It’s back to the Sega Genesis this week. What can I say, I ignored it for too long, even in my younger years.
It’s no secret that the Super Nintendo was regarded as a haven for great RPGs while the Genesis was widely considered a wasteland for the genre. But was that really the case? The first part was certainly true. There are dozens of really good to great RPGs for the SNES, especially if you include Super Famicom games. But was it really that much better than the Genesis’ RPG library?
Honestly, yes. But that doesn’t mean the Genesis was the RPG wasteland it was made out to be. It had a number of solid entries in the genre, mostly from its two main RPG series’. I already discussed the amazing Phantasy Star IV, a game I never realized was as classic as it was. That inspired me to look into Sega’s other oft discussed RPG series: Shining Force.
Released in 1993, Shining Force was actually the second game in the series, a follow-up to Shining in the Darkness a few years earlier. However, it was the entry that established the series’ calling card: turn based strategy. It’s predecessor was more of a dungeon crawling RPG akin to Kings Field and its ilk, which was relatively common at the time. But Shining Force was a whole different ballgame. It wasn’t the first strategy by any means, but it was one of the titles that made people pay attention. It influenced games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Hoshigami and Disgea.
But just because a game is influential doesn’t mean its good. Fortunately, that isn’t the case here. Shining force was a very good RPG, despite a few serious flaws. The biggest plus is the combat. You control a party of 11, who move about the field via a grid system. Some units are faster than others, or can walk over rough terrain without issue. The goal is usually to defeat all the enemies, though some battles can be won by defeating a general. Most characters can only attack adjacent squares, but some have ranged weapons or magic. It’s a little disappointing that its either or, physical attackers don’t ever learn abilities or anything like that, but the real strategy comes from position your troops, analyzing enemy movements and ensuring you have the right units for the job.
Throughout the game, various different types of units will join up, from centaur knights to healers to birdmen. Everyone has something that they bring to the table and there is no strategy I have found that straight up doesn’t work. There are a good variety of enemies as well and the game does a good job of showing you what they can do early on before throwing them at you in more complex situations. All of the enemies are tough but fair and at no point in the game did I feel I had to contend with cheap placement. The enemies will use their abilities to make your party’s life miserable, but there’s no “they can hit you from across the map but you need to be right up on them” BS, if an enemy can hit you, you most likely can hit it too. I find strategy RPGs often have issues with difficulty curve (looking at you, Final Fantasy Tactics) or difficulty spikes, but I didn’t find that to be an issue here.
It’s always good news when the meat of the game is its strongest feature. Even if a lot of the other stuff around the core gameplay is flawed, titles like that tend to deliver enjoyable experiences. Shining Force certainly fits into that category, as it has quite a few glaring issues. You could tell the developers had a ton of good ideas, but they really hadn’t done this kind of game before. I will start with the least egregious issue, the graphics and sound. I wouldn’t say they are bad, the character and enemy animations during combat are especially strong, they are just generally uninspired. It kind of has that bland early Genesis color palette I talked about previously, and towns and maps look a little one note. The sound is okay, there are a few epic tracks but I found the combat music to be weird and out of place with its random high squeaks. Also, not a fan of the Genesis sound chip for RPGs.
I always say that the storyline is the most important part of an RPG. However, I like to add the caveat that that isn’t necessarily true of strategy RPGs. And that’s good for Shining Force, because the story is as generic as it gets. You take control of Max, who is on a quest to save the land of rune from the likes of Darksol and the armies of Runefaust. Darksol is trying to summon an entity called Dark Dragon that was sealed away many years ago and its up to you to stop him. That’s really it. Along the way, you will battle a handful of Darksol’s generals, few of whom get more than a few lines of development. All of the characters in your party get no development at all, they join your party for a singular reason and then you never hear any more about them. They will talk to you in your group’s headquarters, but they each only have a line or two of unique dialogue. There is a plot twist or two, but they barely register at all.
And why is that? Because of the translation. Oh. Dear. Lord. The translation in this game is awful. It’s even awful before you turn the game on, this is where I mention the actual, full title of this game is “Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention.” What the hell does that even mean? Notice I didn’t talk at all about Max’s backstory in the last paragraph? That’s because they never bothered to translate any of it and just cut it from the North American version of the game. One of Darksol’s generals, a man named Kane, is supposed to be revealed as Max’s brother, but it just, never happens. Fortunately, this doesn’t really impact the gameplay much at all. All the menu commands are pretty clear and while NPCs speak almost entirely nonsense, they do at least speak coherently enough that you always know where to go next.
My last gripe is that you have to contend with some of the more negative “super old school” RPG elements. At no point does the game ever tell you what any of the items do, you just have to figure it out for yourself. You don’t know who can equip what weapon or if the weapon you are trying to purchase is even any better than the one you already have. This isn’t as bad in Shining Force as it is on other old school games, you always have plenty of money here, but its still annoying. Also, the inventory system is cumbersome at best and straight up terrible at worst.
But all those flaws don’t stop Shining Force from being a worthy playthrough. It’s well paced and rarely, if ever, fails to hold your interest. The combat is outstanding and unlike some strategy RPGs, you aren’t punished harshly for failing. In fact, you get to keep your money and EXP when you die. Shining Force wants you to take multiple stabs at a map you are struggling with, it gives you plenty of chances to try different approaches and strategize. It isn’t overly deep or tactical like some of its more advanced cousins, but it still keeps you thinking. Outside of the issues with inventory management, it’s a surprisingly accessible game and, at ~ 20 hours, a relatively short RPG. Even with all of those flaws, you can see why Shining Force became a favorite among RPG fans and a beloved series for hardcore Sega fans.
8/10
It’s no secret that the Super Nintendo was regarded as a haven for great RPGs while the Genesis was widely considered a wasteland for the genre. But was that really the case? The first part was certainly true. There are dozens of really good to great RPGs for the SNES, especially if you include Super Famicom games. But was it really that much better than the Genesis’ RPG library?
Honestly, yes. But that doesn’t mean the Genesis was the RPG wasteland it was made out to be. It had a number of solid entries in the genre, mostly from its two main RPG series’. I already discussed the amazing Phantasy Star IV, a game I never realized was as classic as it was. That inspired me to look into Sega’s other oft discussed RPG series: Shining Force.
Released in 1993, Shining Force was actually the second game in the series, a follow-up to Shining in the Darkness a few years earlier. However, it was the entry that established the series’ calling card: turn based strategy. It’s predecessor was more of a dungeon crawling RPG akin to Kings Field and its ilk, which was relatively common at the time. But Shining Force was a whole different ballgame. It wasn’t the first strategy by any means, but it was one of the titles that made people pay attention. It influenced games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Hoshigami and Disgea.
But just because a game is influential doesn’t mean its good. Fortunately, that isn’t the case here. Shining force was a very good RPG, despite a few serious flaws. The biggest plus is the combat. You control a party of 11, who move about the field via a grid system. Some units are faster than others, or can walk over rough terrain without issue. The goal is usually to defeat all the enemies, though some battles can be won by defeating a general. Most characters can only attack adjacent squares, but some have ranged weapons or magic. It’s a little disappointing that its either or, physical attackers don’t ever learn abilities or anything like that, but the real strategy comes from position your troops, analyzing enemy movements and ensuring you have the right units for the job.
Throughout the game, various different types of units will join up, from centaur knights to healers to birdmen. Everyone has something that they bring to the table and there is no strategy I have found that straight up doesn’t work. There are a good variety of enemies as well and the game does a good job of showing you what they can do early on before throwing them at you in more complex situations. All of the enemies are tough but fair and at no point in the game did I feel I had to contend with cheap placement. The enemies will use their abilities to make your party’s life miserable, but there’s no “they can hit you from across the map but you need to be right up on them” BS, if an enemy can hit you, you most likely can hit it too. I find strategy RPGs often have issues with difficulty curve (looking at you, Final Fantasy Tactics) or difficulty spikes, but I didn’t find that to be an issue here.
It’s always good news when the meat of the game is its strongest feature. Even if a lot of the other stuff around the core gameplay is flawed, titles like that tend to deliver enjoyable experiences. Shining Force certainly fits into that category, as it has quite a few glaring issues. You could tell the developers had a ton of good ideas, but they really hadn’t done this kind of game before. I will start with the least egregious issue, the graphics and sound. I wouldn’t say they are bad, the character and enemy animations during combat are especially strong, they are just generally uninspired. It kind of has that bland early Genesis color palette I talked about previously, and towns and maps look a little one note. The sound is okay, there are a few epic tracks but I found the combat music to be weird and out of place with its random high squeaks. Also, not a fan of the Genesis sound chip for RPGs.
I always say that the storyline is the most important part of an RPG. However, I like to add the caveat that that isn’t necessarily true of strategy RPGs. And that’s good for Shining Force, because the story is as generic as it gets. You take control of Max, who is on a quest to save the land of rune from the likes of Darksol and the armies of Runefaust. Darksol is trying to summon an entity called Dark Dragon that was sealed away many years ago and its up to you to stop him. That’s really it. Along the way, you will battle a handful of Darksol’s generals, few of whom get more than a few lines of development. All of the characters in your party get no development at all, they join your party for a singular reason and then you never hear any more about them. They will talk to you in your group’s headquarters, but they each only have a line or two of unique dialogue. There is a plot twist or two, but they barely register at all.
And why is that? Because of the translation. Oh. Dear. Lord. The translation in this game is awful. It’s even awful before you turn the game on, this is where I mention the actual, full title of this game is “Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention.” What the hell does that even mean? Notice I didn’t talk at all about Max’s backstory in the last paragraph? That’s because they never bothered to translate any of it and just cut it from the North American version of the game. One of Darksol’s generals, a man named Kane, is supposed to be revealed as Max’s brother, but it just, never happens. Fortunately, this doesn’t really impact the gameplay much at all. All the menu commands are pretty clear and while NPCs speak almost entirely nonsense, they do at least speak coherently enough that you always know where to go next.
My last gripe is that you have to contend with some of the more negative “super old school” RPG elements. At no point does the game ever tell you what any of the items do, you just have to figure it out for yourself. You don’t know who can equip what weapon or if the weapon you are trying to purchase is even any better than the one you already have. This isn’t as bad in Shining Force as it is on other old school games, you always have plenty of money here, but its still annoying. Also, the inventory system is cumbersome at best and straight up terrible at worst.
But all those flaws don’t stop Shining Force from being a worthy playthrough. It’s well paced and rarely, if ever, fails to hold your interest. The combat is outstanding and unlike some strategy RPGs, you aren’t punished harshly for failing. In fact, you get to keep your money and EXP when you die. Shining Force wants you to take multiple stabs at a map you are struggling with, it gives you plenty of chances to try different approaches and strategize. It isn’t overly deep or tactical like some of its more advanced cousins, but it still keeps you thinking. Outside of the issues with inventory management, it’s a surprisingly accessible game and, at ~ 20 hours, a relatively short RPG. Even with all of those flaws, you can see why Shining Force became a favorite among RPG fans and a beloved series for hardcore Sega fans.
8/10
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