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Sega Role Playing :: Shining Force III Review
In 1992, Sega released a strategy role-playing game by the name of Shining Force on the Mega Drive, which later saw release on the Genesis/Mega Drive in other territories and met decent success. Shortly thereafter, the sequel, Shining Force II, was released on the same platform everywhere and was even better than the first by introducing a grander story, better characters, and vast expanding of the exploration system. Years later and on a new platform, the makers of the series picked up again with Shining Force III.
If you've been keeping up with our 10th Anniversary Celebration at all, you'll know that Shining Force is a big deal here at Sega Role Playing; for this reviewer especially. Shining Force II was my first RPG and I've been hooked on Camelot Software Planning's sensational series since. But my affair with Shining Force III has lasted a long time. I originally purchased a sealed copy of the game from eBay back in 2001 after finishing Panzer Dragoon Saga. When I first popped in SFIII, I felt bored to tears. I made it only to the third or fourth battle and put the game off for seven years, which is where we are at today. I just finished Shining Force III! My ninety-five dollars didn't go to waste after all.
One would suppose the most important aspect in reviewing such an older title now is judging the game on how well it holds up today as opposed to reviews of past, where they would obviously speak about the game only on its then merits. So much has changed from ten years ago to today, just as ten years from now will see likely advances in video games. But a classic is always a classic, so where does Shining Force III stand?
The game play is quite simple. The player has a small army of up to twelve on a battlefield map using square grids as movement points. The type of terrain and a character's AGI (agility) affect the number of grids he or she may move per turn. SFIII has a wide variety of characters, like the usual swordsmen, bow knights, ogres with axes, healers, monks, and so forth--all with various weapon types, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Include elemental resistances into the mix and you have yourselves a little strategy! This is where Shining Force III really excels, because other areas of the game aren't as appealing.
One part of the game that needed work was probably the story. I never felt like Aspinia was really worth saving. After Shining Force II, I was expecting a journey of grandeur filled with breathtaking sights--something Shining Force II did inherently well. While the story of SFIII is by no means a terrible one, it does focus more on a generally small area, so expect to get to know some of the villains and allies quite well. But are the characters of any interest?
If you had read my impressions during the first anniversary week, you're probably familiar with my complaint of the dialog being what I called poor. If the dialog is poor, how interesting are the characters really? Let me go on the record to say that parts of the dialog are poor, not necessarily the entirety of the script. While I do stand by my statement that the game does have a level of dialog for a twelve year old to understand, by no means was the game written badly. The characters do come off as likable and you'll grow attached to many of them. Unfortunately, the entire story has never been officially covered because westerners only received the first of three scenarios.
If you read the interview with Jason Kuo, you'd see that Sega has not forgotten the franchise and does want to bring the third entry in its full to those who don't speak Japanese. But hope isn't enough for some fans who have taken literal translation of the second and third scenarios into their own hands. These fans are crazy (or noble) enough to trench through the entire scripts of the remaining game and replace everything with English text, which you can do on a regular old Saturn using a swap trick (this will require you to own the original disc, naturally--and we don't condone piracy here anyway).
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