Radiant Historia
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Atlus Developer: Atlus Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: RPG
Graphics & Sound: Time travel isn't a foreign concept in games, though few use it as anything more than a storytelling device. To date, Chrono Trigger has stood at the top of the heap. Time travel is central to the game's plot, but also serves as a major play mechanic. While the powers that be have been reluctant to deliver a successor, Atlus is picking up the slack with Radiant Historia. Radiant Historia is the visual equivalent of the old t-shirt you've had since college. It doesn't look as pretty as the one you bought last week, but there's still an appealing comfort about it. Everything about the presentation, from backgrounds to characters, has the reassuring fun found in old 16-bit RPGs. Characters are silent, instead relying on overblown motions to convey the story's emotional beats. It's a lot of fun to watch, especially when using special attacks during battles. The game ships with a soundtrack CD, and with good reason. The score tends to meld into the background throughout most of the game, though it is always noticeable (if that makes any sense at all). Most of the soundtrack is filled with a low, mellow string melody. It's a perfect fit for the game's tone and offers a nice contrast to the booming battle anthem.
Gameplay: Radiant Historia is more Quantum Leap than Back to the Future. While on a mission with special intelligence, protagonist Stocke has a vision of his subordinates' deaths. The vision comes true, but only after Stocke is granted the power of the White Chronicle. Using the book, Stocke can revisit key moments in history and alter them for the better... or worse. Early on, time travel looks like a story gimmick rather than a full-blown play mechanic. Once Stocke returns from his mission, however, he's given the choice of either rejoining the military or sticking with his special intelligence group. The choice sets up two parallel timelines, setting up the backbone for Stocke's leaps through time. Getting back to that Quantum Leap angle, Stocke is an independent agent in both timelines. He can travel through each without causing any major paradoxes, but choices he makes in one can influence the other. Without going into specifics, the solution to a problem in one timeline may require changing something in another. The interplay between events is Radiant Historia's strongest feature. Solutions are never obvious, forcing you to think through decisions and explore different solutions. Unfortunately, time travel involves a bit of monotony. You'll spend a lot of time retracing your steps in both timelines and replaying certain events. You'll come across a few environmental puzzles also requiring a bit of time travel to solve, though these are more of a distraction and add little to the game beyond a few new trinkets. On the plus side, areas are small and combat goes by quickly. With so many choices and outcomes, Radiant Historia runs the risk of spiraling into a confusing mess of a plot. All decisions, and their consequences, are stored in the White Chronicle, which helps you keep track of where you've been and how events relate. Though you'll never have to make any massive spacial jumps, you may need to go back to events one or two spaces in the past. The Chronicle also serves as reminder of what happened, allowing you to keep your head in the game's lofty and somewhat complex story.
Difficulty: As complex as the time travel mechanic may seem, it never gets confusing. You've got the White Chronicle to help you keep track of everything and you're never put in a "no win" situation. Some choices will kick off the end of the world, though you're always able to go back to the original event to avoid running into these false endings. The only thing you lose by making bad decisions is playtime. Even if you have to replay an event, your characters hang on to any gear or levels they gained the first time through. Combat death is handled a little differently. Rather than going back to the beginning of the event, you're instead dropped back to your last save. Checkpoints are scattered in every other area, so there's no reason to not save often. You can get away with few saves early in the game, but later on, frequent saves will save you a lot of heartache and needless replay.
Game Mechanics: In all likelihood, you'll end up playing through scenarios multiple times. Although your items, abilities and character level carries over, there's no guarantee you'll be able to power your way through subsequent plays. Even at high levels, sound strategy is imperative. Combat is based around a three-by-three grid system. Enemies appear in different parts of the grid. You can go head-to-head like most turn-based systems, though your goal is to use moves to shuffle enemies into the same spot, allowing you to damage multiple enemies at once. As always, there's a catch. Party members have different "shuffle" moves, forcing you to really think through your allotted moves. Play strategically and you can blaze through battles with little problem, though enemies are smart about how they use their spaces on the grid. The closer they are, the more damage they'll do. Additionally, they can cast support spells or offer other ability boosts based on formation. Bosses are especially adept at limiting how you can knock enemies around the board, forcing you to always think through battles. Ideally, you want to knock as many enemies into a pile as you can, though sometimes disrupting a formation or kicking them back a row might be the better option. As important as strategy is during hard fights, it's just as important in fights with enemies you could easily pummel. Experience is based around combat combos. Combos do more damage, but also offer more experience points. Even mundane battles are a lot of fun. You can opt out of battles using an "Auto-battle" function, but I had so much fun with combat I can't remember being tempted to use it. Although there's a decent amount of retreading through areas, Radiant Historia provides a satisfying RPG adventure. The time traveling mechanic is executed with near-perfect precision and the story isn't half bad either. RPG fans owe it to themselves to check out Radiant Historia.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Related Links: Game Vortex's Review of Chrono Trigger on DS
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