Radiata Stories
Encyclopedia
is an action role-playing game
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...

. It was developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...

 by tri-Ace
Tri-Ace
is a Japanese video game development company formed in 1995 by former Telenet Japan employees Yoshiharu Gotanda , Masaki Norimoto and Joe Asanuma . The name is a play on words regarding the "three aces" who formed the company...

 and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....

 by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...

 for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

. It was released on January 27, 2005 in Japan and September 6, 2005 in North America. The game was well-received in Japan but received a more mixed reaction in North America. It sold over 413,000 copies worldwide. Noriyuki Iwadare
Noriyuki Iwadare
is a Japanese video game composer.-Biography:He was born in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. He began to compose video game music after years of being involved with university bands. The first award he won the Best Game Music award, the Mega Drive/Genesis category for Lunar: The Silver...

 composed the soundtrack.

Gameplay

Radiata Stories places great emphasis on its persistent world
Persistent world
A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...

 and non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...

s (NPCs) each with their own lives, lifestyles, jobs, personalities, homes, dialogues and schedules, which are controlled by the game's Day/Night system.

The game provides the novel ability to kick almost anything. Kicking furniture and other inanimate objects will occasionally turn up items or dagols (the local currency
Fictional currency
A fictional currency is some form of defined or alluded currency in works of fiction. The names of such units of currency are sometimes based on extant or historic currencies while others, such as "Kalganids" in Asimov's Foundation series, may be wholly invented...

). Kicking NPCs several times will cause them to fight Jack, or summon guards to fight for or with them. Jack gains experience, money, and possibly items when he wins these duels, but will not lose the game if he is defeated. Jack may only win a duel against each character once each day.

Combat

There is no overworld map during fights. Battles takes place on a separate screen in real time, though monsters appear on the field screen. The player has direct control of Jack's movement and actions in all three dimensions, though bringing up menus pauses the action. Jack is the only character the player controls directly; all other party members are run by the in-game AI. The player can issue commands to individual party members, and the entire party can be ordered into tactical formation
Tactical formation
A tactical formation is the arrangement or deployment of moving military forces such as infantry, cavalry, AFVs, military aircraft, or naval vessels...

s via the "Link System."

NPC Recruitment

175 NPCs are recruitable. Some need only to be talked to, while others must be placated with fetch quests, dueled, recruited after Jack or a certain character has reached a certain level, or during certain moments in the game's story. After recruitment, they are placed on his "Friends List," at which point the player may include most of them in Jack's party at almost any time. The Friends List also provides capsule biographies for each character. It is impossible to complete everything during a single playthrough.

NPC party members can strengthen their single skill. However, they do not learn new ones, and cannot be given new weapons, armors and accessories, so skills and equipment are a significant criteria in choosing one's teammates. There is also no "magic" stat, forcing the player to constantly recruit new party members as magic spells do not increase in power.

Depending on the path the player chooses, they will lose certain characters that they recruited, and characters they didn't recruit will be unrecuitable for the rest of the game. Also, certain areas of the game will be inaccessible.

Post-Game Play

After completing the game, the player may continue playing the same game, unlocking a bonus dungeon, the Dragon Lair Cave. If the player chooses the option "Strong from Start", they will retain all their skills, money, and some items. All the characters the player recruited will be kept in their Friends List. However, the player must recruit the characters again in subsequent playthroughs.

Setting

Radiata Stories, put simply, takes place in the land of Radiata. The land has many regions linked by great bridges. In the center region is Radiata City, realm of humans. there are four guilds in the city, warrior, bandit, priest, and mage. Also there are the Radiata knights, where the story starts and may continue, given the human path is chosen.

In Radiata, humans and fairy creatures live together in peace until the story progresses. Just about halfway through the game, the player must choose a side by either choosing the Human path or the Non-Human path.

Characters

The three main characters of Radiata Stories are Jack Russell, an insubordinate and happy-go-lucky teenager; Ridley Silverlake, a composed female Knight who was trained to be a warrior since birth and feels the pressure of expectations from others; and Ganz Rothschild, the polite and gentle Captain of their brigade who is prone to becoming overexcited. Prominent supporting characters include the Prime Minister Larks; the cunning Knight Cross Ward; Lord Jasne, Ridley's overprotective father and the Lord Chamberlain of Radiata Castle; Lucian, Lord Jasne's advisor; and Gawain Rothschild, Ganz's father and presumed murderer of Jack's father, Cairn Russell.

The 300 characters and 175 recruitable NPCs of Radiata Stories were all given unique personalities and backstories. It is impossible to recruit every NPC during the first playthrough, and the game must be played at least twice to unlock all characters. Every time a character is unlocked, he or she shows up on the player's Friends List, which also provides a summary of their history or personality.

Radiata is home to Radiata Castle, its Knights of the realm and four Guilds. Most humans in town belong to one of the guilds, while others, including many from the country side, do not claim any guild affiliation. Fairy creatures are grouped by species.

Story

The game begins with Jack, the protagonist, joining the Knights of Radiata under the command of Captain Ganz Rothschild, son of Gawain Rothschild, the alleged killer of Cairn Russell, Jack's father. Also in his brigade is a young girl named Ridley Silverlake. One day, while trying to broker a trade agreement with the elves, Jack’s brigade is attacked by blood orcs. The knights slay the orcs, but Ridley is seriously wounded during the battle. Her life is saved when her spirit gets merges with that of an elf who was killed by one of the blood orcs. After Ridley’s father, Lord Jasne, finds out what happened, he pressures Prime Minister Lord Larks into expelling Jack and Ganz from the knights.

Jack goes on to join another group of mercenaries from Theatre Vancoor. Ridley is promoted to captain, but guilt over the expulsion of Jack and Ganz slowly builds in her, and she rebels. Ganz is unable to pass the test necessary to join Theater Vancoor, and through several encounters joins Void, the bandit guild.

As the game progresses, tension builds between the humans and the nonhumans. One day, the Radiata knights are sent to persuade the dwarves to continue trade with the humans. During negotiations, however, Cross Ward, leader of the squadron of knights, disobeys his orders and has the knights attack the dwarves. Those dwarves that are not killed in the battle are enslaved. This starts a war between the humans and the nonhumans.

Days later, Jack is visited by Ridley, who tells him that she is going to visit the elf capitol city. At this point, the player must choose to either follow Ridley, or attend a meeting at Radiata Castle with Larks.

If the player chooses to attend the meeting, Jack is reinstated as a Radiata Knight. He learns that the non-humans are protected by four dragons, based on the four elements. One was killed by his father many years ago, and another was killed by Cross Ward when he enslaved the dwarves. Jack is ordered to accompany Cross and General Dynas to kill the remaining two. Jack also encounters Gawain and vows to kill him.

If the player follows Ridley to the elf city, Jack joins the fairy creatures in the war against the humans. Cross kills the dragons instead of Jack, who attempts to defend the dragons. Jack also learns the truth about his father's death from Gawain, who joins Jack.

After the dragons are slain, Ridley visits Jack and informs him that she is going south to meet her destiny. After a final skirmish between the humans and the fairy creatures, the king’s advisor turns into the Silver Dragon Aphelion, one of the two apocalytpic dragons. Aphelion flies south, in the same direction that Ridley went, so Jack follows.

At the castle, Jack finds that the Gold Dragon, Quasar, the other apocalyptic dragon, plans to use Ridley as a vessel to destroy the humans. If Jack followed the human path, Aphelion kills Ridley to prevent this. Enraged by Ridley’s death, Jack kills the Silver Dragon. He then leaves Radiata. If Jack followed the non-human path, he is able to prevent Ridley's death, and defeats Aphelion. The victory comes at the cost of both Ganz and Gawain. Jack and Ridley then return to Radiata together.

Cameos

Tri-Ace incorporated characters and references to their other games in Radiata Stories. Ganz wears Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean: The Second Story
is a action role-playing PlayStation video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix. It is the second game in the Star Ocean series and the first game in the series to be released in North America and Europe , courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment...

's Claude C. Kenni's clothes when he is part of the Bandit Guild. Jack can obtain Fayt Armor, which changes his appearance to that of Fayt Leingod from Star Ocean 3
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
is the third main game in the Star Ocean series. The game was developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 console. It was released in Japan, North America, and the PAL territories. The original Japanese release date was in February of 2003 by Enix, its penultimate...

. Four bonus bosses are from other games: Lenneth Valkyrie and Lezard Valeth from Valkyrie Profile
Valkyrie Profile
Valkyrie Profile is a video game series developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix . It comprises three titles:* Valkyrie Profile, a 1999 PlayStation game**Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, the 2006 PlayStation Portable port...

; and Gabriel Celestra and the Ethereal Queen, who are tri-Ace staples. Of these, only Valkyrie is recruitable; and her armor can also be spotted inside Cross' chambers in the Radiata Castle, as part of the background.

Audio

The soundtrack was composed by Noriyuki Iwadare
Noriyuki Iwadare
is a Japanese video game composer.-Biography:He was born in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. He began to compose video game music after years of being involved with university bands. The first award he won the Best Game Music award, the Mega Drive/Genesis category for Lunar: The Silver...

. Prior to this all tri-Ace music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba
Motoi Sakuraba
is a Japanese composer of video games, anime series, and television dramas as well as independent progressive rock albums.-Biography:Motoi Sakuraba was born in Akita Prefecture, Japan...

. However, keeping in line with their tradition to refer to past games, three of Sakuraba's original compositions were rearranged by Iwadare. These are "Mission to Deep Space" (also in Star Ocean 2, Valkyrie Profile, and Star Ocean 3), "An Incarnation of Devil "(Star Ocean 2, Valkyrie Profile, and Star Ocean 3), and "Highbrow" (also in Star Ocean 3).Tri-Crescendo
Tri-Crescendo
Tri-Crescendo is a video game developer from Japan. It was founded in February 1999 by Hiroya Hatsushiba, who still runs the company. Hatsushiba, originally being a sound programmer, carried his experience into Tri-Crescendo; the company was initially responsible for the sound in all games by...

, which has a strong affiliation with Sakuraba, was credited with "Sound Direction" for the game. Furthermore, the soundtrack was released under the TEAM Entertainment
TEAM Entertainment
TEAM entertainment is a musical hobby group that publishes music that is licensed to them. Motoi Sakuraba's game compositions are best known in this group. The issue with Sakuraba's music is that the games are copyrighted by the companies that own it, many of which have the practice of not...

 label which is the primary promoter and distributor of Sakuraba.

The original soundtrack was 2 CDs with 79 songs. One month later Iwadare released "Radiata Stories: Arranged Album" which rearranged 16 songs from the original soundtrack.

The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...

said the music was "peppy and cheerful, if unmemorable" but that the sound effects were "largely recycled from the developer's previous games, all the way back to 1999's "Star Ocean: The Second Story." Gamespot remarked that "None of the music will get stuck in your head, but you won't want to mute it either." Game Informer said the soundtrack was a "masterpiece". However, the game does not support Dolby Surround sound.

In November 2004, it was announced that all Japanese preorders of Radiata Stories would come with a bonus audio disc, "Tri-Ace Battle Sound Collection." The disc contained 2 battle themed tracks from Star Ocean, Star Ocean 2, Star Ocean 3, Valkyrie Profile, and Radiata Stories, respectively.

The theme song of the Japanese version of the game, "Fortune", was sung by Japanese Pop star Nami Tamaki
Nami Tamaki
is a Japanese pop singer. She has various commercial tie-ins with the anime and games industry, and has also performed in a stage musical and a movie. Her musical influences include American singers such as Britney Spears, Madonna, and Janet Jackson....

, who became known for her debut single "Believe", the third opening theme of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. As with other series from the Gundam franchise, Gundam SEED takes place in a parallel timeline, in this case the Cosmic Era, the first to do so...

. She also played a recruitable party character of the same name in the game. The character Nami was modeled after Tamaki's likeness and her lines were voiced by the singer. It was her first single of 2005 and her 16th single overall. A music video with scenes from Radiata Stories and her dressed in her character's clothing was released in January 2005. The Japanese television advertisement for Radiata Stoires featured the song in the background. This song is found in her second album Make Progress, which also includes "Reason", the first ending theme for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
is an anime television series, acting as a sequel of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED by Sunrise. It retains most of the staff from Gundam SEED, including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. Set two years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the plot follows the new character Shinn Asuka, a soldier from ZAFT,...

.

The character's name was changed to Rachel in the English version and "Fortune" played during the ending credits.

Reception

Radiata Stories was highly anticipated in Japan receiving the "Game Awards Future" by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association is a Japanese organization that was established in 1996 to "promote the computer entertainment industry [...] with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of Japanese industry as well as to the further enrichment of people's lifestyles." It...

 in 2004 which is awarded to games that are "expected to be major hits". It was the 12th most pre-ordered game the week of November 17, 2004. According to Famitsu, it was the 20th most wanted game in early October but had jumped up to the 3rd most wanted the week before its release.

A Japanese reviewer noted that the game had humorous dialogue but a simple battle system which made it suitable for beginners. The game sold well in Japan where it debuted as the top-selling game for two weeks, selling 152,000 copies, 54% of the ordered shipment, the day it debuted. It was the 11th best selling game the first half of 2005 and the 37th best-selling game in Japan in 2005 overall selling 10,000 more copies than Devil May Cry 3
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, released in Japan as simply , is an action game that was developed and published by Capcom, released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2...

and selling about 294,000 copies overall in Japan.

During an interview, Roppyaku Tsurumi
Roppyaku Tsurumi
is a Japanese game producer and designer, known for the localization of Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. He works for Sony Computer Entertainment. In Japanese Roppyaku literally means "six hundred."- External links :*...

 of SCEJ
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...

 said most Japanese RPG character designs were cookie-cutter and indistinct noting "Even when I look at the characters in Radiata Stories, it just looks like the other games" but he had no problems distinguishing manga characters.

The North American reaction to Radiata was lukewarm. Radiata was the top rental on GameFly
GameFly
GameFly is an American online video game rental subscription service that specializes in providing games for game consoles and handheld game consoles....

 the week of its debut. and debuted at the 20 most profitable game for September. Overall, it sold about 163,000 copies outside of Japan total for the month of September. Mainstream reviewers enjoyed the game overall stating that, while not ground-breaking, the game was simple, whimsical, and entertaining.

Radiata Stories was awarded "Game of the Month" in Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...

in October 2005. Jack Russell placed No. 6 on Game Informer's "Top 10 Heroes of 2005" list and Radiata Stories was in "The Top 50 Games of 2005" in the January 2006 issue of Game Informer and in "The Top 12 Games of 2005" by Games Radar. It was nominated for "Role Playing Game of the Year" during the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards held by The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...

. It was also nominated for Best Role Playing Game of 2005 by 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....

.

Related media

Two 5-issue manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series were released based on Radiata Stories: The Epic of JACK and The Song of RIDLEY. Both were 5 issues published between 2005 and 2007.

A limited run of a boxed set of 6 figurines from Radiata Stories and Star Ocean included Jack and Ridley.

See also

  • Radiant Historia
    Radiant Historia
    is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei games like Persona 3, Strange Journey, Nocturne and the Etrian Odyssey series. The development team also includes...

    – A similarly titled game with common development staff members.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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