Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is a tactical role-playing video game in which players control protagonist Ike and a group of characters across multiple battle scenarios. At the game's opening, multiple difficulty settings can be chosen: in the Japanese version, the options are Normal, Hard, and Maniac modes, while the western version has Easy, Normal, and Hard modes. In all modes, characters who fall in battle are permanently dead and removed from the rest of the game. If Ike falls in battle, the game will end and the stage must be restarted.