Square Enix is basically the undisputed king of role-playing games. The Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series are two of the top selling game franchises worldwide. A new Dragon Quest game in Japan is almost like a national holiday, and it seems these two titles dictate which company will have the advantage in each console cycle. But Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are not the only RPGs that Square Enix is known for. The Star Ocean series, developed by tri-Ace is also one of the better known RPG series, and loved by fans across the globe.

Instead of having to wait for Star Ocean IV, tri-Ace has appeased fans with their recent release of Radiata Stories for the PlayStation 2. Radiata uses a real-time combat interface similar to the interface used in Star Ocean, but that's just about where the similarities end. As Jack Russell, you'll lead your team through a somewhat standard issue, but still quite enjoyable adventure.

Before we dig into the meat and potatoes of Radiata, one thing should be mentioned. It seems as though modern videogames just can't seem to get voice acting right, but Radiata pleasantly surprised us with some of the best voice acting we've seen this generation. In the past, we have given NIS America props for including the ability to use a Japanese language track with English subtitles in every one of their RPGs. This usually allows us to avoid the lackluster English voice acting, but in Radiata this wasn't necessary at all. The English voice acting is top notch and caught us off guard in a very good way.

In addition to the superb voice acting, Radiata Stories offers HDTV owners the ability to view the action in a widescreen, 16:9 aspect ratio, and 480p resolutions. Unfortunately, the PlayStation 2 isn't capable of any true HD resolutions (720p and above), but few games take advantage of its ability to output 480p, so it's nice to see this feature included in Radiata Stories.

With the nice extras out of the way, we can dig into what really makes Radiata Stories a special case in the RPG world. For the most part, the game follows the same basic path as other popular role-playing games. Jack Russell, the son of a supposedly famed hero meets up with his potential love interest, Ridley Silverlake. Sexual tension between the two builds throughout the game. Adding to the couple is Ganz Rothschild, the eldest member of the crew, and the person who begins to teach you the ways of combat. The main cast of characters actually reminded us quite a bit of Square's Final Fantasy IX for the original PlayStation.

While the three main characters are the primary source of chatter throughout the game, Radiata Stories has a ton of NPCs that you'll run into throughout your travels. Those of you who have played through Konami's Suikoden games will have an idea of what to expect here. Your battle party is limited to four characters, and you will always control Jack Russell, but you'll be able to pick up different characters to add to your party as you progress through the game.

In addition to running into so many characters, players will need to keep a watchful eye on the time of day. Certain events, especially side quests, can only occur during specific times of day. This goes a bit further by extending into shop hours and everything. So if you want certain items, you'll need to visit shops that may only be open during specific hours of the day.

While you'll spend a good deal of time exploring and watching cut-scenes, you'll also spend some time battling enemies. Radiata Stories uses a system similar to Star Ocean in that you can see enemies in your path, and choose whether or not you wish to fight them (sometimes). By touching an enemy, the game will switch into combat mode, and your party of four will face off in real-time against your enemies. While you will only directly control Jack, you can give orders to your teammates, and they'll call out when they need assistance. You won't have to worry too much about babysitting them though, and there are a several special attacks and combos you can pull off that can be customized as you learn new techniques. The combat system really isn't all that deep, but what's here is quite enjoyable.

Overall, Radiata Stories is a fun game. You can choose two different routes through the storyline, so we played through the game twice. The first time we took our time and did as much as possible, clocking in at about 45 hours. The second time we flew through the game, hitting up very few side quests, and we completed everything in under 30 hours. It's a little bit short for RPG standards, but the side quests do a good job of balancing the time. The humor was enjoyable, and the graphics are very nice for a PlayStation 2 game. In fact, we'd say Radiata looks better than Star Ocean III. The combat system was a little on the easy side, but there were enough challenges to keep us on our toes. If you're a fan of real-time combat in RPGs, don't overlook Radiata Stories. It's definitely one of the top PS2 RPGs of the year.