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Shining Tour de Force

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: August 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Yeah, I was a little hesitant about purchasing this game at first, but I'm glad that I did. After purchasing some other games that were good but still left me wanting, I was almost ready to abandon all hope for finding a GBA game that could grab my attention. Thank God I found Shining Force! It's a great game. The story is totally generic...Long ago and far-far away...blah blah blah...Heroes rise up to fight darkness...yadda yadda yadda...history passes into legend, legend into myth...until the great evil is all but forgotten...then the dark forces resurface to claim the great evil power...etc. Isn't it annoying how those darn dark forces keep resurfacing? Anyway, even though it lacks some uber original story, it's still good. I might say alot better than some games with more orignal plot lines. The battles are what makes this game great...as a matter of fact I wish that there were more.

There isn't a great deal of puzzle solving...as in no puzzles exsist in this game...the only thing even close to a puzzle is "Where do I send this unfortunate fool so that he may die with honor?" It's like Fire Emblem...pure strategy fighting. So hey mister..."I play rpg's for the story and character development." put this game down and run away swiftly. But if you have come to "Kick butt and chew bubble gum...and you ain't got no more bubble gum..." this game is for you

The battles will keep you on your toes because your enemies won't have a set pattern of attack or anything. So battles never get old. The only problems I have are the fact that you can only have a set number of party members...and that there are no side quests or random battles...that would kick eighteen different kinds of gludius if there were. Overall...great game! Something to keep you busy while not paying attention to people around you...Just don't scream out "OMG yes!" when you pop a dark mage from the forest and kill him in one shot

theres better stuff out there

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 12
Date: August 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

this is an okay game. but i wouldnt recommend getting it if you dont already have final fantasy tactics advance, tactics ogre, and fire emblem. there is nothing in this game that you can't find in any of those 3, and all 3 of those are much better.

the 2 things that annoy me most about this game are the battles and sound. there is no way to suspend the battles. this is something that every other turn based game has, but this one doesn't. which gets relaly annoying and makes it inconvenient to play during vacations. the only thing you can really do is put it in your pocket for later. reeeaally annoying. fortunatly, u dont have to worry about running ur battery down by listening to sound.

fire emblem is one of those games w/ great sound. it has about 100 differnt tracks and the sound always fits the mood exactly. i wish i could say the same for this game....

u know that point in nearly EVERY fantasy rpg where someone dies (or is kidnapped, in the case of breath of fire)? its usually near the beginning, and its what shows you who the baddies are and why you start your quest. the sound is important there. it can affect your opinion of the whole game. okay, so shining force has this annoying happy-lets-go-spend-a-bunch-of-money-on-armor-and-weapons music. most games have it though, so that COULD be forgiven. but, this music plays all hte time. thats right, even when the person dies..........that is one of the biggest gaming tunr offs that i have ever experienced. trust me...if u buy this game, play it w/ the sound off.

the plot is a little weird. i mean, i'm all for games with mixed up memories and stuff (like fire emblem...but u never find out what happened w/ the memory...which was weird). but its just a little weird when they dont take advantage and show that!!! its a great way to start a game. i mean, there is nothing cooler than watching the hero get washed up on a beach and the heroine rescuing him (i love that scene in tactics ogre!!!) they dont do that. it annoys me. plus, they dont really explain what the heck is going on. that also annoys me. it annoys me greatly.

gameplay is fun, but nothing new. this is a good game for a long trip. its pretty easy though. i'm about 3 quarters through, and i have not encountered one battle that stumped me. if you want a chalenging tactical game, buy fire emblem or tactics ogre (or final fantasy tactics advance, but thats not as challenging as the other 2).

the graphics bring to mind fond memories of breath of fire on gba and townspeople in game boy color games. they really aren't anything special, and when you promote units...the sprites get uglier....on the plus side, there are lots of differnt classes (thoguh not as many as tactics ogre and tactics advance), and even though you can't choose your class, it makes for some graphic variety.

overal, this is an okay game, even though i might make it sound bad. the truth is, there is nothing new. but if you like that kind of game, then you will enjoy this. but if you don't have fire emblem, tactics ogre, and final fantasy tactics advance, buy one of those instead. u will enjoy it much more. thers also onimusha tactics (i think thats how its spelled). i haven't palyed that but you might wanna check it out before you buy this cuase it's probably not any more mediocre.

....how aobut not

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 52
Date: October 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

well, i love turn based strategy games. iv played almost all of the ones availible on GBA. id have to say that if you're contemplating buying this one, u should scroll to the top of the page and buy Fire Emblem instead. shining force is just.....pathetic would have to be the word for it.

so i started the game out. first thing that happened was the little plot backgroud scene. then i learned that the main character had washed up on shore unconcious....

okay now thats just a no-no. if hte cahracter washes up on shore unconcious, show it! then the heroine finds him and all that fun stuff. well none of that happneed. instead you wondered aroudn and talked to people. after 5 minutes of wondering i left down and fought my first battle.

how about not. the battles were boring, the graphics were pathetic, and the system was exactly the same as any other game.

my main problems with this game r:
-promotion weakens your characters. ill type that again cause its pretty hard to believe. promotion weakens your characters. its just....ridiculous. in ANY OTHER GAME that you will ever play with a promotion system, your characters get stronger. well not in thsi one.
-the battle system is boring and tedious
-the battles require very little strategy, see above point
-the graphics are....nauseating would b a very kind way to describe them. i never knew that graphics could be THIS bad
-the plot is very illogical. i am all for evil dragons taking over the world, they make excellent final bosses. but robots in a fantasy game are jsut a no (although marshall in sword of mana is okay, he actaully has a personality )
-the characters are lifeless

theres notm uch else to say. i discourage you all from buying this game.

007

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 16
Date: August 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

there isint a samurai in the game i play it 2 times and it didint have the note on the wall

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