I know from the scores and opinions I've seen that mine is not going to be of the norm. The majority seems to like this game and that's their right, but me personally, but I. HATE. THIS. GAME.
Actually, let me rephrase that. I HATE the core RPG elements of this game. Of all the RPG's I've played, it is by far one of the most unbalanced, frustrating and downright sadistic ones ever!
You want to know the worst part to me? I actually like the characters, the art style, plot and even the battle system. That isn't what enrages me about it. No, it's not the concept, BUT HOW ABSURDLY BROKEN IT IS!
Sorry to use caps, but just thinking about this makes me seethe. I mean, seriously, how does such an chess like RPG with interesting characters, weapons, world and a unique RPG concept get so horribly programmed? For those wanting to know what I'm talking about, I shall explain now.
#1: Horribly unbalanced leveling up system for your characters
One of my biggest gripes with this is how it favors the more stronger characters compared to your wizards, healers, etc. For example, when a stronger character such as a knight or warrior attacks, they can get up to as much as 48 EXP. Yes, a healer can get that as well, HOWEVER, they are not as strong or as durable, so guess what? You're not going to use them to attack unless it's a magic spell because the A.I is so ridiculously competent, they'll go after them and squash them in one or two hits.
Not only that, When your healers or wizards do use a magic spell, they don't even get half the EXP for it compared to attacking, which is asinine. How are you supposed to level them up like the others when are basically helpless and just heal when necessary?
To make it even more infuriating, some of the cast you acquire near the end of the game are under-powered, which means having to grind for long tedious amounts just to make them competent. Oh, but that's not the worst of it. When you do level up, this game MAYBE will increase TWO of your stats by a small margin if you're lucky. Seriously, what the heck?! Even worse is you don't get to choose what you want to upgrade, so you're in a sense screwed. Thanks alot, guys!
#2: Terrible item system.
Ironically enough, I have no qualms with the weapon system. It is for the most part fair, but the item system? Not so. Of all the RPG's I've played, this has one of the most bare bones item inventories you can find in a game. Seriously, the best healing item you can buy only heals twenty HP's. TWENTY! Again, WTH!? Yes, there are items you can find that'll restore all of your HP's, but the fact you cannot find any of those in a store and stock up on them is ridiculous. Considering the fact the monsters you fight in later stages will literally kick your ass, you need stronger healing items to keep your members from dying.
Not to mention there are no items to restore your MP. So if you run out of that and your healing items, you're once again screwed, which is a nice middle finger to the player as far as I'm concerned. Yes, I know you retreat at any time with your character's Egress, but that doesn't change the fact you have to fight all the monsters all over again in that stage, so what's the point?
However, the biggest middle finger of all of this terrible item system is THERE ARE NO ITEMS TO REVIVE YOUR MEMBERS SHOULD THEY DIE! Which is just lovely considering you need them all just to have a chance. Otherwise, they'll gang up on a certain character and enrage you even more so. So yea, thanks alot, Shining Force Team!
#3: Absurdly random number generated battles
Seriously, you'd have a better chance getting a good roll in D&D compared to this crap. Your input in attacking other than getting your members in position to attack is completely pointless. How much damage you do, whether or not you get a critical strike or dare I say it, TWO HITS, is all computer generated. In other words, if your main character is running low on health and they decide to screw you over by letting an enemy hit him twice, well congrats, YOU LOSE! <_<
What a cheap joke. Seriously, what's the point of using strategy when how well you hit or defend is completely out of your control? You might as well use just let the A.I control your characters because they have as much chance as you do in succeeding.
I understand not alot of RPG's have this, but they at least give you the courtesy to refill your MP and revive characters. The fact this game can't even give you either is utterly pathetic.
#4: The A.I is insanely too competent.
Now, don't get me wrong on this one. I want the A.I to give me a fair challenge, but my goodness, you make one little mistake, and they rape your ass up the wazoo! Can they not show you a little mercy? It's like this game is intentionally trying to tick you off. Plus, what makes it worse is not like it depends on what enemies it is, like say the stronger enemies near the end on only. That I could let go.
BUT NO! Even the weakest of enemies from the get go will do this to you. This game is just freaking brutal. Ugh... and yet, that's not the most infuriating thing about this game. No, I saved that for last.
#5: Your character dies, your battle is over.
Of all the things I could curse and rail about, THIS ONE is why I hate Shining Force so much. I could've let it go if they gave you some ways to compensate. Like say... an item that gives you one final chance to retreat by reviving him with a small amount of health or dare I say it... give your other members a chance to revive you within a small turn span.
HA! That'd mean making the game more fair when it comes to EVERY. SINGLE. ENEMY trying to kill your main character. No, we can't have that, now can we?
However, the absolute worst thing about this is your character needs to fight in order to level up. But when you do, the other enemies nearby go kamikaze on your ass and kill you as fast as they can. So, to sum this up lightly, your character gets the strongest weapon in the game and needs to use said weapon on the final boss in order to defeat it. But when you do, you get killed faster than a wounded bird by a cat. So yea, what a lovely middle finger to the player.
Thanks again, Shining Force programmers. YOU SUCK!
Sorry to rage so much in this review, but Shining Force to me is one of the worst RPG's of all time, and what makes it so bad is not the fact it didn't have potential to be good. It had plenty of that, but it was so horribly executed that it's not fun to play.
Seriously, how can you play a game when you know it's always the same crap? You try to level up, but to do that, you have to attack, but unless you're strong enough, they will get killed and without mercy.
Some may say I'm not good at this type of battle system and maybe that is true, but my point still stands: this game is not balanced or fair in the least when it comes to RPG's. This is why games like Super Mario RPG, the Paper Mario games and even an RPG one like Dust; An Elysian Tale are so much superior titles compared to this train wreck.
Those at least give you a fighting chance and let you decide how you level up and battle. Heck, even Dust was smart enough to give you Revival Stones in order to keep going in case you get killed. Yea, they cost alot, sure, but that's not the point. The point is, Dust, an Indie title, had an item was necessary to the player due to how difficult the game could get, especially on Hardcore mode.
So why didn't Shining Force? It is because the programmers are sadists and enjoy seeing gamers rage at their dirty tricks? Sorry to resort to that, but I don't know what else to think. Heck, in Shining Force 2(Seriously, how the heck did this game ever get sequels) has an ouch difficulty setting. So yea, you tell me they're not trying to make it sadistic for you.
All and all, this game gets a 3 out of 10 for me, and the only reason I didn't give it a 1 is because I do see the good in this game. It has alot of good elements that could have made this game a true classic, but instead, it's one of those RPG's I'd recommend only to masochists, because it's the type of game that will give you alot of emotional pain.
As I said above, if you like this game, fine, like it all you want. It's your right to like what you want, but as for me, I WILL NEVER touch another one of these games again.