Day: April 13, 2012

Radiant Historia

/ skoce / 1 Comment

Radiant Historia is one of the best original RPGs on the DS.  The system has been a haven for fans of 16 and 32-bit role playing games, but a surprising amount of the systems library is remakes and ports.  Not that that is a bad thing, it is the only way people are likely going to be able to play things like Dragon Quest 5, but the original games have mostly paled in comparison to the classics.  Radiant Historia, though, stands among the best in the genre, managing to feel simultaneously classic and original.

In a lot of small, hard to define ways, Radiant Historia feels like an SNES game.  Which coming from me is the highest of compliments.  Give or take some rough sprites and 3D backgrounds, it looks like an SNES game.  Maybe the feel is in the fact that the game really doesn’t take advantage of the DS’s special features, making it not unlike many of the ports and remakes.  More than anything, though, it is that there is a comfortable familiarity to the game.  It plays exactly like one would expect an RPG to play.  It is accessible and intuitive.

The accessible nature is amazing when you consider that a lot of what Radiant Historia does is pretty novel, at least as far as RPGs go.  It combines the time travel of Chrono Trigger with the alternate realities of Chrono Cross, but in a way that is more in depth than either of those games.  In Chrono Trigger time travel was mostly an excuse for different environments, Radiant Historia uses it for the opposite reason.  It allows the game to reuse the same areas over and over, but in turn they really take advantage of moving through time.  The battle system is not exactly standard either.  It combines Final Fantasy X’s emphasis on turn order with the grid set up of a tactics game.  The end result offers a variety of effective and interesting strategies.  The player can set trap on squares and knock enemies on to them, or manipulate the turn order to build a giant combo or even do both at once.

The end result is a highly satisfying game, the kind expected from the twilight of a systems life, when all the tricks are known and developers have familiarity with the tools.  Perhaps the most satisfying part of the game is actually the story.  Radiant Historia’s story, at least for much of its length, is much more like a piece of Western fantasy than the typical JRPG.  Sure, eventually the anime-influenced JRPG stuff seeps in, with the forgotten pasts, secret siblings and plots of world destruction, but for the first two thirds of the game there is more emphasis on political maneuvering and small scale conflicts.  Much like the rest of the game, it is a refreshing change of pace.

The game isn’t perfect.  For too long it sticks players with party members with the least interesting abilities.  They are fine individually, but Raynie and Marco do not have much synergy. The game also takes a little too long to get going and it starts to fall apart near the end.  Small flaws in an otherwise terrific game.

Though it more likely to be forgotten than celebrated in the years to come, Radiant Historia deserves a place in the pantheon of great DS games.  It is not only probably the best original RPG on the system, it is easily among the best DS games.  I’m not sure if it is still widely available, but players owe it to themselves to give this gem a try.

Go Trickster, Go Gambler Go!

/ skoce / 3 Comments
Cover of "The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of...

Cover via Amazon

 

Time for more Wheel of Time reread. I’m now on to The Shadow Rising, which is really the point when the Wheel of Time goes from a traditional Hero’s Quest to something more. There were hint’s of the change from as early as the start of The Great Hunt, but here is where it takes full effect. Rand is still the main character, this is still primarily his story, but there is much more time devoted to side characters and the world in general.

That switch is what I think makes people complain about how slow the start of this book is. Because the start of The Shadow Rising isn’t really that slow. Sure, they don’t get out of Tear for more than 300 pages, but a lot happens in that 300 pages. Plus, for the last time in the series, at least until A Memory of Light, the group from Emond’s Field are all in the same place. That 300 pages in Tear set up at least the next three books for each of the major characters, as well as containing quite a bit of action on its own.

There is the prologue in all but name in chapter 1. Nearly every book in the series starts with a chapter similar, with tertiary characters and storylines getting brief spotlights. We see Min with Siuan and Leane, who are a book away from getting promoted to genuine supporting characters. There are also brief snippets of Elaida, White Cloaks and Seanchan being awful. All of there things are disconnected from the story of the rest of this book, except for the Whitecloaks, but are important to the overall story.

In Tear we start with a “bubble of evil” attack, which is interesting but never satisfactorily explained. The problems Rand, Mat and Perrin deal with are symbolic of their overall struggle, though less so with Mat. Perrin is attacked by his ax, part of his ongoing struggle in choosing between the hammer and the ax as well a being symbolic of his fear of losing control of his savage wolf nature. Mat is attacked by playing cards, which I guess could be commentary on his love of gambling, but it is mostly just seems like the reason is living playing cards are neat. And Rand has to literally fight himself, which drives much of his actions, his fear of losing control of himself. We also meet Berelain, who despite never being anything other than a good guy manages to spend most of her time messing with the other heroes. She is a character whose name tells the reader just about all they need to know. Just like Thom Merrilin is Merlin, Berelain has lain bare. Then there is the Trolloc attack, along with Rand’s struggles with Lanfear. We get our first real glimpse how some of the Forsaken work. Lanfear, unfortunately, looses something when you realize that she is just Rand’s crazy ex-girlfriend, albeit one with magic powers. You also see the Forsaken undercutting each others plans just to keep one of them from gaining an advantage.

Rand spends his time in Tear ruling and trying to learn as much as he can about his fate. Moiraine’s biggest failing is her inability to share information with Rand. Even Lan realizes this. Because she wants to be in charge she never really lets Rand in, so he doesn’t let her in on his plans. The most believable part of Rand and Elayne’s romance is her helping him with how to rule.

Perrin, in his ill-fated attempts to send Faile away to safety, finds out about Whitecloaks in the Two Rivers and decides to go home. The struggle between he and Faile is as painful to read as it is inevitable. Their characters could not have acted any differently, but it is still very obvious that they are both being stupid. Faile’s defense is that she is 16, I don’t know what Perrin’s is. His whole plot in this book is one of the best storyline’s in the whole series. It has the hero returning home to find nothing as he left it, as well as one of the most true victories anyone in the series has. It is a story that could have been a book on its own as just one part of the larger story. It really is great.

Then there is the girls. Though Egwene ends up going with Rand to see the Wise Ones, Elayne and Nynaeve go to Tanchico, keeping up their hunt for the Black Ajah. Their storyline is not quite as satisfying as Perrin’s, but it is also much shorter. We also see another group of channelers besides Aes Sedai, all of which seem to be more well thought of than the actual Aes Sedai. One thing that becomes more and more apparent as the series goes along is that the Aes Sedai are really bad at their jobs. The girls in Tanchico works because Nynaeve and Elayne are a great team, both humorous and effective. Plus, they get to team up with Bayle Domon, Thom and Juilin. They really just do not get enough time to work. (in this book, they get all too much time later on.)

Rand, meanwhile, decides to surprise everybody and go into the Aiel Waste. He travels for I think the last time by Portal Stone. He actually thought this plan through very well, despite Moiraine’s misgivings. Other than his desire to find out where he came from, he needs people behind him that he can trust, and that is the Aiel. If he can get them behind him. Once their incredibly short trip is over, they all go to Rhuidean, except for Egwene. Rand’s trip trough time in Rhuidean is one of the greatest segments in fantasy fictions. It is perfect. Two chapters that perfectly encapsulate all that is great about the genre. Once Rand returns, the intricacies of Aiel society are slowly revealed, as is a plot between one clan, the Shaido and a group of obvious Darkfriend peddlers. No matter what Rand does, the bad guys always seem to be able to force him to rush. It is the same here, with Shaido leader Couladin also declaring himself Car’a’carn, the Aiel equivalent of the Dragon. It forces Rand to reveal the Aiel’s big secret, that they were once the same as Tinkers.

The book still ends as the others do, with a fight with several Forsaken. Although this time they are not at the same place. Rand fights with Asmodean in Rhuidean in one of the less memorable book ending conflicts he has. It really is kind of an anticlimax. But there is also Nynaeve getting in on the Forsaken fighting by besting Moghedien. It is really her starting to cash in on the potential she supposedly has. Her fight is much more memorable than Rand’s, if only because there are fewer to compare it to.

This is book that is somewhat light on plot, but it is big on fleshing out the world. Ideas like the World of Dreams. It was around in previous books, but in The Shadow Rising it is really fleshed out and explained. There is the first glimpse of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn, though they aren’t completely explained. There is also the introduction of Slayer, the strange combination of Luc, Rand’s uncle, and Isam, Lan’s cousin. I’m still not sure what is up him. Also, Birgitte starts to show up and give advice. Another big change is the fleshing out of various characters love lives. Sure, there was plenty of Rand and Egwene in the early books, as well as Nynaeve and Lan. But in The Shadow Rising there is Rand and Elayne, Perrin and Faile, a hint of Moiraine and Thom. In all there is a greater focus on character in this volume, a greater fleshing out of characters outside of Rand, Perrin, Mat and Egwene. This is the book where events have grown past just rand and his immediate surroundings, and Jordan takes the time to introduce his players.