While Shining Force may not have the hype of series like Final Fantasy and Breath of fire, it is an awe inspiring RPG.
My personal feelings aside, I'm going to explain why I'm not giving this game, the coveted ten out of ten. Nothing is perfect, plain and simple, there is no game that excels all around enough to be called perfect. Certainly in the eyes of a devoted fan, some games are perfect, but the overall experience of a game should be taken for what it is, and not hyped up by excited fans.
Now, what is it that makes Shining Force a must play for any rpg fan? The very best feature sported by this game may be its compelling story line. Once I had completed this game, I felt as though I had experienced something important, as if I had read one of those great, ancient tales that everyone speaks so admirably of. The depth of the plot does not come from well written character dialogue, no in fact a certain highly significant detail was lost while translating this game, but I shall speak of that at the end of this review. Anyway, the dialogue is definitely simple and easy to follow, which is actually a bonus to many. Personally, I love a complex, immersive, and even somewhat hard to follow story, but so many rpgs make things over complicated. Many games will create difficult dialogue scenes which leave the player scratching their head because of the long winded and pretentious character dialogue. Shining Force does not suffer from this issue, and that makes the story far easier to enjoy.
Let me give a brief, relatively spoiler free, summary of the games plot. The player assumes the role of Max, who can be named anything the player desires and is called Max only by default, a young swordsman in the small kingdom of Guardiana. In the opening scene the player is brought back from near unconciousness by their sword trainer, Varios. Once Max has regained his composure, he sets of to take a break from training. As he departs, Max is forced back into the training ground by a hasty town guard, who has come to alert Varios of some news. The player can seek out Varios, and learn from him and the king that a neighboring country, Runefaust, has invaded their territory in hopes of breaking a mysterious ancient seal. Max and a small party are sent to investigate and defeat a some of the enemy forces, but return home to find the entire city laid to waste by a Runefaust general named Kain. In an emotional scene, Kain uses his evil sword's power to kill Varios and the king. With his last breath, the king of Guardiana entrusts Max with the fate of everyone threatened by Runefaust, and then dies. From this moment, the player becomes part of a journey that seems almost real.
The opening chapter of Shining Force captures the players mind and heart, and the twists and turns of the plot will keep them going throughout the game.
Beyond gameplay, many of the characters exhibit engaging qualities. While not everyone in the game is fascinating, a number of recruitible characters have back stories relating to how they were wronged by Runefaust, and why it is that they fight. These characters are what really bring the game to life for the player.
The game also contains numerous secret items which are hidden in unimaginable, often times even invisible places. While several of these secrets serve no purpose but to please the hardcore fan, two secret characters can be discovered that will greatly enhance game play for the player, simply due to their tremendous power.
Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of the Shining Force game is also that it ties in the ongoing story to an ancient legacy directly relating to the matter at hand. Along the course of understanding this legend, the player is able to locate items over a thousand years old, the most enjoyable of which are the three legendary blades which only a hero can wield. Seeking the Sword of Light, Sword of Darkness, and Chaos Breaker, while not originally named, are quite fun to hunt down.
One of my favorite parts of Shining Force's actual game play was the promotion system. After achieving a certain level, characters in the game can have their rank raised, and along with the change in title comes a much quicker rate of stat increases during level ups. When a character is promoted they can become much stronger and even get a change in appearance. The main character, Max, looks even better once promoted.
Shining Force is played from the traditional over head view which accompanies tactical rpgs, and while the battle system is not revolutionary, the combat animations are clean and enjoyable, and the potential for a second attack or a last minute dodge are enough to keep the player enthralled in the game.
However, where the basic level of the combat system is not especially fresh, the spell casting system picks up the slack. From healing spells, to spells which strengthen the team or hinder the enemy, to spells which just do astounding damage or even kill the enemy. Perhaps the most powerful spell in the game is the Desoul spell, which, if cast properly, will automatically kill almost any enemy, under any circumstances.
Between the well balanced combat and engaging spell system, the player is able to maintain interest in the game even when performing usually tedious tasks, such as leveling up.
Overall, the game play is excellent, and the story cannot be beat, leaving the only remaining things to judge being the sound, video, and replay value of the game.
The Sega Genesis belongs to an older generation of gaming, and though Shining Force has become playable on PCs, XBOX 360's, Wii's , and quite likely other consoles in Sega compilation discs, the audio quality has remained the same. While the music score in Shining Force is not particularly enjoyable, it doesn't bother the player either. The music isn't great, but on the brightside, it isn't just a series of strange beeping notes.
Again, the 16 bit generation of gaming to which the Genesis console belongs was part of an older age in gaming, so the graphics aren't anywhere near 3D level, but the game is by no means ugly. The towns and terrians are well presented and well designed, and the character sprites look decent on and of the battlefield.
Rpgs have interesting ranges when it comes down to replay value. Some games can be replayed dozens of times based on their versatility, and other games are straightforward enough that they don't recieve much replay. To the average gamer, Shining Force will appear to have fun characters, an engaging story, and will likely come of as an all around good game, but the story is very rigid and linear, so it is unlikely that non hardcore rpg fans will beat the game over and over again. But to major rpg enthuisiasts, the stroy alone will be enough to pick the game up again every once in a while, not to mention the chance to uncover the various, well hidden secrets throughout the game.
That about concludes this review. Shining Force is a solid, fun game, and to anyone who likes rpgs even a little bit I recommend you play this game. And for those who are new to the genre, maybe you should give it a try, Shining Force is not only an amazing rpg, but it is also friendly to first time players and could really establish a love of rpg gaming.
One last detail. Early in this review, I mentioned that a certain detail was lost in translation of the game Shining Force. Well, to anyone curious what this was, I'll tell you:
*SPOILER ALERT*
The hero of the Game, and leader of the Shining Force, Max, and the seemingly pure evil general of the dark armies of Runefaust, Kain, are not only two amazingly mighty sword masters, and the respective owners of the swords of light and darkness, but they are also brothers from the same family.
*SPOILER END*
To anyone who read this review, I hope you give Shining Force a shot, and if you like it, perhaps you should pick up it's sequel, Shining Force 2: The Ancient Seal. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming!