Recently the trend with Japanese-developed console RPGs has been to make their backbone exceedingly heavy themes. If the main character doesn't have a violent identity crisis in the middle of the game, every supporting character doesn't lose whoever they love the most, significant parts of the gameworld have not been destroyed by the game's end, and the final battle isn't between the heroes and some kind of minor deity to decide the fate of the universe, well then you just don't have an X-treme RPG. Interspersed between these events there is customarily a large amount of angst and fretting about life, love, truth, and destiny by effeminate men and women in skimpy clothing who make lots of dramatic hand gestures. As with most of my problems, I blame Final Fantasy VII; its' dark, science-fantasy adventure and borderline-crazy anti-hero, Cloud, redefined the console RPG back in the late '90s. Sure, it's good to know video games are capable of dealing with more mature themes, but sometimes I miss the old days, when life was simple and the stories in RPGs were just about beating the custard out of some evil wizard, gathering a bunch of magic rocks, or trying to become a hero in a very ill-defined sense. With the exception of the games made by Nippon Ichi (Disgaia, Phantom Brave) and those localized by Working Designs (Lunar: The Silver Star Story, Growlanser I & II), you really don't see many games like that any more. And, heck, most of the games done by Working Designs are older Japanese games anyway.

   Enter Radiata Stories. The best way I could describe this game is to call it upbeat. From the moment the game begins with a battle between a huge, two-headed dragon and a dark-haired knight, the game feels like it's definitely going places. As its' plot meanders about, it may not exactly know where it's going, but it's definitely going somewhere. It's got determination if not purpose. And the perfect embodiment of this feeling is the game's hero, Jack Russell. [what a terrific Japanese name! Yum! - ed.]

   Son of one of the Radiata Kingdom's two most distinguished knights, Jack has decided that he, too, will be a knight, although one gets the impression he made that decision in the same way one would decide to order a club sandwich for lunch. As he slowly ambles towards that goal with that bizarre, but strangely entrancing walk of his, it becomes clear that Jack is a young man of contradictions; quick-witted but not particularly bright, laid-back but short-tempered, friendly but needling, focused but not really on anything in particular. But above and beyond all of that, Jack is likeable. His wide-eyed curiosity about the world around him (the game encourages you to kick practically every object in the world to shake loose hidden treasures!) and his continual desire to improve can't help but endear him to the player.

You've got a friend in me and about nine-score other people.

   Jack's ability to make friends is at the center of his adventure. Though he meets most of the important cast members early on, including the two other central figures, Ganz Rothschild, the bumbling but good natured knight captain, and Ridley Silverlake, the icy, taciturn knight trainee, there are over one-hundred fifty other characters Jack can recruit to his team. To some this might seem excessive, possibly even a bit intimidating, but allow me to allay your fears by saying that you are a little sissy. [By the power vested in me, I hereby upgrade you to 'Big Sissy' - ed.] Sure, wading through such a huge pool of characters is a little overwhelming at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly. By the time you're ten or so hours into the game you'll get all excited and giggly whenever there's a possibility of adding another character's bio to the adorable Me and My Friends album that Jack carries with him. [Umm. Adorable Me and My Friends album? Holy Testicle Tuesday!! - ed.]

   The way this crazy little universe works is that Jack must literally make friends with the other characters in the game. Every character who can join your team has a distinctive personality and schedule. The studious magician might be in the library early in the morning, attending a magic class in the afternoon, back in the library in the evening, then in bed early to be rested for the following day. The alcoholic mercenary, on the other hand, may be up drinking at the bar until the wee hours of the morning, then be at work late and hung over in the afternoon. This really helps to make the world of Radiata seem alive and gives each member of the game's massive cast uniqueness and individuality. To earn a character's friendship you must observe this schedule, speak with him frequently, and come to understand what makes him tick. Then you can figure out what kind of favor you can do for him to demonstrate how sensitive and trustworthy a human being you are. For some this may be just listening to them complain for a while, for some it may be bringing them a specific item, and for others it may be to prove your worth by defeating them in combat. Or you could always just catch them drinking on the job and blackmail them into helping you. That works too.

   Many characters won't have anything to do with you until you've earned a reputation for yourself by completing various missions (a sensible idea, and also convenient for keeping you from getting the really high-level characters too early in the game). Though your initial recruits may just be the town drunk, a senile old man, and a kid with a bug-catching net, by the end of the game you'll be able to field a team of some of the finest warriors in the kingdom. [Just make sure the senile old man doesn't find out you've dumped him in favor of some fresh young blood. Sure he looks meek, but you don't want to piss him off, trust me. - ed.] It takes at least two play-throughs to find everybody, though, as there is a clearly indicated fork in the story about two-thirds in. You are allowed to keep some of your items and abilities during replays, however, which makes them go significantly faster and keeps things from getting too redundant.

A friend in need is a friend indeed

Personality AND good looks.

   To complement Radiata Stories' manic personality are cartoon, storybook-like visuals and a pleasantly goofy soundtrack. Each environment, be it sprawling forest with towering trees, wide, open field, or bustling metropolis looks like it could have leapt right off the pages of a child's book of fairy tales. The characters are all adorable (but not in the overbearing kind of way Square's Mana series has ventured into recently), with large, expressive eyes, and clothing that seems to perfectly suite their character. Even a tough, brute man like myself just wanted to grab and cuddle them all. Uh, in a manly kind of way, of course...

   The music is predominantly bouncy and silly, but in a way that perfectly fits with Jack's ridiculous power walking. It might not be the type of stuff you'd listen to outside of the game, but it would be totally awesome to have in the background while you were walking around downtown London in a funny hat. Really. I've given it a lot of thought, and I am sure it would work out swell [alllll righty then...! - ed.] The voice acting, as has become the norm with games utilizing spoken dialogue, is done by pretty much the same group of people that does practically every other game and anime. As usual, they're all excellent, although there was one scene where I'm pretty sure the same actor was doing two characters who were addressing each other, and you could just tell he was all weirded out talking to himself like that. Poor chap.

You can't handle the truth! Well, actually, I suppose you can.

   "Why, that sounds too good to be true!" you say. Well, there are a handful of small faults I suppose I should call attention to. For one, there are practically no save points. For the majority of the game the only save point is in Jack's room. Fortunately Radiata's world isn't particularly large and it also has plenty of convenient warp-points, so getting to the save point never takes that much time. The problem arises, however, from the fact that entering Jack's room often advances the plot, so on occasion you are forced to make the rather painful decision between saving and possibly missing certain time-sensitive side-quests, or continuing on unsaved and risking losing all of your progress should you die. The game is on the easy side, so this isn't too much of a problem, but we all know how frustrating it can be when it does happen. ["Frustrating - adj. - something that makes you turn inside out in a shower of gore and run outside and up the street screaming with rage." Encyclopedia Insanica. - ed.]

   "Frustrating" is a good word for the auto-lock during combat as well. It's not horrendous, but every once in a while it'll lock onto the guy way on the other side of the screen instead of the one that's standing right in front of you kicking you in the nuts. Since battles are usually fast and crazy, this doesn't tend to be too much of a problem, but it does get annoying during certain boss fights where you're trying to kill one guy before he uses his super move, "Have My Way With Your Butt". Cause you don't want him to use that. Trust me.

   Another more minor problem is that cut scenes tend to be on the longish side and they are un-skippable [hmm, how oddly reminiscent of junior high school...- ed.]. This doesn't make a difference very often, but if you're required to go through the game multiple times to get everything, you shouldn't have to watch the same scenes over and over. You can pause them, though, which is nice if you have to go take a crap or answer the phone or both.

   The only other negative issue I can possibly dredge up about this swell game is that it does get a little heavy towards the very end. Considering how lighthearted everything is up until the endgame, when topics like justification for genocide start getting tossed around you feel a little jarred. Of course, I suppose Jack's reaction to all of that is an important part of the theme, but I still wouldn't have felt disappointed if the whole game had been all rosy and goofy to the very end.

Play the game, big boy. You know you want to...

   But, hey, these are all rather tiny problems, and I still feel good giving this game a hearty thumbs-up. It's got oodles of personality and a great sense of humor. I think I can stomach some un-skippable cut scenes. If you're in the mood for something playful that isn't afraid to let its' hair down and be silly, well, maybe you should stop playing video games all the time and go out and meet some girls. If you're not up for that, why not take a gander at Radiata Stories. It's a super-sweet RPG that won't take no for an answer. When's the last time you got that from a girl? I know I sure haven't. God I'm so lonely...

       ... Mike Zeller