He’s a highly compelling, sympathetic and charming character you don’t always see in video games these days. Stocke is the motor of the story and a bit of a badass. Where Historia shines mightily is in these characters. But with boring characters, it would just be another game. The story in Radiant Historia is thrilling and packs an endless amount of back-and-forth fun. I don’t know if “friendly mode” makes the game easier but it certainly makes the game seem less tedious. This mode wasn’t available in the original game but I found it to be a mandatory addition to the remake. I ended up being able to skip some of these cutscenes, repeated battles and dialogue and get back on track. Lucky for me, this remake comes with a “friendly mode” that allows a more casual gamer to experience Historia with more immediacy. After a while, if you experience a bit of deja vu, it’s because you actually are watching the same cutscenes over and over again. If that sounds a little challenging, it’s because it is. You’ll be seeing this visual a lot in game. Navigating the timeline in Historia requires you to retrace old footsteps, set off on optional missions and try and figure out the right course of action. Unlike that film, however, Stocke has some much needed guidance to navigate the timelines and find the right course of action. Choices have consequences, of course, but much like the 2014 Tom Cruise film “Edge of Tomorrow,” the wrong choice gets you put back on a loop to make the right choice. This lets you, the player, progress through these time loops, leaping back and forth across history to approach important decision points and make a choice. During the game, you’ll find Stocke needing to jump through split timelines with alternate, branching paths and checkpoints called “nodes” where Stocke can return as needed. Radiant Historia tells the story of an accomplished soldier named Stocke who gains the ability to travel back and forth through time, exploring the consequences of different choices he makes as he aims to prevent the end of the world. These long stretches of dialogue will usually lead to Stocke having to make difficult decisions that affect the timeline.īut while the sights and sounds of Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology capture your attention first, this game truly shines in the story and characters. Stocke chatting up his comrade Rosch about a suspicious character.
#RADIANT HISTORIA SERIES#
The music for the original game was written by Yoko Shimomura – best known for her work on the Kingdom Hearts series and Legend of Mana – and the composer is back to bring Perfect Chronology a brilliant sound that meshes extremely well with the gameplay, combat and environments the title offers. I’m a bit of a sucker for well done game soundtracks and this game has a good one. The next thing you’ll notice is the music. It’s worth noting, however, that the anime art style used in the conversations and cutscenes adds a lot to the aesthetics. In the era of 4K, nothing you’ll see on the 3DS screen is going to blow your mind. When you fire up Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, you’ll be less than excited by the visuals.
But in 2018, with the Nintendo Switch off and running, are those tweaks enough to take an already good game and make it great?
#RADIANT HISTORIA FULL#
Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology takes the original formula, expands on it, adds full voice acting and animated cutscenes. It’s a bit odd that as fate would have it, Atlus chose to bring an updated remake of the DS classic to the 3DS while the 3DS seems to be on its last legs. The title, while universally praised by critics, didn’t garner the enormous commercial success it probably deserved and was somewhat passed over by many in the handheld community, myself included.
In early 2011, Atlus USA brought Radiant Historia over to the US late in the lifespan of the Nintendo DS.