Happy Puppy Review
by Emily Schneider
Radiata Stories kicks up an entertaining storm seldom seen in the often serious RPG genre.
- Graphics: 9/10
- Sound: 7/10
- Gameplay: 8/10
- Replay Value: 7.5/10
- Overall: 8/10
The Short Bark:
Radiata Stories introduces a new franchise for RPG kings, Square Enix. While the storyline and gameplay elements are pretty standard for the genre, the humorous - often satirical - tone of the game sets it apart from contemporaries and does a great job of creating an enjoyable experience for RPG fans.
The Full Bite:
The visually beautiful world of Radiata Stories is a fun, often comical, and cheesy escape from the usually serious role-playing game genre. You play the part of Jack Russel, a sixteen year old kid whose father was a great Radiata Knight. Jack is not your typical RPG hero, as he's not particularly cool, smart, or even good in combat - traits that lead him to getting his butt kicked by Ridley Silverlake, a smart-mouthed girl also trying out for the Knights.
Although Jack is badly beaten, he still joins Ridley in the Rose Cochon Brigade of the Radiata Knights as a result of his father's name recognition. Under the command of Ganz Rothchild, the brigade sets off on a seemingly run of the mill mission doing trade with the fairy people, which sets off a series of events ultimately leading up to them having to save the world.
Jack is the only playable member in a party consisting of up to four characters, each of whom he can issue commands to during battle, placing you in charge of directing their attacks. When Jack dies, regardless of if the other characters are still alive and kicking, the game is over.
The controls of the game are pretty basic, consisting of attacking, blocking, and counter-attacking in real time. After each attack a bar called the 'Volty Gauge' gradually fills up one point, allowing Jack to use a more powerful attack after attaining 10 points or a massively powerful attack after the gauge reaches 100 points.
One unique aspect of Radiata Stories is the way Jack examines objects or looks for hidden items. Instead of merely looking at them, he kicks them. Additionally, you can actually kick people, either to just annoy them and get a reaction, or to draw them into a battle. However, if you are defeated in these battles, the game isn't over - which is great if Jack happens to kick someone who is way out of his league.
Another interesting feature of the world of Radiata is that it is run by a full time system, in which the non-playable characters all follow their own unique schedules. There are 177 different characters for Jack to become friends with and fight beside, although most of them are not essential to furthering the storyline. This system can make the game rather hard if you want to recruit specific characters since you may have to follow a certain person around to reach them at a particular location. Jack can also just go to sleep to advance time, which results in missing most of the day, but is often essential to advancing the storyline. If nothing has happened story-wise in a while, going to sleep will often trigger a new cut scene.
Radiata Stories is an entertaining game sprinkled with corny sound effects and jokes. The storyline is nothing especially innovative but it is engaging enough to hold one's interest, and the amazing cel-shaded graphics do much to add to the charisma of the game. Radiata Stories has its flaws, but consists of an enjoyable experience for those looking for something different from an RPG.
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