Review: Radiant Tale: Fanfare Does Its Characters Justice 

Sometimes, an Idea Factory and Otomate’s fan disc follow-up for an otome game does something more than just offer epilogues and side-stories for major characters. There are times when there will be entirely new routes. Radiant Tale: Fanfare is a perfect example, and it means the game is more solid because it adds additional love interests alongside the returning crew.

There are essentially three parts to the Radiant Tale: Fanfare otome game, but the bulk (and best) of it is split between epilogues with Ion, Paschalia, Radie, Vilio, and Zafora and an entirely new epilogue story that involves actual dedicated routes for Jinnia and Liyan. Alest and Colivus have some moments in the new storyline that takes place after a common route where Tifalia doesn’t end up with anyone as well, but Jinnia and Liyan’s stories are much more extensive. Which is a bit of a shame when it comes to Alest, because he’s quite fun!

Anyways, in the case of the returning bachelors, we’re getting a chance to follow up with Tifalia after she’s already (mostly) established with the five romance options from the original Radiant Tale otome game. Generally, I feel like they’re mostly solid. Everyone tends to stay in-character, and the stories end up being a bit varied. I didn’t expect Tifalia and Radie to be as committed as they are already by the time their extra story rolled around, but I guess it makes sense given their closeness in the original title. In fact, I generally liked all the storylines, and the fan disc made me appreciate Paschalia a bit more than I did in the original.

However, I truly feel like the highlight of Radiant Tale: Fanfare is the additional storyline that gives Jinnia and Liyan full storylines with Tifalia. Liyan’s is absolutely fantastic and there’s some great pay-off here, especially given all the teasing and moments in the original otome game. It is handled very well here, especially given the new plotline and role Tifalia plays once CIRCUS is done. The execution honestly makes me question even further why he wasn’t a part of the primary cast to begin with. As for Jinnia, I didn’t honestly expect to want to romance him, but his storyline is just as strong as Liyan’s. He’s hilarious and there are wonderful moments between him and Tifalia. In fact, I felt like Jinnia and Liyan’s routes in the fan disc might have felt stronger and more well-thought out than Paschalia’s, Ion’s, and Zafora’s in the base game, and I really liked Ion as a character.

All of the stories are really quite fun to read and go through. The localization is great. I’d say it’s especially fun in the new storyline with Jinnia and Liyan, as both characters are such strong personalities and really steal the spotlight. However, the other side stories are fun too. I wouldn’t say I’m as big of a fan of the interludes, which feature characters discussing amongst themselves briefly, but they’re okay. Also, as you’d expect from a follow-up to Radiant Tale, the CGs are bright, vibrant, and often rely upon fairy tale ambiance. They look quite good.

Really, the only downside is that the original otome game is required reading for Radiant Tale: Fanfare. There is no way you can go into this without having experienced the original adventure. The new epilogues for the main bachelors rely upon the past experiences with Tifalia. The new storyline picks up after the end of that and with her working on a new task for the royal family, so you will be lost if you don’t know why the event she’s working on is even happening. Still, the first game is very good and worth playing, so get to it?

Radiant Tale: Fanfare is a delightful follow-up to the original otome game and really relies on you loving the characters. The entirely new epilogue storyline with Jinnia and Liyan as the main love interests feels like one of the best and most refreshing parts of this new adventure. However, the additional stories with Tifalia in established relationships with the original five characters also does well with building up on those stories. If you enjoyed the original, it’s worth returning for this sequel.

Radiant Tale: Fanfare will come to the Nintendo Switch on June 27, 2024.