Just Coming up to the Chronicle's Centerfold

Radiant Historia is finally starting to feel like a coherent experience.

Along with Stocke's actions in the past now beginning to visibly ripple into the future, the two timelines draw closer than ever. The person that Raul refers to as his contact in Cygnus is definitely Princess Eruca, and Cygnus is where She and Stocke were going in the Standard Timeline. Before sitting down to play for today, my thought was that the game was just about finished. That there may be a short section in Cygnus, but that the next set of events would be the last.

However, like any RPG worth its salt, the deeper you go more of the true plot is revealed. After meeting with Celestia's ruling powers Aht mentions something before Stocke and co. run off to Lazvill Hills. She mentions the swordsman Samra, and how he went off to complete the Historica. Maybe this is a third tome, but as of right now it seems likely that it is indeed the Black Chronicle masquerading under another name.

At least, from a design perspective, this is my conclusion. Handheld RPGs aren't that long (grinding aside), and the game's could easily end within another few hours. Cygnus is contacted and in both timelines the selfish plots of those who don't understand the danger that the world faces are foiled. It could be a very tidy end, indeed.

The difficulty of the thaumachine boss in Lazvill Hills also suggests that the game's nearing its end. For the first time, I may have to grind to progress, though part of that might be an overuse of Stocke's vanish ability. Just tapping R, disappearing, and running by enemies has helped to make up for all of my meandering earlier in the game.

Of course, one difficult boss enemy does not an RPG's ending make. The thaumachines have been presented as powerful mecha-type weapons throughout the game, so it makes sense that fighting one is rough. Combined with the reveal of another tome, or the name of the user of the Black Chronicle, such a difficult boss encounter suggests not an ending, but only a half-way point.