We are still waiting on a suitable Amiga AGA emulator with robust recording features before tackling such games.
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention
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Player's Review
The story follows an amnesiac swordsman Max on his quest to defeat the evil Runefaust Empire.
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (Jap.: Shainingu Fosu: Kamigami no Isan, lit. "Shining Force: The Legacy of the Gods" ), is a 1992 fantasy turn-based tactics role-playing video game for the Mega Drive/Genesis console. While primarily a traditional fantasy-themed game, it contains some science fiction elements. The game has been repeatedly re-released, additionally, in 2004 a remake was released for the Game Boy Advance under the title Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon.
Contrary to popular assumption, Shining Force was not influenced by archetypal tactical RPG Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. In fact, when asked about the game, lead Shining Force developer Hiroyuki Takahashi remarked "The tempo of that title was so bad that it wasn't something I even wanted to play." Takahashi recalled that Shining Force was chiefly inspired by Dragon Quest. Asking himself how he and the rest of the development team could "take the battles from Dragon Quest and make them more fun", he drew inspiration from an obscure Japanese PC game called Silver Ghost, "a simulation action type of game where you had to direct, oversee and command multiple characters."
[SPOILERS]
Shining Force begins the saga of Guardiana that is continued in Shining Force Gaiden/CD. It tells how Anri became Queen of Guardiana, and relates the adventures of the young Lowe, Ken, Lug (mistranslated in English versions of Shining Force as "Luke" ), Hans, and Domingo before they went on to sire the heroes of Shining Force Gaiden and/or aid them in their struggle against Woldol. Tao and Diane, the sisters of Wendy, also appear in Shining Force, though the familial connection between the three women is not mentioned in the English translations of any of the games. Shining Force also tells how Max and Adam's blood feud with Mishaela began, giving rise to the events of Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict. Kane and Elliot appear as major characters and the game shows how each one met his end (however, neither of their sons make any appearance in Shining Force I, nor is any hint of their existence given).
The English translation of Shining Force has several confusing errors and omissions. Most prominently, the backstory of Max, the protagonist of the game, is entirely left out. The original Japanese script tells that Max has amnesia and was found washed up on the beach by Lowe, who subsequently came to be his best friend. Later, it is revealed that Max is in fact the brother of Lord Kane of Runefaust. All these plot points were lost in the official translation. In the official translation Kane still expresses horror that Darksol forced him to fight Max, but without any explanation why. Numerous lesser errors and omissions occur. For instance, the character Lug is mistranslated as "Luke", which confused gamers when both Lug (with his name correctly translated) and a completely different character named Luke appeared in Shining Force CD. Max's brother's name is translated as "Kane" in some parts of the game and as "Cain" in others. "Bleu" is supposed to be Value, "Darksol" - Darksoul, "Khris" - Chip, "Pelle" - Peil, "Vankar" - Vanguard, "Zylo" - Zappa. Also, the spell "Demon Breath" is mistranslated as "Demon Blaze"; athough Demon Breath appears in all seven Shining games on the Genesis, Game Gear, and Sega-CD, Shining Force is the only one where it is mistranslated.
[NO SPOILERS]
The remake, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon received a considerably more accurate English translation. However, since the remake itself contains additions to the plot which contradict the original story, it is not an authentic translation of the original Shining Force.
I didn't show the Forbidden Box, which can only be accessed by hacking the game: it increases all character's stats, including Level and Move, to 100. I also had too much luck and thus didn't show Worms' Poison ability and Ice Worms' Sleep ability, because they never inflicted these statuses with their attacks. There is a large grinding section cut out between the second and the third time I fight Chaos. The first two runs of this battle were left in because they contain some sprites and attack animations that wouldn't be shown after these two battles. After the credits, I show the secret Sound Test screen, and then the alternative one-time dialogue options.
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (Jap.: Shainingu Fosu: Kamigami no Isan, lit. "Shining Force: The Legacy of the Gods" ), is a 1992 fantasy turn-based tactics role-playing video game for the Mega Drive/Genesis console. While primarily a traditional fantasy-themed game, it contains some science fiction elements. The game has been repeatedly re-released, additionally, in 2004 a remake was released for the Game Boy Advance under the title Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon.
Contrary to popular assumption, Shining Force was not influenced by archetypal tactical RPG Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. In fact, when asked about the game, lead Shining Force developer Hiroyuki Takahashi remarked "The tempo of that title was so bad that it wasn't something I even wanted to play." Takahashi recalled that Shining Force was chiefly inspired by Dragon Quest. Asking himself how he and the rest of the development team could "take the battles from Dragon Quest and make them more fun", he drew inspiration from an obscure Japanese PC game called Silver Ghost, "a simulation action type of game where you had to direct, oversee and command multiple characters."
[SPOILERS]
Shining Force begins the saga of Guardiana that is continued in Shining Force Gaiden/CD. It tells how Anri became Queen of Guardiana, and relates the adventures of the young Lowe, Ken, Lug (mistranslated in English versions of Shining Force as "Luke" ), Hans, and Domingo before they went on to sire the heroes of Shining Force Gaiden and/or aid them in their struggle against Woldol. Tao and Diane, the sisters of Wendy, also appear in Shining Force, though the familial connection between the three women is not mentioned in the English translations of any of the games. Shining Force also tells how Max and Adam's blood feud with Mishaela began, giving rise to the events of Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict. Kane and Elliot appear as major characters and the game shows how each one met his end (however, neither of their sons make any appearance in Shining Force I, nor is any hint of their existence given).
The English translation of Shining Force has several confusing errors and omissions. Most prominently, the backstory of Max, the protagonist of the game, is entirely left out. The original Japanese script tells that Max has amnesia and was found washed up on the beach by Lowe, who subsequently came to be his best friend. Later, it is revealed that Max is in fact the brother of Lord Kane of Runefaust. All these plot points were lost in the official translation. In the official translation Kane still expresses horror that Darksol forced him to fight Max, but without any explanation why. Numerous lesser errors and omissions occur. For instance, the character Lug is mistranslated as "Luke", which confused gamers when both Lug (with his name correctly translated) and a completely different character named Luke appeared in Shining Force CD. Max's brother's name is translated as "Kane" in some parts of the game and as "Cain" in others. "Bleu" is supposed to be Value, "Darksol" - Darksoul, "Khris" - Chip, "Pelle" - Peil, "Vankar" - Vanguard, "Zylo" - Zappa. Also, the spell "Demon Breath" is mistranslated as "Demon Blaze"; athough Demon Breath appears in all seven Shining games on the Genesis, Game Gear, and Sega-CD, Shining Force is the only one where it is mistranslated.
[NO SPOILERS]
The remake, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon received a considerably more accurate English translation. However, since the remake itself contains additions to the plot which contradict the original story, it is not an authentic translation of the original Shining Force.
I didn't show the Forbidden Box, which can only be accessed by hacking the game: it increases all character's stats, including Level and Move, to 100. I also had too much luck and thus didn't show Worms' Poison ability and Ice Worms' Sleep ability, because they never inflicted these statuses with their attacks. There is a large grinding section cut out between the second and the third time I fight Chaos. The first two runs of this battle were left in because they contain some sprites and attack animations that wouldn't be shown after these two battles. After the credits, I show the secret Sound Test screen, and then the alternative one-time dialogue options.