Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn
Developer(s)	Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Wii
Release	Feb 2007 TBA
Genre(s)	Tactical RPG

Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn (ファイアーエムブレム　暁の女神, Faiā Emuburemu: Akatsuki no Megami) is an RPG video game announced for the Wii on May 9, 2006 at the E3 convention . However, only a few sequences of animation have been shown and only one gameplay video has been released. What little has been shown indicates that the FMV cutscenes will be rendered in the same cel-shaded manner as those in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on the Nintendo GameCube, and gameplay videos show that the engine from Path of Radiance is intact.

Official artwork for two of the game's characters were also made public at E3. One is an image of an older Sothe, a character that originally appeared as a playable Thief unit in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. The other character, Mikaya (ミカヤ), is a new character whose role is currently unknown, although she is depicted casting some form of magic in the E3 trailer. A video of the game depicts her wielding light magic.

The Japanese subtitle Akatsuki no Megami was confirmed on September 14, 2006 Although the direct translation is Goddess of Dawn, the official English language title has yet to be announced. Video footage of the game from the same event depicted Mikaya and some of the new cast during both a story sequence and a combat scene. The game will take place three years after the events of Path of Radiance, leaving open the possibility for returning cast members, though none besides Sothe, Muarim and Caineghis (see below) have been confirmed.

Characters

The following characters have been confirmed to appear in Goddess of Dawn. No additional characters (primarily Path of Radiance characters) have been mentioned.

Sothe

File:FEWii1.jpg

An older Sothe that will appear in Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn for Nintendo's Wii.

In Nintendo Power volume 206, Nintendo confirmed that the green-haired figure in the sketch released at E3 is indeed Sothe. Nothing about his role is currently known beyond the fact that he is a playable character. He and Mikaya are the only characters to have their official artwork.

In Nintendo's E3 2006 trailer, Sothe and Mikaya appear to be fighting Begnion troops (in Path of Radiance, Begnion soldiers wore red armor). Whether Begnion is a major antagonist or simply a part of a skirmish is pure speculation, however. Many think Sothe may be the lord because art revealedhe has his own personal knife, Kard. In recent Fire Emblem titles, personal weapons were only usable by main characters (with the exception of Rolf's Bow). Others believe he is the Jeigan, an early game promoted unit that helps through the earlier portions of the game. Should the latter be true, Sothe would be the fourth non-Paladin Jeigan in the Fire Emblem series.

In "Path of Radiance" he had no significance to the storyline. He was a weak character with the ability Blossom. Blossom allowed the unit to grow levels with better stat growths, but also lowered the leveling rate. Later if he reached his maximum level, his stats would rival those of promoted classes, even though he couldn't promote himself. If he did, though, he could potentially be stronger than Ike. According to his supports and conversation with Ike, he has an adoptive family in Daein and is joins the mercenaries before the 10th chapter. He is found as a stow-away on board Nasir's ship. His class may change in this game and also retain his ability, Blossom.

ミカャ - Mikaya

An apparent wielder of Light Magic, Mikaya is assumed to be the main lord by many. This claim is largely based on her early release to the public, as well as a clip of gameplay in which the autocursor (a device that returns the cursor to the main character) found its way to her. In another clip, she was seen using the Light Magic tome, Rexaura, against the Beast King Caineghis. She also has the new skill, "Healing Hand" which allows the user to sacrifice some of their own HP to heal an ally.

File:Mikaya.jpg

The assumed main lord, Mikaya in Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn, the new Fire Emblem title for the Nintendo Wii.

エディ - Edie/Eddie

Eddie is assumed by some to be a Myrmidon (most likely playing a similar role to Mia in battle), or a potential return of the Mercenary class (which was briefly retired in Path of Radiance). Some also speculate, based on his apparent importance (as shown in one gameplay video), that he could be another Lord.

ノイス - Noys/Noyce

Noyce is a mustached Fighter with red hair. Noyce has a new skill, "Protection" which allows the user to take damage for a chosen ally. He is seen using it to protect Laura in a recent clip.

レオナルド - Leonard

Leonard is a blonde Archer with long hair who seems to join early in the game. Leonard may fill in the Gordon archetype, which is the first archer that accompanies your main lord.

ローラ - Laura

Laura is a healer of some sort (most likely a Cleric due to being female), and is another member of the group. As with Leonard and Noyce, little else is known. In the chapter in which she was featured, the objective is to escort her to safety, so she may only officially join the mercenaries at a later date. In a recent clip she was being protected by Noyce's "Protection" skill.

Caineghis

One of the trailers revealed a scene in which Caineghis, the king of Gallia, was engaged in combat with Mikaya. As to whether this was an actual clip of gameplay or merely a demostration of the game's combat system is unknown. The latter is assumed to be true by some, as Mikaya did what appears to be a Critical Hit while her Critical Rate was zero.

It is interesting to note that Caineghis does not use the Beast Laguz weapon of the previous game, Claw, in the clip. Rather, his weapon is a set of teeth, sometimes dubbed "Fang". It may be an indicator of Laguz obtaining multiple weapons.

Muarim

Muarim was seen in a screenshot in a Japanese ad. In the screenshot, he used his fist to uppercut the enemy soldier while in human form. Like Caineghis, he was also equipped with the "Fang" weapon.

Groups and Places

The Dawn Group

This group of fighters is apparently Mikaya, Sothe, or Eddie's own group of mercenaries, or at least a reasonable facsimile. The "Dawn" portion of their name is possibly tied in with the game's title. This could mean that the group has some connection to the Goddess Ashera.

Begnion

Begnion is assumed to have the role of major or partial antagonist. In the first clip shown, Sothe and Mikaya were fighting men in reddish-pink armor; the colors of Begnion soldiers in Path of Radiance. In later clips, cursor highlights of enemies revealed their identity as "Imperial Soldier", and Begnion is Tellius's only empire (barring events that take place in the timeskip). If this is true, familiar characters such as Zelgius, Sigrun, and Sephiran may return as enemies.

External links

• Fire Emblem Wii at IGN