Developed by Atlus for the Nintendo 3DS, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is a turned-based RPG with the use of time travel as its main focus. Released in North America on February 13, 2018, Perfect Chronology is a remake of a classic DS game from 2010, simply titled Radiant Historia. I had spent some time with the original game back when it was new, and I saw fit to revisit it on the 3DS. Perfect Chronology is more than a simple port. It adds extensive new content like new story elements, voice acting, redrawn character portraits, and some welcome gameplay fixes. With the forecast of new releases on the 3DS looking sparse, it is nice to see any new titles, even if it is yet another remake. Atlus felt it appropriate to bring back this title for a reason, but does it hold up after eight years?
Vainqueur is doomed become a desert.
Radiant Historia takes place on the continent of Vainqueur, which is being drained of all its mana, the source of all life. Because of this, the entire world and its people are turning into sand. The desertification leads to a fight for resources and an ongoing war between the kingdoms of Alistel and Granorg, a conflict that affects the surrounding nations as well. Radiant Historia stars Stocke, a resident of Alistel and a combat adept spy. He is employed by Heiss, head of the Special Intelligence agency. After being gifted with a book called the White Chronicle, Stocke embarks on a dangerous mission with his two new subordinates, Raynie and Marco.
Historia. Or an M.C. Escher painting.
At a critical moment, the power of the White Chronicle transports Stocke to Historia, a dimension through which he can return to fixed points in time that he has already experienced. In Historia, he meets Teo and Lippti, two mysterious children who serve as guides to the holder of the White Chronicle. They strongly advise Stocke to not tell anyone of the White Chronicle’s power because it could endanger him, so no one is aware that he is time traveling. Teo and Lippti give Stocke a mission to save the world by traveling through time and stopping the desertification, all while trying to bring the war to an end.
The story unfolds while traveling between two concurrent timelines following Stocke’s decision to either continue working as a spy for Heiss or join his friend Rosch in the Alistellian military. This one choice leads to a split in the timeline with two sets of very different events. Stocke will meet many of the same people in either timeline, but depending the on the circumstances, they might be friends or enemies. The events of one timeline can sometimes also affect the other in a number of ways, like saving someone’s life in one reality will sometimes keep them from dying in the other. Perfect Chronology even adds several “what if” scenarios in a series of possible histories, which a new character, Nemesia, will have Stocke explore. Visiting these different timelines helps expand on the lore of the continent, and the actions taken there will even influence the main story.
Stocke’s decision splits the timeline in two.
Even though the time travel certainly enhances the narrative, the story is still interesting even at points when it is not concerned. Every character seems to have something going on, be it a personal trauma or a mission, and their interactions with each other are woven together in a way that justifies their actions. One of the themes of altruism in Radiant Historia becomes clear once the cast begins questioning their own motivations. While several characters are fighting for their country or for a dogma, many come to the same realization that there is no sense in fighting each other if the world is all going to end as sand. In spite of themselves, they unite because they all begin to think about what is truly important: what is best, not for themselves, but for the future of the world? It is an idea that carries through the entire story and culminates in a satisfying climax.
Stocke
The cast of Radiant Historia is huge, but I found myself caring about most of the characters. The creators worked very hard to flesh out everyone in both the main story and side-quests. Without a doubt, Stocke is my favorite character. I thought his name was amusing because he does come off as a blank slate “stock” character with simple motivations early on in the game. As the story develops, it hit me that he is much more than that. Stocke is a quiet type, but he somehow has the best lines in the game, especially when he is blunt and sarcastic. However he may come off, he is also extremely compassionate, even to complete strangers.
Nemesia
As for the several party members, it is best to start with Raynie and Marco, two mercenaries who have worked together long before joining Stocke. They act as individuals, but it is hard to think of one without the other because they almost always come as a pair. Even as a mercenary, Raynie thinks with her heart before acting, though she normally prioritizes her mission in the end. Marco is also caring, but he is more of a rational thinker than Raynie, so he tends to speak contrarily to his friend. Rosch, Stocke’s best friend, is a soldier with a robotic prosthetic arm. He was Stocke’s war buddy back when they were both soldiers in the Alistellian army. Rosch finds himself in a position to lead a brigade of new recruits into the frontlines of war and carries the responsibility bringing them home alive, which is he deadset on doing. Aht is a young Satyros, a race of Beastkind. She is a shaman who takes to Stocke very quickly after meeting him. She follows him for reasons that are much deeper than they seem at first. Gafka is a Gutral, a warrior race of Beastkind. He travels the world to learn about the matters of humans, and he has a desire to restore friendly relations between humankind and his people. Finally, there is Eruca, the princess of Granorg. She cares not only for her kingdom but all the people of the world, and she wishes to assume the throne to end Granorg’s tyranny.
As for others in the supporting cast, there are several people of note. Teo and Lippti, the two children who watch over Historia, are very pragmatic, and they have seen the world end repeatedly. Because of their duty, they are limited in how they can help Stocke achieve his goal to prevent the apocalypse. Heiss, Stocke’s mentor, has a very cavalier attitude toward nearly everyone. As the leader of the Special Intelligence agency, he is skilled at reconnaissance. Hugo is the general of the Alistellian military, but he also delivers proclamations of Noah, Alistel’s founder, to the citizens. Protea is the queen of Granorg and a rather selfish leader with no concern for her own people. Military and civil matters are handled by her attendants, Dias and Selvan. Dias is the head of Granorg’s army, while Selvan is a tactician. Finally, Perfect Chronology introduces Nemesia, a mysterious historian who asks Stocke to visit many alternate timelines to find artifacts. She uses a lot of teaching related analogies, which is kind of annoying. I love her. There are several more wonderful characters, but I could go on all day.
When playing Radiant Historia, you control Stocke while exploring different areas from a top-down perspective and traveling between them by selecting them on a world map. Controlling Stocke feels better than the original due to the circle pad on the 3DS as opposed to being limited to the directional pad of the original DS, but that is to be expected. Unlike the original, there is now a simple map on the touchscreen, so it is easier to orient yourself when leaving a battle. Speaking of, battles are not random encounters and can be initiated by directly engaging the enemies when you see them in the field. Stocke can stun them with a sword to have a chance for a preemptive attack. Touching their sprite brings you to a combat area.
Hit enemies in the field to stun them.
Winning battles gives the entire party experience; characters that actively participated in the fights gain the most. The progression in Radiant Historia is fairly steady without much need for grinding until late in the game when the difficulty spikes a bit. Due to plot-related circumstances, different party members will come and go, causing them to fall behind other more consistently present characters. Perfectly Chronology introduces what is essentially a training area to help them catch up. There is also a new Friendly Mode in the difficulty settings which lets you bypass most battles and just experience the story.
Radiant Historia has a solid system for its turn-based combat. During battles, you can have a maximum of three party members at once, but Stocke is always in the party. There can be as many as seven enemies in a battle. There are basic RPG mechanics at play here. Characters have health points, and when each party member’s health reaches zero, you receive a game over. They have access to several items in a shared inventory to heal, give buffs, cure status ailments, and so on. In Radiant Historia’s battle system, enemies are arranged on a 9×9 grid in the battle arena. On the grid, there is a front, middle, and back row. The farther back on the grid, enemies will take less physical damage but will also do less damage when attacking. On the front row, they can take and do more physical damage.
Your characters have standard attacks as well as skills. Skills cost MP in order to use. Several of your party’s skills can affect only certain areas of the grid, others skills can change enemies’ position on the grid, and some will do both. The key to winning battles swiftly is by combining the abilities of your party to stack attacks together for longer combos. For example, it is possible to use these skills to pile enemies on to one section of the grid so they can all be attacked at once. There is a chart on the touchscreen of the 3DS which shows the order of the next 10 turns which your characters and enemies will act. When it is a party member’s turn, you can use the change option to trade their turn with another’s. This feature allows for deeper strategy, as you can choose to let another character or an enemy move, depending on the situation.
The touchscreen helps keep track of turn order and commands.
At a certain point, players will gain an ability called Mana Burst, which can be used when a gauge fills completely. This can be used to break an enemy’s turn or unleash a powerful character-specific ability. Perfect Chronology adds support skills for characters that are not in the current party lineup. They will jump into combat at the beginning of a battle or during combos to provide an extra edge. It is a refreshing approach to turn-based combat, and the mechanics are both clever and easy to understand.
The game is mostly linear, but the time travel somewhat helps break away from that. The time travel works as both a plot device and a gameplay mechanic. Stocke can travel through time from save points on the map, represented by a book icon. The points that Stocke can travel to, called Nodes, are limited and are typically pivotal moments of the story. This affords Stocke to make as many terrible, reckless, and uninformed decisions as possible just to see what happens. It is usually easy to distinguish good decisions from the bad ones, but oftentimes, the results can be unpredictable. This leads to things like causing an abrupt apocalypse due to a severe misuse of magical coconuts. It sounds ridiculous, but even the seemingly harmless, poor choice of words can bring about disastrous consequences i.e. the end of the world.
The White Chronicle’s timeline
The idea is that Stocke will eventually influence the sequence of events enough that it leads to the best possible outcome. Also, with the ability to travel to another timeline, Stocke can gather resources and information that he would not have been able to acquire otherwise. Being able to travel back means you might notice details that only stand out because you now realize their importance after. It also means you can discover any quests you missed before, so nothing is truly lost through progressing further. You always have another chance. The best part of the side-quests is how integrated most of them are into the main story, and completing them can even change the ending of the game.
Perfect Chronology ups the visual presentation from the original. The game opens with a cinematic animated by A1 Pictures, which is a new addition to this remake. It shows the change in art direction from the original, with its much lighter character designs. As the game is a remake of a classic DS title, it has somewhat dated graphics, but carried over to the 3DS, it looks pretty sharp for what it is. The environments are all 3D, but characters are 2D sprites. Their animations are nothing spectacular; at least outside of combat. During battles, the motions are fluid, with dynamic frames for each character’s various attacks. While the developers left most of their efforts for animating the characters for the more action-oriented gameplay, there are some pretty detailed character portraits on display each time an important person speaks. As mentioned, the character artwork has been redone. This altercation has been divisive for fans of the original, especially because several key characters, especially Eruca, look noticeably different from their previous designs. The first designs had much harder outlines, but they were also very static. With the new artwork, the characters actually express the emotions they convey in their dialogue. For that reason, I prefer most of the remake’s designs.
Rosch: The old art (left) vs. the new art (right). Heavy metal vs. glam metal.
Radiant Historia has some quality music composed by Yoko Shimomura, one of my favorite composers in the video game industry. Given her pedigree, it is hard to compare her work in Radiant Historia against everything else she has done, but what is here is excellent. I would say that a few of the tunes are a bit overplayed. One in particular is featured in nearly every outdoors area, but it is not a bad track. I think the score is at its best with the quiet, more melancholic melodies or the battle themes, which really raise the tension. The lyrical songs for both the opening and ending themes are also pleasant to listen to, even if I have no idea what is being said in them. It is Japanese and possibly esoteric.
Perfect Chronology also adds voice acting, which is done very well overall. Radiant Historia has a very rich script, and for the most part, it is strengthened with this addition. Fully-voiced lines were only done for the main cast and a few other important characters, so when it is an NPC’s turn to speak after someone like Stocke and all they do is grunt, it makes the effort to add voice acting in the first place feel a bit uneven. Still, I think it is better to have it than to have not, and it is present where it counts the most.
As far as games of its kind go, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology offers a holistic experience. Almost everything about it good if not amazing. In my playthrough, I filled over 50 hours with this game. It only falls a little short graphically, as it is not even close to the best looking game on the 3DS, but it certainly has its charm. It delivers one of the best stories I have seen in a game with its great dialogue and diverse cast. Even if you have played this title back on the DS, it may be worth it to experience the new story content and other features of Perfect Chronology. For those of you who are still unsure, there is a demo of the on the Nintendo eShop. It is rather extensive, and it allows you to experience enough of the game to get a grasp of its appeal. You can even carry over your save data from the demo. As long as you are looking for a classic RPG to fill your 3DS library, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is definitely worth your time.
