Radiata Stories Review 
| Posted |
Feb 04 |
| Genre |
RPG |
| ESRB |
Teen |
| Release |
12-31-69 |
| Gallery |
View Images |
| Game |
View Page |
Introduction – Considering how much I loved Star Ocean 3: Til’ the End of Time from developer Tri-Ace, I was really looking forward to Radiata Stories. In Radiata you play as Jack Russel (like the dog) who undergoes a dynamic change throughout the story. Along the way, you encounter friends, recruit allies, chose your own path, and battle enemies. Though it’s an RPG it doesn’t fall into the repetitive gameplay or rehashed “save the world” story. To me, Radiata feels like a mix of Dark Cloud 2 (graphics and humor), Suikoden 2 ( many recruitable characters), and Star Ocean 3 (the feel of the game and battle system).
You start out in your hometown where you are living with your sister. Your father was a legendary Radiata knight and you are going to try to join as a knight in an upcoming trial. Along the way you meet a girl who, at first, thinks you’re a punk, Ridley. The dialogue is very funny at the start of the game, but loses its touch later on. The “save the world story” kicks in after about 30 hours of play. There are really two parts of this game. The first part is amazing, and the story is humorous and seems to be going places. But halfway through the game there is a split and I can’t say much, but the second half messes up the solid story. Furthermore, character development is only good in the main character Jack. No other characters are developed enough for you to feel for them.
As for the gameplay, there are many characters to recruit and it’s quite fun finding out how to make them join your party. It reminds me of Suikoden II, except S2 did it a little better. The battle system is pretty fun, though simplistic. But it doesn’t get monotonous like in most RPGs. I actually looked forward to most fights and you can just avoid them most of the time anyways. Again, if you played SO3 the battle system will feel familiar yet simple. For an RPG, this has the best possible gameplay you can ask for.
The graphics are very well done in this game. They remind me a little of dark Cloud 2. The backgrounds are colorful and character models are detailed and descriptive. Not much else to say here.
Some great voice acting games are Disgaea, Lunar, FFX, Brave Fencer Musashi, Metal Gear series, and some more. Not an exhaustive list but those have great voice acting. With that said, Radiata Stories is better than any of those and easily the best voice acting game ever. The thing is, with most games, just one actor is very good but the less important characters always sound dull. In Radiata, Jack sounds like a real human, uses great dialogue, and is hysterical. Ridley, voiced by That 70’s Show, Mila Kunis, is also a very good voice acting job. Even side characters use great dialogue and can add humor. Next, the music is great but not a masterpiece, and battle sounds are decent as well.
You’ll be spending a lot of time in this game. With all the things you need to do, you can easily spend over 100 hours on a single game. Even after you beat the game, you might want to play through the story again to get to see different endings and use different characters. This game is definately one of the most addictive RPGs of all time.
If you’re an RPG fan, go out and buy this game. If you’re an RPG traditionalist (meaning you need a great story and great character development to even consider a game) look elsewhere. What you’ll get out of this game is fun gameplay, humorous dialogue, and extreme fun. But you might not like the lack of good solid story or character development.
- enders shadow
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