Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki
Developer(s) Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s) St. GIGA
Designer(s) Masato Kato
Release date(s) JP June 1, 1996
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Platform(s) Satellaview
Media pseudo-streaming download via satellite network, saved to either the Satellaview base unit’s flash-RAM or to a BS-X flash-cart

Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki (ラジカル・ドリーマーズ -盗めない宝石- Rajikaru Dorīmāzu -Nusumenai Hōseki-?, lit. "Radical Dreamers: The Jewel that cannot be Stolen") is a Japanese video game produced by Squaresoft in 1996 through the Satellaview add-on for the Nintendo Super Famicom. It is a text-based role-playing game in which the player takes on the role of Serge, a young adventurer accompanied by Kid, a teen-aged thief, and Gil, a mysterious masked magician. It was released as a gaiden, or side story, to the 1995 game Chrono Trigger, intending to wrap up loose ends from its predecessor's plot.[1] It was never officially released in the United States, though it was at one time planned to be released with the PlayStation game Final Fantasy Chronicles as an Easter egg.[2] In 2003, ROM hackers released an English fan translation.[3]

Contents

[edit] Gameplay and music

Gameplay consists of text-based scenarios presented to the player through the narration of main character Serge. The player must choose from a list of possible actions. Depending on the selections made, the player may enter a new area, be presented with a new situation or enemy, or may have to choose again if the previous choice was incorrect. The gameplay is similar to a video game version of a gamebook. Combat is text-based as well, allowing the player to select from options such as "Fight," "Magic," "Run," and often more complex situational commands like "Run my knife into the goblin's chest!" or "Quickly slash at its hand!" Some decisions must be made before an invisible timer runs out; in combat, procrastination usually results in injury or death. Graphics and animation are minimalistic, though sounds and atmospheric music are present. Like other Chrono games, Radical Dreamers contains a sort of New Game + mode. Only one scenario is available on the first play-through. After finishing this chapter and obtaining one of three possible endings, players can play six other scenarios. These later stories often feature humorous situations or allusions to Chrono Trigger.

The music of Radical Dreamers was written by composer Yasunori Mitsuda, the same artist who scored Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. In addition to regular music, the soundtrack also includes ambient pieces, used to heighten suspense during the game's tense moments. A handful of themes from the game were later adapted for Chrono Cross on the suggestion of director Masato Kato.[4] Many pieces appear unchanged except for new instrumentation.[4] Appearing in Chrono Cross are Gale, Frozen Flame, Viper Manor, Far Promise ~ Dream Shore (On the Beach of Dreams ~ Another World, The Dream that Time Dreams), The Girl Who Stole the Star (Star-Stealing Girl) and Epilogue ~ Dream Shore (Jellyfish Sea). Other musical ideas and progressions are found elsewhere in Cross's repertoire.

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The party confronts Lynx near the Frozen Flame.
The party confronts Lynx near the Frozen Flame.

Serge, Kid, and Gil are three adventurers who seek out treasure as reputable thieves. The protagonist and narrator Serge is a drifter who met Kid three years ago after becoming dissatisfied with life.[5] Kid, though not even seventeen years old, is a renowned professional thief with a streak for boisterous behavior.[6] Lastly, Gil is an enigmatic, handsome masked man skilled in magic who rarely speaks and can fade into shadow at will.[7] Together, they infiltrate the shadowy Viper Manor, a large estate governed by a terrible and powerful aristocrat named Lynx. They seek the Frozen Flame, a mythic artifact capable of granting any wish. While sneaking through the corridors, they battle goblins and other creatures of legend while unraveling the history of the manor and its occupants. After evading death from various traps, they locate Lynx and the Frozen Flame deep within an underground ruin of the Kingdom of Zeal. Here, it is revealed that Kid was an orphan, and that she wishes to exact revenge on Lynx for killing her caretaker, Lucca. Additionally, it comes to light that Kid had attempted to fight Lynx the night of Lucca's death, and was saved only by Gil, who accompanied her thereafter. The trio engage in battle with Lynx for the Frozen Flame.

Lynx gains the upper hand after binding Gil with a powerful spell, and reveals that he knows of and wishes to acquire Kid's special gift from Lucca—a Time Egg, or Chrono Trigger.[8] Lynx and Kid fight one on one, and she removes the Chrono Trigger from her back pocket and activates it somehow. It shatters and causes a localized temporal distortion, allowing Serge to view various scenes in history and similarly allowing Kid to learn of her heritage. Through this epiphany, Kid learns that she is princess Schala of Zeal. It is revealed that long ago, when Lavos destroyed Zeal, Schala felt incomparable anguish and guilt for the event. The Frozen Flame, nearby at the Ocean Palace as it crumbled, unaged her to a baby's form and sent her to the modern era, where Lucca found her.[9] It is also strongly suggested that Gil's identity is Magus, Schala's wayward brother who went looking for her after helping defeat Lavos in Chrono Trigger. After the revelation, an army from Porre—a large nation in search of the Frozen Flame—storms the mansion. Lynx withdraws, as Kid, Serge, and Gil flee. Kid states that she is aware of her true origin, and bids Serge goodbye before disappearing into the darkness with Gil.

Other scenarios are additionally available after players complete the first. These include both humorous and serious variations of the main plot.[10]

  • Gil — Caught Between Love and Adventure — Gil is actually a man named Gilbert who courts Riddel.
  • Kid and the Sunflower — Kid challenges a lecherous sunflower who transforms her into a monster.
  • SuperXtreme Alphacosmos Police Case EX Ultra — Gil is a space cop who tracks the alien Lynx.
  • Homecoming: Shea's Light — Kid learns the truth of her caretaker Shea and thwarts Lynx's ghost.
  • The Enigmatic Gigaweapon: Paradise X — Serge finds and uses a mecha to challenge Lynx.
  • The Shadow Realm and the Goddess of Death — Kid releases an ancient evil that Gil must defeat.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Fan translation

Title screen of the Demiforce fan translation. Although the subtitle is in French (meaning: "The Forbidden Treasure"), the fan translation is in English.
Title screen of the Demiforce fan translation. Although the subtitle is in French (meaning: "The Forbidden Treasure"), the fan translation is in English.

In April 2003, the ROM hacking group Demiforce released a patch that translates Radical Dreamers from Japanese to English. This marked the first time English speaking audiences could play the game in their language. The patch works with the ROM image of the game used for playing console-based video games on personal computers through video game emulation. The ability to save games was not enabled with the first patch, and some minor typos were left in. These were later remedied by successive releases.[3] On 25 December, 2005 Demiforce and Radical R released the final version (1.4) of the translation, which fixes remaining minor bugs.[11] The French team Terminus Traduction soon after made a French translation patch.[12]

[edit] Sequels

Radical Dreamers was followed by Chrono Cross, a full role-playing game adding to the world of Chrono Trigger. Chrono Cross borrowed certain thematic elements, story points, characters, and objects introduced in Radical Dreamers, including the infiltration of Viper Manor, the Frozen Flame, the Acacia Dragoons, the name Radical Dreamers for Kid's thievery, and the characters of Kid, Lynx, and Serge—though the latter became a silent protagonist. Though these people and items are not presented in the same context, many of their traits survived the transition. Gil, confirmed by writer Masato Kato to be Magus, was also going to be featured in Chrono Cross, but this idea was later scrapped due to difficulties in representing the story of Magus well. Gil's secret identity as Magus was consequently removed and the enigmatic magician Guile was created instead.[13] Since the release of Chrono Cross, Radical Dreamers is no longer part of the Chrono series official continuity. Chrono Cross addressed this through an easter egg hinting that Radical Dreamers took place in a different dimension. In the English version of Chrono Cross, this easter egg refers to Gil as "Magil".[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Weekly Famitsu. Chrono Compendium (July 1999). Retrieved on 1 July 2006.
  2. ^ Procyon Studio: Interview with Masato Kato. Cocoebiz.com (November 1999). Retrieved on 3 July 2006.
  3. ^ a b Chrono Trigger 2: Radical Dreamers. Demiforce (2003-04-15). Retrieved on 2 July 2006.
  4. ^ a b Yasunori Mitsuda (2000-18-12). Chrono Cross OST Liner Notes. Chrono Compendium. Retrieved on 24 July 2006.
  5. ^ Square Co.. Radical Dreamers. Demiforce (fan translation). Satellaview. (in English). 2005. “Serge: It's been something like three years since Kid and I met. Back then I was a drifter, wandering wherever my music led me. During my stay in the remote town of Regiorra, I ended up running into a girl who later joined me, leading to the beginning of all this.”
  6. ^ Square Co.. Radical Dreamers. Demiforce (fan translation). Satellaview. (in English). 2005. “Serge: Not even seventeen years old, already she's widely renowned as a top professional. To make matters worse, she's cute, devilishly stylish, and has a sparkling personality. And boy, can she cook... if you ask her, that is. Well, to be completely honest, she has her share of problems as well. She likes to think of herself as a kind of Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but that's just not the case.”
  7. ^ Square Co.. Radical Dreamers. Demiforce (fan translation). Satellaview. (in English). 2005. “Serge: The top half of his face is covered with a mask at all times. I've never even seen what he really looks like. At times, it seems as though I'm hanging around someone from another world -- traveling with this pack is definitely an interesting experience. Kid's quiet about her past too, but it's like I know her entire life story compared to how little I know about Magil.”
  8. ^ Square Co.. Radical Dreamers. Demiforce (fan translation). Satellaview. (in English). 2005. “Lynx: Surely you remember, the one you received from your sister, all those years ago... the priceless keepsake you carry with you dearly, even now...The Chrono Trigger!”
  9. ^ Square Co.. Radical Dreamers. Demiforce (fan translation). Satellaview. (in English). 2005. “Kid: Long ago, in a far off kingdom, lived a girl. Because of her power, the kingdom had come to an end, crumbling under its own weight. Many became engulfed in the temporal vortex that was created, never to be heard from again......But not the girl. She lived on, enduring a much sadder fate... Running from her past and fearing her future, she wanted nothing more than to be swallowed up in the surging waves of the vortex of time...Hating what she'd done, refusing what she'd said or heard, to simply continue living was her curse. But the stone, It had other plans for her...Turning back the hands of her clock, scattering her memories, she was granted another chance. Since the precious stone was in her possession, she carried with her all its will and power. And so, she was born into this era, returning to reality as a mere infant...”
  10. ^ Chrono Compendium staff (2006). Radical Dreamers Condensed Plot Summary. Chrono Compendium. Retrieved on 2 July 2006.
  11. ^ Chrono Compendium staff (2006). Patches (Radical Dreamers). Chrono Compendium. Retrieved on 2 July 2006.
  12. ^ Terminus Traduction (2004-09-06). French Translation. Terminus Traduction. Retrieved on 2 July 2006.
  13. ^ GamePro: Interview with Chrono Cross Developers. Chrono Compendium (2000-10-17). Retrieved on 2 July 2006.
  14. ^ Square Co.. Chrono Cross. Square Electronic Arts. PlayStation. (in English). 2000-08-15. “Kid: Radical Dreamers...!? And me name's on here, too! What the bloody hell is goin' on? ...
    Kid: ......This seems to be an archive from a different time than our own. Aside from the two worlds we already know about...there may be other worlds and times which exist...”

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Chrono series

Chrono Trigger • Chrono Cross

Radical Dreamers • Final Fantasy Chronicles • Chrono Break
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../n/u/s/Radical_Dreamers%7E_Nusumenai_H%C5%8Dseki_fca3.html"