First released on the DS in 2011, Radiant Historia makes a return to the 3DS this week in an enhanced version of the original. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology adds a new difficulty mode, five new songs from original composer Yoko Shimorua, a new opening animation from A-1 Pictures, new theme song, new voice overs, redesigned character art, and new event illustrations. Furthermore, a whole new third timeline is introduced that you can access in Append mode (where you have to complete the original game first, and then start NewGame+ to get to the new content), or Perfect mode (where you can play the new content integrated from the start). These enhancements take one of the best JRPG experiences on the DS and make it even better.
I tend to dabble in JRPGs, more in the last few years than in years prior. I consider myself still a casual fan of the genre, but a growing one. It’s a loaded statement to say out the outset, but I can confidently say that in my personal JRPG experience, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology has been quite possibly the best game of the genre. Again, this is just personal testimony, but I was immediately hooked on the time-traveling mechanic that the game hinges on. The idea is that there is this special location, known as Historia, that only possessors of the White or Black Chronicles can access. It is here that players can revisit events in the past to set history right, and prevent the entire destruction of the world, which is rapidly turning into sand. You take control of Stocke, a skilled swordsman and warrior who works for his country’s Special Intelligence agency. Allistel is at war with Granorg at the outset of the game, and Stocke and allies Raynie and Marco must team up and execute missions to help turn the tide of the war and subsequently the fate of the world. The White Chronicle that is entrusted to Stocke allows him the ability to visit Historia, and revisit critical junctures in time and play out different scenarios, in effort to find the perfect chronology that sees good triumphing over evil.
I’m a fan of time shifting/traveling mechanics in games, whether it’s bullet-time in Max Payne, rewinding in Prince of Persia, and so on. Time mechanics alone aren’t enough to make a compelling experience though, which is why I’m glad that Stocke as a protagonist is such a good character. He’s somewhat typical, but I thought the voice-acting for his lines really helped shape his character and in a good way. I also liked how, at the numerous times when players must make a critical decision (and a time node that you can revisit in Historia is created), that Stocke’s thoughts and logic tend to echo my own, if that makes sense. In other words, when making a decision, the dialog written for his character echoed my own thoughts more of then than not, and that’s one of the reason I found myself invested in Stocke’s character and success early on and sustain-ably through the game.
Seeing as I am relatively new and still somewhat averse to JRPGs, I appreciated the “Friendly” difficulty that this enhanced version of Radiant Historia includes. This makes most battle encounters instant, or even avoidable really, to where in many cases you can just press Y to instantly finish a battle while still smoothly moving about in exploration mode. For me, this expedites the pace of the game and keeps the focus more on the role-playing elements — the character development, interactions, dialog, item buying/selling, quest-running, the story — these aspects of the game which I value more than turn-based battle. Some battles you cannot (and really should not) avoid though, but these are well done, easy to understand, and not overly complicated. Good, sound strategy and team tactics are necessary for the bigger battles but I liked that, while the challenge increases, it never gets painful, and instead I can continue to take-in the portions of the game I find more enjoyable. While not the case in all JRPGs, the story, characters, and especially the junctures in time where you have to make a key decision (which of course you can revisit and replay in Historia), are actually very interesting and fun to explore. I appreciate the numerous save points along the way, as well as the ability to skip through dialog scenes that you’ve already seen, too, further making the most efficient use of your play time.
Having not played the original Radiant Historia, I cannot really speak to how much improved the graphics are, but I can say that this game looks very nice on the 3DS. There is no 3D-mode support, which is I think fair to expect from a game originally released in 2011 and given that it’s an ‘old school’ kind of JRPG without 3D animations anyway. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful though, and while I’m not sure how the old theme song was or which of the tracks are the new ones, I can say that they all work really well in the game. I love the track that plays while you’re exploring the timeline in Historia the most.
At the end of the day, whether you’re taking a nostalgia trip back in time to revisit this classic or if you find yourself in Historia for the first time, it’s definitely worth playing.
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