Radiata Stories comment dump
Been spending my spring break with Radiata Stories for the PS2. Awwwright. I loved this game when it first came out six years ago, and I still love it now! It seriously did not get the attention it deserved, and so I hope to rectify that in a very belated and trivial way through RP. *shifty eyes*
Random thoughts, yey!
- This game has very pleasant graphics. I remember thinking they were the cat's pajamas the first time around, and even now, when I do a pretty regular job of playing PS3 games, I still enjoy these graphics a lot. I like how they're slightly cartoonish, but retain a lot of character.
- Axes suck. If you do a battle axe, you gotta make it long and deadly, Marica?-style. The ones here are way too slow and dinky, and I can barely reach the enemies. Sometimes I push them out of my combo in the process of hitting them normally. Urgh.
- Love the costume changing so much. Some of Jack's clothes are so nicely designed, and some of them look like he walked into a dead animal (I get a laugh out of these at least). It's fun and kind of remarkable to see how my perception of him changes depending on the armor I give him. More games need to support visible equipment changes.
- I have a tough time predicting Jack's reactions sometimes. I have a gist of of them, but sometimes I'm tempted to think that the writers just... don't write him very consistently. I'm sure a good percentage of it is me just sucking, but I like to think that I'm not this off base with his character...
- This might be my bias, but... the very act of choosing the Human Path seems wildly OOC to me. It bothers me a lot. If I were to RP Jack, I just wouldn't be able to take him from Human Path canon. But the thing is, the Human Side has more likable people for your party and cooler armor. You recruit mostly human friends up to the split, so it's painful to think of parting with all of that work. Also, just seeing Cross's face makes me want to light a rocket up his ass. Little prick. My only happiness is seeing him in pain. He's like Snowe from Suikoden IV, only even less redeemable, and is a more consistently assholish presence. Daaammmnnn yooouuuu Crrosssss.
- Jack... is like Sieg, but with a better affinity for snide remarks and catty faces. He's more developed and doesn't bounce back as easily from tragedy... Less blinded by his ideals... Is capable of romance... Not as reasonable, not as quick to believe... That is to say, he's not that much like Sieg, I guess. Pff.
- Since there is a woeful lack of Radiata Stories screenshots and icons, I've been manually taking pictures of Jack's expressions with my camera. THAT'S RIGHT. It is that ghetto. Flood of ugly icons? Hellz yeah.
- My disc keeps freezing at random loading screens. OH MY GOD. UURRRGHHH.
- The love and detail put into the recruitable characters is kind of astounding. To use Suikoden as a continual reference, it was as if every character in the castle were given a daily schedule that they followed every day; they'd each have their own house in town, their own jobs and occupations, and things that they did at the end of the day, like hit the bar or talk to friends or go and do some hobby you wouldn't have otherwise known about. They didn't skimp on the animation, either, so lots of the characters have unique animations, and some even have second outfits and hairstyles. The diversity of the characters in this respect always leaves some new detail to be discovered, no matter how many hours in you are. If you stalked one particular character through one entire day, you'd probably learn a bit about them.
- SEMI-SPOILERS HERE: The optional dungeon(s) at the end of the game remind me muchly why I love the script so much. When Jack's dead father, Cairn, whom Jack really never knew because he died when Jack was young, shows up in the dungeon, there's no tearful reunion. When Jack says, "Does this mean you're really alive?!" his dad just screams at him, "THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!" Later on, Jack says, "D-Dad..." and Cairn points and says, "Call me Daddy!!" After some more priceless dialogue and a fight, Cairn fades away. Jack's parting words: "Dad... I never knew you were so... hyper." I was loling the whole way through. Ugh! I love it.
- blah blah still playing
Random thoughts, yey!
- This game has very pleasant graphics. I remember thinking they were the cat's pajamas the first time around, and even now, when I do a pretty regular job of playing PS3 games, I still enjoy these graphics a lot. I like how they're slightly cartoonish, but retain a lot of character.
- Axes suck. If you do a battle axe, you gotta make it long and deadly, Marica?-style. The ones here are way too slow and dinky, and I can barely reach the enemies. Sometimes I push them out of my combo in the process of hitting them normally. Urgh.
- Love the costume changing so much. Some of Jack's clothes are so nicely designed, and some of them look like he walked into a dead animal (I get a laugh out of these at least). It's fun and kind of remarkable to see how my perception of him changes depending on the armor I give him. More games need to support visible equipment changes.
- I have a tough time predicting Jack's reactions sometimes. I have a gist of of them, but sometimes I'm tempted to think that the writers just... don't write him very consistently. I'm sure a good percentage of it is me just sucking, but I like to think that I'm not this off base with his character...
- This might be my bias, but... the very act of choosing the Human Path seems wildly OOC to me. It bothers me a lot. If I were to RP Jack, I just wouldn't be able to take him from Human Path canon. But the thing is, the Human Side has more likable people for your party and cooler armor. You recruit mostly human friends up to the split, so it's painful to think of parting with all of that work. Also, just seeing Cross's face makes me want to light a rocket up his ass. Little prick. My only happiness is seeing him in pain. He's like Snowe from Suikoden IV, only even less redeemable, and is a more consistently assholish presence. Daaammmnnn yooouuuu Crrosssss.
- Jack... is like Sieg, but with a better affinity for snide remarks and catty faces. He's more developed and doesn't bounce back as easily from tragedy... Less blinded by his ideals... Is capable of romance... Not as reasonable, not as quick to believe... That is to say, he's not that much like Sieg, I guess. Pff.
- Since there is a woeful lack of Radiata Stories screenshots and icons, I've been manually taking pictures of Jack's expressions with my camera. THAT'S RIGHT. It is that ghetto. Flood of ugly icons? Hellz yeah.
- My disc keeps freezing at random loading screens. OH MY GOD. UURRRGHHH.
- The love and detail put into the recruitable characters is kind of astounding. To use Suikoden as a continual reference, it was as if every character in the castle were given a daily schedule that they followed every day; they'd each have their own house in town, their own jobs and occupations, and things that they did at the end of the day, like hit the bar or talk to friends or go and do some hobby you wouldn't have otherwise known about. They didn't skimp on the animation, either, so lots of the characters have unique animations, and some even have second outfits and hairstyles. The diversity of the characters in this respect always leaves some new detail to be discovered, no matter how many hours in you are. If you stalked one particular character through one entire day, you'd probably learn a bit about them.
- SEMI-SPOILERS HERE: The optional dungeon(s) at the end of the game remind me muchly why I love the script so much. When Jack's dead father, Cairn, whom Jack really never knew because he died when Jack was young, shows up in the dungeon, there's no tearful reunion. When Jack says, "Does this mean you're really alive?!" his dad just screams at him, "THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!" Later on, Jack says, "D-Dad..." and Cairn points and says, "Call me Daddy!!" After some more priceless dialogue and a fight, Cairn fades away. Jack's parting words: "Dad... I never knew you were so... hyper." I was loling the whole way through. Ugh! I love it.
- blah blah still playing