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Saturday 9 February, 2008
GAMEPLAY
The further the game progressed I came in contact with actual monsters. When got down to actually battling such enemies as giant badgers, I figured out that the funny characters and upbeat music belies a very complex battle system that requires you to use combination attacks in tandem with special attacks and to follow orders from the team leader. It added a complexity to the random battles I faced on my mission which kept them from being redundant or boring.
However, Once I had finished one half of my mission I was forced to stroll around town for the better half of an hour to wait for the right time because of the game’s real time system. The town was small and could be fully explored in about 5 minutes, leading to a handful of time where I was forced to talk to the same five or six NPCs while waiting for the time to pass. These lulls in game play seem to come in between missions, which breaks up the game play.
DESIGN
The tone of this game was very different from the other games I’ve reviewed. From the very beginning, the game had a very funny and happy storybook feel. The environments used very bright, pastel, colors and the music is always upbeat and jazzy, even during battles. Even the special attacks and enemies add to the comedic tone, all of the enemies are simple creatures such ass pigs, ants, and mosquitoes. All of this combines to form a bright gameworld.
Despite the artistic environment, the gameworld is extremely linear, with at most only two ways to go, which all comes to the same place, and at worst you are stuck on a narrow path with only one way to go. The most that you are allowed to explore is throughout the small towns that you come across, which only consist of a handful of houses.
The game did, however, have some very interesting aspects to them, such as the kick option and party commands. There are no treasure chests in this game, instead they are kept in every day objects such as bureaus and closets. This allowed me to immerse myself more into the game without asking why there are treasre chests everywhere. Your party in this game is also very intelligent and self sufficient, they also will set them self up to achieve combination attacks with you.
The best part of the game was the comedy. In most games there is a comic relief character, however in Radiata Stories, all of the characters could fit that profile. It made some of the linearity of gameplay more bearable.
All in all, this game was a surprisingly good RPG with a great sense of humor. It is best for younger audiences or for some lighthearted fun.
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