I've been playing the new Fire Emblem since I got it from Amazon a couple days ago. I've loved the Fire Emblem series's fast-paced, addictive gameplay since I first tried the first US release, for the Game Boy Advance. This release has pretty much the same graphics as its Gamecube predecessor, and is actually a direct sequel to it, but isn't lacking in the gameplay department at all. There've been some changes in game mechanics to keep things interesting, not all of them for the better. Still, I'd recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in the genre.

The campaign is extra long, containing almost fifty missions, and there's plenty reason to go back and replay the campaign once you've beaten it the first time, just like past entries in the series. Bad guys in the game are unabashedly evil and arrogant, providing familiar material for series fans, but the story is a bit more complex this time. The writing ranges from decent to excellent, as some memorable characters from the Gamecube version come back with a few good lines.

I'm naming this strategy/tactical RPG of the year. Fire Emblem's battles are so much faster than other games in the genre, and the stat growth in the game is more immediate and gratifying. Each map in the game provides a kind of puzzle you have to overcome by using your units correctly, and the rewards can be immediately satisfying. A mid-battle save feature, something new to the series, alleviates the punishing factor of your characters' deaths being permanent, which provided a lot of relief for me.

There are a few changes to this entry that I find irksome. The support system has been reworked so that the player chooses which characters can develop a stat-boosting support relationship between themselves. This is cool in a way, but it detracts from the game overall because it takes away an opportunity for the game's writing to shine. It was always a blast playing the past Fire Emblems and unlocking the often humorous support conversations you could earn by keeping two characters close together on the battlefield. This time around, the writing suffered, because the first couple exchanges are written to be character-unspecific ("Hey! Glad to see you're still alive!") This robs the game player of a fun, rewarding aspect of the past games.

That's a minor complaint when I think about it; I just wish things had been left alone in that department. The magic system has been changed a little, and other tweaks and balances are also included, but the core gameplay of the series stands strong.

Before Radiant Dawn came out, my pick for the year was the PS2 swan song Soul Nomad and the World Eaters. That's a NIS-published title that provides a good blend of mechanics from series like Ogre Battle and Disgaea. However, it's just not quite as fun as Fire Emblem, and bogs down eventually, much like other NIS RPGs.

Another strong contestant for this year was Jeanne D'arc for the PSP. It's the PSP's best strategy RPG yet, and a better buy than the ports of FFT and Disgaea, because hey, it's new material. If you haven't played FFT or Disgaea, get them on their original platforms, because Jeanne D'arc provides an entertaining and beautiful experience, even if it doesn't do many things differently.

Getting back to Fire Emblem, ignore negative comments you read in reviews about the game being more of the same. It's true that there are no real graphical improvements since the Gamecube game. The battles are so rewarding that that's easily overlooked.