…For the DS.
gonintendo.com/wp-content/upload … _570lo.jpg
Actually, I’m not even sure if it can be classified as a Strategy RPG. Combat is turn based but I can’t see any screenshots indicating the size of your army…
The Shining games originally were all turn-based. In fact, in about 10 seconds I can’t think of very many Strategy RPGs that aren’t turn-based. Dragon Force and Growlanser were all I could come up with.
Uh, my doubts come after the “but” in that sentence, not before… Almost every old school JRPG is turn based (or semi turn based), that doesn’t make all of them Strategy RPGs. I still don’t see anything indicating this is a true Strategy RPG in these screenshots. It might as well be a standard JRPG of the Final Fantasy school for all we know really.
Heck, it might even have battles similar to Parasite Eve since from that screenshot with the battle menus it seems you can chose to either move around freely (button Free) or do a different action instead, while the circle around the character implies tiles are gone.
I’m just waiting to see what this is actually about as I said in my first post.
Not going out of my way to be a pessimist, but I can’t say I’m excited about this game going by those screenshots. It looks very generic.
From the screenshots alone, it doesn’t resemble anything from the classic Shining series; it might as well just be another random unproven game.
If it didn’t have Shining Force in the title I’m not sure if anyone would be taking notice at this point…
lolsega
Well, it looks like they’ll be using an AP attack system similar to chrono cross. The “Free” option at the upper right hand corner of the near upper right hand screen shot may imply a “free cursor” mode seen in SRPGS, where you could take the cursor and scan through the battlefield.
The Shining series has become one stinking pile, unfortunately. I like to think that there have been no Shining games made since the Saturn.
Although to be fair to the series, as it stands now, this picture is pretty hot…
http://bp3.blogger.com/_PgzWtj7VIiM/Ruq_E9wwnHI/AAAAAAAAEAo/G6Z47QJG9LI/s400/shining+tears+art.jpg
And in Japan! That’s all that matters.
Sale +23982329829292323232$$$$$$$$$ + me.
Although I’m not really that bothered by the direction the series has taken, probably because I wasn’t too fond of the series to begin with… (OMG WUT>!!!>!1?!1/11)
So for me, it’s a choice of a game I do not like with no tits… or a game I do not like with tits.
Not everything with the word Shining is part of the Shining Force saga. Some are meant to be spin offs at best. Tears, The Holy Ark, Soul, etc. Force Neo however, meant to be a continuation of the main series (thanks to the title if nothing else), was a true abomination. Force Feather looks a tad better but I still have no idea if it’s a Strategy RPG or not (seeing a better view of the pics in the Scan on Famitsu.com makes me think it’s not quite SRPG but you still have movement range etc in the battle unlike a standard JRPG). It’s a shame if it isn’t, the DS could use a rival to the Fire Emblem series…
Well my feelings on this are such that I just try to forget about it all. Sega wants to make money out of the brand in whatever way they can which is fair enough. Why they discounted the large cult fanbase the series had in Japan was a mystery to me, but like I said, in the past!
I’d love to see something along the lines of Shining Force 3 updated for the Wii. The potential for a masterpiece really is there.
Although they all fit into the official story timeline, even the Japanese cell phone games. 
The timeline was revised like a billion times anyway though…
The same is true of many franchises.
Big Boss died in Outer Haven (Or at least - his entire body exploding would imply so) until Hideo Kojima decided that he didn’t when making MGS4.
Yeah don’t get me started on the lore changes in WoW. Oh dear. But at least they have a general background they won’t totally rewrite unless someone goes backwards in time.
SF has totally lost the plot which is a shame.
Don’t all the Camelot Shining games (Shining in the Darkness to Shining Force III) fit into the same timeline? If I remember correctly there was a fan made timeline posted on Shining Force Central and Camelot responded to it on their site with some corrections, as well as the correct order that the games take place in.
With Shining Soul, Sega started a new timeline based loosely on Camelot’s version. Shining Force Neo was meant to be a prequel to the Shining Force 1 GBA remake, which introduced a number of new/different plot elements that were inconsistent with Camelot’s Shining Force 1.
Geoff can probably give a more details explanation of how the Shining timeline works than me…
I think Camelot themselves revised their version of the timeline at various times… But yeah, I guess Geoff can tell us better 
But really, either way, when people played Shining Force 3 after Shining the Holy Ark or Shining in the Darkness did they really feel it was all part of the same Saga?
[quote=“Al3xand3r”]I think Camelot themselves revised their version of the timeline at various times… But yeah, I guess Geoff can tell us better
But really, either way, when people played Shining Force 3 after Shining the Holy Ark or Shining in the Darkness did they really feel it was all part of the same Saga?[/quote]
The stories of Shining Force 1 and 2 on the Megadrive are linked together, as are the three Game Gear games are linked to these games as well, and links the story in with Shining in the Darkness. Shining Wisdom (Saturn) is also connected to this part of the story.
From my understanding, Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force III are reasonably separate from the rest of the series, taking place many years later. Shining Force III continues the story of Shining the Holy Ark (in fact Julian, the main character, of Scenario 3 first appears in Holy Ark). I don’t remember any direct connections between the Megadrive/Game Gear games and the Saturn games other that than they take place many years apart on the same timeline. However, I haven’t played all the Shining games, so I’m not going to be the best person to confirm this.
Camelot’s timeline can be found at the bottom of this page:
camelot.co.jp/present/omake_unoma.html
Pasted for convenience:
* Shining Force I
* Shining Force side story I & II (Shining Force CD)
characters : family of SF
* Shining Force side story "FINAL CONFLICT"
characters : young Oddeye (SF II), baby Darksol II (SD), Max & Adam (SF I)
* Shining Force II
* Shining Wisdom
characters : Kazin and Sarah (SW)
* Shining & the Darkness (Shining in the Darkness)
characters : Darksol II
(long long time...)
* Shining the Holy Ark
* Shining Force III
characters : Galm & Elese (SHA)
Moogie’s (Shining Force Central’s webmaster) thoughts on this are here:
shiningforcecentral.com/stud … chronology
This is my understanding of the timeline. It’s possible that details have been revised over the course of making the games, I’m not aware of any inconsistencies between Camelot’s games though… I’m wait for Geoff’s far more knowledgeable take on that.
For your question about feeling like they were part of the same saga, again I’m probably not the best person to comment on that. All of Camelot’s games that I have played do feel like they’re part of the same world though, and this is carried over into Golden Sun.
Shining in the Darkness takes place AFTER the first two Force games and Wisdom? This is news to me!
They set SITD after the Game Gear games later to tie up the loose end with Darksol’s son. The villain of SITD was called Mephisto in the Japanse game but somehow inherited the name Dark Sol, so peeps assumed they (him and Darksol from Shining Force) were the same entity. It was originally the intention I believe, but separated later in the timeline for whatever reason.
I should write an article on this later as I delve back into SF. STHA was awesome for its time and truly made the best use of the Saturn IMO (blending 2D with 3D).
In any case, I won’t be buying a DS for this latest incarnation of SF. SF deserves better (while the higher ups feel that turn based games are too primitive for consoles or whatever). At least it’s a step in the right direction though.
This reminds me of the Sky Rider is Lundi situation. Solely in the context of Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon Zwei it makes the most sense that they are one and the same, but as the story expanded it became less and less clear. Who knows, maybe this was the original intention with Panzer as well? It’s not so much of a plot hole as it is a plot device that wasn’t set in stone.
The thing I like about both Panzer Dragoon and Camelot’s Shining series is that the timelines are consistent between games. Even Orta, with all its artistic differences, fully complements the stories of the existing games. It adds more believability to the story (to me) if there is consistency between the stories. Some may be happy experiencing individual stories but for me continuality is what makes an epic saga.
I’d be interested in reading that.