Saturday, March 30, 2013

In too Narrow a Time Corridor

Things really do get more challenging once you step into Granorg in Radiant Historia. Even the Gran Plain, what seems to be the frontier of this other country, has proven a challenge. Enemy-wise, I mean.

Goblins are afoot, and they're tough buggers - mostly because (surprise, surprise) they attack in formations that don't lend themselves to a smooth chain of place shifting moves and attacks. That their standard attacks take upwards of 40 HP off of any of my character's 200 or so and that they have poison laced arrows doesn't help either.

However, I'm starting to feel the limitations of the game's core time travelling mechanic. Not that it itself is limiting (though I don't have that many points to jump to just yet), but rather it limits gameplay quite a bit.

In a game like Chrono Trigger, time travelling is an excellent mechanic that lets the player feel an incredible sense of freedom. But, in Chrono Trigger, you don't travel to specific points in a specific past, you travel to a general time in which your free to wander.

In Radiant Historia, on the other hand, travelling to specific points in specific timelines leaves the game feeling like it's railroading you. Though, I imagine that once you've unlocked enough nodes and forks the game opens up like a stunningly beautiful flower.

But, for now, I'm still nursing a bulb.

No comments:

Post a Comment