User Reviews (11 - 21 of 50)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Exceptionally Disappointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: May 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Even without having any expectations for this game I couldn't help but to be disappointed with a story littered with cliches and a plot that seemed more like an outline than a finished product. After the initial start up screen and the typical prophesy as prose intro I am hit with a barrage of cliches in a matter of minutes. Boy whose father was a great knight, boy sets out to surpass father, girl who beats boy in a battle, boy and girl hate each other, well fifteen minutes into the game and I can already see where its going. However I still wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, after all cliches are a standard part of RPGs. Then however came the "split" where I was forced to choose sides in a war that was completely avoidable between the non-humans and the humans. Having a momentary lapse of judgment I chose the non-human side not fully realizing that when they said that all humans would become my enemy that they meant it. That's no problem, I thought, these are my friends surely they'll stick beside me because I'm fighting (I think) for what I believe in. Sadly that was one cliche that was not forthcoming. My friend's list was wiped out basically making the first ten hours that I played null and void. After fighting alongside of the fairies I began to wonder why I even bothered siding with them. It definitely doesn't help their cause when you're in the middle of battle and they start spouting taunts such as "humans are weak". Oh really? Then why are you letting me do all of the work while your terrible AI simply tells you to sit there?

Character development is nonexistent. I kind of liked Jack at first and hated Ridley. Unfortunately Jack goes from a thrill seeking smart aleck to a typical "I just want to protect you" hero and Ridley simply disappears into the background. Plodding through this disappointing game I eventually came to the realization that I didn't care what happened to any of the characters or even how the story played out, it was simply unenjoyable and insipid. Perseverance or a mild case of masochism kept me playing until the end where I was greeted by the frustrating get -to -the -top -by- dumb- luck board of the City of White Nights. I can't tell you how much time I spent going up and down ladders, running to dead ends, and getting knocked down by sand or dust or whatever it was, that fell from nowhere sending me back to the beginning. My hours of frustration were rewarded with one of the most uninspired lackluster endings that I have ever witnessed in a RPG.

To its credit however I have to say that at least it wasn't difficult to level up unlike some other RPGs that I've played and Jack's on screen model reflected the armor that was currently equipped on him which was nice. There were a few laugh out loud moments but not nearly enough to make this atrocity enjoyable and I don't see myself playing through it again to get the human side of the story. I'm certain that this review won't detract anyone from playing it who wants to, after all there certainly seem to be enough people who enjoyed it. As for me the disappointment was too great for me to recommend this to anyone.

Felt like I was wasting my time

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: October 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I tried playing this game twice, and both times I got to a point where it was more of a chore than a fun experience.

Two things greatly contributed to this: first the real time clock. You can't do events unless the clock is exactly at the right time. For a supposedly non-linear RPG, I found this frustrating and extremely linear. Plus there is not an easy teleportation/movement system. If you are in one part of town, it may take you 5-10 minutes just to 'walk' to another part of town.

Second is the combat system. It is incredibly easy to 'master' each weapon just by repeatedly spamming it in random encounters. I wasn't challenged by the ultra-easy combat at all, to such a point where I didn't even need the hundreds of in-game 'friends' to help me fight. So recruiting people for me was both tedious and pointless, especially because there is no 'fast forward' for long spoken voice acting dialogue.

Finally, the graphics seemed blocky (though the music was fine). Compared to the beautiful and smooth faces of Final Fantasy X, this title by the same company had inferior figure animation. Felt like bad claymation. I know Square can do better, but they didn't.

If like me, you are over 25, don't buy the game. The story is too kiddie orientated, and the game play is tedious when it is not amazingly easy.

Best game I've played in a long time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: October 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game (as said in the title) is one of the best I have played in awhile! I have played it and beat it SIX (6) times! The graphics were great and the gameplay was great. There's two sides to pick from both with different story lines and endings. Now I will say the ending on one side is some-what confuseing at first but I figured it out the second time around.

Even if you get bored with the fighting (I didn't but a few people say they did) the story is fun and funny each time around!
You can recruit up to 177 characters to use in your party for missions although about one or two of those you can't get untell after you beat the game then there's a bonus....area to go to but thats the most I will tell you.

I was getting bored with most of the Roleplaying games but I havn't goten bored with this one yet! Overall this is a GREAT game!

More like Radiation Stories

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 21
Date: December 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

At first glance, playing this game doesn't seem like an experience that feels like tanning directly under the ozone's hole. But don't be fooled. Underneath the sunny exterior lies a sinister, insidious force that leaves you burnt to a crisp.

The graphics are gorgeous. Watching the first few cutscenes left me with a slack jaw, and the in-game graphics are head and shoulders above most everything else I've seen. Character models are incredibly vibrant, colors are bright, and everything seems bathed in a soft glow. If these visuals could somehow be transplanted into a completely different game, we might have something here.

The battle system earns a solid "meh". At least it's not the mess that we bore witness to in Star Ocean 3, but it's very mindless hack 'n slash. I just wish I had something more to do than mash the attack button!

As all RPG fans know, though, exploration, not battle, is the heart of this genre. In my opinion, a successful RPG must somehow get the player excited about exploring towns and talking to NPCs. However, this is the area in which RS emits an endless, unforgivable stream of greenhouse gases.
If you believe the PR, there is supposedly a real-time system that lets you recruit characters and complete sidequests as the day passes. But there are not nearly enough sidequests to do, and time passes veeeeery slowly...and the only way to fill it is with what I believe is the stupidest implementation of this generation: "dueling" the townsfolk.

In order to be of proper level to proceed, you must provoke NPCs into fighting you. The problem? Most of these NPCs are as strong, if not stronger, than a boss, and you must fight them without the aid of your allies. This is extremely frustrating. I felt conned; nowhere in any of the reviews or other coverage of this game was this mentioned.

Overall, RS made me feel stymied. Too much frustration, too little to do, and the added fact that you keep feeling like you "should" love it. Additionally, the game's much-touted humor seems like it was aimed at brain-damaged chimpanzees, although I admit that this is a matter of personal preference. I advise you to avoid this game, and all others by the developer, until Tri-Ace gets its act together.

nothing epic but still fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As I sat around waiting for the next Final Fantasy I decided to try out the new game from Square and I am happy I did. The plot is interesting and trying to get all the characters is adictive. This isn't a must have but if you need an RPG fix it will satisfy.

Cute and not much fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 22
Date: January 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

So... you are a plain little guy wandering around 'collecting' friends- that's what this game is. It is a an ownership simulator.

RPGs have become merely some substitute for shopping in real life. Here you try to 'collect' friends, in other games you collect magical weapons... and in life you buy MP3s and phones. I miss when you got allies or weapons to do something fun, interesting, or engrossing to the intellect. At least in some games, ie. Suikoden, the allies are actually useful. Here, the allies become a GOAL of the game (and the sole one since the story is dumb), and are not a TOOL to advance a story line.

Other than some cute little moments and dialogue, there's not much story. I'm tired of this little caucasoid boy with a lost daddy, then meets a cute, big-eyed girl, but he's so absurdly hard-headed that he can't just say "hey, I think you're hip, let's date" so he fights to reveal his destiny...what?...with all due respect, only pre-pubescents who never read can think that is an original story. Who writes this drivel! Seriously, video game designers must hire the most inept writers in existence. (Man, can you imagine a video game written by someone like Pynchon, Gibson, Nabokov, anyone not illiterate?).

So, bottom line... not much fun. There are so many games that are at least more diverse in the items you collect or have more places to explore. It may be less expensive than some, but it just is not interesting.

So Dissapointed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 11
Date: January 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Let me start by saying that I am a die hard square fan and usually they can do no wrong. Then I played this game. I have been playing games a long time, I got so bored with this one I actually TRADED it for Dragon Quest VIII after only investing 22 hours in it. The controls and battles are lack luster at best. In battle you can only control Jack and depend on everyone else to be smart enough to do what you want them to. You can not change their armor or equipment and thus far, they have not been the sharpest helpers ever. Jack is a touch slow on response time and enemies can get away from you before he even swings his sword.

I tried to get into the recruitment and all I can say is BORING! Be at this place at this time three days in a row and this terribly boring character with nothing interesting will join you. You can not fast forward time and sleeping will sometimes force the next event. For someone with mild OCD it just gets worse and worse because I am not able to only 'collect a few'. I have to go for them all. You also only have a single place to save, which I find really frustrating. In some quests it is over an hour before you can save, which in my busy life is terrible.

I give this game two stars because I did like Jack. He has a little bit of attitude and is generally a funny guy. It also looks really good and has minimal load times. Since I have traded Sunday, I have put over 8 hours into Dragon Quest and all I can say is WOW! If you are choosing between them.... go with Dragon Quest!

Looks great, plays fairly well, but is rather disjointed.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: August 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Radiata Stories looks excellent, very polished, and if you like anime type art, it is visually amaziing. The gameplay is similar to stuff like Sudeki, only no changing primary characters. Instead of changing places with characters, you give them orders. Everything else is like any other Square-enix RPG, same ol' level-up system, exploration, etc., except that there is a continuous flow of clocked time, around which everything in the game is scheduled (remember Majora's Mask?). This might appeal to some, but personally I don't have time to memorize the daily schedules of over 200 make-believe people. I will say I like the fact that every NPC in the game is unique with his/her own personality and dialog, but it is sometimes overintricate. The worst thing is that the story is extremely slow-paced and must develop according to the clock, so if you aren't ready to do certain things, too bad. When a story event is not going on, you spend all your time going on little quests with your party. These fill the what begins as a few minutes and becomes several hours between story events. It is frustrating when you want to advance but can't yet because it isn't time. The pieces of story are fed to the player in such a disorganized way it seems almost random. You will probably love it if you don't mind the schedule system, because the game is very deep and immersive, with a good battle system. It just isn't for someone who works fifty hours a week and needs story progression of at least one event every time he stops to play a while.

Finally an RPG that Isn't Too Complicated

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you like RPGs and don't like complicated RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics or games you just get stuck at a boss and never beat the game. This game is for you. That is how I am anyways and I love this game...for the reasons many people don't seem to like it. It isn't too hard...I have not beaten this yet, but this is the longest I've played an RPG for a long time . I am having a blast too.

In this game it is similar to Harvest Moon and the Sims where you have days go by with a clock. You make friends too and it is like a hybrid of these games mixed with Chrono Cross or Suikoden. The combination makes it fun. Stores close at certain times and all the townsfolk run by a certain routine everyday and your goal is to recruit 177 of these characters. It is a fun task, but most of the time all you do you grab items for them. Square/Tri-Ace could've came up with something more original possibly, but it is still fun.

All in all, You may hate this game or love it...simple hater=don't buy simple liker=Buy!

Radiata Stories: Far From Disappointing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: January 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Radiata Stories is a fun, and (for the most part) light-hearted RPG. The battle system doesn't get as boring as some others.

Battle system: Easy to pick up, doesn't get as boring as most others.

Music: While there are no tracks that stick out in my mind, the music is very upbeat and I found myself humming along with it after a time.

Graphics: At first I was a little confused by the graphics (and whether or not I liked them...), but they really are perfect for Radiata Stories and as I progressed I fell inlove with them.

Characters: Even though Radiata has a huge cast of characters, you really develop a fondness for them(or most of them). Most of them have their subtle charm, or quirky aspects. (Ex: There is a little girl that changes into a teen singer for the club durring nightfall.)

Story: The game itself is pretty upbeat but it does have it's depressing moments. It splits into two parts later on, and has some very unique aspects to it.

Gameplay- One time or replay?: You will most likely beat the game at least twice, but I have found this is a game I will want to replay every so often for the memories, and the quirky storyline.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next 

Actions