Radiant Historia
Encyclopedia
is a role-playing video game
developed and published by Atlus
for the Nintendo DS
. The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei
games like Persona 3, Strange Journey
, Nocturne
and the Etrian Odyssey
series. The development team also includes other members who had previously worked on Radiata Stories
. The game was released on November 3, 2010 in Japan
, and in North America
on February 22, 2011.
and parallel universes
, similar to the game Chrono Trigger. Radiant Historia takes it much further by giving players the freedom to travel backwards and forwards through a timeline to alter the course of history, with each of their choices and actions having a major impact on the timeline. The player can return to certain points in history and live through certain events again to make different choices and see different possible outcomes on the timeline.
The player will be using the ability to travel through time and space throughout the game. The player will be changing the past to create a “true” future, and the game has the player travel through time and space as the player switches between parallel worlds. The game has many possible parallel endings
.
The battle system makes use of a positioning system called the 'Grid System'. Enemies are placed on a 3 x 3 grid, with each enemy standing in a single slot, except for some large enemies spanning multiple slots. If the player attacks an enemy who is in a grid space near the attacking character, the enemy will incur greater damage. However, the player will also be open to greater damage.
Some attacks can move enemies around the grid, stacking them on the same slot until an enemy's turn comes and consecutive attacks on this group of enemies hit all of them. Despite being a turn-based combat system each member of the party can switch turns with the others and even with enemies, giving more freedom to the player to perform combos and deal further damage to enemies, but having its risks too, as a party member who switches turns become more vulnerable until becoming able to move again.
When the story starts, the continent is effectively governed by five powers. In the north, Granorg is at war with Alistel. Granorg has superior numbers, but cannot outright defeat Alistel because of the latter's use of thaumatech, which among other things, lets them field soldiers armed with suits of mechanical armor. Also on the northern half of the continent is Celestia, the homeland of the Satyros, whose connection to Flux which allows them to defend themselves in a way humans cannot match. To the south is Cygnus, a human nation made of outlaws and refugees of the desertification, whose primary defense is the desert itself, which the armies of Alistel and Granorg cannot cross in number. Finally, occupying the southeast, in the last wild jungles on the continent, is Forgia, homeland of the Gutrals.
One day, Stocke, an agent with the intelligence agency of Alistel and his subordinates are sent into Granorg territory to rescue a secret agent who was captured by the government of Granorg. After saving the agent, the group find themselves surrounded by the Granorg army, and Stocke is severely wounded. He awakens in Historia, a world where time and space are warped. There, two mysterious children give him the ability to travel through time and space. After using this new power to travel through time to avoid defeat, Stocke is given a choice: continue working under Heiss in the intelligence division, or join his friend Rosch's unit within the military. Each choice creates a timeline and each timeline has its own separate story, which nonetheless relates to the other one. Stocke is often forced to move between timelines to acquire skills and information he would not otherwise have access to, in order to avoid disasters, ambushes or simply to position himself properly to take advantage of his enemies or friends.
Under Heiss, Stocke is sent to Granorg to assassinate princess Eruca. He only manages to enter the city by pretending to be part of a group of traveling entertainers, most of whom are Satyros, one of the native beastmen races of the continent. Among them are Aht, a nine-year-old shaman who for better or worse, begins idolizing Stocke and using her abilities to protect him. Once he arrives in Granorg, he discovers that the princess knew he would be coming, and moreover, had not informed anyone else. Stocke learns that Eruca is the de-facto leader of the resistance against her step-mother's reign, and is therefore more an asset to Alistel's war on Granorg than an enemy. He refrains from carrying out the assassination, thus securing her support. Oddly enough, he is also aided in this regard by his appearance, which is similar to her late older brother, who was executed by her father for treason. Despite his best intentions, his failure to complete his mission brands him a traitor in Alistel, and general Hugo orders his execution.
In the other timeline, Stocke is assigned to Rosch's unit and deployed to protect Aistel's mines from enemy sabotage, as well as a cavern which is the only root connecting the two mountainous territories of Granorg and Alistel, other than a slim valley protected by the oft-traded Sand Fortress. After successfully defending the mines, Stocke and Rosch are rewarded by general Hugo by promotion, but he also assigns them to the Sand Fortress with a platoon of new recruits. Alistel's second in command, general Raul, assumes this is to remove any possible future political opponents from the city.
is a 17-year-old female agent with the intelligence agency of the nation of Alistel, and Stocke's subordinate. Raynie was once a refugee from the desertification, she moved with her parents to Cygnus, but was nonetheless orphaned at a young age. Originally a member of a mercenary group with Marco, Raynie was recruited by Heiss after her group was destroyed. She felt indebted to Heiss, and upon his request became Stocke's subordinate. Raynie is a straightforward person with a strong sense of justice and can be quite honest at times. She excels in the art of spear-fighting.
is a 17-year-old male agent with the intelligence agency of the nation of Alistel and Stocke's subordinate. He has known Raynie since their days as mercenaries, and the two make a rough combination. Along with Raynie, he was recruited into the intelligence agency by Heiss after their mercenary group was destroyed. Marco is very realistic and careful at whatever he does, traits that make him a good partner. He is also skilled with sword-fighting.
is a 21-year-old military officer and the captain of Alistel's recruit corp. He is Stocke's best friend from the time that the two used to fight side by side before Stocke joined the special intelligence agency. Rosch always cares about Stocke and offers him advice. Rosch was severely injured in the past and has had to replace one of his arms with a mechanical prosthetic, called a 'Gauntlet', that makes use of Alistel's 'Thaumatech' technology and moves according to his thoughts. Rosch is openhearted and, although stubborn, he is very forgiving. Like Raynie, his weapon of choice is a spear.
is the princess of Granorg and is the first heir to the throne, she is the late King daughter with his first wife. Eruca is regarded highly by the people of Granorg as opposed to her stepmother, Queen Protea. Eruca is saddened by her stepmother's tyranny. Her distinguishing trait is her beautiful blonde curls. Her weapon of choice is a pistol.
is a 9-year-old Satyros. She traveled through many places as a member of a group of entertainers led by Vanoss. Although Aht is not fully aware of it herself, she is a "shaman" of the Satyros. Aht is sometimes selfish like most children her age, and as she is very fond of Stocke, she tends to stubborningly refuse to leave his side. Her weapon of choice is a dagger .
is a powerful Gutral warrior from Forgia village. After being exiled from his tribe, Gafka lived in Celestia before joining Stocke's party. He fights with his fists.
is a doctor of the nation of Alistel, and is the central figure in its medical sector. Sonja has been studying "Mana" for a long time and is also very knowledgeable about Thaumatechnology. Sonja is friends with Stocke and Rosch. Although she did not have to, Sonia has always been on the front line with Stocke and Roche, secretly looking after the two as they went on dangerous missions. Sonja has a mature and strong personality.
is a non-commissioned officer of Rosch's recruit corp. Rosch often tells Kiel how much he respected Stocke as a great fencer, which eventually leads Kiel to respect Stocke also. Kiel is very honest and has a positive nature, but often gets ahead of himself. Although good at ceremonial sword dancing, Kiel himself is not combat oriented.
is Alistel's commander in chief, he is known for passing the words of Alistel's supreme leader, Prophet Noah, to the people, after he stopped appearing to the public in person, years before. A man known for being very aggressive in politics, always scheming against those who can pose as a threat to his position.
is a Lt. General in Alistel's military and Rosch's superior. A man known as a brilliant strategist, but likes to keep himself from the public because of Hugo's political schemes.
is Field Marshal of Alistel's military, known as "The Valkyrie". Seen as a heroine by the people, she was relocated by Hugo to the border outpost of Sand Fortress in order to keep her out of the capital in fear of her popularity.
is Alistel's lead Thaumatech developer, and the brains behind the country's technological superiority.
is the leader of the Granorg Assembly, and essentially Prime Minister of Granorg. While ostensibly working for the Queen, he is, in actuality, the de facto ruler of the country.
is the Court Knight of Granorg, General of its armies and Selvan's close friend. He is a brilliant battlefield commander and a devious opponent.
series, and members of tri-Ace, makers of the similarly named Radiata Stories.
, who is best known for her works for Super Mario RPG
, Legend of Mana
and the Kingdom Hearts
series. The ending theme "-HISTORIA-" is sung by Haruka Shimotsuki
.
's Jeremy Parish gave the game a B+ score, describing it is "easily the most original of this month's slate of RPGs" and an "engaging role-playing game that deserves a chance", while praising the game's protagonist Stocke, saying "while he does indeed come off as a stock character at first impression...he quickly develops into something much more interesting." Shiva Stella of GameSpot
praised the game's time travel aspect, calling it "exciting" and "inventive"; she then concludes Radiant Historia is "an innovative adventure that is sure to stand the test of time."
IGN
has given the game 8.5 out of 10, praising the game's graphics, time travel aspect, innovative gameplay and involving story and music which they called "beautiful". Neal Chandran of RPGFan gave the game a score of 91%, describing it as "one of the best Japanese RPGs I've played in years." Jason Schreier of Wired
gave the game a score of 9 stars out of 10, concluding "Atlus has created the perfect blend of innovation and tradition." Matt Peckham of PC World
praised the game's nonlinear multidimensional concept which allows the game to be played differently by travelling to a decision point and choosing another path, in contrast to "BioWare
-style head pats, where whatever you choose, the game plays out more or less as it would have anyway." The non-linear time travel system of Radiant Historia has been compared to later RPGs such as the PlayStation Portable
version of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and more recently Final Fantasy XIII-2
.
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
developed and published by Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei
Megami Tensei
, commonly abbreviated as , is a Japanese console role-playing game metaseries which was originally based on the novel series Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani and has gone to become one of the major franchises of the genre in its native country...
games like Persona 3, Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus and Lancarse for the Nintendo DS. It is a title within the Megami Tensei series of video games, and was released in Japan on October 8, 2009 and in North America on March 23, 2010...
, Nocturne
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
is a role-playing game for the PlayStation 2. It is the third main game in the Megami Tensei series. Shin Megami Tensei III was released nine years after Shin Megami Tensei II, and was the first Megami Tensei game in the series to be released into the United States using the "Megami Tensei" name...
and the Etrian Odyssey
Etrian Odyssey
Media Create/Famitsū reported that Etrian Odyssey had sold 119,584 copies in Japan as of July 1, 2007. Atlus' own July 2007 investors report listed US sales of the title at around 30,000 units, roughly 2 months after release....
series. The development team also includes other members who had previously worked on Radiata Stories
Radiata Stories
is an action role-playing game. It was developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was released on January 27, 2005 in Japan and September 6, 2005 in North America. The game was well-received in Japan but received a more mixed reaction in North America. It sold over...
. The game was released on November 3, 2010 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on February 22, 2011.
Time travel
The game gives a unique take on the concept of non-linear branching storylines, which it combines with the concepts of time travelTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
and parallel universes
Multiverse
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise all of reality.Multiverse may also refer to:-In fiction:* Multiverse , the fictional multiverse used by DC Comics...
, similar to the game Chrono Trigger. Radiant Historia takes it much further by giving players the freedom to travel backwards and forwards through a timeline to alter the course of history, with each of their choices and actions having a major impact on the timeline. The player can return to certain points in history and live through certain events again to make different choices and see different possible outcomes on the timeline.
The player will be using the ability to travel through time and space throughout the game. The player will be changing the past to create a “true” future, and the game has the player travel through time and space as the player switches between parallel worlds. The game has many possible parallel endings
Multiple endings
Multiple endings refer to a case in entertainment where the story could end in different ways, described as an alternate ending.-Literature:...
.
Combat
The enemies are visible on the fields before an engagement and the player may choose to fight or avoid them in open combat. A battle begins when the party comes into contact with the enemies, or if a story event initiates a confrontation.The battle system makes use of a positioning system called the 'Grid System'. Enemies are placed on a 3 x 3 grid, with each enemy standing in a single slot, except for some large enemies spanning multiple slots. If the player attacks an enemy who is in a grid space near the attacking character, the enemy will incur greater damage. However, the player will also be open to greater damage.
Some attacks can move enemies around the grid, stacking them on the same slot until an enemy's turn comes and consecutive attacks on this group of enemies hit all of them. Despite being a turn-based combat system each member of the party can switch turns with the others and even with enemies, giving more freedom to the player to perform combos and deal further damage to enemies, but having its risks too, as a party member who switches turns become more vulnerable until becoming able to move again.
Setting
The game takes place on the continent of Vainqueur, a land which had in the past been the seat of a great old empire. However, the old empire had misused the power of Flux, creating weapons which drained life out of living things. After some great calamity, the center of the continent was turned into a desert and all the bastions of the old empire reduced to ruins. The last remaining members of the old empire fled north to what became the kingdom of Granorg, where they were able to temporarily stall the desertification of the rest of the continent. This was accomplished through a ritual only the royal family could perform, where one royal sacrificed another to temporarily stop the desert from advancing. Native to the continent are two races of Beastkind, the wiry Satyros, who have a greater connection to the power of Flux than humans do, and the Gutrals, who despite being large and reminiscent of great apes, are intelligent and peaceful.When the story starts, the continent is effectively governed by five powers. In the north, Granorg is at war with Alistel. Granorg has superior numbers, but cannot outright defeat Alistel because of the latter's use of thaumatech, which among other things, lets them field soldiers armed with suits of mechanical armor. Also on the northern half of the continent is Celestia, the homeland of the Satyros, whose connection to Flux which allows them to defend themselves in a way humans cannot match. To the south is Cygnus, a human nation made of outlaws and refugees of the desertification, whose primary defense is the desert itself, which the armies of Alistel and Granorg cannot cross in number. Finally, occupying the southeast, in the last wild jungles on the continent, is Forgia, homeland of the Gutrals.
Story
On the continent of Vainqueur, a land of man and beasts, the holy nation of the East, Alistel is in a state of war with Granorg, a massive country to the West that is ruled harshly by Queen Protea. Alistel's land is slowly turning to desert while a strange disease is turning its people into sand, known as the "Sand Plague". The ruler of Alistel, Noah, insists this worldwide disease is the result of Protea's evil government. The people of Alistel thus believe they are fighting a holy war against Granorg.One day, Stocke, an agent with the intelligence agency of Alistel and his subordinates are sent into Granorg territory to rescue a secret agent who was captured by the government of Granorg. After saving the agent, the group find themselves surrounded by the Granorg army, and Stocke is severely wounded. He awakens in Historia, a world where time and space are warped. There, two mysterious children give him the ability to travel through time and space. After using this new power to travel through time to avoid defeat, Stocke is given a choice: continue working under Heiss in the intelligence division, or join his friend Rosch's unit within the military. Each choice creates a timeline and each timeline has its own separate story, which nonetheless relates to the other one. Stocke is often forced to move between timelines to acquire skills and information he would not otherwise have access to, in order to avoid disasters, ambushes or simply to position himself properly to take advantage of his enemies or friends.
Under Heiss, Stocke is sent to Granorg to assassinate princess Eruca. He only manages to enter the city by pretending to be part of a group of traveling entertainers, most of whom are Satyros, one of the native beastmen races of the continent. Among them are Aht, a nine-year-old shaman who for better or worse, begins idolizing Stocke and using her abilities to protect him. Once he arrives in Granorg, he discovers that the princess knew he would be coming, and moreover, had not informed anyone else. Stocke learns that Eruca is the de-facto leader of the resistance against her step-mother's reign, and is therefore more an asset to Alistel's war on Granorg than an enemy. He refrains from carrying out the assassination, thus securing her support. Oddly enough, he is also aided in this regard by his appearance, which is similar to her late older brother, who was executed by her father for treason. Despite his best intentions, his failure to complete his mission brands him a traitor in Alistel, and general Hugo orders his execution.
In the other timeline, Stocke is assigned to Rosch's unit and deployed to protect Aistel's mines from enemy sabotage, as well as a cavern which is the only root connecting the two mountainous territories of Granorg and Alistel, other than a slim valley protected by the oft-traded Sand Fortress. After successfully defending the mines, Stocke and Rosch are rewarded by general Hugo by promotion, but he also assigns them to the Sand Fortress with a platoon of new recruits. Alistel's second in command, general Raul, assumes this is to remove any possible future political opponents from the city.
Characters
is a 19-year-old agent who is the pride of the special intelligence agency of the nation of Alistel and the main protagonist of the game. Because of his outstanding talents, he is often entrusted with the most dangerous missions. Although he appears to be unsociable, stoic and often quiet, Stocke is actually very passionate and caring about his subordinates; he would avoid endangering them more than anything else. During his mission to rescue a fellow agent who was fleeing the Granorg military, Stocke's team was surrounded and severely wounded. He later awoke in Historia and was given, by a pair of mysterious children, the ability to travel through time and space.is a 17-year-old female agent with the intelligence agency of the nation of Alistel, and Stocke's subordinate. Raynie was once a refugee from the desertification, she moved with her parents to Cygnus, but was nonetheless orphaned at a young age. Originally a member of a mercenary group with Marco, Raynie was recruited by Heiss after her group was destroyed. She felt indebted to Heiss, and upon his request became Stocke's subordinate. Raynie is a straightforward person with a strong sense of justice and can be quite honest at times. She excels in the art of spear-fighting.
is a 17-year-old male agent with the intelligence agency of the nation of Alistel and Stocke's subordinate. He has known Raynie since their days as mercenaries, and the two make a rough combination. Along with Raynie, he was recruited into the intelligence agency by Heiss after their mercenary group was destroyed. Marco is very realistic and careful at whatever he does, traits that make him a good partner. He is also skilled with sword-fighting.
is a 21-year-old military officer and the captain of Alistel's recruit corp. He is Stocke's best friend from the time that the two used to fight side by side before Stocke joined the special intelligence agency. Rosch always cares about Stocke and offers him advice. Rosch was severely injured in the past and has had to replace one of his arms with a mechanical prosthetic, called a 'Gauntlet', that makes use of Alistel's 'Thaumatech' technology and moves according to his thoughts. Rosch is openhearted and, although stubborn, he is very forgiving. Like Raynie, his weapon of choice is a spear.
is the princess of Granorg and is the first heir to the throne, she is the late King daughter with his first wife. Eruca is regarded highly by the people of Granorg as opposed to her stepmother, Queen Protea. Eruca is saddened by her stepmother's tyranny. Her distinguishing trait is her beautiful blonde curls. Her weapon of choice is a pistol.
is a 9-year-old Satyros. She traveled through many places as a member of a group of entertainers led by Vanoss. Although Aht is not fully aware of it herself, she is a "shaman" of the Satyros. Aht is sometimes selfish like most children her age, and as she is very fond of Stocke, she tends to stubborningly refuse to leave his side. Her weapon of choice is a dagger .
is a powerful Gutral warrior from Forgia village. After being exiled from his tribe, Gafka lived in Celestia before joining Stocke's party. He fights with his fists.
Alistel
is the head of the special intelligence agency of the nation of Alistel. A smart and meticulous man who handles everything in a calm and collected manner, Heiss is cautious and calculating, and also appears to be cruel at times. As a newly created organisation, Heiss' intelligence agency is not formally recognized by Alistel's government, and is instead regarded merely as a facility. However the agency has supplied the government with much critically useful information. He was the one who gave Stocke the White Chronicle.is a doctor of the nation of Alistel, and is the central figure in its medical sector. Sonja has been studying "Mana" for a long time and is also very knowledgeable about Thaumatechnology. Sonja is friends with Stocke and Rosch. Although she did not have to, Sonia has always been on the front line with Stocke and Roche, secretly looking after the two as they went on dangerous missions. Sonja has a mature and strong personality.
is a non-commissioned officer of Rosch's recruit corp. Rosch often tells Kiel how much he respected Stocke as a great fencer, which eventually leads Kiel to respect Stocke also. Kiel is very honest and has a positive nature, but often gets ahead of himself. Although good at ceremonial sword dancing, Kiel himself is not combat oriented.
is Alistel's commander in chief, he is known for passing the words of Alistel's supreme leader, Prophet Noah, to the people, after he stopped appearing to the public in person, years before. A man known for being very aggressive in politics, always scheming against those who can pose as a threat to his position.
is a Lt. General in Alistel's military and Rosch's superior. A man known as a brilliant strategist, but likes to keep himself from the public because of Hugo's political schemes.
is Field Marshal of Alistel's military, known as "The Valkyrie". Seen as a heroine by the people, she was relocated by Hugo to the border outpost of Sand Fortress in order to keep her out of the capital in fear of her popularity.
is Alistel's lead Thaumatech developer, and the brains behind the country's technological superiority.
Granorg
is the queen of the massive nation of Granorg who is known for her selfishness and tyranny throughout the land. She was originally a commoner until the late King Victor married her. After King Victor's assassination, Protea succeeded the throne to become queen. She is accused by Alistel's General Hugo to be what the Prophet Noah sees as the cause of the world's desertification and the mysterious "Sand Plague." She is Princess Eruca's stepmother.is the leader of the Granorg Assembly, and essentially Prime Minister of Granorg. While ostensibly working for the Queen, he is, in actuality, the de facto ruler of the country.
is the Court Knight of Granorg, General of its armies and Selvan's close friend. He is a brilliant battlefield commander and a devious opponent.
Historia
& are the mysterious twins Stocke encounters in Historia. They give him the ability to travel through time and space and tell him the world is in need of his power. Although they appear to be young, Teo and Lippti's wisdom suggests otherwise.Development
A Japanese trademark for the game's name was known to have existed as far back as March 2010. At that point, nothing was known about the game except its name. It was not until July 2010 that an issue of Famitsu revealed it to be a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS that involved time-travel. It was later revealed to involve many staff members who have worked on the Shin Megami TenseiShin Megami Tensei
is a console role-playing video game from Atlus that was originally released on October 30, 1992 and later on several platforms, although no installment was released outside of Japan. It was originally released on the Super Famicom and was later ported to the PC Engine Super CD-Rom and Mega-CD...
series, and members of tri-Ace, makers of the similarly named Radiata Stories.
Audio
The music of Radiant Historia is composed by Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
, who is best known for her works for Super Mario RPG
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, often shortened and officially known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . It was originally released on March 9, 1996 in Japan and on May 13,...
, Legend of Mana
Legend of Mana
Legend of Mana, known in Japan as , is the fourth game in the Mana series. The game was released for the PlayStation in Japan on July 15, 1999 and in North America on June 7, 2000, with a delayed release in Canada...
and the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
series. The ending theme "-HISTORIA-" is sung by Haruka Shimotsuki
Haruka Shimotsuki
is a Japanese singer and dōjin music composer known for her vocal themes in the Atelier Iris and Ar tonelico series. She also wrote the lyrics and sang the ending themes to the two seasons of Rozen Maiden as well as the OVA under the name Kukui, with Myu. Shimotsuki's original music mainly consists...
.
Reception
Radiant Historia has received mostly positive critical reception. 1UP1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
's Jeremy Parish gave the game a B+ score, describing it is "easily the most original of this month's slate of RPGs" and an "engaging role-playing game that deserves a chance", while praising the game's protagonist Stocke, saying "while he does indeed come off as a stock character at first impression...he quickly develops into something much more interesting." Shiva Stella of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
praised the game's time travel aspect, calling it "exciting" and "inventive"; she then concludes Radiant Historia is "an innovative adventure that is sure to stand the test of time."
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
has given the game 8.5 out of 10, praising the game's graphics, time travel aspect, innovative gameplay and involving story and music which they called "beautiful". Neal Chandran of RPGFan gave the game a score of 91%, describing it as "one of the best Japanese RPGs I've played in years." Jason Schreier of Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
gave the game a score of 9 stars out of 10, concluding "Atlus has created the perfect blend of innovation and tradition." Matt Peckham of PC World
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
praised the game's nonlinear multidimensional concept which allows the game to be played differently by travelling to a decision point and choosing another path, in contrast to "BioWare
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
-style head pats, where whatever you choose, the game plays out more or less as it would have anyway." The non-linear time travel system of Radiant Historia has been compared to later RPGs such as the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
version of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and more recently Final Fantasy XIII-2
Final Fantasy XIII-2
is an upcoming console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is being produced by Square Enix's 1st Production Department...
.