Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - A Grasping Truth | Reacting To Video Game Music!

[@SolBlade91]

It's funny how you said the song was getting chaotic. Without spoiling anything, the final battle in which this song plays is literally between the forces of Order and Chaos. The stakes are incredibly high as this is the culmination of 2 games worth of plot and character development, and this song (all the music of the final act really) totally sells the feeling that there is some serious shit happening.

[@Kowsky2805]

Holy mother of god! Grasping Truth gets the sunglasses award!! This means sooo much to me as a hardcore Tellius fan. So happy to see you enjoying it!

[@darkiway]

The radiant duology (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn) are, story-wise, still far and away my favorites in the series. And this piece plays at the culmination of it all. The stakes couldn't be higher, but the game earns every bit of tension it draws out of you by that point.

[@HollowGolem]

I think I like the story of the two Jugdral games more, but combining story with gameplay, Tellius is the peak, definitely.

[@nancestpasmoi1834]

@@HollowGolem I still prefer Jugdral, for the plot and for the event in the mid game. I never see a "hero" had a life this hard. and to acess the big reveal in new game + is not easy to do. neverless, when I finish radiant dawn i was really satisfed. i didn't even wanted a sequel, a great ending.

[@jedor988]

Radiant Dawn is a flawed gem of a game, but its still in my top 3 of all time and I replay it just about every year or so in part because of the soundtrack. The biggest flaw is actually that there are a lot of songs (in Radiant Dawn in particular) that go on about 2 minutes, but you only ever hear in 10-20 second increments because they are 'battle themes' that only play during attack animations, which are not long. And it's #13 because the soundtrack puts the map/battle themes at the start rather than story/thematic order

[@torashiki5646]

The songs resume if you attack again, actually. Its something that they anticipated and fixed from the older games. So you can get to listen to the entire song provided you dont attack with or to a unit with their own leitmotif song. Only then they start from the beginning.

[@w0ddlee]

@@torashiki5646it’s such a good fix but it’s the one game where I’d actually want to hear the beginning of The Devoted loop over and over

[@GGL_Juno]

My favorite game of all time and the OST is something else man. Others in the comments did a good job of explaining how this game creates its atmosphere and I couldn't explain it better.

[@ongoingprocessfailed]

The tension in this track that plays at what is essentially the finish line. So much damage is being thrown around its terrifying thinking you might lose one of your favorite characters right before you get to see their epilogues. The roster for this game is BIG so after you've left behind so many or made sacrifices to bring your favorites to the end this heavy track really makes that last map unforgettable.

[@torashiki5646]

Absolute peak song. You cant notice it here, but Tellius is seriously good at putting musical theming into their songs, specially character related songs. The final map theme is basically a medley of several characters' leitmotifs and several character leitmotifs showcase who they are connected with. This is specially notable because later games not only abandon specific character leitmotifs aside the 1-2 protags of each game, but also abandon character relevance linked to such leitmotifs. This song in specific showcases the primal yet mystical nature of the being in front you: The Girl At the Beginning, The Genesis of All, Creation of the World. Duality and the mesh of what should be contradictory: Order and Chaos, Past and Future, Restriction and Evolution, Stability and Change, Known vs Unknown. Also, half jokingly, you are going to have complains about saying that this is better than God Shattering Star. 3H fans are not easily slighted.

[@Treblebeatgames]

3H fans are always something else.

[@trecstan]

Tbf, he also listened to the fan edit of GSS that tries combining the Rain and Thunder versions. Maybe he’d still have the same opinion but I think he would’ve liked the song more if he just listened to the Rain version.

[@HollowGolem]

I mean, it IS better than "God-Shattering Star." GSS is the weakest of the 3 final boss themes for that game.

[@albertobarberacampos451]

I am a 3H fan, but above all I am a Tellius fan, 3H does have some of my favorite story moments out of any FE title, including Tellius games, but the journey and territorial tension of Tellus will forever remain my favorite, even to this day the story feels way more modern than most medieval games try to portray.

[@shadowforge25]

Soooooo muuuuuuuccccchhhh percussion. This must be so much fun to perform live in a percussion section.

[@EmporerEmblem]

ahh, my absolute favourite final map theme in the series, from my favourite soundtrack and game in the series. Just a great final map theme that combines a bunch of different motifs from throughout the game and really shows off how unique Radiant Dawn's soundscape is. Radiant Dawn is the 10th game in the series and the 2nd game of the Tellius Duology (FE9: Path of Radiance is the other Tellius game), it came out on the Wii and was the last home console Fire Emblem game until 3 Houses, as the series lived on the DS and 3DS until then. A team of composers who work for Intelligent Systems (the developer of the Fire Emblem games) made the OST, most of them have exclusively worked on the Fire Emblem games and special albums (like the absolutely stellar Fire Emblem premium arrange albums), so they're not super well known. The reason that A Grasping Truth is track 13 is because it's the final map theme, and the map themes are listed first in the OST after the main theme, so tracks 2-13 are all of the songs for the game's maps, followed by combat music, character themes, etc. The game's OST totals to around 85 tracks between its 4 discs Also yes, the song did loop once, but due to the big intro being absent from the loop, it winds up sounding super clean.

[@perrycarters3113]

This song is saved on my computer as an eventual final/penultimate boss fight in my D&D campaign. It just captures the feeling so well.

[@somnus970]

Well now I have an urge to play the radiance games again...thank you. The best of FE

[@Chosen_Din]

Great that you reacted to more Fire Emblem! The OSTs of each game always deliver the goods. Since you may or may not want to experience this track for yourself at some point (obviously won't hold you to that lol) then you must know that Radiant Dawn is actually a direct sequel to the previous Fire Emblem game, Path of Radiance (direct sequels are actually a rarity in FE), so if you want to experience this track for yourself then I'm afraid you're gonna have to spend, like, 50 hours across both games to get to this lol. They're both fantastic strategy RPGs if you're up for them though. Lastly, the composer is Yoshito Hirano, whom you haven't heard for the previous games, and was one of the three composers for this game.

[@MusicOfAnime42]

Radiant Dawn, best ost in the series.

[@degapalgamer3772]

Man you know shit gets real when Jesse whips out the shades, honestly though that final boss theme might be my new favourite Fire Emblem boss theme,

[@thebaconator1883]

Now that he’s heard one of the songs from the Tellius games, he needs to listen to The Black Knight and Eternal Bonds. Some of the best songs not just from the Tellius saga, but from Fe in general!

[@wakkaseta8351]

Which version of The Black Knight?

[@cloudklaut]

that's crazy, only a few days ago i was wishing you did a radiant dawn song and here it is! my favorite FE and ost

[@hansgretl1787]

From all the FE games I played, I always got the impression that the modern games (Awakening, Fates, Echoes and Three Houses) have the particularly strong Soundtracks, but I fid never get around to playing Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Having played the two recently, they are certainly up there soundtrack wise. Radiant Dawn in particular has some songs that I can't stop listening to, like "A Grasping Truth", "Eternal Bond" and "Bearer of Hope". Definitely a strong take on the war drama aspect of Fire Emblem. I really like Radiant Dawn, it probably has the best FE gameplay in my opinion. I still prefer Three Houses for the depth of the characters and world building, but Radiant Dawn is certianly less of a meandering experience. It gets to the point a lot better. Why is it called "A Grasping Truth"? I have no clue. That title doesn't really mean anything specific to the game as far as I can tell. I am disappointed that you aren't interested in playing FE, it is my favorite franchise after all. But I get it, the backlog being filles with more recommendations than you can handle. If I had to pitch it, I'd say FE is an RPG that does away with many of the trappings other RPGs fall into, partly because it's as much a Strategy game as it an RPG. Gameplay actually has depth here, as opposed to many other RPGs I played.

[@torashiki5646]

The song is called ''A Grasping Truth'' because in that moment, the truth that perfection does not exist and that a world devoid of movement and change is nothing but a world of devoid of life is the truth that Yune, Ike and Micaiah and trying to reach Ashera with, but also its a grasping truth because Ashera, in her own trauma, does not want to accept that the world will never be perfect and that what she did as Ashunera will require her to confront and accept her heart (Yune). This is also expanded a bit on the distant epilogue, where Ashunera, once reformed, accepts both the truth that peace is an eternal work in progress and that people do not require a deity to keep it for them, but that doesnt mean she doesnt have a place in their shared world as equals. Which is also what Ike and Yune discuss in the original JP discussion they have during the pre-rendered scene after you defeat Ashera: the truth is that, deep down, she is also a flawed being deserving of living in this world. Also, it relates to how ancient people believed that only through divinity is that the ''true essence of all things'' could be reached and grasped. Both heavily relate to the idea of Ashera/Yune/Ashunera being based off the real life version of the trinity that were described as the ''wife of God'' or even god themselves (Yes, ''god is a woman'' has historical proof).

[@Greggles1138]

Regarding this being track 13: Over half the Fire Emblem games, Radiant Dawn included, have this weird trend of putting all the map themes and the start of their soundtrack, followed by the battle themes, and then the story themes, etc. A Grasping Truth is a map theme, the theme that plays on the final map of the endgame, to be specific. That automatically puts it at the front of the soundtrack. There are dozens of tracks after this one and almost all of them play before this one but that's just how Fire Emblem does things.

[@sokratesdughetto8891]

Hello Jesse, i have some Sonic Songs i recommend you that i would love to see a reaction from you: 1. Ungrafity 2. Theme of Infinite 3. City Escape 4. All hail Shadow 5. What i am made of 6. i am (All of Me) 7. His World (Zebrahead or Crush 40 Version) Keep it up! :)

[@KitsyX]

I don't remember how many Fire Emblem games there are, but the original game came out on the NES, I think, and I think the franchise gets reasonably regular releases... So there's probably a lot of them >_>;; I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least 10 games... Maybe more...

[@shellythebutler]

Funny because Radiant Dawn is the 10th game, for mainline releases I think we're on 17 or 18 nowadays

[@typhlocube9359]

Someone show Twilight of the Gods to this man !!

[@hansgretl1787]

He already did that one.

[@typhlocube9359]

@@hansgretl1787 Oops 😅

[@midnightwolf333]

I need Jesse to hear Galdrar of Rebirth so dang badly. Either version. Like pleaseeeee

[@lunamoonfall651]

I protest to most people that claim Awakening or PoR are the best FE games, that they've never played Radiant Dawn. Sure, Path of Radiance paved the way to RD and I respect it for that, and for good or ill (I think ill) Awakening saved the franchise, but I believe RD to be a masterclass of a game in every possible way. Unless you play it on hard, which removes the weapon triangle system and battle saves. Good luck protecting Micaiah, nerd.

[@strwrbttlfrnt]

My. First game in this series such an amazing and difficult game in the series i hope some day you will listen to eternal bond because that song makes me think of this game

[@leftymu]

Fire Emblem. Yes!! Radiant Dawn is probably my least favourite FE game but the soundtrack was pretty solid. I actually don't remember this one at all which is kind of odd 🤔The epic violin swells are pretty amazing though. If you ever did decide to dive into Fire Emblem, Three Houses is by far the easiest way to get into it; it's easy to pick up on Switch, and is definitely the most accessible game in the series. It's a wonderful rollercoaster of emotion so it'd be a great time, always happy to recommend that game 😃

[@HollowGolem]

I'd actually recommend Engage as a first Fire Emblem. While the story is much worse than 3 Houses, you don't need to play it 3 times to get the whole picture, and the map design/gameplay in general is better (better balanced, more interesting maps, better integration of mechanics), and it doesn't lean as heavily on the Persona-esque life-sim thing that Three Houses did, which makes it non-standard for the series. Path of Radiance or Awakening WOULD be the best starting places for a new person to the series... but they're not on modern consoles, so...

[@leftymu]

@@HollowGolem Well I say Three Houses because it's significantly easier than every other entry; because of the better balance, Engage is also a fair bit more challenging I feel. Most people don't like jumping into a new thing and finding it hard or overwhelming.

[@blackglurakx2409]

Final Boss Battle against the Goddess of Order Ashera which is the woman with red hair you can see in the center of the picture. And that‘s pretty much all I know. This is a FE game I haven‘t played yet, cause it is a older one for Wii and it is fucking expensive to get nowadays. I only know about that basic description I mentioned above. I do know that theme though cause it is one of the best in the series, many think so anyway. I like it too, very unpredictable as you said, but also nothing you can listen to on repeat I think. I myself have other fav Final Boss themes in the series. 12:24 that 13 just mean it‘s Fire Emblem 13. Nothing that crazy😅.

[@torashiki5646]

Best thing is to just mod a wii (its free) or emulate (its also free).

[@GGL_Juno]

Radiant Dawn is Fire Emblem 10. I'm pretty sure it is referring to track number 13 in the video title