History Videogame / RadiataStories

* KarmaHoudini: Aside from the injuries they suffered, the [[spoiler: Hecton Squad]] faces no repercussions for [[spoiler: failing their mission to watch and protect Princess Bellflower during her excursion around Radiata City, which also led to Gerald nearly being fatally killed by Nocturne.]] [[spoiler: Elwen even promotes Jack to sergeant and allows him to command his own squad, despite the fact that him and Daniel's distracted arguing was what led to Bellflower getting kidnapped by Void Community bandits]].

* YouKilledMyFather: Jack has these words for Gawain when the two come face-to-face.

As Jack and Ganz try to adjust to their new lives, a series of seemingly unrelated incidents begins to occur. Ridley begins experiencing strange headaches and speaking in a voice that is not her own. The dreaded disease Algandars, said to be the only thing capable of fully killing the immortal elves, makes a reappearance after being gone for centuries. Tensions between the humans and non-humans skyrocket as three particular individuals become prominent in the politics of Radiata: Zane, human-hating leader of the light elves; Lucian, a mysterious courtesan of Radiata Castle who displays frightening [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] capabilities; and Cross Ward, Ridley's {{Jerkass}} [[ArrangedMarriage fiancé]].

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:The fate of the elves who become afflicted with Algandars' disease; this ends with them being encased in a cocoon for eternity.]]

** [[spoiler:Ridley and Zane]] move this territory because, as unfair as it is, humans apparently ''are'' to blame for the Algandars disease that's killing the elves and driving humans mad because they're killing dragons, i.e. the dragons of the World's Cosmic Order. Cairn killed the Water Dragon and then the Earth Dragon was killed [[spoiler:defending the dwarves from the human's invasion of Earth Valley]]. If they ''don't'' hit the ResetButton then a different race is on the chopping block.

* BarredFromTheAfterlife: [[spoiler:Any Elf who dies because of Algandar's is said to essentially be unable to pass on naturally, preventing Transpiritation from saving them]].

** Humans infected with the Algandars plague will go off on a violent streak after being provoked by the most petty things such as not winning a lottery ticket.

* DeathBySex: It is stated that the birth of the Algandars disease was an ancient light elf king marrying a human woman. Thus, it can implied that the fate of any light elf that copulates with a human is apparently eternal imprisonment in a leafy cocoon.

** Plenty of non-humans cross the line from understandable mistrust to unjustifiable racial hatred. Zane, the light elf's leader, wants nothing more than to wipe out every last human being in the world; not because they [[spoiler:caused a cosmic imbalance]], but because he unfairly blames them for the death of his brother, who died from the Algandars disease.

** It's extremely subtle, in a "blink-&-you'll-miss-it" sorta way, but the opening shows Cairn Russell's eyes take on a crimson, feral tint as he fights against the Water Dragon. Later on, you learn that one of the symptoms of Algandars is people taking on a feral, animalistic look in their eyes as they become uncharacteristically violent. Thus, the opening cutscene foreshadows that Cairn wasn't murdered like Jack believes he was.

* HatePlague: What Algandars Disease does to humans. While Elves infected with it either die or become encased in a form of cocoon, Humans go into a violent rage and lash out at anything around them, not to different from how real world rabies in animals.

** [[spoiler:Nogueira contracts the Algandars disease when he saves Ridley and Hap by performing the transpiritation ritual on them]]

* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:Hap and Nogueira]] and presumably [[spoiler:Zane]] on the non-human side, die offscreen. Although his presumed death occurs after the time frame of the game, Ridley confirms to Jack under the Ressan Tree that [[spoiler:Zane has Algandars]], which is pretty much a death sentence in itself.

* AlasPoorVillain: No matter how much you disagree with Zane's reasons for wanting humanity eradicated, you have to admit that [[spoiler:hearing him sob before his brother's grave]] is extremely heart-wrenching.

* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: Daniel has a pet crocogator and Nask has a pet smilodon--both of these animals will attack Jack in the wild.

* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: Daniel has a pet crocogator and Nask has a pet smilodon--both of these animals will attack Jack in the wild.

* BookEnds: The intro scene shows Jack as he arrives in Radiata through Lupus Gate with his packsack, gazing up at Radiata Castle in wonder before he walks in. The ending to the human path mirrors this as it shows Jack [[spoiler:leaving Radiata through Lupus Gate with the same packsack, gazing back at Radiata Castle from a distance for one last time before he turns back around and leaves.]] He'll even still be wearing the same tunic he wore in the intro regardless of whether or not he was wearing it during the final boss battle.

* SecondLove: A gameplay mechanic on the Human route invokes this. Without Ridley in his life, Jack can pursue a relationship with any of the female party members ([[AmbigiouslyGay or Charlie]]). The game choses based on the character Jack has had in his party the longest.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Jack, seeing as how he's able to take Charlie out on the fireworks date. He canonically is interested in Ridley in both routes, but on the Human route if the player choses Charlie, Jack will be this.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Path of the Spider, a series of interconnecting tunnels that forms the sewage system beneath Radiata, has wide pathways and it is easy to get lost in them. [[spoiler: Its implied that the tunnels are part of ruins left over from an ancient Human civilization that was hit with the ResetButton, as it contains some murals deep within that allude to the games greater plot]].

* AnachronismStew: Radiata is a melting pot of old and new technology. On the one hand, warriors still fight with swords and shields and transport goods by goat-drawn carts but on the other hand, they're advanced enough to have radios, phonographs, and electric street lamps. [[spoiler:{{Justified}}, as Humans have been hit with the ResetButton several times, and thus their technology is all over the place because they are almost wiped out whenever they get to strong]].

* AnachronismStew: Radiata is a melting pot of old and new technology. On the one hand, warriors still fight with swords and shields and transport goods by goat-drawn carts but on the other hand, they're advanced enough to have radios, phonographs, and electric street lamps. [[{{Justified}}, as Humans have been hit with the ResetButton several times, and thus their technology is all over the place because they are almost wiped out whenever they get to strong]].

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Path of the Spider, a series of interconnecting tunnels that forms the sewage system beneath Radiata, has wide pathways and it is easy to get lost in them.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Jack, seeing as how he's able to take Charlie out on the fireworks date, might be bisexual, but it is unclear.

* AnachronismStew: Radiata is a melting pot of old and new technology. On the one hand, warriors still fight with swords and shields and transport goods by goat-drawn carts but on the other hand, they're advanced enough to have radios, phonographs, and electric street lamps. Of course, given this is a fictional universe, liberties can be taken.

** [[spoiler:Aphelion, the Silver Dragon]]; while he might be a brilliant schemer, and some of his actions might make him seem to be a WellIntentionedExtremist at best, it's hard to label him as a villain of any caliber. Especially since his goals involve [[spoiler:saving the human race from a total reset, despite the fact that it meant murdering his own kin.]] Sure, he tries to kill [[spoiler:Ridley]], but given that [[spoiler:she]] had, by that point, crossed the line into being a literal WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds...

* HeroicSacrifice: Several characters do this, often deeply affecting their friends and loved ones:

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Despite the game having two routes, the non-human route is very much intended to be the canonical route. It's the only route where Jack learns much of the game's big reveals, his character is developed the most in it, and the trio of Jack, Ganz, and Ridley only unite in said route. It's also the route where Jack and Ridley become an OfficialCouple, whereas the human route allows for more unique gameplay elements at the cost of the story being less explained.

* WarIsHell: The war is definitely bad for both sides. There's death, there's tragedy, and the only person who says WarIsGlorious is an asshole.

** Aphelion [[spoiler:does his best to prevent the war from happening and tries to stop it as quickly as possible, as all he wants is to prevent the world from being constantly reset because the system is blatantly in favor of every race except humanity. It's a real shame his plan requires the death of the dragons and Ridley.]]

** If the player decides to join the non-humans, [[spoiler:Ridley survives and instead Gantz is the one to die. Ridley and Jack then return to a Radiata that seems to be [[GainaxEnding inexplicably deserted and filled with glowing globs of unknown origin]]. The most probable explanation is that it represents Ridley, who is now the awakened Gold Dragon, remaking the world, while still keeping Jack by her side.]]

** Thanos seeks a rare suit of armor that allows the wearer to fight for 24 hours straight. [[spoiler: It's actually a business suit.]]

** [[spoiler: Ridley and Zane]] move this territory because, as unfair as it is, humans apparently ''are'' to blame for the Algandars disease that's killing the elves and driving humans mad because they're killing dragons, i.e. the dragons of the World's Cosmic Order. Cairn killed the Water Dragon and then the Earth Dragon was killed [[spoiler: defending the dwarves from the human's invasion of Earth Valley]]. If they ''don't'' hit the ResetButton then a different race is on the chopping block.

** Downplayed by Ridley, who is just a little stuck up at first.

** {{Downplayed}} with Ridley while Jack is in the Knights. She's cute and during battle her animations include her falling over when performing her heaviest attacks, but she is still a skilled combatant.

* BoringButPractical: It may be a bit of a stretch to call them so, but greatswords are this. They're slower then one handed swords and are not as powerful as axes, nor do they quite have the reach of spears. However, they're still very powerful weapons that definitely aren't the slowest weapons...and they tend to have pretty good CP allotment compared to one-handed swords. In fact, [[InfinityMinusOneSword Falvern]] has an attack rating of 127 and a CP of 15, the highest in the game, allowing you to use several of the higher cost combos in your attacks.

* CanonForeigner: What are [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile Lenneth Valkyrie and Lezard]]]] doing in Radiata?

** The four elemental dragons each have powers of their respective element.

* GoodShepherd: The Old Faction of the Olacion Order is composed of pious and good-hearted clerics.

* HumansAreSpecial: [[spoiler:Lucian[=/=]Aphelion is fond of humanity. Despite the fact that the cosmic balance of the world sometimes requires the destruction of humanity, every time the dragons strike them down they manage to rebuild. He's sick of a system blatantly in favor of every race but one, and is willing to kill his fellow dragons to get rid of it.]]

** ReverseCerebusSyndrome: .....on the flip side [[spoiler: the comedic tone makes a return if the player chooses to do the [[BonusDungeon bonus dungeons]], as most of the bosses found in them usually have a comedic cutscene before they and Jack do battle.]]

* ZettaiRyouiki: Ridley qualifies as a Rank S; Rank A boots, twin tails and tsundere attitude.