Intro:
When thinking of ways to describe Sega’s strategy RPG, Shining Force, the first term that comes to mind is ‘cult classic’. Numerous people have never played this gem, and yet, almost all that have praise it. Therefor, I believe this term to be accurate. Although SF isn’t a direct sequel to anything, it did have a predecessor that went by the name of ‘Shining In The Darkness’. After playing the two games, it is obvious that they are nowhere near alike, but at the same time, they have similarities. The majority of these similarities revolve around the story. For example, the main villain of SF, Darksol, is also the same villain that graced SITD with his presence. To choose a slogan for SF, one must look to Alexander Keith and the beer name after him: “Those who like it, like it a lot.”
Story:
I’ll be honest regarding the story line: it won’t thrill you. At the time, the story probably wasn’t as cliché as it appears today. 1000 years ago, an ancient evil known as Dark Dragon was sealed away by the ancients. They entrusted the kingdom of Guardinia to watch over the key that, if used, would revive Dark Dragon. Naturally, after 1000 years, people forget things, as did the Guardinians. Although they didn’t know what they were protecting, they never once questioned their duty to guard the key. Eventually, to everyone’s surprise, the kingdom of Runefaust attacked Guardinia and stole the key. Under the influence of an evil being known as Darksol, Runefaust attempts to revive Dark Dragon and of course, only you can stop them. The protagonist, Max, was the prize swordsman of Guardinia before it was sacked. Before the attack, the King and his advisors had organized Max into a party known as the Shining Force and were sent to investigate Runefaust’s activities. After the attack, their new mission became clear: they had to stop Darksol from reviving Dark Dragon. Didn’t see that one coming did you?
Graphics:
The graphics of this game are difficult to discuss. The sprites are a tad simplistic (when compared to Final Fantasy or Shining Force 2), but are far from awful. The game has a much more cartoony feel than most other games in the genre. The backdrops are pretty basic as well. The water doesn’t even move, it just has pictures of little waves. The graphics really shine when actually attacking an enemy (or being attacked by one). The small, simple sprites become a work of pixelised art that really adds to the game's feel. These visual goodies more than make up for the faults.
Music:
There isn’t much to be said about the music in this game. Every single town you visit has the same tune playing. I do have to admit though, that music can get stuck in your head. There aren’t a great deal of sound effects in this game either. To summarize the music in SF, the word adequate comes to mind.
Gameplay:
Like most strategy RPGs, the gameplay consists of you moving your characters to various places on the battlefield when their turn begins. Once in the proper position, you may perform actions with these characters such as using items, holding your ground or attacking an enemy. Various terrain types affect your characters in different ways. A window in the top left corner of the screen shows your character’s ‘land effect’. The higher the land affect, the better your character can take hits. It should be noted however, that a higher land effect also decreases your character’s movement range. Part of the strategy includes using these terrain types to your advantage. As is to be expected in an RPG, your characters can gain experience by performing actions in battle. After 100 experience is gained, the character will level up and become stronger. Once your character reaches level 10, he or she may be promoted to a new class that is much stronger. A note: your character actually decreases in strength when he/she first gets promoted. It takes a few levels to get them back to speed, but when they do, they exceed their previous class by leaps and bounds. SF uses a chapter system to divide the game into 8 parts. There are 3 to 4 battles in each chapter, which doesn’t make for a particularly long game. One thing that sets SF apart from many other strategy RPGs, is the ability to walk around freely when not in combat. The only limitation on this is when you advance to the next chapter. In doing so, you will be unable to travel back to the places that you’ve visited in previous chapters. There are many characters available for use in this game, each with a class such as warrior or mage. The character limit for all battles is 12 characters, and yes, your leader must be one of these.
Overall:
Yes, this game has some flaws, all games do. The story is cliché and the sound and graphics are mediocre, but this game isn’t about any of those things. SF is about the gameplay, as are most strategy RPGs. The game won’t ever steal the spotlight (or rather, didn’t), but it must be commended for the role it played (is that a joke?) in gaming history. Along with Fire Emblem, SF was one of the first strategy RPGs around, and its fans couldn’t be prouder.
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