Radiata Stories: Dog jokes aside, not a bad game
SMIDNIGHT
75% score
Radiata Stories, in my opinion borrows a lot from the Suikoden series. Case in point, the large number of characters for recruiting and certain boss fights that are either almost or completely unwinnable. A total of 177 party members can be brought into your cause to, what most RPG supreme goals are, to save the world. The variety of characters, story progression based on a certain decision, including two seperate endings based on that decision, and continuing after the final boss are some game concepts seen not too often in an RPG, if ever. Also of interest is a in-game clock that shows what time of day it is. This becomes important mostly for party recruiting and certain quests. Some can only be done at night or during the day. The battle system is in real-time and has a bit of a squad based flavor, due to the ability to learn commands to better lead your party during a fight. Problems occur when using the lock-on function, especilly when you can't swirch targets manually. Other than some diversions including party recruiting usually entailing small side quests that can take days (in the game), the story is pretty linear and a player can easily follow it to the end. Graphics and sound are typical for a RPG that but still works well for this type of game. The control scheme can get a little getting used to, though. For some reason you must use two different buttons to interct with someone or something. For beginners, it cn take getting used to, but eventually becomes second nature. Other than that, the controls are responsive, have a norml layout, and work well enough to get you through the game. Unfortunately, there is no option to change them to a pattern of your liking. If your like most RPG gamers eagerly waiting for Final Fantasy XII to be released, this may serve as a good diversion to starve off the wait. Also a solid RPG to add to your collection.
