radiant historia perfect chronology review

Apr 16th 2023

I've been playing one of the games on my long list of games I still need to play, so now I’m gonna talk about how much I love it!

Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology is a 3DS remake of the DS game Radiant Historia. It updates the graphics and adds new content to the game, including a new character, new quests, and a new ending. I’ve never played the original, so I was going into this completely blind!

Radiant Historia follows the character Stocke as he and his allies get wrapped up in a war that eventually leads to them trying to save the world from desertification. On top of that, Stocke is given the White Chronicle, which allows him to travel between different timelines. Events in one timeline may affect the other timeline, so it is up to Stocke (and the player) to figure out what to do in order to progress in each timeline.

The battle system is turn-based, with enemies appearing on a grid. Their position on the grid affects how much damage they deal, among other things. Your party members have skills that can move enemies around or target multiple areas of the grid, all of which can be used to combo enemies.

I would say this game’s biggest strengths are its engaging story and its strategic battle system. The story is unique, with dramatic twists and turns and a charming cast of characters. The voice acting and music are also great, adding even more emotion to impactful scenes. And the battle system! I love it so much! It’s not just a matter of press a button to win, you have to think about which allies to buff, which enemies to debuff, the positioning of the enemies, when to focus on taking out dangerous enemies, and when to focus on healing. I’m playing on hard difficulty, so the fights are challenging in such a good way. There have been times where I’ve lost a boss battle multiple times, but instead of grinding for more levels I changed up my strategy and won! (There’s also a great area specifically for grinding if that’s what you prefer to do.)

The game’s weakness maybe is that dungeons feel really small. Maybe it’s because I try to avoid random encounters, but it feels like I zoom straight through a few rooms, pick up a couple treasures, and then it’s already boss time. Also if you’re the type of player that mashes through text to get to the action, you might get frustrated with how story heavy this game is. I don’t mind either of these things, though, I love the story and fighting different bosses at a nice brisk pace!

Overall I highly recommend this game. I’ve heard that it’s a good game a few times in the past, but I still feel like it’s such an underrated gem that not enough people talk about! This game feels like a must-play for fans of turn-based RPGs! Unfortunately the 3DS eshop is closed now, but I definitely recommend keeping an eye out for it at used game stores, thrift shops, and garage sales. Or use other “legal” methods to play ;)

tags: gaming