"Awesome game!!"

First time I heard of it, I didn't bother. I never liked war games because I think those kinds of games are just plain silly. A month and three days later (No really, I counted it) I was getting bored of Kingdom Hearts II and decided to get a new game. I went to a nearby store and I saw that they didn't really have a game that interests me. In the end I bought Suikoden V, Monster Rancher EVO and Radiata Stories.

At home firstly I tried the MS EVO and saw that it was no good. And then I tried Suikoden V, but I don't like the style the game maker's using (not 3D). So I tried Radiata Stories.

In the first part of the game (Cairn slaying a dragon) I was shocked by the ugliness of his face and thought that this game might be no good. But from the moment I saw Jack I was beginning to get interested in the game. An hour later into the game (Theater Vancoor - yes I do finish games fast) I was convinced that this game (RS) is the best RPG game I have yet to play.

The graphics are so well-designed, although I saw it that some movements by the characters were a little bit exaggerated. The game-makers used anime' style and I like anime'. I love the different expressions on different characters that shows the personalities of each individuals. Take Cross for example. His face is always arrogant, in some scenes he smiled victoriously (is that a word?). Visual characteristics at times matches the voicing, and sometimes it is funny to hear a men (like Felix) spoke girly. Like the movement effects, the voicing are sometimes a bit or too much exaggerated, but it added the comical and humorous factor, which is why I like this game. Unlike other RPG games, this game brought a smile instead of tension and sometimes (while playing this game) I found that I was smiling without a reason. Quotes at times are funny, for example, "Your trouble is my bubble... Wait, that makes no sense" which is something hilarious to be said at a serious time experienced by Main Characters Jack and Ridley at one point.

The gameplay is quite good and the storyline are awesome, but sometimes in the town, there are certain quests that are mandatory and could only be done by going to a certain place (no cutscenes!) and if that happened it is hard to figure out where to go and who to find. So you see I have to go back and forth to my computer to see the walkthrough I saved on my Microsoft Word (there are 31 pages so my mom wouldn't let me use the printer) to see what I have to do next and it's quite frustrating. I like the battles because it uses simple methods that are fun although not challenging, except at some point when (for example) you're only level 7 and you've got to fight a level 16. Some battles took a heck of a time but others don't usually take that long. These battles encourage us to gain level so as to be prepared for the next upcoming battles.

The soundtracks are good although the soundtrack outside Jack's Hse is a little bit annoying, because in Jack's Hse I played 'Solieu Village' and once I got outside the music's completely changed.

I love the characters and the all-new friends page! It's just funny to see the poses of different characters in the page, and how you could order Chief Elwen and Deputy Gerald around. My favourite is Conrad, I don't know why, I guess it must be his cuteness and his Nine-Lives ability. The character recruiting really gives something to bored people when they've got nothing else to do but wait for a cutscene to happen, and it's almost like you could never finish recruiting, because there are one hundred seventy-seven (including Jack and Clive) which leaves one hundred and seventy-five people to recruit, and trust me, you could NOT do it all in at least a week, let alone a couple of days, so at least there's something in the game to keep you moving for sometime.

It's fairly hard to find money for secondary items like weapons and clothings because you always seem to spend up all the money on general item like Herb Extract and Cure things.

Buy or Rent?

You planning to buy this game? Go ahead! I think it's the best RPG game you could find, aside from KH2, altho KH2 is not really an RPG game.

If the question is to buy or to rent, definitely choose buy! Your money is all worth it if only to buy this marvelous RPG, Radiata Stories.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/06