![]() Despite the drawback, changing places can lead to incredibly in-depth combos. It's also possible to swap turns mid-battle at the expense of being more vulnerable to damage. In allowing the player to see the order in which everyone attacks, it's possible to develop strategies and whittle down the opposition before they can attack. Most battles give Stocke the initial attack, but it is fair game otherwise. At any time during combat, it's possible to simply look down and check what the order of the next ten turns will be. Radiant Historia's battle system instead tosses turns in an ever rotating column on the bottom screen. The enemy doesn't attack during the player's phase and vice versa. The point being, turns are defined in a clear order. In most turn-based RPGs, the player tends to attack first, followed by the enemy. ![]() ![]() Due to the way turns are calculated, however, this isn't as simple as picking the right abilities at the start of a battle. Knocking an enemy into another will cause both to take damage, but those two enemies can then be pushed into another enemy to keep the onslaught going. Each party member has access to multiple abilities that can push and pull enemies around. Enemies will occasionally move around the field themselves, but Stocke and company can influence their placement through clever skill use. The closer an enemy is to the party, the more damage they take and inflict the further away, the less. While Stocke's party remains stationary in battle, the left side of the screen is dedicated to a 3x3 grid that enemies can travel upon. Battles are some of the most engaging in the turn-based genre thanks to the dynamic way enemies move around the field and the wide array of strategies Stocke's party can take in tackling any scenario. If there's one aspect of Radiant Historia that needed to be left alone, it was the gameplay. This isn't bad, in theory, but it does undermine the finality present in the last act.Įven though there are minor changes to the gameplay, such as including support attacks for benched party members, combat is exactly as it once was. Upon completion of the story, the game immediately loops back into an abridged version of the beginning and thrusts the player into the Perfect content. Access to an all-new dungeon, the Vault of Time, is included, regardless of whichever mode is chosen, but it's easy to ignore and has no bearing on Apend's story. In fact, starting a new adventure prompts the player into choosing between two modes: Apend, a mode that stays as authentic to the original as possible by not including any of the new scenarios, and Perfect, a mode that weaves the new material into the narrative right from the start. Nothing shows their dedication to authenticity more than the fact that all the new content is optional. Atlus and Headlock haven't done that, however, instead choosing to adhere to the original as much as possible. Both remakes changed something fundamental about the titles they were remaking and while that doesn't account for their individual qualities, it does mean a definitive version can no longer exist, since the remakes offer too wildly different an experience, whether aesthetically or mechanically. The Wind Waker HD hurt a timeless art style by throwing in bloom and dynamic shading, for example, and the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake has completely tossed out the old gameplay in favour of a more modern take. Many remakes try too hard to change too much. An aesthetic shift could have seriously hurt the remake, and that's exactly where Perfect Chronology's true strength lies: it's not looking to change itself, it's looking to improve. Its 2D sprites look just as good now as they did then and combat always looked fluid. Radiant Historia doesn't need a graphical makeover, though. In theory, that should be a bad thing, shouldn't it? A remake should strive to improve upon the original and, most of the time, that's done by enhancing the art and general look. Side by side, the new UI is the only distinguishing feature between the two games. The resolution is higher, of course, and the general look of the world is smoother, but the sprites are basically left untouched. While Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is technically a remake, there is good reason for confusion regarding its status as it looks near identical to its original release on the Nintendo DS.
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