Radiant Historia

released on Nov 03, 2010

In the midst of an unending war for dominance between two super-powers, Special Intelligence Agent Stocke is assigned to a routine escort mission that goes horribly awry. However, wielding a mysterious book called the White Chronicle, Stocke discovers a way to travel to the intersection of time itself: Historia. With this power in his hands, he must travel back and forth through key events and an entirely alternate timeline to right the world's ill-fated course. The lives of his companions, the fate of nations, and the resolution of an impending disaster that now threatens the land all depend on Stocke's ability to discern the one "true" history.


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Lo abandone después de un tiempo, aunque no recuerdo porqué. La mecánica de combate me gustaba mucho, adoro que los jrpg innoven en mecánicas básicas del género. Los personajes estaban bien escritos y tenían buenos diseños y la estética pixel art era preciosa. En algún momento volveré a jugarlo para recordarlo todo.

We all know the DS was a very popular handheld, and there’s a decent chunk of RPGs released for the thing. So, which are the very best? In my humble opinion, Radiant Historia and the Dragon Quest 5 remake. I’m not talking about Dragon Quest today, but this. Developed by a team of staff from the Shin Megami Tensei series and the PS2 RPG Radiata Stories, we were treated to Radiant Historia. I always thought that was interesting. 

Radiant Historia's story sees two kingdoms in a dying world where they are fighting for resources, and it’s your job to see what you can do about it. It’s simple but executed very well, with great character writing and some well-executed twists later on. Unfortunately, the time travel addition to this game feels like it’s tacked on. Most people would think it would be in the style of Chrono Trigger, where you’re able to go between various time periods and exploring their worlds, but this game basically lets you make a decision of which you have 2 options at the start of the game, and you’ll have to jump back and forth between both timelines to unlock access to a roadblock in the other. It’s kind of annoying to be restricted from one of the timelines, as it is just a pace killer to have to go back to the other one. It is also barely utilized in the story, which makes me think it just didn’t need to be there. I never understood why people would recommend or compare this game to Chrono Trigger since both games are vastly different and only have the time travel system as a similarity, which is super unnecessary in this game! 

The combat has enemies on a 3x3 grid, and you’re inclined to use attacks that pair the enemies' placements together in order to attack them all at once. You also have the ability to swap turns with an enemy in order to pair your party's actions together to unleash devastating combos, and let me tell you, this is seriously dopamine-enriching stuff. This game also has surprisingly well-tuned balancing. At no point in the game do I recall ever thinking a section was too easy or unfairly difficult. It was always providing a consistent challenge throughout the game, which made playing it very engaging. You’re still able to grind for EXP and over-level yourself if you get stuck, but it isn’t necessary at all. 

Yoko Shimamura composed the soundtrack for this game, and it’s incredible. If you like Kingdom Hearts’ soundtrack, then you’ll be happy to know that the battle themes in Radiant Historia sound just like those. Unfortunately, there aren't many tracks in the game, and it can get repetitive to hear the same 10 or so songs over and over again. Radiant Historia’s music blends perfectly with the game's atmosphere, always feeling in place. The final boss theme is definitely one of my favorite songs from her. 

There’s always talk about which version of this game to play, and if you want my honest opinion, I probably prefer how the original DS release looks. I haven’t played the 3DS version yet, but the biggest change is how all the characters were redesigned in a new art style that feels more in line with what was popular at the time with its almost generic-looking portraits. It’s by no means bad, but I much prefer this game's art, which seemed to also be more popular at the time of its release with a more detailed and mature look. If you play the 3DS version, you’ll get the soundtrack without the DS bitcrush and added voice acting. Of course, we’re all going to seek different things in the games we play, so that’s up to you to decide, but I’m definitely for the DS version. 

I can’t recommend Radiant Historia enough. It’s clear there was a lot of work put into this game, which seems to be absent from a lot of handheld releases at the time. This game feels like the level of quality a console RPG would have, obviously not graphically, but just the time and effort being put in to make this game not feel like a side project. If you haven’t already, this is a must-play for the system.

One of my favorite RPGs. Excellent music by Yoko Shimamoura and a unique battle systems. The story is great too and the time travel mechanics help ease my fomo when playing this game.

What dragged this down a bit for me is that the true ending is impossible to get without a guide, and if you do follow one, the requisites are very boring, and later in the game the battles become very slow, but even if you don't get the true ending the story is very good, interesting characters and narrative, the core gameplay is fun, and the atmosphere is very strong due to visuals and music

Mi JRPG favorito del catálogo de la consola. Una verdadera obra maestra con una trama con viajes en el tiempo, con traiciones, secretos, giros de guion inesperados... Sus personajes están muy bien escritos y desarrollados y vemos todos los matices posibles gracias al estilo de narrativa que presenta. Los combates son muy estratégicos pero sin llegar a ser tediosos, además de que cada personaje tiene una función específica. Y encima es precioso visualmente y la banda sonora la compuso la maestra Yoko Shimomura.

Sublime, jugadlo

This game is all around awesome. The story is incredibly good, with a fantastic ending. It's very moving and powerful. Solid graphics and music for a DS game. I like all of the characters, they are very well designed and have good dialogue. The gameplay is traditional turn base, but you can manipulate enemies on the grid. It took me some time to beat the game mainly because I just wasn't in the mood for a turn base game, but it is very well done.