Radiant Historia
Developer: Atlus
Platform: Nintendo DS
Price: $34.99
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Radiant Historia harkens back to the days of the old school RPGs, reminiscent to games like Xenogears and Chrono Trigger, coupled with a time travel twist that offers a unique role playing experience. Radiant Historia development team is composed by members of the Shin Megami Tensei team and tri-Ace in a truly collaborative effort. The musical arrangements of Yoko Shimomura, best known for her work on Legend of Mana and Kingdom Hearts, were selected to compose the game’s ambient soundtrack.
The story of Radiant Historia revolves around the past, through the incorporation of time travel mechanics. The main character, Stocke, is a member of the Alistel Intelligence sent on a rescue mission to recover a fellow agent behind enemy lines. However, before Stocke embarks upon his mission, he receives a mystical book called the White Chronicle and is informed that it will aid him throughout the game.
The White Chronicle serves as the mantle for what comprises the centerpiece of the game, time travel. Through the White Chronicle, Stocke can travel and forth between time, and consequently [clichéd reference incoming] saving the world in the process. Events in the game where you are asked to make a decision can be replayed through the book’s power. It also marks your progress in case you end up with any “point of no return” or “bad endings” in the game by allowing you to carry over your saved levels, items, etc. throughout any time period.
Eventually, Radiant Historia unravels itself with its multiple scenarios, branching paths, and many endings. With two timelines present, the game segments off into smaller paths with the option to replay any scenario in the game in order to unlock everything. There are two “main” endings that can be obtained; the first being the normal ending upon completion, while the other is an extended ending earned by completing every event in Radiant Historia.
As for the gameplay, Radiant Historia allows players to pick and choose their battles. Enemies appear on screen and can even be ambushed for a preemptive attack. Once in combat, the game plays out in a turn based, gridlike 3×3 field. Both players and enemies move around on the grid however characters have the exclusive ability to alter their turn order, as enemies cannot. The grid strategy offers various scenarios as players can stack multiple enemies on a singular grid and attack them all at once. Although, it is not possible to do this all the time as environmental hazards may be present to prevent this specific strategy. Placement on the grid is also advantageous as the front line will receive increased offense abilities whereas the rear guard will have amplified defensive capability. Ultimately, there is a lot of tactic and depth here.
The presentation for Radiant Historia will likely persuade you of the game’s value. It takes on a steampunk style and the graphical presentation is rooted in the 90’s era style of RPG. The music composed by Yoko Shimomura grants Radiant Historia an angelic and soothing theme. Geared towards replayability, the game offers over 20-30 hours of story, with 70 additional side-quests and loot hunting for treasure hunters out there.
Radiant Historia is set for release February 22, 2011 in North America for a retail price of $34.99, Atlus promised that all launch copies will have an exclusive mini-soundtrack compilation featuring piano arrangements from Yoko Shimomura.
