Radiant Tale from Aksys Games, Design Factory, Otomate, and Idea Factory brings us a wonderful tale of love and wonder on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Radiant Tale review!
Radiant Tale from Aksys Games, Design Factory, Otomate, and Idea Factory brings us a wonderful tale of love and wonder on Nintendo Switch. The game’s main character in this Otome visual novel is Tifalia, a young girl who lives in Artheir, the capital of Escholtia, a peaceful country ruled by a royal family. She works at Liber, a small tavern on a street slightly off the main road. She works there with shopkeeper Spirea, who raised her after her parents passed away. They’re joined by Radie, a small Fey beast with fluffy pink fur. He’s lived with the two of them for 10 years now. Oh, and the pink fluff can talk!
Tifalia’s life is turned upside down when one day, after closing the tavern for a break before the evening service, she is pinned to the ground by a dragon that fell on top of her after crashing down from the sky! She then learns about CIRCUS, a traveling performance troupe that desperately needs her assistance. She’s recruited to act as the group’s producer so that she can improve her act in order to fulfill a very important task: saving Prince Colivus, the sole heir to the throne of Escholtia!
Prince Colivus has had a spell cast on him that has rendered the poor 17-year-old helplessly looking like a young 7-year-old kid. Because of this peculiar predicament, he doesn’t show much emotion, which makes him look like an expressionless living doll. CIRCUS could prove to be key in bringing some joy to Prince Colivus’s life, which could, in turn, end up breaking the evil spell. You’ll work alongside Jinnia, who, under orders from King Vigonia, ends up as the leader of CIRCUS. He oversees the collection of the blooming Flora that holds the joyous energy that could revitalize Prince Colivus. They will perform at major cities to try and collect as much blooming Flora as possible before performing a final show for Prince Colivus himself.
Since this is a visual novel that is fully voice acted, there’s going to be a lot of reading in your future unless you happen to know Japanese. You can press the A button to read from window to window, or you can press the ZR button to activate auto mode so that the story moves forward on its own at a steady pace. Pressing the L button will allow you to use the quick save feature so that you can save your progress up to that exact point so that you can carry on from there without issues. You can also play the game by using the console’s touchscreen when in Portable or Tabletop Mode or if using a Nintendo Switch Lite.
You’ll run into many different terms related to Radiant Tale’s story, which you’re probably not going to be familiar with. In order for you to get the hang of things and carry onward with your journey, whenever one of these words pops up in red, you can press down on the D-Pad to open up the glossary. It’s there that you’ll be provided with additional information that can prove to be very valuable. You can also check any of these terms by pressing the X button and visiting the Dictionary section where they will be stored.
Who are the potential suitors for Tifalia during your journey through the charming world of Radiant Tale? They are the aforementioned Vilio, a Fey beast who just happens to be a mighty dragon, a creature that possesses great magical power but who’s a bit reckless. There’s Zafora, a calm and knowledgeable individual who works as an informant broker and who performs as a clown in CIRCUS who, no matter how hard he really tries, can’t make anyone laugh.
Next up is Paschalia, a gentle-natured and kind man who, at some point, entered into a contract with a water spirit, thus his general soothing appearance and his abilities with water magic… which he, for some reason, is hesitant to use. Another potential suitor is Ion, who specializes in martial arts and performs as an acrobat at CIRCUS. Ion is also a great cook. The last one is Radie. You know, the pink fluffy creature. Just as is the case for Vilio, Radie is a Fey beast, which means he can turn into humanoid form but has not done that for 10 years out of concern for Tifalia.
As is usually the case for visual novels, there’s an Extra menu from which you can review the game’s content you’ve managed to unlock along the way. This includes the different movies in Radiant Tale, as well as the many CG images that will be stored in the Gallery section, with almost 30 different ones to gaze your eyes upon. There’s also a Music section where you can enjoy the game’s soundtrack. You can also check the Dictionary here to read more about the special terms you’ve encountered thus far.
Radiant Tale is a wonderful tale of love and wonder on Nintendo Switch. It’s a great visual novel with solid characters and a story that will keep you engaged from start to finish as you try to help Tifalia make the most of her skills so that CIRCUS can remove the spell that is affecting Prince Covilus… while finding love along the way. With five potential suitors, there’s certainly someone for Otome fans to enjoy on this journey. Radiant Tale is out on Nintendo Switch with a $49.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Radiant Tale review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Aksys Games.
