Radiant Historia – Correcting a Corrupted History One Node at a Time

Radiant Historia is often compared to Chrono Trigger by RPG fans. Like the Square Soft developed game players are free to change history by traveling through time. Chrono Trigger was developed by a dream team staff hailing from both Square Soft and Enix. Similarly, Radiant Historia was developed by Atlus staff members who previously worked on Tri-Ace’s Radiata Stories and staff from the Shin Megami Tensei series. Visually Atlus’ time traveling RPG borrows much of its aesthetics from the 16-bit era. However, this is where many of the similarities to Square Enix’s Chrono Trigger ends. Radiant Historia is very much its own game and is quite possibly one of the most unique RPGs on the DS. This game successfully combines old school charm with modern sensibilities. If you’ve been longing for a JRPG that is reminiscent of the SNES era but also feels fresh look no further than Atlus’ newest handheld IP.

Radiant Historia begins among the backdrop of war and a world that is slowly undergoing desertification. On the continent of Vainqueur two major countries are engaged in conflict over what’s left of precious land and resources. The nation of Alistel and the kingdom of Granorg are at a stalemate in the war. One day Stocke, a talented special intelligence agent with Alistel is given a mission to infiltrate Granorg territory. His goal is to meet up with an informant. Before leaving Stocke’s superior gives him two subordinates and mysterious book known as the White Chronicle. When he inquires about the book he is told to think of it as a good luck charm. Before he can set out for his mission Stocke suddenly has a vision of his subordinates dying on the battlefield. Perturbed but not deterred, the special agent presses on with his task.

Upon reaching their destination Stocke, Raynie and Marco meet up with the informant. As they retreat back to Alistel the group finds themselves at a literal crossroads. The safest path has been sealed off by a blockade and the other path will take them directly through enemy lines. Unable to find a way around the blockade Stocke makes the deadly decision to go through enemy lines. The path turns out to be an enemy trap and the informant is picked off by an assassin’s arrow. Stocke, Raynie and Marco attempt to flee but are quickly surrounded by Granorg soldiers led by a powerful general. Attempting to buy their leader time to escape his subordinates take on the general only to be completely slaughtered–fulfilling Stocke’s chilling vision. The special agent is gravely wounded during the fight and jumps off of a bridge to avoid being killed. The White Chronicle is activated and he is warped to a strange place that exists in its own dimension.

The mysterious place is known as Historia and two magical children are its sole inhabitants. The twin children, Teo and Lippti, acknowledge Stocke’s possession of the White Chronicle. The two then grant him the ability to travel back and forth through time as the bearer of the magical book. With his newfound power Stocke must save the world from ultimately turning into a desert wasteland. However, the power he is given comes with a few conditions. The soldier cannot tell anyone about his time traveling abilities, Historia or the twins and he can only travel to places he has already visited since receiving the book. Stocke then travels back in time to a point just before he and his group ran into Granorg soldiers. He is able to break through the blockade, prevent the informant from being assassinated and leads the group back into Alistel controlled territory. Still suffering from serious injuries Stocke collapses and is taken back to Alistel by Raynie and Marco. After his recovery Stocke realizes something has gone terribly wrong with events in the world. He alone has the power to use the White Chronicle to set history back on the correct course.

At this point I have to make a special mention of Stocke as a JRPG protagonist. In many JRPGs the lead character is either a plucky but clueless teenager, a surly adult or a stoic silent type. In Radiant Historia Stocke is none of the above. Although he’s technically a teenager at the age of 19 he actually comes off as someone nearly twice his age. He’s outspoken, clever, resourceful, highly pragmatic and surprisingly compassionate. He’ll do almost whatever it takes to survive and to save the continent from desertification. Even though he has the extremely powerful White Chronicle he still grows as a tremendously character with every interaction, including success and failure. In short, Stocke is a refreshing and enjoyable change from the average JRPG hero and I wish there were more characters like him in games.

Radiant Historia’s events unfold in two major ways . First there are the nodes, or event points on the timeline that Stocke creates every time he uses the White Chronicle.  Second, there are the two parallel timelines that represent a split in history. The split in time occurs when Stocke has to decide between remaining a special agent or returning to the regular military as a commander. This effectively creates two separate stories with their own events and consequences known as Standard History and Alternate History, i.e. the parallel timelines. Stocke can travel freely between both histories via the event nodes and the actions he performs in one timeline can affect events in the other timeline. In a brilliant twist this allows gamers to experience the consequences of both choices within a single playthrough.

There are 236 nodes in Radiant Historia and not all of them appear on the timeline. Some nodes only appear when undertaking optional side quests. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how much you like to do such things), the side quests do influence the game’s overall story and ending. In order to get the very best ending you’ll have to find and complete almost all of the side quests. The game is moderately easy but finding some optional quests can be extremely unintuitive and will require a walkthrough.

Honestly, how would anyone know (without any indication from the game) they had to select several correct dialogue options near the start of a game, talk to one person once, do a main mission, then travel back and talk to the same person again just to open up a side quest?    Unlike a Shin Megami Tensei game there isn’t a penalty for making an incorrect decision for dialogue options. In fact, Radiant Historia encourages you to try various options for the sake of discovering all 236 nodes within one playthrough. Regrettably, doing so also makes the game extremely repetitive as you’ll find yourself constantly backtracking and redoing various events several times over. This alone kills the replay value of the game–as you’ll have done everything at least twice before see
ing the credits roll.

The game’s actual combat mechanics aren’t nearly as complicated as some of the time travel elements. At its core Radiant Historia is a turn-based RPG with an interesting twist on the traditional formula. There is a refreshing lack of random battles in this game. Instead enemies can be seen roaming the field much like in Chrono Trigger, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 or Final Fantasy XIII. Enemies can be stunned by a blow from Stocke’s sword to either be completely avoided or to gain a first strike. In battle enemies appear on a 3 x 3 grid. Enemies in the front row deal out and take the most damage while the opposite occurs for enemies in the middle and back rows. Foes can be pushed to the back, pulled to the front or moved to the left or right in battle. The goal is to stack enemies on top of each other in order to dispatch them all at once with physical and magic attacks.

In addition to stacking enemies on a grid the game’s turn order can also be manipulated. At the cost of having a character take slightly more damage if attacked the said character can switch turns with an enemy or ally. Changing the game’s turn order allows for long damage combo chains. The longer the combo chains are the more damage enemies will take in battle. Finally, each character has their own Mana gauge or a small bar that fills up when combos are successfully pulled off. Filling up the bar allows special abilities known as “Mana Burst” to be performed. Some actions  allow characters to remove enemy turns and others result in flashy super attacks–not unlike the “Limit Breaks” found in Final Fantasy games. The result is a fast paced turn-based combat system that comes together in surprisingly unique way.

At first glance Radiant Historia appears to be a 16-bit SNES game. A second look reveals the game’s graphics are actually closer to a 32-bit PS1 title instead. Detailed 2D sprites are used with the occasional 3D texture for a style that resembles a cross between Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Xenogears. Hiroshi Konishi’s character designs are distinctly medieval European yet are accentuated with the occasional steam punk aesthetic. The character portraits make heavy use of shadowing giving the entire game a darker look. The overall effect is quite nice and fits the game’s dark undertones. The color palette used for the sprites is colorful and provides a neat contrast to the character portraits. The sprites themselves are well animated and move quite fluidly. While the graphics don’t come close to showing off the DS’s capabilities they still have a certain old school charm about them. Fans of SNES RPGs will find themselves satisfied with the look of the game.

Yoko Shimomura’s work on Radiant Historia’s soundtrack is undoubtedly one of the best aspects of the game. The soundtrack goes well beyond simple background music and takes on a life of its own. Shimomura’s compositions rely heavily on the various string and woodwind instruments in addition to the piano. Percussion instruments can also be heard throughout her work. The result is a soundtrack with as much personality as any character in the game. Each and every song completely immerses you in the game and helps give each moment greater impact. Additionally, every song evokes a variety of emotions as you listen to them. You’d have to absolutely hate instrumental music not be moved by “Where the Wind and Features Return,” inspired by “To the Future that Waits Ahead” or have chills run up your spine when listening to “The Red Locus.” Shimomura’s compositions for this soundtrack are simply beautiful.

Radiant Historia is a fantastic RPG. Its plot, game mechanics and gameplay are all decidedly modern while its overall aesthetics are reminiscent of the 16 and 32-bit eras. In short, this former Tri-Ace staff and Atlus developed game is a fusion of tradition and innovation. It embodies everything that is lovable about JRPGs and manages to avoid many of the genre’s pitfalls. A different take on time traveling and parallel dimensions, an intriguing story, a likable protagonist, charmingly old school graphics and beautiful music all come together perfectly in Radiant Historia. Nevertheless, this nearly perfect game is flawed by constant backtracking and having to view various scenes several times over before the game’s end. There is also next to little replay value and starting a new game is simply pointless thanks to the White Chronicle. Still, the positives of the game far outweigh the negatives. If you’re a longtime fan of RPGs, especially of the Japanese variety, Radiant Historia is not to be missed.

Images courtesy of GameFAQs. If you’d like to read an Atlus conducted interview with Radiant Histora’s creators check out the game’s official English website.