Time travel is an interesting idea. In fact, I would call it an awesome one. Who wouldn’t be game to fixing the past for not only personal gain, but also to better the world? Of course, things are never this easy as time paradoxes and rips in the time-space continuum are enough to render the best of plans null and void. So where does this leave us in terms of gaming? Atlus has developed its own answer to this question in the form of Radiant Historia, which will be released Feb. 22.
Radiant Historia follows a young yet highly experienced warrior by the name of Stocke who is supposed to meet an intelligence officer at the rendezvous point in the middle of the woods. You see, two countries are currently at war, and a cold-hearted queen is leading the battle cry to annex as much land as possible. This is because the world is slowly turning into a giant kitty litter bowl. (It’s turning into a desert.) He is assisted by two green soldiers: Raynie and Marco. They meet the spy but are ambushed and attempt to get back to town to warn their country of what has transpired. Unfortunately for them, they all die (fastest role-playing game ever). There’s a catch: Before Stocke left, he was given the White Chronicle by his supervisor, and this allows him to travel back and forth in time to correct his mistakes. So can he find the true history?
It’s an interesting concept to be certain. Unlike other games that leave you either going forward in time and repeating the same few days or rushing back and forth in time, Radiant Historia is much more traditional. The game gives you nodes or safe points in history to travel back to. You then go through the game up to the point when things branch off in different directions and, ideally, change it for the better. Furthermore, it seems like it can be done at any time outside of battle, and you can take your characters’ levels with you.
Graphically, the game looks great. It’s dark and grainy — and it should be considering the general tone of the story. The first area of the game, which I got to see, was a forest in the middle of a downpour. Furthermore, characters will gesture as the story unfolds before your eyes. To me, it seems Radiant Historia is reminiscent of older RPGs when the genre was starting to find its voice and prove how it was different than its quiet forbearers. Like any “good” RPG, the camera will zoom in and tilt itself to dramatic effect. More important, it does not “inflict” any slowdown.
Gameplay is a mixture of traditional elements with a strategy RPG. You run Stocke around places, gather clues, explore and attack opponents. Your party, consisting of three members, is all lined up in the same row. Your enemies inhabit a 3x3 grid, and their position influences their defense and attack power. The closer they are to the party, the stronger the attack and weaker the defense. The opposite is true if they are in the rear. Thankfully, you can manipulate their positions with the proper skills. And if you can get a monster onto another monster, they’ll stack (it’s what the game calls two or more opponents inhabiting the same space). This does not allow for unrecorded damage. Instead, it allows you to quickly damage multiple opponents at once. So while you may or may not be able to kill multiple opponents, it ultimately makes your life easier by draining their health. Supposedly, later battles require mastery of the combat system.
Sound wise, it seems downright awesome! And that is no small feat considering the DS’ sound quality. It is completely orchestrated and slowly worms its way into the subconscious. This is something Atlus is really pushing; they love the soundtrack, and they want you to love it, too. There’s a bonus CD packaged in that’s about five tracks long of chosen tunes played on the piano. It’s like they made it completely for me as the piano is my favorite instrument. Maybe they could include the sheet music one of these days so I can play it on my own.
In conclusion, Radiant Historia seems to be one of the stronger RPGs available on the DS. I didn’t expect myself to get so caught up the action. Everything seems to gel together to create an excellent experience. Of course, who knows if this is something gamers will wish for an hourglass to reset to obtain or ignore. Radiant Historia will be released Feb. 22.
