Shining Force
Sega Genesis
Nostalgia Factor:
Being a Sega Genesis owner as a kid, it was very hard finding quality RPGs, while Super Nintendo fans had an embarrassment of riches at their disposal. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG... the list went on and on. I considered it a small but moral victory when I discovered Shining Force as a random rental back in the early 90's. I had no idea this game would be so good, and I fell in love with it and it's been a favorite of mine over the years.
Story:
The battles in this game are by far the best thing that Shining Force has going for it. The storyline is nothing memorable. I only played this just a short time ago, and I have already forgotten everything about the storyline. Something about an evil villain being resurrected, and you have to travel the world battling his minions to keep him at bay. Dragons, knights, magic, and all of that stuff abounds. Typical RPG fair.
It is not a bad story line necessarily. Just incredibly basic. There are some funny moments here and there, but character development is virtually nonexistent. I always felt that the storyline was just filler to get you from one battle to the next. Final Fantasy this is not.
It is not a bad story line necessarily. Just incredibly basic. There are some funny moments here and there, but character development is virtually nonexistent. I always felt that the storyline was just filler to get you from one battle to the next. Final Fantasy this is not.
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Gameplay:
For those who don't know, this is one of those RPGs that takes place from an overhead perspective on a big battle grid. As the game progresses, you recruit new characters to your party, and the battles become larger and more epic in scale. Seemingly at random, turns are taken between your characters and the opposing forces. Each of your characters is completely controlled by you, meaning there are no NPCs that you have to wait for, or that take pre-determined moves while you sit by idly and are forced to watch.
You can move on the grid horizontally and vertically. If you have a character with high speed stats, he or she can cover a larger amount of ground in one turn. If you have someone with low speed stats, like a mage or a healer, you can only move a handful of squares in one turn. Menu options are your typical RPG fair. As mentioned, you can move on the grid. Get in close to an enemy and you can attack or cast a spell. Of course items come into play as well.
The terrain affects the way battles play out. Obviously you can't walk on water - so you have to go around it or use a flying character to cross it. Hills and trees slow down your characters by reducing your movement on the grid to a smaller number of squares. Large empty ground opens things up for you again.
Usually these overhead, grid based games put me off, but I really had fun battling in this game and would look forward to each fight. I kept telling myself "ok just this one last battle and then I am turning it off" while I was playing, but of course then I would just keep going. I was addicted.
Enemies are varied and unique, and each one requires a different strategy to defeat it. This is why you want to keep some diversity in your party, especially later in the game. You can load up on archers, but they are useless against armored villains. And flying creatures are near impossible to hit. You could load up on knights, but then you encounter villains that can only be defeated by magic, or are more vulnerable to attacks with blunt weapons. Loading up on healers is a novel idea, but they can't attack for shit. So a good balance is definitely required if you want to have a chance.
For those who don't know, this is one of those RPGs that takes place from an overhead perspective on a big battle grid. As the game progresses, you recruit new characters to your party, and the battles become larger and more epic in scale. Seemingly at random, turns are taken between your characters and the opposing forces. Each of your characters is completely controlled by you, meaning there are no NPCs that you have to wait for, or that take pre-determined moves while you sit by idly and are forced to watch.
You can move on the grid horizontally and vertically. If you have a character with high speed stats, he or she can cover a larger amount of ground in one turn. If you have someone with low speed stats, like a mage or a healer, you can only move a handful of squares in one turn. Menu options are your typical RPG fair. As mentioned, you can move on the grid. Get in close to an enemy and you can attack or cast a spell. Of course items come into play as well.
The terrain affects the way battles play out. Obviously you can't walk on water - so you have to go around it or use a flying character to cross it. Hills and trees slow down your characters by reducing your movement on the grid to a smaller number of squares. Large empty ground opens things up for you again.
Usually these overhead, grid based games put me off, but I really had fun battling in this game and would look forward to each fight. I kept telling myself "ok just this one last battle and then I am turning it off" while I was playing, but of course then I would just keep going. I was addicted.
Enemies are varied and unique, and each one requires a different strategy to defeat it. This is why you want to keep some diversity in your party, especially later in the game. You can load up on archers, but they are useless against armored villains. And flying creatures are near impossible to hit. You could load up on knights, but then you encounter villains that can only be defeated by magic, or are more vulnerable to attacks with blunt weapons. Loading up on healers is a novel idea, but they can't attack for shit. So a good balance is definitely required if you want to have a chance.
I do have some complaints about the game though. First, the enemy AI at times is horrible. Sometimes your opponents are incredibly passive, and just stand their ground and don't move while you deal them damage. Other parts of the game are completely brutal and unfair. Some of them take a lot of grinding to be able to defeat. And then there is the unfair leader death. You could be cruising along with no problems, and then all of a sudden your main character takes a critical blow and is killed in one swipe. You lose. That's right, if your main character dies - the battle is over no matter how many other party members are alive.
When you are not battling, controls are a little sluggish. You have to be looking right at something and at the exact right angle in order to interact with it. To talk to people, you have to open up a menu and select "talk" instead of just walking up to them and pressing the action button. Same thing for opening chests and searching rooms. It gets tiresome after a while.
But my main complaint with the game is the high miss rate. About halfway through the game your characters suddenly can't hit the broadside of a barn with their weapons. Some characters are just naturally inaccurate, like archers. That's expected. But the usually reliable soldiers and knights all of a sudden become walking wastes of space because they miss everybody. This problem didn't seem to go away until I had majorly leveled up and replaced all my weapons. I don't know if this is normal, or if I was doing something wrong. But it pissed me off.
Graphics:
Graphically, this game may look outdated, but it has a classic charm to it. The colors are bright. The environments are all distinct in personality and a lot of fun to explore. I like all the different character sprites for the people you add to your party. Definitely a lot of diversity in the design.
I can't talk about this game's graphics without mentioning the battle sequences that play out when you attack an enemy. Gotta love the backgrounds and character animations for these little sequences. I remember being so enraptured by them as a kid, and they still look very good today.
Sound:
I don't know if I'll get hate for this, but to me the music is nothing special. Some of the tunes are catchy, sure. But with this game fresh in my memory I still can't remember anything except the battle tune to save my life.
*edit*: I opened up a playlist of this game's music on YouTube, and let me just say, I take it back. Shining Force has a great soundtrack. Ignore what I just wrote.
Overall:
Despite some valid criticisms, I really loved this game. Like I said I typically don't like grid based combat in RPGs. Also, the story is very weak. But I was able to look past these flaws and appreciate it for the fun time it really is. The cast is huge, there are a near limitless combination of groups you can put together. (But Zylo has to be in your party. HAS to be.) And the combat is so much fun.
I think back on Shining Force with nothing but fond memories. It was a blast when I played it back in grade school. It's still a blast when I pop it in now. It's not the greatest or the most deep RPG in the world, but we play these games to have fun. And fun is what I had. Can you believe I haven't tried the sequel yet?
I think back on Shining Force with nothing but fond memories. It was a blast when I played it back in grade school. It's still a blast when I pop it in now. It's not the greatest or the most deep RPG in the world, but we play these games to have fun. And fun is what I had. Can you believe I haven't tried the sequel yet?
THE GRADE:
A-
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