Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Disappointing New Shining Release December 1, 2003
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
For those who don't know this is one of many in the series of Shining Force games from the Sega platforms. If you were a fan of those games, this one will probably come as a disappointment to you. I bought this game and was so excited that finally US fans had a new "Shining" game. I started playing, and the gameplay had been changed sooo much that it was nothing like it predecessors. Instead of controling a whole army of people with various attacks, it was more like a crappy Zelda game. You take control of one character and just hit away at the enemies in real time, taking away the best part of the Shining series, the battle system. If you are a die hard Shining Force fan you may like this game, but probably not.
Not much shines in this game... May 7, 2004
maxmasa31 (Honolulu, HI United States)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Okay, I'm a lover of fantasy RPGs and I bought this game thinking it would be fun--I mean, "Shining Force" was a GREAT game! This game was SUCH a disappointment! I'll admit that I'm a fan of turn-based RPGs, so I had my doubts. The action part turned out to be easy to learn--changing weapons, etc. The problem was, the action was TOO easy. I never died--not once! Now, I like easy, but there was no challenge here and in the end, tapping on the same button over and over and over was just too much.Also, there is no wandering and exploring in the game. There are a few hidden things here and there within a chapter, but once you finish the chapter, you decide where you're going to go by selecting it on a map from your base camp/town. You don't wander around going from one place to another. You don't meet NPCs. It's just fighting, fighting, fighting. And then, there's the problem with saving the game. Whenever you save the game, it takes you back to your base camp/town. WHAT?!?! It wouldn't be so bad if the levels weren't so excruciatingly long, but when it takes you half an hour to reach the boss, and then you have to turn off the game, only to find yourself right back where you started when you turn it back on is more than just a little frustrating. This game must be meant for people who have a LOT of free time to just sit there and play--I for one am not. The graphics are decent as is the music. Gameplay is simple, in fact, TOO simple and there is absolutely no replay value. I don't recommend this game to anyone and it received two stars because it was fun for the first two hours (it just got tedious and boring after that) and the graphics are decent. If you want a good action RPG, go buy Zelda.
 Disappointing RPG June 12, 2004
Ian Sigalow (Boston, MA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have played both "Shining Force" and "Shining in the Darkness" for the Sega, and was expecting a similar concept for this game. It was a complete disappointment - I would be hesistant to even consider Shining Soul an RPG. Shining Soul more closely resembles Gauntlet or another arcade-style game.The dungeons in Shining Soul are repetitive and I found that I had to leave my Gameboy on for hours because the save game feature restarted you back at the beginning of each level. You can also only use one of the four characters (unless you want to start the game over from the beginning to build up a new character), and I wasted many hours because the majority of the weapons and items I found were only applicable for other characters. I gave this game 2 stars instead of one because I was compelled to play the game until the end. I would guess that it took around 12 hours of playing to finish (not counting the hours my gameboy was on holding my position in a dungeon), and I have very little desire to play the game again. I would not recommend this game to anyone who is looking for an RPG-style game.
 Actually more like a 4.5 stars September 19, 2003
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
First off. The publisher is not Atlantic Inc. but Atlus. This can be seen right there on the cover of the box that they show along with the name.The replayability for this game is pretty decent. Constant action with tons of items and variations to keep everyone happy. Range loving folks have their fun, melees lovers have their own characters as well. If you know someone with this game or planning to buy it, this becomes all the more entertaining to play since multiplayer action on this game is utterly awesome. All around, this is a great game that most will have fun with. P.S. I rated this one a 4.5 stars since the second in the series that isn't out yet will be even better.
Boring March 14, 2004
faerogue (usa)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The game plays as an action RPG, and while there is some strategy in how you level your character the game basically comes off as a button masher. There is only one town and you don't even have to talk to anybody to advance in the game. There is a bit of replay value with four different types of charactes to choose, but I was really too bored to even bother with it.
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