by Wayne K. Wilkins

Created on: February 23, 2009

Radiata Stories is a Role Playing Game developed by Square Enix and released in 2005. The game features Square Enix's classic gameplay style; massive roaming areas and real-time battles based on evasive action and hack n' slash style movements. The gameplay takes nothing away from the story however and consists of a massive immersive story that develops as you progress through the game depending on what actions you take, what characters you have recruited and what decisions you make throughout the game giving multiple different experiences one ach play through.

STORY: 8/10

The story in Radiata Stories follows a young man by the name of Jack Russell whose father was a famous Radiata Knight. Jack however is accepted into the Knights, despite losing his entry battle, simply because of that fact. Your story progresses as you follow Jack through his journey into the Radiata Knights before he is kicked out, it is then your choice here as you decide which step Jack will take next. From here on, almost every action you take here can have some effect on the story.

As you continue to progress, you realize that there is a growing war between the Fairy creatures, those being light-elves, dark-elves, Orcs, Dwarves and other such races, and the human folk. This is due to the humans becoming increasingly greedy in attempts to raise the Dragons that watch over the world and seal them away giving them the ultimate power. However, not all the humans are bad and not all the fairy creatures are good. Which side will you take?

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

The gameplay is vintage RPG; interactive towns, characters and worlds. You can literally go around and pick fights with every character you encounter by kicking them. Some characters will respect your bravery and join your quest; others will see you as a little punk and beat you within an inch of your life. Either way, the interaction of Radiata Stories is something I have never seen in an RPG before; it makes for a very unique play each time.

Another feature I love about the gameplay is the characters. Much like the Suikoden series, there are well over 100 characters to recruit. Every character can not be recruited on one play through however; depending on the story options you take depends on what characters are eligible to you. The choice is yours! The battles take place in a battle field orf sorts where you control the main character, the others act on their own, however, with powerful unite and formation abilities you are able to create the

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