Tri-Ace delivers another excellent RPG; a light-hearted romp across a fleshed out fantasy world both funny and touching.
The gameplay of Radiata Stories takes several unique turns that help separate it from the rest of the RPG crowd. For instance, Jack can interact with many things in the world simply by kicking them. Things as random as treasure chests, chairs, and store displays can yield items with a single boot. Jack can also kick people; most of the time, giving someone a kick in the shins will cause them to become annoyed, or perhaps even attack in retaliation, but kicking the right people in the right circumstances can yield positive results.
Battles are functionally very similar in perspective to those found in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Battles occur in real time, but instead of being able to switch between characters at will, the player is in control of Jack exclusively. Up to three other party members are controlled by the CPU, but Jack will eventually be able to give party members specific orders, or have the party enter special formations that yield party-wide bonuses. Also of importance is the Volty Gauge; as the party lands successful blows on the enemy, the Volty Gague will increase, and Jack will be able to use weapon specific Volty Blows that expend ten Volty Points per use. There are also attacks called Volty Blasts, which are weapon specific attacks that expend the entire gauge and are guaranteed to hit the enemy for heavy damage.
However, the crown jewel of Radiata Stories's gameplay, and its most unique aspect, is the way time affects the world. In the game world, time is always moving on a day/night cycle. The many people that populate the world follow specific schedules, and by interacting with and performing tasks for certain NPCs at specific times of the day, the player can add them to the game's Friends List. Characters that have been recruited in such a manner during the course of the game can then be placed in the party. The whole system is very well implimented, and no matter what time of day it is, it's not hard to find something to do, whether it be fulfilling a task for the warrior guild, helping an NPC out, or following someone as they go about their day in order to learn his or her schedule. Progressing the main story requires that Jack sleep in bed in order to trigger the major story events.
What makes this clockwork world work even better is the fact that the game's cast is so diverse. There are 177 possible characters to recruit among the game's various races, including humans, goblins, elves, and dwarves. With the exception of a few unimportant background NPCs, all of the characters that populate the world look unique and have distinct personalities, giving the world a much more lifelike personality. Radiata Stories is a very humorous game that often takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the storyline. Many of the characters that Jack meets are eccentric in one way or another, and Jack himself is actually remarkably dense, taking things as they come mainly because he has a hard time understanding what's going on the majority of the time. The oddball humor might not sit well with RPG fans that prefer more serious storylines, but it's perfectly suitable for those that would prefer a lighter adventure.
Radiata Stories's graphics fit the tone of the game perfectly. The colorful landscapes and diverse locales are all very pretty to look at and fun to explore, helping to create a storybook feel. The sound is just as successful, as the game is filled with quality voice acting that suits the large cast well, and that provides that extra touch to make the adventure all the more appealing. The music is a bit of a mixed bag and not always memorable, but there are still some tunes that stand out, and it's possible to collect soundtrack records in the game to playback at any time Jack is at a record player.
After the game is beaten, the player can continue playing the save file and experience the bonus dungeon; a standard of Tri-Ace RPGs that features the most challenging enemies in the game and the most rewarding extras. Players can also restart the game with a New Game + feature that allows Jack to begin with most of his items, the names he's collected for the Friends List, and all of the skills he's learned. To actually experience everything that Radiata Stories has to offer, the game needs to be played through twice, as there is a branching point in the story that drastically changes how the rest of the game will play out, depending on the player's choice. Also, it's only possible to fill out the entire Friends List in multiple playthroughs, as at least two (one for each story path) are required to meet and befriend every character in the game. The game itself can be quite short; depending on how much the player sets out to accomplish, the end of the story can be reached in as little as twenty hours, or as much as forty or fifty. In all, the game offers a great deal of content that is easily accessable to anyone with the desire to seek it all out.
Radiata Stories is one of the best RPGs to come out for the PS2 in 2005. It offers a fun combat system and entertaining story, a fully fleshed out world, and enough content to last a player as long as desired. Anyone looking for a quality RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously should give this game a look.