Shining Force is considered the "first strategy RPG" of its kind, but Fire Emblem game out first, but we didn't get a Fire Emblem game until last year, hell, most people never even HEARD of Fire Emblem until you play as Marth and Roy in SSBM and get the kick-ass-music in Hyrule temple. Back on topic, Alot of people liked Shining Force alot, and some idiotic fanboys (Keyword: Idiotic) went so far as to accuse Nintendo of ripping off Shining Force with Fire Emblem. If you ask me, Shining Force still goes on the list of overrated games. Why you may ask? Well, I just didn't have much fun playing it, yet most people described this game as the best thing that happened to Sega since Sonic the Hedgehog.It's such a pity that Nintendo never released Fire Emblem in America. If they did people would know that Nintendo invented strategy RPG not Sega. The real problem isn't who invented strategy RPG but who's game was better.
The Graphics of Shining Force are okay, they do need some improvement in some areas, nameley most of the pallete swaps and some status portraits. Some of them are just plain disturbing. (I'm not telling you which, because it only brings back disturbing memories of their ugly faces) And some of the party members remind me of the 7 dwarves from Snow White. But the opening cinamea is pretty decent, same with the battle animations.
The story is pretty bland with alot of recycled elements. Sure, this IS the early 90's, but even for that time period, the story lacks originality. It starts off with a decent looking cinamea about how Light is fighting Dark for the Control of the world, Dark is immortal, light is not, Light wins, and then Dark is banished and then vows to return some day. That storyline has already been done like a dozen times, and I kept thinking it would have been better if it had been the other way around. The game starts off with the hero being trained by Varios, a centaur. Varios runs off, then Max follows and kills some monsters, goes back home to find everyone in his village dead or dying (Probably wanted to end their misery of the boring plot), and then he runs into Kane who's on a mission to revive the blatant Dark Dragon (Who's name is...Dark Dragon! How original! And he doesn't even LOOK the least bit reptillian(sp), let alone a Dragon
) Then Max rounds up some friends and then goes out to stop the ressurection of Dark Dragon the Dark Dragon from putting out even more recycled elements of the blatant plot. The dialogue between battles aren't really at all needed because I know how it's going to turn out. take the "race"s for example. The Good guys are going to beat the bad guys to a certain something and the good guys get it. The "race"s are too predictable.For a strategy game, Shining Force doesn't really require much strategizing. The enemies have the AI of an atari game, they just stand there going "duuuuuuh" until you put the leader right there. I mean, not once do you risk getting surrounded, and getting surrounded SHOULD be a risk in ALL strategy games, I mean, even in REAL LIFE, you run the risk of getting surrounded if you charge forward. another thing, I had an enemy surrounded in 3 directions and it had only like 2-3 health left. Normally, it'd try to run away, but it instead runs from the group and goes after Max. Not suprisingly, I killed it in a few rounds. another element is that you can revive characters who die-Sure, you can do it in Tactics Ogre and Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, but you had until the battle ended to revive them or else they're gone for good. (And fyi, in FFTA, characters aren't gone for good unless you're in a specific location and don't revive them by the end of the battle, and in FFT, then you have 3 rounds to revive them or elese they're gone for good, and they're still restored at the end of the battle if the 3-round limit isn't up. In Fire Emblem, the characters who die are gone for good. Just to clear that up.) In Shining Force, you can just retreat and revive them, and even if Max dies, then he's revived and half your cash is gone. As I already mentioned, each strategy game has their own "death system", but the "Death system" here is just ridiculous. Also, people who can attack from a distance are very numerous, such as Archers and Mages, and the Centarus can equip spears and attack from a distance without being countered and you can use a River or whatever to an advantage, but the enemy would just stand there going "duuuuuuuuuuh". Alot of enemies do that, not just the bosses fyi.
The controls can be a bit annoying. To talk to someone, you need to pull up a menu. I don't really mind Menus, but I don't like pulling up menus to do simple stuff like talk to a person or to walk up the stairs (I'm talking about Dragon Warrior when I mention the stairs, btw) Most of them are okay though.
The Characters are a major flaw in the game. Most characters you get are as weak as a Tennis Ball. Most of the beginning characters you get slowly become weaker and weaker and can't level up. And some of the characters you get later are too weak to level up. Usually, you can beat the game with a few knights that rip down everything they see.
The music is periodically boring but it is also periodically worth listening too. Some of the musics are boring and repetetive, while others are repetitive but are also catchy. I liked the Circus in Rindo battle music, and Darksol's theme. (Speaking of which, this may have been the cartridge I was playing, but Darksol actually showed signs of intelligence because my other units ran the risk of getting attacked when I was fighting him). The sounds are on the annoying sound as well. They make the "Blibbide blibbide blibbide blibbide" sounds when they are talking, they make "Doink"ing noises when walking around an arena and annoying whacking noises in combat. I'm just glad we aren't "doink"ing enemies to death in this game. And I believe Codiekitty has it best of what the Dark Dragon the Dark Dragon's music sounded like:
Overall, In my opinion, Shining Force isn't nessecarily a bad game, nor is it a good one. It's more or less a perfectly executed bad game. Alot of stuff has been executed perfectly, but it went wrong. In other words, for every thing it does right, it does like 3 things wrong. I liked how it combined RPG elements with strategy (ha) gameplay, but then the battles were flawed, such as how it takes awhile to finish the battles, how cheap or stupid the enemies are, and how pathetic or cheap your party members are. It was a great concept, and I do love strategy games, but that still doesn't cover up the fact that I did not have much fun playing it. 5.56/10"It sounds like music I'd hear in a ''dramatic'' circus act, not something that made me feel like I was saving the world."
Pros:
-=Some of the battle animations=-
-=Some of the musics are pretty repetitive but catchy=-
-=Zylo=-
-=The Hawkmen=-
-=Great Concept=-
cons:
-=Stupid or Cheap enemies=-
-=Other musics are annoying=-
-=Most characters are simply pathetic while others rip everything to pieces=-
-=Bland plot filled with recycled elements=-
-=Some of the portraits are just plain weird looking=-
-=Battles can take a long time to complete=-
-=Alot of people think this was the first strategy game, not Fire Emblem or some other game=-
-=Annoying sounds=-
-=Almost every character is a pallete swap or have been mutated somehow=-
-=Not much strategizing actually happens=-
-=The "Death system" isn't very good=-
(oooh am I gonna get flamed for this!)
[ June 09, 2004, 04:43 PM: Message edited by: Digitalpotato ]
