based on the Matrix

1:14:20

film series. It's concurrent with the

1:14:22

story of Matrix reloaded. Is that

1:14:24

number two? Yes, that's the sequel.

1:14:26

And it was written and directed

1:14:28

and directed by the... Wachowski, Wukowski,

1:14:31

which are the ones that did

1:14:33

the films, right? Oh, okay. Interesting.

1:14:35

That might just be crediting them,

1:14:37

though, because it's based on it.

1:14:40

I don't know. But if the

1:14:42

Ed handed it, it could be

1:14:44

okay. Well, find a copy of

1:14:46

enter the matrix for any of

1:14:48

those consoles or even your PC,

1:14:51

if you would like, enter the

1:14:53

matrix, find it. Get a copy,

1:14:55

play along with us for the

1:14:57

next seven days. Enter the discord

1:15:00

by going to discord. G slash

1:15:02

new game plus. Enter the patron

1:15:04

because we're not creative around here.

1:15:06

I'll say we. Thank you to

1:15:08

those of you who support us

1:15:11

on patron.com. Including some new patrons

1:15:13

who are supporting us for the

1:15:15

first week this time, including William

1:15:17

and Cody, who is our newest

1:15:20

producer level supporter. Thank you for

1:15:22

your support. Of course, we want

1:15:24

to say a shout out to

1:15:26

our directors, Bro Jim, Dustin's 5

1:15:28

o'clock Shadow, Super Hybrid, Zigfried, Mystic,

1:15:31

and Tins, and of course, this

1:15:33

episode, Brandon, thanks for being here.

1:15:35

Absolutely. We appreciate it so much,

1:15:37

and to our many producer level

1:15:40

supporters as well, including. Adam and

1:15:42

Anton and Ben Bill, Ark, Craig,

1:15:44

Dagny, Dan Willett, Garlile, Guardian, Kate,

1:15:46

Halix, Harold, Hey Brother, Jay, Jordan,

1:15:48

George Orbinks, Justin, Clem, Levi, Maxima,

1:15:51

Megatread, Miss Muso, not enough dog,

1:15:53

Radmack, Retroman, Sage, and Sasser, Scotty,

1:15:55

Sean, a snakematic, swaggy taco fish,

1:15:57

psychomantis, Thomas, Tins, Turtle, Unbatable, and

1:16:00

Zion, we appreciate every single one

1:16:02

of you. Thank God. It wasn't

1:16:04

a mouthful this time. Brandon, would

1:16:06

you like people to find you

1:16:08

online? And if so, where? Sure,

1:16:11

they can find me on discord.

1:16:13

That's where I'm mostly at. I'm

1:16:15

always open to chat with people.

1:16:17

And I just want to give

1:16:20

a shout out to remember the

1:16:22

game podcast. Well, I'm on here

1:16:24

too. It's another retro gaming podcast

1:16:26

that I love. If you guys

1:16:28

haven't, listen to it. Check it.

1:16:31

Check it. Canadian, no no no

1:16:33

no. We like Canadians, mostly. Your

1:16:35

discord is scorch 57 2004? That

1:16:37

is correct. All right. You can

1:16:40

find us on our social media,

1:16:42

Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube links

1:16:44

during the show notes. Listen directly

1:16:46

on any podcast provider of your

1:16:48

choice. Make sure you subscribe. So

1:16:51

you are the first to get

1:16:53

new NGP episodes and while you're

1:16:55

at it, please leave a kind

1:16:57

rating and review. Our episode artwork

1:17:00

was created by our friend Dave.

1:17:02

Our video episode was edited and

1:17:04

produced by our friend Dan Will

1:17:06

It. Join us next week as

1:17:08

we play enter the Matrix. I'm

1:17:11

still permanently dead. Um, Astrid Best

1:17:13

Grill. And who are you, Brandon?

1:17:15

I am Ike. And this has

1:17:17

been New Game Plus. You