| Radiant Historia | |
|---|---|
North American game cover |
|
| Developer(s) | Atlus[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Atlus[1] |
| Director(s) | Mitsuru Hirata[1] |
| Designer(s) | Hiroshi Konishi[1] (Character Designer) Satoshi Takayashiki[1] (World Designer) |
| Composer(s) | Yoko Shimomura[1] |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Nintendo DS Game Card |
Radiant Historia (ラジアントヒストリア Rajianto Hisutoria) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS.[1] The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei games like Persona 3, Strange Journey, Nocturne and the Etrian Odyssey series.[3] The development team also includes other members who had previously worked on Radiata Stories. The game was released on November 3, 2010 in Japan, and in North America on February 22, 2011.[4]
Contents |
The game gives a unique take on the concept of non-linear branching storylines, which it combines with the concepts of time travel and parallel universes, similar to the game Chrono Trigger.[5] Radiant Historia takes it much further by giving players the freedom to travel backwards and forwards through a timeline to alter the course of history, with each of their choices and actions having a major impact on the timeline. The player can return to certain points in history and live through certain events again to make different choices and see different possible outcomes on the timeline.[5][6]
The player will be using the ability to travel through time and space throughout the game. The player will be changing the past to create a “true” future, and the game has the player travel through time and space as the player switches between parallel worlds.[7] The game has many possible parallel endings.[8]
The enemies are visible on the fields before an engagement and the player may choose to fight or avoid them in open combat. A battle begins when the party comes into contact with the enemies, or if a story event initiates a confrontation.[1]
The battle system makes use of a positioning system called the 'Grid System'. Enemies are placed on a 3 x 3 grid, with each enemy standing in a single slot, except for some large enemies spanning multiple slots. If the player attacks an enemy who is in a grid space near the attacking character, the enemy will incur greater damage. However, the player will also be open to greater damage.[1]
Some attacks can move enemies around the grid, stacking them on the same slot until an enemy's turn comes and consecutive attacks on this group of enemies hit all of them. Despite being a turn-based combat system each member of the party can switch turns with the others and even with enemies, giving more freedom to the player to perform combos and deal further damage to enemies, but having its risks too, as a party member who switches turns become more vulnerable until becoming able to move again.
The game takes place on the continent of Vainqueur, a land which had in the past been the seat of a great old empire. However, the old empire had misused the power of Flux, creating weapons which drained life out of living things. After some great calamity, the center of the continent was turned into a desert and all the bastions of the old empire reduced to ruins. The last remaining members of the old empire fled north to what became the kingdom of Granorg, where they were able to temporarily stall the desertification of the rest of the continent. This was accomplished through a ritual only the royal family could perform, where one royal sacrificed another to temporarily stop the desert from advancing. Native to the continent are two races of Beastkind, the wiry Satyros, who have a greater connection to the power of Flux than humans do, and the Gutrals, who despite being large and reminiscent of great apes, are intelligent and peaceful.
When the story starts, the continent is effectively governed by five powers. In the north, Granorg is at war with Alistel. Granorg has superior numbers, but cannot outright defeat Alistel because of the latter's use of thaumatech, which, among other things, allows Alistel's field soldiers to wear suits of mechanical armor. Also on the northern half of the continent is Celestia, the homeland of the Satyros, whose connection to Flux which allows them to defend themselves in a way humans cannot match. To the south is Cygnus, a human nation made of outlaws and refugees of the desertification, whose primary defense is the desert itself, which the armies of Alistel and Granorg cannot cross in number. Finally, occupying the southeast, in the last wild jungles on the continent, is Forgia, homeland of the Gutrals.
On the continent of Vainqueur, a land of man and beasts, the holy nation of the East, Alistel is in a state of war with Granorg, a massive country to the West that is ruled harshly by Queen Protea. Alistel's land is slowly turning to desert while a strange disease, known as the "Sand Plague", is turning its people into sand. The ruler of Alistel, the Prophet Noah, insists this worldwide disease is the result of Protea's evil government. The people of Alistel thus believe they are fighting a holy war against Granorg.[1]
One day, Stocke and his subordinates, agents with the intelligence agency of Alistel, are sent into Granorg territory to rescue a secret agent who was captured by the government of Granorg. After saving the agent, the group find themselves surrounded by the Granorg army, and Stocke is severely wounded. He awakens in Historia, a world where time and space are warped. There, two mysterious children, Teo and Lippti, give him the ability to travel through time and space. After using this new power to travel through time to avoid defeat, Stocke is given a choice: continue working under Heiss in the intelligence division, or join his friend Rosch's unit within the military. Each choice creates a timeline and each timeline has its own separate story, which nonetheless relates to the other one. Stocke is often forced to move between timelines to acquire skills and information he would not otherwise have access to, in order to avoid disasters, ambushes or simply to position himself properly to take advantage of his enemies or friends.
Under Heiss, Stocke is sent to Granorg to assassinate Princess Eruca. He only manages to enter the city by pretending to be part of a group of traveling entertainers, most of whom are Satyros, one of the native beastmen races of the continent. Among them are Aht, a nine-year-old shaman who, for better or worse, begins idolizing Stocke and using her abilities to protect him. Once he arrives in Granorg, he discovers that the princess knew he would be coming, and moreover, had not informed anyone else. Stocke learns that Eruca is the de facto leader of the resistance against her stepmother's reign, and is therefore more an asset to Alistel's war on Granorg than an enemy. Eruca also reveals that she is the only living descendant of the empire's rulers, and thus the only person who can perform the ritual to prevent desertification. However, as Queen Protea refuses to allow her to perform the ritual, the world could turn to sand in less than a decade unless Protea is removed from power.
Stocke refrains from carrying out the assassination, thus securing her support. Oddly enough, he is also aided in this regard by his appearance, which is similar to Eruca's late older brother, Ernst, who was executed by her father for treason. Despite his best intentions, his failure to complete his mission brands him a traitor in Alistel, and General Hugo orders his execution.
In the other timeline, Stocke is assigned to Rosch's unit and deployed to protect Alistel's mines from enemy sabotage, as well as protect a cavern which is the only root connecting the two mountainous territories of Granorg and Alistel, other than a slim valley protected by the oft-traded Sand Fortress. After successfully defending the mines, Stocke and Rosch are rewarded by General Hugo by promotion, but he also assigns them to the Sand Fortress with a platoon of new recruits. Alistel's second-in-command, Lt. General Raul, assumes this is to remove any possible future political opponents from the city, as Field Marshal Viola, who also was gaining popularity against Hugo's will, was also assigned there. After defeating the Granorg army in two battles, Rosch's entire brigade is killed. Stocke then discovers a piece of paper proving that the Granorgites were being leaking information from within Alistel.
Stocke returns with the critically wounded Rosch to Alistel, and, taking the advice of Lt. General Raul, sneaks into Hugo's office to search for evidence of deals with Granorg. He finds a coded note that he believes to show the truth, and promptly flees Alistel with Raul, Rosch, and Rosch's doctor, Sonja. They arrive in Celestia and learn that Hugo had a secret pact with Protea's advisors, Dias and Selvan, to eliminate Protea from the throne, annex Granorg, and then conquer the entire continent. Stocke convinces Rosch to become the commander of Celestia's army, and Celestia prepares for war against Granorg and Alistel.
A Japanese trademark for the game's name was known to have existed as far back as March 2010.[10] At that point, nothing was known about the game except its name. It was not until July 2010 that an issue of Famitsu revealed it to be a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS that involved time-travel.[11] It was later revealed to involve many staff members who have worked on the Shin Megami Tensei series, and members of tri-Ace, makers of the similarly named Radiata Stories.
The music of Radiant Historia is composed by Yoko Shimomura,[1] who is best known for her works for Super Mario RPG, Legend of Mana and the Kingdom Hearts series. The ending theme "-HISTORIA-" is sung by Haruka Shimotsuki.
| Radiant Historia Original Soundtrack | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | English title | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "RADIANT HISTORIA" | RADIANT HISTORIA | 3:26 | ||||||
| 2. | "機械仕掛けの王国" | Mechanical Kingdom | 3:10 | ||||||
| 3. | "戦場へ" | To the Battlefield | 1:43 | ||||||
| 4. | "Blue Radiance" | Blue Radiance | 4:09 | ||||||
| 5. | "誇り高く、永遠に" | Forever Proud | 3:47 | ||||||
| 6. | "その先に待つ未来へ" | To the Future that Awaits Ahead | 2:40 | ||||||
| 7. | "荒野の向こう" | Beyond the Wilderness | 3:15 | ||||||
| 8. | "The Edge of Green" | The Edge of Green | 3:14 | ||||||
| 9. | "勝利！" | Victory! | 0:47 | ||||||
| 10. | "砂塵が見せた夢" | Dreams Showed by a Cloud of Dust | 2:36 | ||||||
| 11. | "天青石の眠る庭" | The Garden Where the Celestite Lies | 2:59 | ||||||
| 12. | "世界を繋ぐ調べ" | The Melody Connecting the World | 1:47 | ||||||
| 13. | "空は青く高くどこまでも" | Unending Clear Blue Sky | 3:06 | ||||||
| 14. | "暗闇に舞う翳（かげ）" | Shadows Dance in the Darkness | 4:14 | ||||||
| 15. | "The Red Locus" | The Red Locus | 3:34 | ||||||
| 16. | "Wildness and Toughness" | Wildness and Toughness | 3:35 | ||||||
| 17. | "反逆" | Rebellion | 1:45 | ||||||
| 18. | "風と羽根が還る場所" | Where the Wind and Feathers Return | 2:22 | ||||||
| 19. | "迫り来る危機" | Impending Crisis | 1:05 | ||||||
| 20. | "途切れた時間" | Interrupted Moment | 1:45 | ||||||
| 21. | "世界の記憶" | Memories of the World | 3:07 | ||||||
| 22. | "An Earnest Desire of Grey" | An Earnest Desire of Grey | 4:25 | ||||||
| 23. | "優しい時間" | Affectionate Moment | 3:14 | ||||||
| 24. | "-HISTORIA-" | -HISTORIA- | 4:29 | ||||||
| 25. | "-HISTORIA- (instrumental ver.)" | -HISTORIA- (instrumental ver.) | 4:26 | ||||||
|
Total length:
|
74:40 | ||||||||
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 85.43%[12] |
| Metacritic | 86 of 100[13] |
| GameStats | 9.0 of 10[14]
<-- Awards --> |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | B+[15] |
| Eurogamer | 9 of 10[16] |
| Famitsu | 34 of 40[17] |
| G4 | 4 of 5[18] |
| Game Informer | 8.75 of 10[19] |
| GameSpot | 8 of 10[20] |
| IGN | 8.5 of 10[21] |
| Nintendo World Report | 9 of 10[12] |
| AV Club | A-[22] |
| Game Vortex | 95%[12] |
| Gaming Nexus | A[12] |
| RPGFan | 91%[23] |
| Snackbar-Games | 5 of 5[14] |
| Wired | [24] |
| ZTGameDomain | 9.3 of 10[12] |
Radiant Historia has received mostly positive critical reception. 1UP's Jeremy Parish gave the game a B+ score, describing it is "easily the most original of this month's slate of RPGs" and an "engaging role-playing game that deserves a chance", while praising the game's protagonist Stocke, saying "while he does indeed come off as a stock character at first impression...he quickly develops into something much more interesting."[15] Shiva Stella of GameSpot praised the game's time travel aspect, calling it "exciting" and "inventive"; she then concludes Radiant Historia is "an innovative adventure that is sure to stand the test of time."[20]
IGN has given the game 8.5 out of 10, praising the game's graphics, time travel aspect, innovative gameplay and involving story and music which they called "beautiful".[21] Neal Chandran of RPGFan gave the game a score of 91%, describing it as "one of the best Japanese RPGs I've played in years."[23] Jason Schreier of Wired gave the game a score of 9 stars out of 10, concluding "Atlus has created the perfect blend of innovation and tradition."[24] Matt Peckham of PC World praised the game's nonlinear multidimensional concept which allows the game to be played differently by travelling to a decision point and choosing another path, in contrast to "BioWare-style head pats, where whatever you choose, the game plays out more or less as it would have anyway."[25] The non-linear time travel system of Radiant Historia has been compared to later RPGs such as the PlayStation Portable version of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together[26] and more recently Final Fantasy XIII-2.[27]
In IGN's "Best of 2011" awards, the game has been nominated for the "Best 3DS/DS Story"[28] and "Best 3DS/DS Role-Playing Game"[29] awards. Nintendo Life gave it an honourable mention for the Game of the Year award.[30] Game Informer gave it the "Best Old-School Homage" award.[31] Samantha Nelson of The A.V. Club chose it as her staff pick for Game of the Year.[32]