Shining force Series

[cavein2000]

Any fans of this series here?  I haven't touched it yet, but have been sifting through the different dedicated websites and such.  I think I now have the ability to play any of the games in the series(US) besides handhelds.  Any strong recommendations, games I should skip or general info that I should know?

[Seldane]

I recommend Shining the Holy Ark.

It's sort of like the old-style "3D" RPGs, you walk around in "tunnels" and you never see the player. However, usually you just walk around in dungeons in these games.

This game's a bit different there, you actually walk around in pretty open areas, such as a forest, large towns, etc. It's very cool. If you press the start button you can see a map (but you'll only see explored areas).

The battle system is very good. Sure, it's random encounter - and I don't usually like that. But the enemies doesn't appear that often, and the system's quite fast. Also, when you've beat a monster, it won't reappear on the map, so you don't need to be afraid of walking around in an area you've already explored as there will be no more enemies there (only in some cases). But if you leave the area, all the monsters will be back (in new random spots).

The graphics are very nice for a 3D Saturn game. Yes, it is 3D. Real 3D. And the scrolling is pretty interesting. You walk one "square" for each step, so walking gets kind of choppy. It's a bit hard to explain, but you "clip" on to the next square. It may sound bad, but it really isn't. It's easier to navigate that way.

And of course - then there's the main point why I'm playing this.

The music! It's just completely amazing. It's probably the best music I've heard in any game. I started on this game quite a long time ago, but I just couldn't stop myself from picking it up again just because of the music.

However, make sure you turn off stereo sound on your TV while playing this game, as it's clearly not designed for that. The music sounds very odd in some areas. And there's no option to select mono sound in the game (in fact, there's no "options" menu whatsoever).

I highly recommend this great title!

[Ninja Spirit]

I never played Holy Ark before. I now suspect it's a sequel to Shining in the Darkness for Genesis/MD. I saw screens before, looking at the in game text font, they're both made by Camelot. In fact the whole Shining series is from them.

But yeah Shining Force 2 was in fact my first strategy game. I have 1,2, and Sega CD Shining Force, but I really suck at those, leveling some characters up is like watching a boiling pot, particularly characters that are weak on physical attacks but good on healing magic.

[Seldane]

I never played Holy Ark before. I now suspect it's a sequel to Shining in the Darkness for Genesis/MD.

It sure is. They are alarmingly similiar. But Ark is just so much better.  

[cavein2000]

Awesome....
I actually won a lot of Shining force games on ebay which includes

Shining Force I and II
Shining in the Darkness
Shining Force CD and
Shining the Holy Ark

Was wondering if I should play through them all, skip the first two, or some other combo.  Then I was also thinking of picking up

Shining Wisdom and Shining Force III for Sega Saturn

[OldRover]

Shining In The Darkness is one of my favourite RPGs, although it doesn't quite make it into the top 10. It's a level grind for sure, but it's interesting enough to make me replay it many times over...

[Seldane]

Shining Wisdom is pretty good. It feels like a Zelda: A link to the past rip-off (which it is). The music is terrible. And I mean TERRIBLE, the graphics are boring -- but the game is interesting and the level design is good. It is also very cheap, get it. Now!  

[esteban]

My brothers and I were big fans of the series back in the day. I haven't touched anything recently, though. I have fond memories...

[Keranu]

I love Shining Force games and the other spin offs in the series, including Shining in the Darkness, Shining of the Holy Ark, and Shining Wisdom.

[PC Gaijin]

Shining the Holy Ark is a great dungeon crawler ruined by slowdown in most battles. I don't know what causes it because it can happen when you're fighting a single enemy, while the next battle against multiple enemies is smooth as silk. Unfortunately, the smooth battles are rare, and usually the game engine chugs along agonizingly. Other than that major flaw, the game is awesome. Terrific soundtrack and I've always loved the design aesthetic of the Shining games (the ones by Sonic Software Planning/Camelot that is). BTW, the graphics in Holy Ark are a mix of 3D environments and rendered scaling sprites for the enemies and characters.

Also, I'm not sure what stereo weirdness seldane is referring to. I originally played the game on a mono TV long ago, and when I replayed it later with the Saturn hooked up to a stereo system, I didn't notice anything strange about the music. :

[cavein2000]

Cool.  I checked out Shining the Holy Ark.  Since I've never played any dungeon explorer games(through the first person view) it is kind of weird.  Also the vocal blurbs are kind of annoying.  I would definitely rather hear nothing come out of the characters' mouths.  

I've now played about an hour through and have made my way into the first town.  Seems pretty decent and yes the music is very good.   I think I'd be more of a fan of Shining Wisdom, but well see how this goes.

[Keranu]

Aww, I love the vocal blurbs .

[Digi.k]

Nice to know theres some Saturn fans here too XD

Yes Shining in the Holy Ark has awesome battles. I do think the story does get a bit strange here and there and the rendered enemies look pretty ugly but its a great game.

/shining.jpg

You could try saving up for Shining Force III senario 1 for the Saturn.. but thats the only one that Sega USA translated... in Japan they released parts II and III seperately where you can continue with your save file from the previous game where your choices that you made previously affected the story in the next game CD.. Strangely the graphics just got better and better for each CD... shame Sega USA and Europe didnt release the other two parts as when you complete the first disc you REALLY want to continue on with the story soo much you feel like crying cause the only way you gonna see through it all is by importing...


Also in Japan they released a special Shining Force premium disc for those that could prove they bought all 3 games .. which has a lot of fan stuff in there..


I might try and get some screenshots of Shining force 3 for the Saturn soon.. also you could try Shining Soul 1 and 2 for the gameboy Advance.. and they redid Shining Force 1 for the GBA too..   

Slightly off topic but although not quite Shining games you could try Golden Sun games for the GBA which again are awesome.

[GUTS]

Holy Ark is one of those games that just gets better the more you play it, the dungeons get progressively more interesting and varied and the story really gets cool later on too.  I loved that game, and despite the ugly rendered characters I'd say it's one of my top favorite RPGs ever.