Radiant Historia is a wonderful DS game that harkens back to the best elements of the SNES generation of JRPGs while simultaneously feeling very modern. If you grew up playing games like Final Fantasy VI, Lufia 2, and Chrono Trigger, then Radiant Historia will feel like a warm homecoming. That’s not to say that you have to be over 20 and a connoisseur of classic JRPGs to enjoy Radiant Historia. The game feels like a modern take on a classic formula. You play as Stocke who, at first glance, seems like the archetypal quiet protagonist. But once the story gets going, it becomes clear that Stocke has a specific and well-developed voice that isn’t as clichéd as one may expect from a protagonist in this genre. He’s not your typical starry-eyed teenage boy with hopes of saving the world, and he’s not an amnesiac. He is, however, a smart, thoughtful, reflective protagonist.
Stocke inhabits a world that—surprise, surprise—is in grave danger. In short, the land is dying, and the desertification of the land has forced the neighboring Kingdom of Granorg to invade Alistel under the guise of needing arable land. Very early in the game, Stocke is sent on a mission to prevent Granorg’s imminent invasion and is given the White Chronicle. After making some wrong choices, Stocke is tasked with the goal of correcting history to prevent his world from becoming nothing but sand. Using the mystical White Chronicle, Stocke achieves his goal by jumping through time to re-live, alter and (in many cases) correct certain events. For example, early in the game Stocke is forced to choose between joining his friend’s brigade to help lead and train young troops or continue working for Heiss as a black operative. This choice is where the game really begins to splinter into divergent histories. The time mechanics in the game are sort of like if Back to the Future II and Chrono Trigger had a baby. Stocke has to move throughout history to rectify situations to find what the game calls a “true history.” The cool and somewhat unexpected element is that one divergent history affects the other. This works in a couple of ways. For example in history A, a merchant is attacked by bandits, so he doesn’t show up with the needed materials in history B. After the merchant goes missing, Stocke must travel through time to save the merchant in history A, so that the merchant will show up in history B.
The previous scenario may sound confusing, but the game does a great job of mapping these major events in the White Chronicle, so they make sense in the context to the game’s story. Also, the game never forces you to choose one route and stay on it. You get to see how multiple histories unfold with your every choice, even if your choice brings about the destruction of Alistel and the end of the world. (When this happens, the game sends you back to the last major choice, a la choose your own adventure novel.)
Ah, then there is the battle system—yet another one of Radiant Historia’s selling points. The game is essentially a turn based battle system but enhanced by the ability to stack enemies for bonus damage. The battle takes place on a 3x3 grid, and your party is given special attacks to push and pull enemies onto each other. When an enemy is stacked on another, both enemies take damage. This isn’t the only wrinkle in the battle system: you also are given the ability to swap turns with other party members and enemies, giving you a chance to stack and combo enemies with multiple hits. The down side to swapping turns is that you take more damage while waiting for your next turn. Say that your party of 3 members is attacking a group of 4 knights. You can allow the knights to go first, saving your members turns. After letting the knights attack, your party now has 6 turns to stack and attack the knights, meaning that you could theoretically take all the knights out in one group turn. The larger the combo you do, the more damage the enemy receives, which also leads to bonus gold and experience gained at the end of the battle. This system prevents the game from becoming an auto-attack-fest because the battles require that you implement this system to survive.
The game also looks great. The sprites are reminiscent of the golden era of JRPGs, and the world has beautiful landscapes. The game’s setting varies from a steam-punk influenced town, to a lush forest, to a sprawling desert, to a war-torn fantasy castle, and that’s just in the first 5 hours. The game’s soundtrack—composed by Yoko Shimomura, known for composing the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack—is really awesome. Atlus knew this when they decided to bundle the game with a free copy of the game’s score. While I don’t think that the soundtrack is something that will make everyone’s top ten list, it is better than 90% of soundtracks out there.
But Radiant Historia isn’t perfect. There are a few notable problems. One major problem with revising history is that you are forced to watch and read through many of the same scenes over and over again. While you can press start to skip a scene, you normally don’t want to because you want to see how things have changed. Also, the game is very text heavy. If you want to enjoy the story, you have to read. A lot. While the writing is normally well-thought out, the game is somewhat long winded. Add watching scenes multiple times to a long winded, text-heavy game—and you’ve got a lot to read. Also, the game has contrived roadblocks and invisible walls. For instance, early in the game you see a treasure chest on a ledge. But you cannot reach that ledge because there are soldiers standing in the way, saying that you are not allowed to pass. Why? Doesn’t really say, but I’m guessing the developers just don’t want you to access that area yet. Some may see this problem as tradition in the genre; I just think it’s lazy.
4/5
But in the end, Radiant Historia is a game that shouldn’t be missed if you are at all interested in JRPGs. This game is a positive step in the right direction for the modernization of JRPGs. Sadly, it’s a game that will likely go overlooked by most (like most Atlus games). Don’t be put off by the text-heavy story or the retro sprites; look beyond the few issues and experience this game’s balanced battle system, intelligent story, and interesting characters. My advice is to go and buy Radiant Historia before Atlus stops printing this game, making it a rare and expensive eBay item.
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