Skyblade
03-03-2011, 03:35 PM
So, Atlus recently released a new RPG involving switching timelines, revisiting past decisions, and basically messing around with history in general. I've only gotten to play it a little bit, but, so far, I think it is wonderful. The combination of sprites on a 3D background actually works very well, so the game looks beautiful. The music is lovely (and the game comes with an audio CD, so score an extra point there). The characters and world are as well written as one would expect from Atlus.
But enough about the standard stuff, let's worry about the crux of the issue. Gameplay! The battle system is new and innovative, which initially makes me shudder, due to how many games are tortured due to needless attempts to make a new battle system. The new system in Radiant Historia, however, is easy enough to pick up, though, and looks like it will allow quite a lot of depth as more and more abilities unlock.
As for the Time Travel mechanic itself, it feels more like an extension of Chrono Trigger than anything else I've played since. Instead of visiting particular eras, you get to visit your own past. You can go back to any major deciding point in your life since the start of the game, and choose what route to take. The timeline will fragment due to your meddling, and you can also use your book to switch between alternate histories, which is very important. Since your character is outside his own meddling, you get to use out of character knowledge. Switch to the alternate timeline, gather items and info, then switch back to a current point you are stuck at and use those new goodies to get past things that were flummoxing you.
Overall, it is shaping up into a brilliant game, and I am surprised nobody else has made a thread for it yet. My only regret is that I'm not getting to play enough of it because my existence is still being swallowed up by another one of Atlus's time sinks, and I multitask games poorly.
But enough about the standard stuff, let's worry about the crux of the issue. Gameplay! The battle system is new and innovative, which initially makes me shudder, due to how many games are tortured due to needless attempts to make a new battle system. The new system in Radiant Historia, however, is easy enough to pick up, though, and looks like it will allow quite a lot of depth as more and more abilities unlock.
As for the Time Travel mechanic itself, it feels more like an extension of Chrono Trigger than anything else I've played since. Instead of visiting particular eras, you get to visit your own past. You can go back to any major deciding point in your life since the start of the game, and choose what route to take. The timeline will fragment due to your meddling, and you can also use your book to switch between alternate histories, which is very important. Since your character is outside his own meddling, you get to use out of character knowledge. Switch to the alternate timeline, gather items and info, then switch back to a current point you are stuck at and use those new goodies to get past things that were flummoxing you.
Overall, it is shaping up into a brilliant game, and I am surprised nobody else has made a thread for it yet. My only regret is that I'm not getting to play enough of it because my existence is still being swallowed up by another one of Atlus's time sinks, and I multitask games poorly.