By Alexander R. Campbell
How many times have you completed an RPG, more particularly, a JRPG, only to realize you’ve missed something that makes you hang your head in shame and groan at the idea of having to go through the entire game again? How many hours have you spent bogged down by a frustrating and overly complicated upgrade or level up system instead of progressing through a game? In “Radiant Historia” you will experience none of that.
Merging a simplistic, yet engaging battle system with a unique story revolving around time travel unlike any we’ve seen since the days of “Chrono Trigger,” “Radiant Historia” is one of the single most relaxing and stress-free gaming experiences you will ever play. Developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS in 2010, “Radiant Historia” tells the tale of our hero, Stocke, who uses “White Chronicle” to move freely back and forth along the timeline in order to save the world from the mysterious “desertification.”
As with any JRPG, “Radiant Historia” has its fair share of side quests, branching story paths, bad ends, and abilities to unlock. However, here’s the kicker: absolutely everything “Radiant Historia” has to offer can be experienced at any time. That’s right, through use of a game mechanic called “nodes,” Stocke can travel backward and forward through time from and to any point in the game where there is a blue node on the timeline. You can jump from the very beginning of the game to the furthest node you’ve unlocked in the timeline with absolutely no consequences. Thus ensuring that players will never, ever, EVER be locked out of content.
If you have the patience, you could go through all 236 unique story events, which include side quests, at your leisure. Making this game a great experience for all of you 100 percent completionists out there.