Stand the Test of Time- Radiant Historia Review

As viewers of the Back to the Future film series will tell you, plotlines centering around time travel have about a one-third chance of being successful. Regretfully, interactive entertainment seems to have a similar track record. For every remarkable entry like Chrono Trigger, developers deliver misfires like Time Hollow or Darkest of Days– titles which are either impenetrably convoluted or fail to capitalize on the awe-inspiring prospect of tweaking the fourth dimension. Not only did recent Nintendo DS release Radiant Historia restore my faith in time travel as a plot device- the title also demonstrated that a high-definition console wasn’t needed to generate an absorbing role-playing experience. 

Smartly, the title’s protagonist is a far cry from the genre’s archetypal amnesic altruists. Aloof, experienced, and determinedly capable, Stocke displays little of the naiveté and uncertainty which plague most JRPG heroes. After countless quests have placed players in the pristine boots of the town’s teenage aspirant, seeing the world through the eyes of insightful intelligence officer is a welcome reprieve. Privy to sensitive information, Stocke is tasked with making powerful decisions, and withholds data from his superiors. Often these decisions evoke the type of moral quandaries explored in Bethesda’s and BioWare’s adventures, blurring the traditional East and West role-playing distinctions.

To complement the capable storyline, Radiant Historia also has an absorbing battle system. During skirmishes, foes are situated on a three-by-three grid, with a timeline dictating the battle order for both enemy and allied units. Success decrees using special attacks which knock opponents onto each other, setting up a formidable strike against a cluster of adversaries. Players may also alter their attack order, and even strike foes on the map for a preemptive advantage, filling the title with strategic possibility. More importantly, combat is intuitive, quick, and remains satisfying through Radiant‘s thirty-five hour playthrough.

Graphically, Radiant Historia is consistently proficient, between the game’s rich polygonal backgrounds, and opulent hand-drawn art. From the elaborate textures found on fortress floors to Historia’s Escher-esque skyward stairways, the title’s environments are reliably pleasing. Even more sumptuous are the game’s gorgeous character portraits, which give life to the game’s diminutive character sprites. Sonically, Yoko Shimomura’s exquisite soundtrack demands playback from a decent set of headphones. With each pensive piano plink immaculately sampled, the game’s output rivals the quality of the five-track symphonic soundtrack which comes bundled with every purchase.

Although Radiant Historia strengths are numerous, the title does have a handful of conspicuous blemishes. Failure can come quickly and without much foreshadowing. Given the quantity of time junctions in the game, I didn’t expect a full-blown narrative for each outcome, but delivering a few, terse sentences recalled the narrative resolution of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Given the DS’s propensity to consume battery life in sleep mode, a save-anywhere functionality would have made a considerate addition, as well.