Radiant Historia: The Next Chrono Trigger? (by Carl B.)
February 9, 2011, by Carl B. - Time travel in video games is something that hasn't been done often enough, but thankfully when it has been incorporated into games, it's been done very well. Titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask used time travel lightly, but there has been one game to use the idea well enough in its story and gameplay mechanics to make it a masterpiece: Chrono Trigger. Released on the Super NES in 1995 and developed by Squaresoft (now known as Square-Enix), Chrono Trigger was considered a revolutionary RPG due to its ambitious time travel mechanic. In Chrono Trigger, players travel in time through several different time periods in order to stop an evil demon from conquering the world. These time periods range from the B.C. era all the way to the future, and almost everything in between. Radiant Historia, an RPG exclusive to the DS by Atlus, has taken a page from Chrono Trigger's time travel mechanic, only in a far more ambitious way.
In Radiant Historia an eastern nation known as Alistel is at war with the western country of Granorg, the latter of which is ruled by the brutal Queen Protea. Alistel is slowly turning into a desert realm while a mysterious disease known as the "Sandman Disease" is turning its citizens into sand. The ruler of Alistel declares that the disease's roots lay with Granorg's evil government, and the country declares a "holy war" on Queen Protea and her empire. The game opens when Stocke, an agent of Alistel, is sent into enemy territory to rescue an operative who has been captured by Granorg. After rescuing their ally Stocke and his companions make their escape but are surrounded by the Granorg military. During the battle Stocke is mortally wounded and awakens in Historia, a mythical place where time and space are warped. The Celestial beings of Historia bestow Stocke with the power to travel through time.
Combat in Radiant Historia is initiated when the player comes into contact with an enemy on the game's field screen, similar to Dragon Quest IX and Chrono Trigger. Battles in the game are traditional turn-based affairs, but the title's "Grid System" shakes the experience up considerably. Enemies are placed on a 3x3 grid, sometimes with multiple enemies on a single grid or one large enemy taking up several spaces. The player's party is placed on a similar grid allowing characters that are closest to enemies to deal more damage, and subsequently, take more damage when enemies attack them.
During battles the top screen displays a timeline of when player characters will attack and when enemies will initiate their attacks. The timeline can be manipulated by players in the midst of a battle, allowing for combo attacks and an added layer of strategy.
Radiant Historia features a time travel mechanic very similar to Chrono Trigger, only it is far more expanded with the inclusion of parallel universes. Players are able to travel to different points in history at any given time to re-play through events and ultimately change the course of history by letting the player select different choices during critical junctures. This is very different from Chrono Trigger where players were able to travel through different time periods but weren't able to travel to specific events and change the course of history. Of course, failing to accomplish a goal will result in a warped future (think the Twin Pines to Lone Pine Mall transformation in Back to the Future).
Parallel universes also play a big part in Radiant Historia. If a player changes something in the past on the timeline branching paths may appear, as well as a completely alternate universe where one character may not exist because of events that were carried out. This will give Radiant Historia a ton of replay-ability in the way of players striving to forge the perfect future for Stocke and the people of Alistel. Multiple endings will also be available in Radiant Historia, with many of them being "bad" endings if players aren't able to reshape the course of time effectively.
Radiant Historia releases in North America on February 22, 2011. Check back at iNintendo on its release for a comprehensive review of this hotly anticipated DS RPG.
