New Review Posted: Radiata Stories

Daniel Weissenberger · 01-11-2006, 01:31 AM

Tera Kirk completes Radiata stories one and a half times and finds herself overwhelmed by the blehness of it all:

"I like to poke around in all the nooks and crannies of a videogame—to wander aimlessly until I find a secret passage or a hidden boss. I love games that I can keep playing even after I finish them, and games with no ending at all are even better. So Radiata Stories, the action role-playing game (action RPG) from tri-Ace, should be my personal heaven: it's got a branching story that the player controls in a pretty big way, a bonus dungeon, and more sidequests than every Final Fantasy ever made."

Well, that part didn't reflect the bleh-ness, but believe me, the rest does.

Jason Karney · 01-11-2006, 10:43 AM

Hmmm, makes me glad I skipped this one.

--Jason

Mike Bracken · 01-11-2006, 01:34 PM

I wish I'd skipped it...

Great work, Tera. I agreed completely with everything you pointed out in the review. The game was tedious, deceptively shallow, and just flat out boring in a lot of parts.

It would have been lucky to get a 5.0 from me.

Mike B.

Hypatia93 · 01-11-2006, 02:59 PM

Who are these people that just think they can crank out rpgs willy-nilly, using some formulaic pattern for things like story and game mechanics, tack on crappy va (if any), while using so-so graphics, and think hardcore rpg'ers will just bow and scrape b/c 1) that's the way /those/ geeks think, and 2) there's nothing else out on the market, is SORELY mistaken.

Aren't they?

Well, I know they are if they expect people on this board to just buy any-old rpg just b/c it is one.

But why does it seem like so many rpgs are crap? (It just seems like many of them are.) Theoretically, rpgs have the /potential/ to be the most varied and engrossing of all the "types" of games out there and to be the /least/ formulaic of them all. (Am I the only one who's at least considered this?)

ANYWAY..

Good review, Tera, and thanks for the "Warning! Warning! Will Robinson!" Or whatever.

Boy · 01-11-2006, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypatia93

...while using so-so graphics...

Well, you have to admit, Radiata Stories at least looks really good.

Besides, there's a rule when dealing with Tri-Ace. If it's not Valkyrie Profile, it's not good.

Mike Bracken · 01-11-2006, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypatia93

But why does it seem like so many rpgs are crap? (It just seems like many of them are.) Theoretically, rpgs have the /potential/ to be the most varied and engrossing of all the "types" of games out there and to be the /least/ formulaic of them all. (Am I the only one who's at least considered this?)

I think a lot of them are "crap" now because there are simply so many of them out there. When I started playing RPGs (with the first FF back on the NES) these games were a niche market. Now, the PS2 has so many RPGs I can't even play them all.

That in and of itself shouldn't be a problem--except that a lot of RPG players are notoriously anti-change. I know this because I spent a number of years writing for RPGFan, where the hardcore players are perfectly content to play a "traditional" RPG rather than tackle something new or experimental. Just eliminating random battles is a big deal to a lot of the hardcore RPG crowd.

The other problems are multi-faceted. For some reason, game developers have decided that every RPG needs to be set in a fantasy world or some sort of neo-sci-fi setting. RPGs could, theoretically, have stories that take place anytime, anywhere--but 98% of them are the same old fantasy or sci-fi things.

Couple this with the derivative stories (the band of losers who save the world, the lead character with amnesia, the girl who joins the party who's really a princess/goddess) and abundant cliches and it's no wonder the genre isn't going anywhere. I'm playing the same games I did back in the SNES era, just with more complex combat systems and better graphics.

The best RPGs in recent years have been those that have eschewed the status quo--the Shin Megami Tensei games, Knights of the Old Republic (although the Star Wars license definitely has something to do with that), and a few other games have broken away from the mold and found success because of it. Those games feature new stories and more mature themes. I'm not saying there's not a place for the Suikodens of the world, but the genre needs to start emulating some of these other styles of narrative if it wants to continue to be successful.

Mike B.

Mike Bracken · 01-11-2006, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boy

Besides, there's a rule when dealing with Tri-Ace. If it's not Valkyrie Profile, it's not good.

Hey, people like Star Ocean, too!

Mike B.

Brad Gallaway · 01-11-2006, 10:27 PM

Besides, there's a rule when dealing with Tri-Ace. If it's not Valkyrie Profile, it's not good.

Amen, brother.

... and about everything Mike B. said,

Amen, brother.

Jason Karney · 01-11-2006, 10:43 PM

1. Mike made some good points. I'm one of the "RPG hardcore" who is open to change, but isn't jaded on the traditional story elements. So I tend to be more forgiving than some of the other critics.

2. I liked Star Ocean 2, disc 1! And Star Ocean 3 is great... just so damn long that I wonder if I'll ever finish it. (I just came back to it last night, 44 hours and counting...)

3. I didn't like Suikoden III at all. I've not heard more than "average" for SIV... should you clarify which Suikodens you refer to, Mike?

4. Mike is no longer writing for RPGFan? I guess I'm out of the loop.

--Jason

shun · 01-12-2006, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GC_Jason

2. I liked Star Ocean 2, disc 1! And Star Ocean 3 is great... just so damn long that I wonder if I'll ever finish it. (I just came back to it last night, 44 hours and counting...)

3. I didn't like Suikoden III at all. I've not heard more than "average" for SIV... should you clarify which Suikodens you refer to, Mike?

2. I also liked the disc 1 of Star Ocean 2. Then when I got into disc 2, I start to get bored of it until I could play no more. To this day (I played SO2 seven years ago) I still haven't gone back to that game.

3. I'm not Mike (duh?) but I think he's referring to Suikoden I and II, both of which are RPG's that are very good even by today's standard.

Jason Karney · 01-12-2006, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shun

2. I also liked the disc 1 of Star Ocean 2. Then when I got into disc 2, I start to get bored of it until I could play no more. To this day (I played SO2 seven years ago) I still haven't gone back to that game.

3. I'm not Mike (duh?) but I think he's referring to Suikoden I and II, both of which are RPG's that are very good even by today's standard.

Same here on Star Ocean disc 2.

And I was just teasing Mike... because I agree that the earlier Suikodens are much better than the latter ones.

--Jason

Mike Bracken · 01-12-2006, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GC_Jason

3. I didn't like Suikoden III at all. I've not heard more than "average" for SIV... should you clarify which Suikodens you refer to, Mike?

Definitely the first two. They've really mangled that series on the PS2.

Quote:

4. Mike is no longer writing for RPGFan? I guess I'm out of the loop.

--Jason

I never officially quit but I haven't written anything for them since early last year. I'd rather post here, and when I don't have time to write for two sites, this is the one that gets all my attention.

Mike B.

legendarypegasu · 01-13-2006, 12:05 PM

Thanks for the review Tera, I really enjoyed it. And Mike, thnaks for your input also. I'll save my money and wait for something a little better.

Utawoutau · 01-15-2006, 06:35 PM

I have to say that the reviewer is off on this one. Radiata Stories is not the deepest and most engrossing RPG to date, but as long as its fun, I personally don't care.

And the fact is that Radiata Stories is fun. The story, while short, is interesting, the characters are charming, and the overall art style of the game (which is not touched on in the article) is beautiful. Maybe its not to everyone's taste, but I loved the practically marionette puppet stage look.

Another point in the review was the battle system, which yes can be repetitive, but are we talking about an RPG here? Maybe I've just somehow missed out on all of those RPGs that make every battle fresh and interesting.