Square Enix and tri-Ace's latest endeavor to come to the United States, Radiata Stories is a brand new franchise that focuses on a lighter role-playing game experience, while providing some unique features that make it different from tri-Ace's other games like the Star Ocean series.

Radiata Stories tells the tales of the kingdom of Radiata a land where Humans and Fairies coexist in a fragile peace, which soon spirals out of control into all out war. The lead protagonist is a young girl and boy who both will find themselves trying out to join the legendary knighthood of the kingdom. The boy, Jack, is the main protagonist of this story. Jack’s a ball of energy born and raised in Solieu, a land close to Radiata. His father was a hero of great renown, know for and slaying dragons and battle evil across the land, and Jack aspires to be just like him. On his 16th birthday Jack decides that it is his time to begin fulfilling his destiny, so he heads out too become a Royal Radiata Knight.

Ridley Silverlake, the other protagonist in the game, is a 16 year old girl, of royal lineage - the only daughter of the noble Silverlake family. For as long as she can recall she was raised to become a knight. Ridley is a kind but stern and stubborn personality that doesn't always mesh well with others (like Jack). Finally there's Gantz, son and heir of the noble family Rothschild and also the son of Gawain Rothschild, who was reputed as the most powerful of the Radiata Knights. Ganz was promoted to captain of the Rose Cochon Brigade after his many years of continued service.

Jack, Ridley and Gantz are an interesting personality mix. Gantz is serious but slightly oafish, and oftentimes kinder than he should be. Jack is an overzealous adventurous soul who wants to be a good knight but doesn't necessarily have the skills to get the job done in the beginning, and Ridley is a seasoned fighter with a hard edge, a fragile side that she doesn't show too often and an aversion to Jack's antics. The characters are mildly stereotypical for this type of game though the dialogue combined with the art style is fun in the grand scheme of things.

While Jack and Ridley serve as the lead protagonist there is a cast of around 175 NPCs that can affect gameplay - that's because just about anyone in the game can be recruited to the team. That's a pretty impressive feature because it opens up endless possibilities for fans that want to mix things up with different characters that bring their own unique styles and personalities to the gameplay. Recruiting some of these characters can be difficult because all the characters have lives that are played out on a daily basis. For example, visiting a farmer's house at a certain time will see him out in the fields, and at other times of the day he'll be sitting out in front relaxing, giving you an opportunity to interact with him. The game has its own clock in which one minute is equal to one hour of game-time, so 24 minutes is an entire day in the game. Some events and people only visible at certain times of the day, so utilizing a place to rest can be important to causing an event to happen...

Radiata Stories is definitely light role-playing fare, with a majority of the time spent doing battle. There are lots of people to interact with (and coerce into joining you), places to explore and an environment with secrets tucked away in objects at every turn, but the core gameplay focuses on light character development and fighting.

Radiata uses a Link Battle System that combines real-time gameplay similar to Star Ocean with a few unique elements. The traditional real-time battle system uses straightforward controls that allow players to simply attack, use Volty attacks (slightly more powerful attacks like in Star Ocean facilitated by a meter that fills up when using regular attacks) parry, counter-attack and "link" attacks. Link attacks allow the player to execute combos and other moves with all party members joining in as one directed power attack. Volty attacks are very handy in combat because they do considerably more damage than the standard melee attacks players use. There are even more powerful attacks that players can utilize when they build their Volty meter up that do considerable damage as well. Overall the combat in the game is fun, quick and uncomplicated. Players can take the time to parry, counter-attack and use items but for the most part combat is uncomplicated, button mashing fun. It should also be noted that you can see enemies on the overland areas, so you know what you're getting into before battles happen. For those that hate Final Fantasy style random battles this is a good thing, and oftentimes you can avoid many encounters despite the narrowness of overland paths.

One other thing worth mentioning about the game is the ability to kick any objects -- including people and other creatures -- as a means to find hidden treasure. Players can also kick NPCs and cause a battle for extra experience if they so choose, though doing so will change their attitudes towards Jack. Losing to NPC, unlike a real battle, won't end the game for Jack, so if you want to experiment it isn't necessarily a bad idea. The more devilish gamers out there will no doubt attack every NPC they cross paths with -- present company included.

Ultimately Radiata Stories is a fun game, that differentiates itself from many of Square Enix' other offerings. The game is lighter than Star Ocean of the Final Fantasy series, which is a good or bad thing depending on what kind of RPG experience you enjoy. Look for the game to hit retail in the United States next month. In the interim check out the game's official product page , as well as these brand new screenshots .

RADIATA STORIES © 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Developed by tri-Ace Inc. Images used with permission.