One of the best jrpgs ever made in my estimation. Radiata Stories is tri-ace's standalone game that is in conversation with the genre as a whole in 2005. With mechanics inspired by the Tales of Series, Suikoden, and of course Tri-ace's own library, Radiata Stories is a very interesting game.
The story focuses on a young man (Jack Russel lol) whose father was the strongest Knight for the Imperial hegemony and a young woman who is the heir of a highly distinguished noble family. While working in a squad, the woman (Ridley Silverlake) is badly injured and the squad is forcibly disbanded in retaliation by the girls father. The captain (Ganz Rothschild) and Jack are disgraced and forced to leave the knights. This is where the game truly starts.
A core mechanic of Radiata Stories is that the world is persistent and the NPCs have lives. They move around on their own schedule and many of them, I can't remember if all of them, are recruitable!
When forced out of the army, Jack and Ganz attempt to get a job with the local mercenary guild. They take Jack and not Ganz, and the two separate. The rest of the game revolves around recruiting folks to go adventuring with, and the main plot.
The Main plots got multiple paths, and ultimately the story becomes about Imperialism vs indigenous populations. There is more going on with Ridley than at first glance, when she nearly dies earlier in the game the method of saving her changes her nature fundamentally.
Huge spoilers but by the end of the game you're either siding with the humans or the non humans. This game doesn't really pull punches about it either.
Highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a good rpg that's a bit slept on.
The story focuses on a young man (Jack Russel lol) whose father was the strongest Knight for the Imperial hegemony and a young woman who is the heir of a highly distinguished noble family. While working in a squad, the woman (Ridley Silverlake) is badly injured and the squad is forcibly disbanded in retaliation by the girls father. The captain (Ganz Rothschild) and Jack are disgraced and forced to leave the knights. This is where the game truly starts.
A core mechanic of Radiata Stories is that the world is persistent and the NPCs have lives. They move around on their own schedule and many of them, I can't remember if all of them, are recruitable!
When forced out of the army, Jack and Ganz attempt to get a job with the local mercenary guild. They take Jack and not Ganz, and the two separate. The rest of the game revolves around recruiting folks to go adventuring with, and the main plot.
The Main plots got multiple paths, and ultimately the story becomes about Imperialism vs indigenous populations. There is more going on with Ridley than at first glance, when she nearly dies earlier in the game the method of saving her changes her nature fundamentally.
Huge spoilers but by the end of the game you're either siding with the humans or the non humans. This game doesn't really pull punches about it either.
Highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a good rpg that's a bit slept on.