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[-Pyromaniac-]

So I started playing this game today since I finished with my other 3DS games. Anyway I didn't read anything about it except for the fact that it's good. Anyway damn son this shit is cool. Totally unexpected and interesting. Classic style jrpg with lots of dialogue, interesting plot, good battle system. Me likey alot. Atlus hooking it up.

 

[kaizoku]

My copy has FINALLY arrived! I know nothing about the game, battle system it anything, any tips I should know before I dive in that might improve or ease my experience?

 

[Zwei]

My copy has FINALLY arrived!

did it include the bonus CD?

 

[Aveyn Knight]

My copy has FINALLY arrived! I know nothing about the game, battle system it anything, any tips I should know before I dive in that might improve or ease my experience?

You can press Start to skip cutscenes. It's mentioned in the manual, but I know some people don't read them.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I just got to the last chapter, but my chronicle is only showing ~170/230. Must be a ton of stuff I've been missing along the way.

 

[kaizoku]

did it include the bonus CD?

It did to my surprise, was half the price of the ones on eBay too!

music starting up the game sounds nice and first few minutes I'm really enjoying the way things are being presented to me. Doesn't feel like a cliche JRPG, localisation seems very well done and I like the artstyle! Massively positive start. Thanks GAF for the recommendation.

 

[Dark Schala]

You can press Start to skip cutscenes. It's mentioned in the manual, but I know some people don't read them.

This should be in the OP or something. :lol

I just got to the last chapter, but my chronicle is only showing ~170/230. Must be a ton of stuff I've been missing along the way.

Did you do any sidequests, and

Spoiler

did you get the bad endings for any of them? Those bad endings add to your total as well. Also, the ending takes up quite a few nodes, depending if you did the 10 sidequests for the true ending or not. You can still get sidequests and whatnot after you beat the game anyway--clear save will start you at the save point after the final boss.

 

[kaizoku]

You can press Start to skip cutscenes. It's mentioned in the manual, but I know some people don't read them.

lol I was thinking this seems like a stupid tip, who plays an rpg and skips cut scenes?

Now I know!

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

This should be in the OP or something. :lol



Did you do any sidequests, and

Spoiler

did you get the bad endings for any of them? Those bad endings add to your total as well. Also, the ending takes up quite a few nodes, depending if you did the 10 sidequests for the true ending or not. You can still get sidequests and whatnot after you beat the game anyway--clear save will start you at the save point after the final boss.

Spoiler

Yeah, I've gotten every bad ending it's allowed. I've taken care of most of the sidequests that got added to my chronicle, but I must not have talked to everyone important. I know there are also still people who say cryptic things that I'm sure tie into... something I've got to activate elsewhere. Won't worry about it too much for now.

 

[Dark Schala]

Spoiler

Yeah, I've gotten every bad ending it's allowed. I've taken care of most of the sidequests that got added to my chronicle, but I must not have talked to everyone important. I know there are also still people who say cryptic things that I'm sure tie into... something I've got to activate elsewhere. Won't worry about it too much for now.

Spoiler

Cryptic things like... "What's in the past?" Try going back to Itolia Wasteland in the Standard History Chapter 6 and go down the well in one screen for "The Living Legend" quest. Up, left, up from where you started in Itolia (from the Cygnus entrance), iirc.

If not, you could always just use a FAQ and see what you missed at the end (and it sounds like you didn't miss a lot). Not a huge deal

 

[Femmeworth]

Radiant Historia is on sale at Amazon for $30. I'm tempted to order this in case Best Buy fails me. -_-

 

[vesp]

With spoiling as little as possible, how much sense does it make to use characters other than the main 3? Seems like with all the timelines and such that the guest characters may just siphon xp away from the "real" characters.

 

[Dark Schala]

With spoiling as little as possible, how much sense does it make to use characters other than the main 3? Seems like with all the timelines and such that the guest characters may just siphon xp away from the "real" characters.

Honestly, it doesn't matter who you use; you'll get things done no matter what with the right strategy. Sometimes you're forced to use characters who you're not used to, though (but if that happens, you can also just go back in time and grind with them). Everyone gets XP during battles, even if they aren't in your party (though the battle party gets more XP)*. Your characters' levels remain the same over timelines.

The other characters are pretty fun to use once you level them up a bit. But you can just stick to the main three for the entire playthrough and it won't hurt you, though it's sometimes more efficient to use the other members for certain battles.

*let me clarify--as long as they are with you in your party and you are currently able to put them in your party (ie: they're in the party menu), they will gain XP. If they are NOT in your party and you cannot put them in your party (ie: they are NOT in the party menu), they will not gain XP.

 

[Instro]

With spoiling as little as possible, how much sense does it make to use characters other than the main 3? Seems like with all the timelines and such that the guest characters may just siphon xp away from the "real" characters.

There will be times when you wont have Raynie and Marco in the party so its probably a good idea to level up the others when possible. The game isnt overly difficult so you dont have to grind much either. I havent finished the game but I didnt find it particularly hard to keep the levels of the other group members relatively close to the main crew, with the exception of Rosche who is way behind atm.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

With spoiling as little as possible, how much sense does it make to use characters other than the main 3? Seems like with all the timelines and such that the guest characters may just siphon xp away from the "real" characters.

I basically haven't been bothering. Yeah, there are times when you're forced to use others--but the game should have had more of them if it wanted to make it worthwhile to work on them the rest of the time. One of the flaws, I'd say.

 

[kaizoku]

How do you conserve mp in this game? I just did the first run through the sand fortress and by the plans I had no healing items and had long run out of mp restoration. I had to track back to Alistel to buy some more.

But I do findyself runnin out of MP all the time. Am I just using skills too often? I do use them for almost every attack..

 

[Dark Schala]

How do you conserve mp in this game? I just did the first run through the sand fortress and by the plans I had no healing items and had long run out of mp restoration. I had to track back to Alistel to buy some more.

But I do findyself runnin out of MP all the time. Am I just using skills too often? I do use them for almost every attack..

Nope, it's like an SMT game in that way--it's beneficial to use skills in battle. But you could just use regular attacks in easier battles and conserve the abilities for harder battles.

Enemies dropped healing items like crazy for me, though, so I didn't find myself running out too much. Also, don't hesitate to buy a lot of MP healing items. The game is pretty generous with money too (especially if you do a lot of combos in battle).

 

[Night_Trekker]

My copy still has not arrived :/

 

[wrowa]

I basically haven't been bothering. Yeah, there are times when you're forced to use others--but the game should have had more of them if it wanted to make it worthwhile to work on them the rest of the time. One of the flaws, I'd say.

I take it as a pro, actually. Due to the traveling in different timelines having to take care of multiple characters would be too much of a hassle, imo.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

How do you conserve mp in this game? I just did the first run through the sand fortress and by the plans I had no healing items and had long run out of mp restoration. I had to track back to Alistel to buy some more.

But I do findyself runnin out of MP all the time. Am I just using skills too often? I do use them for almost every attack..

Where you are, yeah, it's just a matter of stocking up on restoratives. It gets simpler later on, I think. You'll have much more MP, but the early cheap skills still get used a lot. Pushing enemies into each other and poisoning them is always in style.

I take it as a pro, actually. Due to the traveling in different timelines having to take care of multiple characters would be too much of a hassle, imo.

I agree it would be a hassle. I guess what I mean to say is that it feels like it was a waste of their time to provide superfluous characters I won't bother with because of the hassle, so they seem to sit in the game like an appendix. Some of them have interesting skills, but since I couldn't count on them being there I just learned to base strategies around the base three. Mostly I use the others for reserve healing spells.

 

[lucablight]

Just finished this. While I think it's a good game I think it's a very bold statement to say it's in the top 20 RPGs of all time. It just doesn't have the epic scale of the great rpgs out there. For the most part I found myself running back and forth between the same areas. I guess this is understandable considering the limited budget the game must have had. I applaud the creators for creating an interesting battle system that didn't simply involve holding the attack button but ultimately they are very slow paced. The story starts off really interesting and I think Stocke is a great change from the normally idealistic/emo spikey haired kid. It's a shame the supporting cast was so boring. The music in this game is simply gorgeous. It's one of the best soundtracks I've heard in in a while. It's a shame there's only 20-25 tracks all up because they end up being repeated so often. Luckily they are so good I didn't mind but it would have been nice to have more. The story started off with an interesting premise but ultimately falls apart. Everything that happens with Palomides/Selvan and Dias was so excruciatingly anti climactic I found myself thing REALLY? Is that all?
So basically I think it's a good game but could have been so much better.

 

[Trojita]

Beat the master

Just beat the game. The ending was suberb and touching!

Spoiler

I was kind of expecting something after the credits though. So which timeline did they end up in or did they all merge together? I figured that it was the Specint timeline since Kiel didn't recognize him, or maybe it's because Stocke used the Historica to pick them out of another timeline. I did like the two screen portraits of the characters during the credits and wish more games would do that.

I got the vibe that

*Major Game Spoilers*

Spoiler

That Ernst (Stocke) was Heiss' son. The attachment and affection he showed toward tocke was a little bit beyond what I would expect him to act toward his favorite nephew. Some people might point out that it was because Heiss saw that Ernst acted like himself, but that could even be because he was Ernst father. Also he obviously hated his brother the King so I wouldn't have put it past him. Also the other thing that added to my suspicion that this was true was because Heiss kept on saying "My Boy" especially during the ending.

I went back and checked and I only had 235/236 on my Historia map. I can't even see where I might be missing a piece.

Spoiler

So what did you guys end up picking at the end? I picked Stocke since I feel that he that he was given a new life from Heiss as this person named Stocke and he gained a lot of wonderful friends as Stocke.

 

[archnemesis]

Spoiler

So which timeline did they end up in or did they all merge together?

Spoiler

I assumed the timeline called Standard History, compared to the Alternate History, was the real one throughout the entire game.

Spoiler

So what did you guys end up picking at the end?

I used Stocke, Raynie and Aht for

Spoiler

Master

and Stocke, Gafka and Aht for the final boss.

 

[Trojita]

Spoiler

I assumed the timeline called Standard History, compared to the Alternate History, was the real one throughout the entire game.

I used Stocke, Raynie and Aht for

Spoiler

Master

and Stocke, Gafka and Aht for the final boss.

Oh yeah true. I Completely forgot about that for one reason or another.

Spoiler

What I meant was the answer to the question at the end of the game.

 

[archnemesis]

Oh yeah true. I Completely forgot about that for one reason or another.

Spoiler

What I meant was the answer to the question at the end of the game.

Spoiler

Well, I chose 'Stocke' since the protagonist no longer had any memories of his prior life. It made sense to me.

 

[Dark Schala]

Spoiler

So which timeline did they end up in or did they all merge together?

Yay, congrats!

Spoiler

It looks like they merged together in the timeline map--but according to Stocke, it was the party members' "emotions" that crossed timelines. In my opinion, it looks like the SpecInt timeline won over since it was the "standard" timeline to begin with. So Kiel and the others wouldn't know him that timeline, as Stocke never joined Rosch.

I got the vibe that *Major Game Spoilers*

Spoiler

That Ernst (Stocke) was Heiss' son. The attachment and affection he showed toward tocke was a little bit beyond what I would expect him to act toward his favorite nephew. Some people might point out that it was because Heiss saw that Ernst acted like himself, but that could even be because he was Ernst father. Also he obviously hated his brother the King so I wouldn't have put it past him. Also the other thing that added to my suspicion that this was true was because Heiss kept on saying "My Boy" especially during the ending.

Spoiler

I think Heiss identified with Stocke more than he did with Eruca and his brother, because they were both sacrifices. Because he took Ernst away and gave him his new life as "Stocke", then yeah--he could be like Stocke's father in a way, and he likely considered it so as well. Not biologically, but in terms of "rebirth". I thought it was a bit touching.

It's probably missing a minor sidequest, or a bad ending.

Spoiler

So what did you guys end up picking at the end? I picked Stocke since I feel that he that he was given a new life from Heiss as this person named Stocke and he gained a lot of wonderful friends as Stocke.

Spoiler

I picked Stocke as well. Stocke never really had memories of his past life as Ernst. Everyone identified him as Stocke, even Eruca and Stocke himself. Heiss's gift to him was his new life as Stocke. It only seemed fitting. There's no reason for him to call himself "Ernst" anymore because being a prince and sacrifice is no longer his life.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Man... the static character portraits really bugging me. It's hard to take "I want to save them!" or "They are dead!" statements seriously from Stocke with his indifferent face filling the screen :\

 

[Trojita]

Man Fennel's (Thaumamachine guy) character design seems so out of place with the rest of the character designs Radiant Historia. He looks more like a character that would appear in the Blame! manga or something western.

 

[hamchan]

Good reviews but I feel way too overloaded with RPGs to play this on release. So I'll probably be seeing Radiant Historia a couple of years from now when I remember it exists.

I think i'll play this now :3

 

[Suzzopher]

Has this had a reprint yet? I ordered from VG+ at launch and was lost in the post, by the time I was able to get a replacement it was out of stock so I got a refund and everywhere else I could import from had also sold out, now it'll cost me between £60 and £80 to import

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Man... the static character portraits really bugging me. It's hard to take "I want to save them!" or "They are dead!" statements seriously from Stocke with his indifferent face filling the screen :\

I agree; I like the art but it's annoying to have everyone stuck with one face. Either they should have drawn some more portraits or just cut them out altogether if they really wanted to be that cheap.

 

[MooMoo]

Has this had a reprint yet? I ordered from VG+ at launch and was lost in the post, by the time I was able to get a replacement it was out of stock so I got a refund and everywhere else I could import from had also sold out, now it'll cost me between £60 and £80 to import

Yup, this baby is back in stock. It arrived at my house today. Sadly, I probably won't be able to play it until late May.

 

[Dark Schala]

Man... the static character portraits really bugging me. It's hard to take "I want to save them!" or "They are dead!" statements seriously from Stocke with his indifferent face filling the screen :\

Yes, it bugged me a little too. They either should have had different portraits for different emotions or no portraits at all. Quite unfortunate.

 

[jtrov]

This game is awesome! I've already logged about 4 hours, and I'm busting my way through the various timelines. I'm really loving the timeline aspect of the game, and how even if you make the right choice, you still may need to go back and prevent something else; really cool stuff. Also, I guess I have made all the right choices thus far, because I haven't encountered a bad ending yet.

Just loving the atmosphere / tension (nations at war), music, and the look of the game. Really happy with my purchase, and I can't wait to see how things change as I go deeper into story.

 

[I'm an expert]

So I finally got stuck in this game 20 hours in. I'm at the part where:

Spoiler

You are beginning the war from Celestia / Fight the king of Cygnus at the gladiator arena

and I am just getting my ass handed to me. My Stocke is 31 I think and my other two characters like 29 but this the first time in the game I've felt like I'm gonna have to grind a bit to get past these fights. Kind of abrupt as everything up to this point has been pretty balanced (maybe easy?). Still, can't wait to keep going. The two storylines are just so engaging and I love getting lost in one and kind of forgetting about the other one. I disagree with the comment that this game doesn't have an epic scale. For a handheld especially I think the scale is ginormous in both plot and content.

 

[Little Green Yoda]

Game arrived today but without the soundtrack despite the order saying it was included. I sent buy.com an email; let's see how they respond. :/

 

[PumpkinPie]

Damn, some of the prices for this on Ebay are ridiculous...over $100 for a copy in the UK :O

 

[nemesun]

I'm stuck at SH-Final

Spoiler

Viola

boss fight. god damn infuriating, fighting against all five and getting one hit killed left & right; and low on items to boot.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

I disagree with the comment that this game doesn't have an epic scale. For a handheld especially I think the scale is ginormous in both plot and content.

It feels like the scale should be larger than it actually is though. Everything feels so cramped - you can argue that's because the desertification hasn't left much viable land, but it's weird to have substantial kingdoms that seem to consist of only their capital city.

 

[Dark Schala]

So I finally got stuck in this game 20 hours in. I'm at the part where:

Spoiler

You are beginning the war from Celestia / Fight the king of Cygnus at the gladiator arena

and I am just getting my ass handed to me. My Stocke is 31 I think and my other two characters like 29 but this the first time in the game I've felt like I'm gonna have to grind a bit to get past these fights.

So Chapter 3/4 AH and Chapter 4 SH?

Is it the

Spoiler

Thaumachine

? It sounds like you may have to grind a bit (though Lv 31 with Stocke is fine) or buy some armour. Remember, knock to the back and combo with attacks that cause multiple hits and use magic in between.

Spoiler

I found that chapter to be a bit of a difficulty spike, yeah. If you're having issues, level up in Lazvil Hills. Also, Shield Herbs/Shield Herb Pluses are your friends.

Spoiler

Thaumachine is weak vs lightning, as is everything else in that battle. His friends like to explode, so defend for the first round or kill them all before they have a chance to explode for massive damage against you. If you have G-Fire with Raynie (lv 30), that should do more damage if you pull all of your enemies in one spot and combo. If you find Marco useless, use trans-turn. Remember that you have turn-break (the Mana Gauge). If you need an extra turn and don't need enemies advancing on you, turn break. I don't remember if the Thaumachine can be poisoned, however. Edit: Just tried, and it cannot--you cannot put any visible status effects on it at all. Try using a Power Down on it just in case it works. When it summons its friends again, just take them all out--they're in a row, after all. Alternatively, you can level Rosch up a bit, add him to a Stocke/Rosch/Aht party, have Rosch kill all of the bombs, lay some traps with Aht and then knock the Thaumachine silly into the traps.

As for Chapter 4 SH/

Spoiler

fighting the king, poison him with a Poison Wing and keep attacking with magic. That's how I beat him. Use healing items when you're in a pinch, and/or use a Shield Herb.

I'll get to the poster inquiring about the SH Final chapter fight in a sec. I'm going to try that battle out again. Edit: Ha, guess you figured it out!

 

[nemesun]

Has anyone reached the final boss yet? argh, nothing works on this guy. G-fire, G-thunder, Poison, melee attacks...

Spoiler

Black chronicle

keeps summoning

Spoiler

two shadow heiss

and after you defeat 'em both, it keeps summoning more.

 

[Spwn]

Has anyone reached the final boss yet? argh, nothing works on this guy. G-fire, G-thunder, Poison, melee attacks...

Spoiler

Black chronicle

keeps summoning

Spoiler

two shadow heiss

and after you defeat 'em both, it keeps summoning more.

Pro-tip for the battle:

Spoiler

Push a shadow Heiss on the same grid square where the book is and then try hitting the book.

 

[nemesun]

Pro-tip for the battle:

Spoiler

Push a shadow Heiss on the same grid block where the book is and then try hitting the book.

Cheers for that. I'm gonna give it a try.

 

[Dark Schala]

Cheers for that. I'm gonna give it a try.

Protip 2: Don't forget to heal up before the fight is over.

 

[Suzzopher]

I have ordered this again. Second time lucky \o/

 

[Magicpaint]

I have ordered this again. Second time lucky \o/

I ordered me a copy as well as soon as VGP notified me of new stock

 

[Suzzopher]

I ordered me a copy as well as soon as VGP notified me of new stock

I honestly thought I was going to spend £80 on this for a couple of days.

 

[warpaint]

am going to buy this at the end of the month yeah me

 

[Magicpaint]

I honestly thought I was going to spend £80 on this for a couple of days.

Well someone in this thread told me about the new stock, so thankfully I wouldn't have gone that far (prices were like £100 on Amazon and ebay UK).

 

[PumpkinPie]

Glad I checked this thread, just ordered from VGP for £27 shipped to the UK