gaming The Great "Shining" Franchise Thread

[SilverSwirl 32]

I'll admit it, I love playing the "Shining" games published by Sega. With the exception of the Action RPGs they had released in the PS2 era. I grew up playing Shining Force 2 and Shining in the Darkness on my Genesis system. I used to hang out at the SFC boards until my Bronyism had me driven out of the boards. Heck, I get a kick out of the fact that the developers became Camelot and created Golden Sun amidst all the Mario Golf and Tennis games.

 

I still remember the first time I beat Shining Force 2 and used my mom's save file for Shining in the Darkness to get the last Arm of Light that she could not find and proceeding to curb-stomp Darksol/Mephisto into the dirt. I actually wore out my old Genesis' reset button trying to get the Guisarme Mythril weapon for Slade in Shining Force 2!

[Barbaloot 198]

Yeah they're pretty great. Beat the first one, started 2, then went on to do something else. But I really should finish 2.

[SilverSwirl 32]

I've gotten to the point where Super Mode in 2 is the only thing that truly challenges me. I can theoretically take down the final boss of Shining in the Darkness at Level 40 without all the Arms of Light with a little luck and a great deal of skill.

[Werewoof 5]

Wow, I thought I was the only one who loved the Shining games. They are my favorite games in the genre, followed closely by Valkyria Chronicles. I own all of the Shining games from Shining in the Darkness all the way to Shining Force 3 on the Sega Saturn. Shining the Holy Ark is a huge jump from Shining in the Darkness and the music is amazing! I could gush about the games for a while but I'm sad they no longer get localized, like the brand new Shining Resonance. I'll admit I'm not fond of the post-Camelot Shining games but the new one looks pretty good. 

[Discordian 6,015]

I need to dedicate more time to this series. I have a couple thanks to the Ultimate Genesis Collection but I've only played an hour into the first one. I typically love SRPGs but so far Shining Force was just a game I played until I found another game to play. Maybe some day...

[SilverSwirl 32]

I plan on getting a Japanese Saturn for Symphony of the Night and Shining Force 3 with the bonus disc. I also have plans to acquire Shining the Holy Ark as well as Time Stalkers. Time Stalkers isn't really related to the Shining Franchise as a whole but Pyra Mist is a playable character in the game. As a nod to Shining in the Darkness, she can only carry eight items in her inventory at a time.

[Discordian 6,015]

I'm guessing you want the Saturn version of SotN for Maria Mode and the superior Bloody Tears version?

[SilverSwirl 32]

I'm guessing you want the Saturn version of SotN for Maria Mode and the superior Bloody Tears version?

Among other things. I also want to see those areas cut from the PSX version. I was annoyed that they didn't rectify that when they rereleased the game on XBLA and PSN

[Discordian 6,015]

I didn't know areas were cut from it. Which ones?

[SilverSwirl 32]

Underground Garden and the Cursed Prison. Both regular and inverted castles. These areas had two enemies that weren't in the PSX version too.

[Darker 1,351]

Oh, I thought this was about the book and movie "The Shining".