Sega really know what they’re doing sometimes, don’t they’ Everyone knows that the GBA is a fine platform for turn-based RPGs (Advance Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics…) and after the lukewarm reception that the Shining Soul series has received so far, they’re trying again with Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon. Boasting of thirty plus playable characters and parties of up to twelve battlers, this game can’t fail to be a winner, can it’
In all honesty, I can seriously say that I’m undecided as to how I feel about this game. After hours of sometimes a chore, sometimes a joy gameplay, there are no clear indicators as to why I should recommend Shining Force to all but the hardened RPG nut. However, the fact that I did put in so many hours of play should be a nod to the quality of the game, surely’ Well, yes and no. You see, the reason I played for so long was not only to review the game fairly, but more to see if anything other than the standard battles would occur, or if anything would really make my jaw drop.
Unfortunately, neither happened. The battles themselves feel very hollow when compared the sublimely thought out Final Fantasy Tactics, with every one seeming like a simple procession to completion. Even with twelve characters in your party, the feeling that you’ve got anything to do other than move up to an opponent and perform a simple attack on them is not as prominent as it should be. Sure, you can use spells and items to heal your party members, or to take out that last enemy a little more rapidly but there is rarely any need to. On top of this, the combat screens are almost laughable in their simplicity, with very basic sprites making over-exaggerated and nonsensical lunges at the opposition atop a generic background. Of course, this doesn’t really matter when it comes to how many HPs you’ve knocked from your foe’s bar, but it would have been nice to see something which involved a little more effort.
Something else which causes problems are the in-game menus. Let’s say you want to take an item from your item box (which can’t be accessed during a battle – for some reason), a list of your party members appears on screen, and whilst selecting your character, the list seems to flick through every possible character option until it reaches the one you want. Heaven forbid you should accidentally hold down the d-pad for any amount of time, since the character list will just go crazy, flicking between pages seemingly at random. Not good and not particularly accessible when you’re in the heat of war.
In between battles though, the action feels very similar to the SNES versions of Zelda, as the camera keeps its top-down view whilst you sprint around the different areas, searching for information and items that will help you in the quest to save Guardiana from the evil horde. The comparisons with Link stop there though, as Shining Force doesn’t come close to the GBA version’s graphical prowess or playability.
So when the battle has been won, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is a game that I’m sure, any RPG fan who is currently in between games will appreciate and persevere with. The fact that the storyline really fails to draw you in at all will doubtless be the main barrier that falls across the path of the casual player.
