Regarding the enemy grid, certain skills can push enemies in one of four directions across it, with the perpetual strategy of “bunching up” foes so that character skills can affect them all at once, with combat tracking the number of hits the player’s characters have executed. The player inputs commands for all the characters that can attack before the enemies can do so, with commands including attacking with equipped weapons, using MP-consuming skills, using consumable items, exchanging turn order with another ally with a slight penalty, or attempt to escape. A turn order meter shows who takes their turns when, with all the player’s characters and the enemy typically taking their turns together. A party consisting of Stocke and two characters participates in a turn-based engine against a set of enemies arranged on a three-by-three grid, with the uniqueness that the player’s characters aren’t on a grid of any sort. The actual battle system itself isn’t half-bad. Enemies are visible on fields and in dungeons, with protagonist Stocke able to slash them to get the advantage in combat, although on Friendly mode, the enemy dies right away and rewards the player with money and experience for occasional level-ups, which will happen quite frequently, and the need to grind is minimal. Probably the most significant addition is the Friendly mode, which is undoubtedly one of the best casual modes in the history of Japanese RPGs.
Upon starting a new game, the player can select a mode that dictates how it handles the new narrative content, depending upon whether one is familiar with the DS version.
Several years later did it receive an upgraded port to the 3DS entitled Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, which adds significant new story content, and proves overall a solid rerelease. A few years over a score later did the Nintendo DS RPG Radiant Historia release, whose narrative has a similar concept, along with time-travel elements akin to the ballyhooed Chrono Trigger. The year 1998 saw the release of the romantic comedy-drama film Sliding Doors, which depicts two parallel timelines depending upon whether or not the protagonist catches a train, later an inspiration for the bowling episode of Malcolm in the Middle.