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I searched for a sort of thread already, but the only existant one wasn't very good, as well as being fairly old.

I suppose the first thing i've got to ask is: Why doesn't this game get the respect it deserves. My assumption is that most people have never tried it or are skeptical of doing so. The game was never flawless, i'll admit. But it was certainly a wonderful game. And one of the first strategy rpg series ever, if i'm not mistaken. Though another reason is perhaps the fact that originally it was Sega game, for Sega systems. Which probably limited the amount of people playing it further.

I can honestly say i've loved all of the Shining Force games that i've gotten my hands too. Though I can't really say the same about a FEW of the spinoffs, primarily Shining in the Dark, and the GBA spinoff Shining Soul. I didn't give Shining Soul much of a chance though, I really need to pick it up again, since it managed to get a sequel there must've been something to it. Just recently I picked up the newest spinoff, a PS2 game, Shining Tears. I'm loving it so far.

It just makes me wonder I guess, so many people seem to love Final Fantasy Tactics, or Strategy RPGs in general. But then, most of them have never heard of or even played Shining Force.

For me it was one of those games where you play a little, you see some cool features, and all of a sudden you're thirsting to beat it. Things like the ability to advance your character to the next job level, or how when you were in combat if someone attacked your character or vice versa, instead of just seeing the effects on the overworld field, it would show an actual closeup of the fight with the character animations to cast the spell or swing with the weapon. And the weapons actually changed in your character's animation when you changed their equipment. Which was really a nice touch for a game in that time. (Or at least I seem to remember that happening.) If I could just get my hands on Shining Force CD and Shining Force 3, I think i'd be really happy. But those go for a hefty sum of money.

So what are your guys opinions on the game? I'm really curious about what others think, whether they played, or the reasons why they didn't.

Edit

Must stop thinking faster than i'm typing.

This post has been edited by Zero_Hawk on 26th August 2005 11:45

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This one time I punched a bear in the forehead TO DEATH! I still have the scars on my chest. I am the manliest man that ever did man.

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Well, ye already mentioned the reason why a lot people never played the game: it was for Sega. After all, the Nintendo consoles were getting the lion's share of the cool RPGs at the time. In fact, I can't think of ANY Sega game that really caught me interest. I had always heard that the Shining Force games were awesome, but since Sega seemed to offer me nothing else, I had to do without.

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Console RPG Cliches

I always loved Shining Force. I remember always humming along to the battle tune whenever someone made an attack. And I always remember flinching when when the enemy made a critical hit on one of my characters and wiped them out.

It was a simple game with not much leadway with what you couuld do in the game. You couldn't walk around and get into random encounters. That made the game a bit more difficult, a feature that I liked. There were some nice extras too, like the extra characters Domino or Gong the monk. Or how the centaur Arthur started out as a bad character, but if you took the time and leveled him up he became one of your better ones.

They also had some interesting battles, like the final one with the machine gun skeletons or the one where you have to cross the bridge and avoid the laser cannon thingy. It would give a devastating blast to anything in its line of fire. There were plenty of battles where you had to divide your forces up too.

The terrain also made a difference in battle. If you started going over mountains your movement range would really suffer. So flying creatures had an advantage there.

It was an interesting game and made me want to play other Shining Forces, but I was never able to get my hands on any of them. So here I sit only having played the original.

This post has been edited by Rujuken on 26th August 2005 12:23

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-- You're Gonna Carry That Weight --

Shining Force 1 may be my favorite game of all time

A real shame Sega bitch-slapped the original creators from the company. This is partly from SFIII, which could've been a big hit. Why did SFIII part 1 make it stateside yet the other 2 parts didn't? The team wanted better production technology and time, but Sega instead abandoned Saturn and went for Dreamcast development, they didn't consider Shining Force a worthwhile endeavor to wait for. So the team finished and up and left Sega. Whatever core of them remain make up a company I can't recall correctly, I think Camelot was their old name. Thus, it is IMPOSSIBLE for any new TRUE Shining Force game to be made, why all the recent dopes suck blue balls.

Shining in the Darkness wasn't a spinoff, it was the first Shining game. It's the tactics installments of Shining Force that ended up the heart of the titles back then, and still today. It's like the Camaro, the cream of the crop back in the day but will never ever come back the way it debuted.

If you guys really need a SF fix, check out FEDA Emblem of Justice for SNES. Aeon Genesis translated the ROM. It was made by Camelot members after Genesis Shinging Forces. However, FEDA was supposed to be a flagship series, one which held its own universe like Fire Emblem and Front Mission. Sadly, only 2 games got off the ground before the team broke from SFIII.

There's one Shining Force that still hasn't been touched by hackers. SF: Final Conflict was for the Game Gear and took place between SF1 and SF2. Those of you who played both Genesis titles, get this: your shining force includes the son of Elliot (SF1) and Oddeye (SF2). Unfortunately, the game features an unusual programming that hasn't been cracked yet. It probably won't be for another decade that someone translates it.

This post has been edited by SaintWeapon on 2nd September 2005 23:50