Path of Radiance Act 3-2: Crimea

So we've made it to Crimea, and now it's time for the real Daein army!

• Chapter 24: Rescuing Geoffrey from the Daein army. I think this is the part where Lucia and Bastian fully appreciate what it means to have Ike protecting Elincia. Mechanically, after Chapter 23 showing ballistae in a tight space, this is a show of "look at ballistae in open terrain"- there's only three of them and they can shoot at about 80% of the map. Rikard is actually a bit of a tough boss to kill because of his position, and you also need to keep in mind you have a time limit to send someone to Geoffrey- keep on top of your wincon.
• Chapter 25: The mountain pass. This is a bit of a filler map, in terms of gameplay and story, as the major revelation is Ike sharing all the lore we already know and Soren starting to put the pieces together in-universe. Mechanically, this is an experiment with the rolling boulders, fixed, unblockable damage that can deal an uncomfortably high percentage of your HP- do you really have anyone who can take more than four? This is a challenge in your durability while taking extra hits- what are you bulk stats like?
• Chapter 26: Fort Pinell. Although our Chapter boss is a member of the Four Riders, he has about as much to flesh him out as any other disposable chapter boss, although the fact he wears a mask and struggles to speak modern makes him raise a lot of eyebrows. Yes, there has to be more to this story than meets the eye. Mechanically, this is a nice open map that promises to be tough, but thanks to the durability of your party and the extra size of the map, it's honestly pretty easy, especially since the enemy doesn't charge you at once. Chapter 4 was hard because it was small and hard to establish a defensive line with the units you had.
• Chapter 27: Fort Nados. A nice indoor map to contrast the open outdoor map... followed by the Black Knight battle. The dramatic buildup to the Black Knight battle is well done, if somewhat undercut by the game preparing for the outcome that Ike will fail. As well as the fact it's even possible in the first place- if you want the Nasir content, you have to redo this map over and over until you get the right procs and healing patterns to manage the feat. Honestly, I feel like if the "Ike loses" outcome was canon (especially since the Black Knight comes back in Radiant Dawn), this fight would feel better, so victory is more of an accomplishment than an explanation. Mechanically, indoor maps with siege tomes, especially one as filled with doors as this one, are very fiddly and definitely makes it a pretty unpleasant map to be forced to redo. Especially that boss with Miracle and a good Brave Lance steal.
  
• Chapter 28: Gritnea Tower. An introduction to Ashnard's most cruel crime yet, and also preparing you for the reveal at the end of the story with Ena and Nasir. There's also an introduction to Izuka here, which is a strange bit that's largely there for the benefit of Radiant Dawn. Mechanically, this is one last chance to get some massive EXP scores thanks to the Feral Ones, and an introduction to the dragon tribe. Their high Strength and Defence means you need a plan or a Thunder tome to get them knocked out without devoting your entire army to it, and you'll have to deal with them more later.
• Endgame: Ashnard. This is it, the fight against Ashnard, and he unleashes everything at you. His last Rider, Feral Ones, enemies with Skills, and even the Chaotic power of the Medallion. The ending finally reveals how Ena and Nasir fit into the story, and in general there's a lot of ado about tying Ashnard's goals together. In the end, though, the fact this game has a sequel is written in large print, and there's a general undercurrent that yeah, not all the game's questions have been answered. This is a bit of a bold play from a marketing standpoint, but hey, what are the odds the next Fire Emblem will never happen?

The Crimea arc is all about wrapping up plot points as best as it intends to, leaving the player with exactly enough questions to prepare for Radiant Dawn while still leaving an overall cohesive game. Or so I thought. And the key issue is Elincia. Elincia is not ready to be Queen, and no amount of "having hired Ike" (a process she had relatively little agency in doing, by the way) is going to be a substitute. Nyna and Guinivere, Elincia's direct predecessors who follow her plot otherwise exactly, do not claim that they are inexperienced and know nothing of their duties, especially not as repeatedly as Elincia does. Unless you are fully absorbed in the literary magic of endings, it would be difficult to take Path of Radiance as a happy ending knowing what's likely to happen to Crimea if Elincia goes unchecked- and it doesn't help Sephiran's just outside the door talking about exactly that. Plus there's that whole business of Lehran's Medallion- that thing is almost a Chekhov's Gun that never went off if not for Berserk King Ashnard in Hard Mode.

With that said, Path of Radiance is by no means left incomplete because of Radiant Dawn's existence. Radiant Dawn answers all the questions that Path of Radiance actively leaves (whether it answers all the ones it doesn't is a natural consequence of writing a sequel when both works are as long as these two), and if you know that much, even if you don't necessarily know what the answers are, Path of Radiance works as a whole story. But that, of course, is a matter of hindsight. Hindsight that is easy to predict because the nature of storytelling (come on, you didn't think the answer to Elincia's ruling woes was going to be her being overthrown for good, did you?), but there is kinda a very clear nugget of the story preparing for its own sequel perhaps a little too well.

One thing I find interesting on a holistic level that kind of contributes to the Crimea arc's lack of narrative excitement is that most of the bosses lying around here are generic. Rikard, Gromell, Hafedd and Heddwyn are all disposable characters, possessing no connections to any other characters, and even Bertram, despite being one of the Four Riders, gets treated as such were it not for the question of his identity. Bryce makes it out a little more, getting the burden of being exposited at by Ashnard once the Black Knight has stopped doing it and also having his connection to Tauroneo and Gawain, but most Fire Emblems usually have more character bosses than disposable ones by this point. Obviously, the game is trying to keep a hold of as many characters as possible to save them for Radiant Dawn (Bertram and the Black Knight reappear in Radiant Dawn, and Izuka didn't even let himself fake death here), but I think this does also tie into Ashnard's interest in promoting the strong regardless of class. I think the idea is that these disposable bosses are meant to be characters who rose up through the ranks. Rikard, especially, talks a lot about the glory that his kills will provide. This sort of thing is a fascinating overlap of meta- and in-universe needs collaborating, but ultimately falls short because they don't actually do much with these four. Perhaps the fact that Bertram and Bryce are almost as disposable as them is meant to say something about the relevance they share.