Shining series

[Anonymous No.9363231]

My first time trying to play this game I ended up filtered here. I also saved in my shrunken down state so I couldn't even leave to go grind, the playthrough was just fucked. I am now back here on my second playthrough, but I knew not to save after being shrunk this time

[Anonymous No.9363508]

It's one of the easier battles in the game. Did you fail to grind at all the entire playthrough?

[Anonymous No.9363542]

>>9363508
Not OP but I remember it being tough af when I was a kid but easy af now that I'm a grown-ass man.

>>9363231
You could have still had a grinding opportunity, fren. Kill some motherfuckers, get that XP and egress the fuck away then rinse and repeat.

[Anonymous No.9363584]

Is it okay that I skipped Shining Force I? I don't even remember why I did it, I just started with the sequel.

[Anonymous No.9363774]

>>9363508
Legitimately didn't know you could grind on my first few playthroughs

[Anonymous No.9363797]

>>9363584
The stories are not too linked, really. I can't even remember a single time when the events of SF1 were ever referenced in SF2. They don't even have any locations in common, IINM.

[Anonymous No.9363891]

>>9363231
Promotion nerfs you at first, so you should do it after this battle.
You can even wait until you get max level (40), if you're into minmaxing, but you won't be able to use better equipment for a while.
>>9363584
It's fine. You can always go back to it later.
It's a smaller game, but it's more fun to dick in it with the party compositions and stuff like that, so it's more replayable. Some people enjoy it's mood and story more than the sequel's too, but that's subjective.
>>9363797
They are indirectly linked, but it's not important for the game. IIRC Bowie is Kane's grandson or something and Force Sword is Chaos Breaker.

[Anonymous No.9364174]

>>9363891
>Bowie is Kane's grandson
Unless it's mentioned in-game, I'll consider this apocryphal, like Rhys from PSIII having an older brother who winds up fucking Lena if you choose to marry Maia. This phantom brother is never mentioned in-game but Toyo Ozaki, character designer for the game, mentions him in an art book. Also, as Lena clearly got smashed to have her thicc-ums daughter, Sari, in the Rhys-marries-Maia timeline and as Sari somehow becomes queen of Landen, her father must have been Landon royalty.
</segaRPGgeek>

>Force Sword is Chaos Breaker
I can see that.

[Anonymous No.9364375]

>>9363584
it's fine of course but it holds up
even the gba remake is generally well loved but there's this added side story with mini card collecting

plus it has the best girl in the whole series in it

[Anonymous No.9364549]

>>9363542
you actually don't even have to rinse

[Anonymous No.9365279]

>>9363891
>Promotion nerfs you at first,
That's SF1, I do not think that happens in SF2. There is no need to hold off on promotions.

[Anonymous No.9365974]

>>9363584
It's not okay but I forgive you. :)

[Anonymous No.9366056]

>>9365974
Thank you, God bless

[Anonymous No.9366095]

>>9364174
>Unless it's mentioned in-game, I'll consider this apocryphal, like Rhys from PSIII having an older brother who winds up fucking Lena if you choose to marry Maia.
Fair enough.
To be fair there are some mentions of the first game events in SF2, but what actually ties the two games (as well as Shining in the Darkness) is Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict.
>>9365279
Yeah. I might be misremembering that.
Now that I'm thinking about it, it might've been more about the XP gain and not actual stats nerf, stunting your growth for a few battles, as after the promotion your level counts as 20 + 1.
That said, I was pretty sure that there was no point in using stat up items before promotion in SF2 as well.

[Anonymous No.9367271]

>>9364375
>plus it has the best girl in the whole series in it
Whole series before SF3, maybe.

[Anonymous No.9367394]

I'm playing CD for the first time and loving it.
Beautiful graphics and great story and aesthetic, i like it more than SF1 and 2 (although it's been years since i played 2)
I'm up to scenario 3, which looks like it might be more of a fun bonus content run?

[Anonymous No.9368075]

>>9364375
Hell yeah, motherfucker.

[Anonymous No.9368090]

>>9367271
Oh? Who's your pick?

[Anonymous No.9368938]

>>9363231
I played on hard and I was kind of not totally ready for this battle and this wrecked me a lot
However, if you play juuust right (as it's hard to accomplish), you can manage to bait the pieces one by one and manage to win that way

[Anonymous No.9370067]

>>9363231
Someone bamboozled me once by telling me the Chess Army is the best place to grind when it's the worst. I wasted hours on that damn battle.

[Anonymous No.9370087]

>>9370067
kek

[Anonymous No.9370205]

I sort of was really looking forward to that mobile game. Gachashit or not, I would've loved to see the old gang back in action.

[Anonymous No.9370527]

Should I promote May with Silver Tank or no?

[Anonymous No.9370741]

>>9370527
I usually use with it Janet or Elric, but if you're not using them, then sure. Bitches love cannons.

[Anonymous No.9370880]

>>9370527
Wot? Is that possible? I've never heard of this!

[Anonymous No.9370932]

>>9364375
>best girl
Why didn't you post a picture of Tao or Sarah, then?

[Anonymous No.9370965]

>>9370880
Nah it's not, I'm just retarded and didn't realize she's not an Archer. I guess I might use it for Janet then if I decide to swap someone out of my party for her. >>9370741

[Anonymous No.9371496]

>>9370932
because sarah is absolute garbage, with zero redeeming qualities.

[Anonymous No.9371806]

Kiwi after promotion is fucking sick you guys. Maybe he's not the best, but I just think he's neat, and he can finally hold his own unlike pre-promotion.

[Anonymous No.9371882]

>>9371806
he's kinda cool, but he's too vulnerable to magic (and breath attacks), so he ends up just being a liability. there are too many units in almost every battle that can just one-shot him.

sidenote: i fucking loved him as a kid, and i remember feeding and favoring him and not really having any trouble keeping up with the rest of the force, but in a recent playthrough where i shot for level 40 promos, he just couldnt keep up. i felt like he fell behind even before level 20, which i dont remember being such a struggle. i always thought "just give him the power ring, and he'll be fine" but it was not enough. sad times, because i love the little guy.

[Anonymous No.9371958]

It's shite that theres no srpgs specifically like the first two games. Of the popular ones I've tried they're always either missing something or focused only on the combat part, the RPG/town exploration is one of the most important elements imo, especially in the first game where it's a lot more linear.
Playing through a SF1 mod that makes Kane playable and completely rehauls the ai/combat for the better. Forget the name of it sorry but shouldn't be too hard to find, I'm not that far (ch3) but definitely recommend for a replay of SF1.

[Anonymous No.9372049]

>>9371806
I was a Gamera fan. Kiwi never left the team once I saw his promotion form.

>>9370932
Tao and Sarah are very good, but not best.

[Anonymous No.9372326]

Just done with a run of GBA SF1. It's so odd. One of the added chars uses character cards you get sometimes to use their techs, or even spawn a low hp clone of them which can still use everything that char has - one at a time, though. Healers and mages worked well as clones, but I never went seriously cardhunting, which continues into a new game+. New buffer girl was useful, and she gets mad equip by the end that can bolt 4 huge areas until it breaks. There's a weird bugninja guy who can break out of his armored shell for glass cannon damage, though only if he gets hit enough it breaks. Musashi and Hanzou are still far better. There's some new battles/areas introducing the new cast, Max talks, yet is the most boring guy with little to say, and Khris lost her furry, becoming a generic elf. Still prefer the Genesis version, even though the new stuff doesn't ruin the game as such.

[Anonymous No.9372352]

>>9372326
Not gonna play the GBA version because of the resolution and audio alone. Simple as.

[Anonymous No.9372414]

>>9366095
>To be fair there are some mentions of the first game events in SF2,
Don't remember any, sorry.

>but what actually ties the two games (as well as Shining in the Darkness) is Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict.
Don't recall that, either! Brain damage is not fun, frens.

[Anonymous No.9372469]

>>9363231
How high should I make tort's hp before j promote him?

[Anonymous No.9373167]

>>9372469
I usually give him 6 extra levels, then just feed him all the Cheerful Bread I can find.

You DID remember not to use your stat boosters until after promotion, right?

[Anonymous No.9373847]

Do I use my Running Pimento on one of my healers? Or do I use it on slow af Jaha? I was briefly thinking about using it on the werewolf for similar reasons to Jaha, but DESU he's surprisingly weak with shit defense for how slow he is now, so I'm probably gonna swap him with the robot that just joined my team but is not yet playable.

[Anonymous No.9373885]

>>9373847
The werewolf dude is baller, but he needs to be trained up due to what you've mentioned since he is squishy at first.

[Anonymous No.9373927]

>>9373847
Once you promote Java to Baron, he won't need the pimento.

[Anonymous No.9373935]

>>9363231
here's something I've wondered, Is it possible to defeat ALL the units here?
I've tried but after a point the king comes for the players.

>>9370067
if you use egress after defeating a few enemies and so on. It's still not too fun desu.

[Anonymous No.9373948]

>>9373885
That makes sense after what I went through with Slade and Kiwi. I think I'm just looking for an excuse to swap someone out for the robot since I like robots, but I don't know who to drop. I've gotten somewhat attached to everyone on my active team now.
>>9373927
Yeah you're right, what I really want is for him to get turns more frequently and this isn't going to help.

[Anonymous No.9373954]

>>9373935
>Is it possible to defeat ALL the units here?
Considering I have a tendency of "clearing the board" before going in for the lead unit, I'm sure it's possible and that I've done it, yes.

[Anonymous No.9373976]

>>9373954
I have the same approach but like I said the king becomes aggresive and he becomes hard to ignore.
but maybe I'll pull it off one day.

[Anonymous No.9374317]

In SF2, do you promote to wizard or sorcerer?

[Anonymous No.9374589]

>>9370932
i knew tao fans would make their case
as 'hot' as she is she's an elf... i was accepting elfs i'd go with diane myself
and i didn't list sarah cause he played 2 and wouldn't have missed her nor sold her have considered her the best even in that game let alone the series

[Anonymous No.9375029]

>>9374317
I like sorcerer more, but apparently which one is "better" depends on the character.

[Anonymous No.9375059]

>>9364375
Isn't Domingo a boy?

[Anonymous No.9375068]

>>9366095
Speaking of Shining in the Darkness, should I play it first, or in timeline order?

[Anonymous No.9375130]

>>9375068
I think it's better to think of shining force games as stand alone. Shining Force 1 and the game gear games are the only ones that really feel like they are in the same world, but even there it's only passing references.

[Anonymous No.9375224]

>>9371806
There is a sweet spot in the game where kiwi starts to be good, after promotion he starts gaining loads of attack and hp which makes up for the fact his defense is not keeping up to take 1 damage from enemies anymore and his fire breath is quite good and his movement changes to be "flying" sort of. However the more he levels after promotion he starts to use his fire breath more and more which is quickly outstripped in damage by his regular attack. In addition enemies start having level 4 spells which start killing him outright again. Towards the end of the game almost every enemy has magic or defense ignoring special attacks so he is still 2 shot by things.

[Anonymous No.9375784]

>>9375029
Kazin is garbage as a wizard (only one attack spell? Fuck you, Kazin), so he goes sorcerer.

>>9372414
The mayor of Ribble mentions that the townspeople are descended of people from Rune and a priest in Hassan mentions Max by name.

[Anonymous No.9375970]

>>9363797
There's a bit of dialogue in Hassan saying it's where Max turned up after the events of SF1 and the storytellers of Tristan mention Darksol and Dark Dragon. And proceed to completely fuck the reference by calling the two of them devils instead of products of the Ancients like they actually are.

[Anonymous No.9376612]

>>9375059
one of the best boys

[Anonymous No.9376918]

>>9375970
>products of the Ancients
Wasn't that just in the non-canon GBA port?

[Anonymous No.9377197]

so Earnest is the best knight, right?

[Anonymous No.9377232]

>>9375970
You can thank the US translators for that since one of the Devil Kings is named Lucifer and they freaked out over that and inserted DD's name instead.

>>9376918
Nope. The ironic thing about people bitching about the GBA port is that all the new stuff people got mad about was actually always there, but limited to the JP version and supplemental stuff the West never saw.

>>9377197
Are you asking "Who is best knight?" What the flying fuck.

Of course it's Ken. His stats suck, but I find the doofus endearing. Mae is also an acceptable answer.

[Anonymous No.9377256]

>>9377232
It looks like there aren't any retranslation patches; is that right?

Also, Mae best girl.

[Anonymous No.9377274]

>>9377256
A retranslation was done and the script was made public. I don't know if it ever made it to patch status.

I disagree, but respect your opinion, even if I'm not into horsebutt.

[Anonymous No.9377436]

>>9377197
Pelle is the best knight.
Arthur is the best paladin.

[Anonymous No.9377439]

>>9377232
>Nope. The ironic thing about people bitching about the GBA port is that all the new stuff people got mad about was actually always there, but limited to the JP version and supplemental stuff the West never saw.
Isn't there some conflicts with characterization and or backstories of the Force members?
IIRC, Tao one is completely wrong.

[Anonymous No.9377516]

>>9374589
I do wish there'd be a proper remake of SF1 that allows for more character interactions and events between battles, like the GBA game but with more content.

Tao and Diane are sisters yet I don't think it really comes up in the game.

[Anonymous No.9377530]

Anyone else here a fan of Shining Force CD?
I'm yet to start Scenario 3, but keen to get into it soon. It's crazy to think it's a remake.
My personal fave in the series in Shining Force III trilogy but the whole series is of excellent quality.

[Anonymous No.9377591]

>>9377530
Deanna is the best girl!
I honestly can't believe how much I enjoyed SFCD, considering how awkward it is for being a remake of a sub-series that is loosely tied to the first game.
Scenario 2 is especially interesting, with Force getting split, unique character sprites and everything.
It's such a shame that Final Conflict remake got stuck on Japanese phones and Android. Sega really should make a collection of mobile phone Shining games.

[Anonymous No.9377998]

I played it before I played SF2 so when I played SF2 and there were 347,000 characters with the same names as SFCD characters, I got annoyed at CD because it didn't feel like as big a game as SF2

[Anonymous No.9378001]

>>9377998
Meant in reply to >>9377530, sry

[Anonymous No.9378006]

>>9377998
One of the things that localization screwed with, yes.

[Anonymous No.9378276]

>>9377439
Well that's the thing. The original translation for Tao made it seem like she was a go-get-'em energetic pyro girl, but apparently she was always supposed to be a little withdrawn... until you get her mad. There's a whole story where one of the knights keeps hitting on her until she sets his rump on fire or something.

To be fair, I'm running off of information I read years ago, though.

Fun trivia fact: The reason all the mages have huge shoulderpads is because they have magic crystals inside to draw in and store magic energy to make casting easier.

[Anonymous No.9378306]

>>9378276
Nice booba.

[Anonymous No.9378356]

>>9378276
I mean the fact that in original she's also a sister of Diane who lives with her mom in Bustoke and in RoDD her parents died protecting her or something.
Either way, Wendy is a better pyro girl, that's a fact.

[Anonymous No.9378420]

I tried Shining Force, but I gave up because I'm not very good at SRPGs. MC/Max got KO'd by a Goblin in the first stage, which should tell you how bad I am at this.

[Anonymous No.9378427]

>>9378356
Oh, that. Diane and Tao are sisters in both... I can't remember the exact explanation, but I remember Tao was being sent somewhere to learn magic when disaster happened and she ended up in Guardiana? I think? Fuck it, I'm going to dig up my reference material and find out a little later.

[Anonymous No.9378458]

>>9378420
It's one of the easiest one, so you should be able to figure it out if you'll keep playing it.
Also, there is nothing particularly wrong with Max being killed, even if in a silly way. Losing a battle in SF lets you keep gained experience, gold and items, while also giving you a general idea of what tactics you can use next. Or you can just grind levels and steam roll everything.

[Anonymous No.9378465]

>>9378458
If a unit is defeated in battle, are they dead permanently like in Fire Emblem?

Also, should I try playing the GBA version instead, or stick with the Genesis original?

[Anonymous No.9378517]

>>9378465
>If a unit is defeated in battle, are they dead permanently like in Fire Emblem?
No, you resurrect them in a church (or wherever there's a priest) for a small price.
Hence I'm saying that it's easy.
>Also, should I try playing the GBA version instead, or stick with the Genesis original?
I'd say Genesis for gameplay, GBA (European) for plot. Unless you know Japanese, in which case stick with Genesis.
Or just whatever version looks or feels better for you. It's not THAT important really.

[Anonymous No.9378523]

>>9378356
Okay, here we go. From the original Shining Force Character Book.

"[A gentle girl who has pledged her loyalty to Guardiana]

She used to be a maid in Guardiana Castle, but upon having her talent
recognized, she began studying magic with Princess Anri as well. When
Anri went away to Manarina to study further, Tao became the sole mage
at the castle. Tao's personality is the exact opposite of Anri's, as
she is a gentle type who feels everything very deeply. She is an
extremely polite person as well. Her personality is also the exact
opposite of her elder sister, Diane, who joins the Force later.

[A useful character who is able to adapt herself to the needs of the
moment, whether they be for offense or support]

She has high HP, which is unusual for a magic-user, but her defense
and similar are about as low as you would expect. You'll want to keep
her from being hit by the enemy.

Her magical powers are somewhat different from other magic-users. The
only offensive magic that she is able to use is the Blaze family. By
pouring all her energy into the study of Blaze, she will be able to
master it to the fullest extent. Aside from that, she learns a good
deal of status magic that few other people are able to use.

[Tao]
Occupation: Mage
Race: Elf
Sex: Female
Age: 48
Height: 178cm (5'10")
Weight: 45kg (99lbs)
Birthplace: Guardiana
Initial Level: 1
Initial Equipment: Wooden Staff

[The Mage Who Quietly Manipulates the Flames]"

Huh, nothing about the parents here. I'll check Diane's entry.

[Anonymous No.9378527]

>>9378523
[She hates to lose, and her personality is pleasantly and strikingly
idiosyncratic!]

Her disposition causes her to hate unfairness and deception with a
passion! She is an energetic woman who has been living a wild and free
life in the mountain forests. As befits her personality, she applied
herself to archery daily without thinking much of it, and her
resulting skill is much admired. This is especially true in the
country of Bustoke, which has no military force, and Diane's ability
amounts to a precious martial strength.

Feeling a debt of gratitude to the ones who saved the men of her
country, she joined the Shining Force.

[Diane]
Occupation: Archer
Race: Elf
Sex: Female
Age: 115
Height: 185cm (6'1")
Weight: 57kg (126lbs)
Birthplace: Bustoke
Initial Level: 6
Initial Equipment: Steel Arrow

[The Strong-Minded Lady Archer]

Nothing here about the parents either. Maybe they made it up to try and explain why Tao's in Guardiana and Diane is in Bustoke? But the maid part lines up with what was in Tao's ROTDD backstory. Huh.

[Anonymous No.9378558]

>>9378523
>She used to be a maid in Guardiana Castle, but upon having her talent recognized, she began studying magic with Princess Anri as well.
Tao is talantless though

[Anonymous No.9378580]

>>9378558
At least she can spell.

[Anonymous No.9378601]

>>9378580
She's almost as bad as Kazin. Perhaps even worse.
I guess not every elven mage gets to be a genius.

[Anonymous No.9378616]

>>9378601
Pyra legit almost got someone murdered out of spite and that makes her lose points with me, even if she did pop up in that weirdo Climax Landers game as one of the few characters with any goddamn sense.

Still, she's aight.

[Anonymous No.9378623]

>>9378616
>time stalkers is called climax landers in nippon
did not know that.

[Anonymous No.9378635]

>>9378616
>Pyra legit almost got someone murdered out of spite
Huh?

[Anonymous No.9378720]

>>9378635
That lizard dude you bump into at the inn. She casts Slow on him "so he can't run away in the dungeon". Later you have a chance of running into him and rescuing him because he got fucked up thanks to the spell. If you don't, it's sort of implied he dies.

[Anonymous No.9378781]

>>9378720
dude what the fuck

[Anonymous No.9378906]

>>9378781
She's got a temper.

[Anonymous No.9379335]

Well, opie here. I finally finished SF2, and holy KINO that was awesome! I never found where to use all the mithril I got, but I can save that for a replay in the future I guess. also damn Sarah got cucked pretty hard, did not expect that

[Anonymous No.9379382]

[Anonymous No.9379386]

[Anonymous No.9379612]

>>9378523
>>9378527
Tao age: 48
Diane age: 115

freakin' elves man

[Anonymous No.9379795]

>>9379335
There's an odd spot along the river north of Galam. Think what item you might use there.

[Anonymous No.9380027]

>>9379335
The other anon doesn't want to spoil it but I think by beating the game you've earned it. Don't mouseover the spoiler if you want to figure it out. It's the Dry Stone.

[Anonymous No.9381421]

>>9379612
I wonder how old is Wendy considering that.

[Anonymous No.9383053]

>>9363231
Loved this battle.
Imagine losing in a TRPG for children.

[Anonymous No.9383056]

>>9363584
I didn't like SF1 at all, it's pretty barebones and generic.
SF3 > SF2 >>>> SF1

[Anonymous No.9383062]

>>9383056
>barebones
In a way, yes.
>generic
The fuck are you smoking? It probably stands out the most in pre-Saturn era.

[Anonymous No.9383069]

>>9379386
I almost shat my pants when I saw Kaisercrab back in my childhood.

[Anonymous No.9383076]

>>9383062
Doesn't have the style, charm, or cool characters like in later games.

[Anonymous No.9383108]

>>9383076
>Doesn't have the style, charm,
I get what you mean, but I'd argue that it's the later games lack the style and charm of SitD and SF1, unlike stuff like Landstalker or even FEDA.
Wouldn't call it a minus.
>or cool characters like in later games.
SF3 aside, are you seriously saying that Max, Gong, Gort, Zylo, Kokichi, Guntz, Pelle, Earnest, Lyle, Bleu, Domingo, Musashi and Hanzo don't shit all over SF2 cast in the terms of coolness?
At this point, if I wanted to play as kids, I'd go with SFCD.

[Anonymous No.9383132]

>>9383108
As much as I personally dislike SF1, I have to admit that the characters in it do indeed shit all over the ones in any other non-Saturn SF game.
SF2 is not only considerably easier than SF1 (not that SF1 is all too hard, either), but it's just so fucking cutesy. Nothing wrong with cute, but you've got a choice when it comes to looks: cute or cool. Can't be both. And nothing in SF2 is cool. Everything is either cute, retarded or "oh, that's a thing."
Peter and Bowie before promotion are both fucking retarded-looking af, for example.

[Anonymous No.9383557]

>>9383132
Thinking anything in SF1 is cool might be a mental illness. I'll take comfy/cute over SF1 "coolness" any time.

[Anonymous No.9383580]

>>9383076
>>9383108
>>9383132
you people have never actually counted and compared the the characters/classes/races between the games. i'll give you that sf2 has a sort of cutesy/anime look to most of the portraits and sf1 had a more serious/gritty style, but you guys have clearly never done an actual analysis and comparison.

[Anonymous No.9383585]

>>9383580
k.

[Anonymous No.9383618]

>>9383580
I don't care about the analysis, I feel the games, not analyse them..

[Anonymous No.9383685]

>>9370741
Masquirin is a cutie.

[Anonymous No.9383728]

>>9383580
Look, I'm somewhat autistic myself, but not to that degree. Perhaps you can make a proper statement to what exactly is the core difference between the two?
I don't think that at the end it's TOO different though.
>i'll give you that sf2 has a sort of cutesy/anime look to most of the portraits and sf1 had a more serious/gritty style
What? SF1 is also anime and it's not particularly gritty or serious by any means (that would be Feda). SF2 problem isn't so much the artstyle or brighter look, but the fact that majority of the cast is too young and game not even trying to sell them as actual warriors, when it's really just a bunch of curious kids, who haven't really used real weapons until recently.

[Anonymous No.9383756]

Literally me.

[Anonymous No.9383762]

>>9383756
tfw

[Anonymous No.9383784]

How does a horse feel like?

[Anonymous No.9384020]

>>9383784
Warm.

[Anonymous No.9384260]

>>9374317
Kazin into Sorc since his wizard moveset kind of sucks, Tyrin as Wizard since his moveset is great but his sorc moveset about the same as Kazin with some being slightly slower or faster so its not really a big deal.

[Anonymous No.9384305]

>>9379382
Tumblr nose

[Anonymous No.9384308]

>>9383784
Why don't you ask one?

[Anonymous No.9384838]

>>9383557
If you don't think undead cyborgs and laser artillery are cool, you can just vanish.

[Anonymous No.9384885]

>>9384838
Agree, I thought SF1's mix of fantasy and high tech was awesome. I loved the late game areas and enemies.

[Anonymous No.9384905]

>>9378523
>>9378527
>Diane is 6'1"
>Tao is almost 6'0" too
Absolutely scrum-diddley-umptious.

[Anonymous No.9385004]

>>9383618
>>9383728
same total count of races
only the same races have duplicates
same amount of "unique" races
sf2 has more total classes
same simplified tactical purpose between classes for both games
sf2 has technically more classes due to slade and sheela's weapons, and taya being different kind of mage.
bonus: sf2 gives you some options for getting more characters to have some of those "unique classes" with secret items to use at promotion time.

anyone that thinks sf1 had "more unique characters" just has nostalgia goggles for "cool animations in battle" or whatever.

>art
sf1 has darker style due to linework being done more in black. however, the portraits and battle sprites are also darker and more detailed, while sf2 has more bright, cartoony looks. both starting parties in both games are made of kids, its really not an argument.

[Anonymous No.9385372]

>>9385004
SF1's party is made of rookies, but not kids. Ken is the youngest at 17. Hans is the oldest at 126.

In fairness, Bowie and company are probably only a little younger given that Astral's school seems to be geared as a high-school equivalent.

>>9384905
It's sort of strange, because though Diane is mostly depicted as tall, Tao is usually depicted as much shorter than that... Then again the spin-offs are mostly non-canon from what I can tell.

[Anonymous No.9385376]

>>9383762
Never used Higins, does he auto-revive like Lemon?

[Anonymous No.9385467]

>>9385376
I think he's supposed to, but it's glitched.

[Anonymous No.9385546]

>>9385004
Lowe and Torasu are hobbits, not dwarves. And Gong is half-giant.
Good job on not saying that Zylo and Gerhalt are the same race though.
That said - autism.
>same simplified tactical purpose between classes for both games
In a way, but you're really underselling the difference between flying units, centaurs, etc. Movement difference as well as other quirks make units really unique. For example, despite using polearms, Guntz got more in common with Musashi than centaurs. Domingo is more versatile positionally than the other mages. Lyle got crazy movement, but you wouldn't want to play him on the battles with woods, unlike Hans and Diane (this goes for SF2 equivalents too, I'm just explaining, why simplifications don't work). Arthur's magic is winmore at the point where he gets it, but being able to cast Bolt sets him apart as well. Gong, Zylo, Bleu and Adam aren't even remotely similar.
Now, I'm not saying that SF2 doesn't have unique characters or that it doesn't have more classes or something, but it's much more standardized and not as fun to play with. Also that it's a bigger game in general, so if it got anything more: it should be expected.
SF3 delivered much better in that regard, even if I'm not a fan of penguins.
>>9385372
>In fairness, Bowie and company are probably only a little younger given that Astral's school seems to be geared as a high-school equivalent.
Can you elaborate? I'd call them equivalent of Japanese middle schoolers if anything.

[Anonymous No.9386297]

>>9385546
I always assumed they were anywhere from 15 to 17, but it's based off the fact that Bowie essentially has a growth spurt and becomes an adult when you promote him 2 years after game start and they're young enough to be in school, but not young enough they can't be essentially drafted.

[Anonymous No.9386432]

>>9386297
Eh, I'd say that Bowie is probably 16-17 in the portrait after promotion.
I wonder if there is anything about that in the official material. For Gaiden 1 kids too.

[Anonymous No.9387597]

>>9385546
being a hobbit or dwarf is indistinguishable without out of game text telling you.
"uniqueness" is something you arent really getting. lyle and may are the same. arthur and slade having magic is the same (what the fuck is point of casting it, you hit WAY harder). gong doesnt even hit hard, so his barehandedness is pointless anyway, he's just another healer. zylo and bleu are the same except bleu can go over walls. also functionally, you can count zylo and gerhalt the same, adam zynk, and claude all the same. you're trying to come up with all of this "but-but-but" over the pettiest trifles that dont really affect the execution or comparison.

[Anonymous No.9387835]

>>9385546
>sf2 is more standardized and not as fun to play with
what the fuck are you even smoking? domingo can fly and has bonkers stats, but he's still just the same old mage spells. sf2 has an entirely new mage class with different spells. "lyle has crazy movement". its 7, just like other centaurs, and a bunch of maps are just solid forest/mountains, making him a drag to use. may has 6, but you get most of the game to actually USE her. guntz has trash movement of 4 unless you use an item/ring on him, in which case he has 2 guaranteed movement on top of the 4 affected by land, which means he almost always has a movement of 6, which puts him just under every other fucking centaur. oh man, but he's better in those forest/mountain maps! so exciting! get real. zylo cruises through land, so does gerhalt and slade. kokichi flies! but so does jaro or any pegasus. bleu flies but has a movement of 5. i forget what lyle starts with, but bleu and adam start out WILDLY underpowered and need to be hardcore FED to be any sort of competent.

everything is so fucking equal, with sf2 actually coming out ahead in a few areas. theres nothing "standardized" because its not really any different. you're not making any sense because you're not ACTUALLY comparing them. its 100% nostalgia goggles.

[Anonymous No.9388063]

>>9363231
Now bear my arctic blaszt!

Are you games any good?

[Anonymous No.9388201]

>>9387597
>>9387835
Okay, I guess, I should make my points more clear or something.
First, I said back in >>9383728 that they are about the same in terms of classes and races if we look at numbers. Also even before that I said that I prefer SF1 for aethetics, though I also prefer the gameplay quirks, such as the way level ups work, or having most of the Force come not promoted. And SF1 isn't as big of an investment to pick up for a replay (same goes for SFCD). And if you didn't notice, I also love SF2 too. Hell, I loved it more than the first one when I was younger, even if it's not by a lot and mainly for a sense of freedom that the world map gives you.
Second, it's you who decided to compare the races, but now you're saying that you don't care about the fluff? Races in SF don't mean much gameplay-wise as much as the class (even if we usually collectively refer to Knights/Bow Knights as centaurs). Rohde being human doesn't make him different from Elric or Janet as brassgunners. Frayja and Sheela are functionally the same as Sarah and Karna after promotion, even though former are humans and later are elves. Still, even if it's just smoke and mirrors, I do prefer my centaur using a bazooka over a crossbow or a flying knight being an old man on some flying machine and not a gay pegasus. Raising a dragon instead of dealing with a goofy bird. This stuff. Capisce?
(1/2)

[Anonymous No.9388206]

>>9388201
Third, yes, when it comes to gameplay, being able to position my troops the way I want using movement and/or flying property of the unit is more important to me than Sorcerer spells being slightly different (and not always in a good way). No, Zylo can't attack enemies while standing on a rock/barrel/cliff/whatever unlike Bleu. And no, Bleu isn't underpowered unless you immediately promote him, because this is how SF1 works. Also, yes, Adam, Zynk and Claude are about the same. Same kind of trash that might be good if you invest into it, but there is zero incentive to do so, especially when you get broken beasts of a characters early on.
Though I agree that SF 1-2 are too easy of games so in practice you can do whatever you want and it doesn't matter much, but still I feel like it's more fun to dick around in the first game with that stuff. Or go straight for SF3. Now that's a game.
(2/2)

[Anonymous No.9388249]

>>9388063
Yes, Shining games are any good, though your mileage may vary from game to game and depend on your expectations.
Shining Force 1, 2, CD and Gaidens are casual, but charming tactical RPGs. You won't find much of gameplay complexity, and whatever difficulty is there can be bruteforced, so it should be fine for a beginner.
SitD and StHA are fairly simple dungeon crawlers, especially the first one. If you like map dungeons and grind, I can recommend them to you, but again they wouldn't offer much, except for the great presentation, for veterans of the genre.
Shining Wisdom is a Zelda-clone. Kind of. Fairly mediocre.
Shining Force 3 is a more complex and ambitious TRPG that spans 3 scenarios and is more serious in tone than the previous games. It's still not too hard to get into, but it also got more for fans of the genre to sink their teeth in.
As for later games, they were made by different people and most of them either Action RPGs of dubious quality or aren't available in English or both. Well, Shining Soul games are good in multiplayer, or so I heard.

[Anonymous No.9388321]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who actually really liked Sword of Hajya. The party split with Natasha was such a cool idea to me as a kid and still holds up really well with each replay. The spells being bugged was kinda bullshit but actually made some fights a lot more interesting, and was the reason I learned to use lightning rod strategies to drain their MP.

[Anonymous No.9388390]

>>9388321
I've never played Gamegear version of it, but as a part of CD it's great.
The characterization of the Force members is pretty nice there too.

[Anonymous No.9388475]

>>9388249
Different poster. How do you feel about Resurrection of the Dark Dragon?

[Anonymous No.9388628]

>>9388475
Mixed. I appreciate the localization effort, at least for the EU version, since apparently US one cut some stuff.
Narsha/Mawlock/Zuika subplot is interesting and even if something about it seems a bit off to me, I think it's a fine addition. I think it was written by one of the guys who worked on the first game. Narsha and Mawlock are broken though.
Also the effort to flesh out the interactions in the headquaters as well as adding some dialogues between characters and bosses if there is a link of some sorts.
But ultimately, I don't like new art as much and there are some gameplay changes that I'm not a fan of. Also not every thing added is good and crunched screen is a bit annoying.
So pretty much, I like it as it's own thing, but not as much as the original and it's certainly not a replacement. But if there would be a new SF1 remake, I'd like it to take some cues and the new subplot fron RoDD.

[Anonymous No.9388846]

>>9388201
>>9388206
>races dont matter
they help create character aesthetic and uniqueness, and diversity in your cast. there are 7 centaurs in sf1. whats worse is that 6 of them are all literally the same class. that sucks for diversity and making any of them stand out as characters. yes, hanzo and slade are ninjas, the only ninjas in their game. but hanzo is just another human, and slade is the only ratman in the whole game. alef may just be another mage, but she's the only fox girl. race is a very valid aspect to consider for uniqueness and variety. i only said i dont care about "hobbits, not dwarves" because its the only time that shit ever shows up in either game, and you literally would not know without the out of game material telling you. as a kid i thought they were just humans, but when i got older i felt they were the probably more like luke/gort. imagine my surprise to find out that hobbits are even supposed to exist in the world. it provides no actual impact. rohde being a human doesnt set him apart from elric/janet FUNCTIONALLY, but as a character you've got a gruff old man. its fine to have preferences, but they are a very real aspect to consider and compare with.
>positioning
with the exception of a flying tank mage, both games provide the exact same unit types for strategy. you have provided a meaningless point. you bring up zylo and bleu as if sf2 doesnt have gerhalt (or slade if you'd prefer) and peter. also bleu is OBJECTIVELY underpowered the moment you get him, and if you want him to hold his own, he needs to be deliberately FED in order to catch up. THEN he can be a strong unit. same goes for adam. yes, its neat that sf1 gives you unpromoted characters, and i do hate that most of the "pre-promoted" characters in sf2 just dont stand up to the others (especially if you pushed for 40). honestly, im not even sure why i brought the feeding part up, its really not applicable to the diversity discussion. i guess i was just on a rant.1/2

[Anonymous No.9388865]

>>9388201
>>9388206
>>9388846
there really isnt anything about the cast that makes it any more or less "fun" because of how similar they actually ARE. its disingenuous for anyone to claim that the characters in 1 are more unique, when both games hit the same beats and provide the same tactical output with the same visual diversity.

you can talk about the size/length of the game as a whole, the plot/story, the side characters (or lack thereof for the first one), but you cant use your army to justify it. personally, while the second game is longer, i not only like the world freedom and connectivity, but the first game was fucking STIFLING in battle. 3/4 healers extremely early in the game, maps often have stupid chokepoints, and SO FUCKING MANY MAPS are just pure forest/mountains that brings movement to a complete grinding halt. while there are a few like that in sf2, there are often pathways of grass that let you advance fucking forward.

the execution of both games is very different, but the execution of the cast is almost identical, and certainly not different enough in any meaningful way to stand out. thats just nostalgia goggles and stupid biases for fanboying a certain character or something

[Anonymous No.9388997]

>>9388846
>>9388865
Yeah, I don't care much about the knight situation in SF1 either. 6 is a lot. But on other hand, if pressed, I'd only cut Vankar, because the rest is either interesting as characters (Mae, Earnest) or provide a niche in gameplay (Pelle, Arthur). Oh, and there's Ken, who is there to pad out the starting roster, I guess.
As for hobbit/dwarf thing, I mostly care about it as an old timer in RPGs and because it matters a bit more in other games in the series. Good thing that there aren't gnomes too, at least in SF1-2. But fair enough, some people might find some parts more interesting than the others. Like some people might find a fucking armadillo in a steam power armor that turns into a tank more interesting than, I dunno, a golem? Okay, I'll be more fair and compare him to Kiwi instead, who is a rare character in SF2 that is actually awesome (at least after promotion), even if hard to use.
Well, I agree, that it is more of a matter of taste. Hence, I find it weird that you write that off as fanboying and biases and nostalgia.

As for why I brought up Bleu and Zylo is because they were compared in >>9387597 . Obviously he shares more traits with Gerhalt and Gyan (from CD). And yeah, Bleu does require a little bit of work at the beginning (but mostly just a power ring), but it's still not that big of a hassle if you want to use him, unlike having more than one member of a Force from Kreed's Mansion, for example, even with the fact that leveling Karna is easy.

[Anonymous No.9390198]

>>9388321
>>9388390
Yeah I loved the CD version of it, that's Scenario 2 right?
I'm finally playing Part 3 of SFCD, it's really fun. I will say though, magic fucking SUCKS in SF CD.

[Anonymous No.9390484]

>>9388997
how does pelle provide a gameplay niche? he's literally the same as the others. arthur is the only standout of the knights. other than ken having more hp than others and generally mediocre defense (and arthur exploding in attack after promotion), i dont even remember any of the other knights having any sort of particular stat gimmicks.

[Anonymous No.9391254]

>>9390484
>how does pelle provide a gameplay niche?
Big stats + decent stat gain. He's pretty good, especially when you go for earliest promotions possible.
As for others, I think Mae tends to be a reverse of Ken with nice defense but less HP. But like with everything in SF1 (especially with Gong), there's an element of random. I remember that one time I ended up with mediocre Arthur, despite going 20/20.
Well, it keeps things interesting.

[Anonymous No.9391359]

>>9390198
SFCD balance is weird. Monks are killing machines. Even Luke, who starts weak, gets obscene attack at some point.
I don't remember magic being that bad though.

[Anonymous No.9391412]

>infiltrates your country
>gets control of your army
>uses it to kill his own uncle and assume the throne
>refuses to elaborate
Is he the most based Shining protagonist?

[Anonymous No.9391702]

Bros, I keep getting thrown and stuck out of bounds in walls, chests, and in people when playing Shining Force 3 pt 1. Is this something that only happens when playing with analog enabled? I don't remember this ever happening before I discovered analog control works in the game.

[Anonymous No.9391715]

Holy hell this is the best /vr/ thread in months

[Anonymous No.9391752]

>>9391715
How so?

[Anonymous No.9391770]

>>9391752
Not him, but what I like about this thread is it has been actual game discussion by people who actually like the games and no industry drama or proxy console wars.

[Anonymous No.9391798]

>>9391770
Well, it could've gone much worse, yes.

[Anonymous No.9391871]

>>9391770
I am him and yeah that's basically it. Plus it's a cool series you don't see talked about everyday and there's so much information and art and so on here.

[Anonymous No.9392463]

>>9391254
I have never had an SF1 playthrough where Mae didn't have decent attack and absolutely monstrous defense. She's always got a place on the frontline with me.

[Anonymous No.9392637]

>>9392463
Mae is good, yeah, but I can barely think of characters that don't have a place in my party in SF1 for one reason or another, so I often end up swapping her out.
She's indispensable in runs that skip optional characters though.

[Anonymous No.9392723]

>>9386297
Bowie turns back into himself if you jump out of the window and run away with Sarah at the end of the game instead of kissing the princess

I'm not even joking they both just turn to kids again like god was brainwashing him or something

[Anonymous No.9392728]

>>9392723
Why must you turn this thread into a house of lies?

[Anonymous No.9392741]

Bleu was always ended shitty for me.
Not worth feeding him exp for the rare flame breath critical.

[Anonymous No.9392827]

>>we will never get the full shining force 3

[Anonymous No.9392882]

>>9392827
It's been translated and there is a patch if you want to subject yourself to the horrors of Saturn emulation.

[Anonymous No.9392904]

>>9392882
i'd rather cut my ballsack open

[Anonymous No.9392917]

>>9392882
>>9392904
Can't you burn it to a disc? There's also that Saturn SD card mod but that's fucking expensive.

[Anonymous No.9392971]

i KNEEL

[Anonymous No.9392992]

>>9388201
>Frayja and Sheela are functionally the same as Sarah and Karna after promotion,
But Sarah and Karna are about 30x stronger than Sheela and about 50x stronger than Frayja, since he's the only dedicated vicar (you can promote both Sarah and Karna to monk if you're willing to wait then train that monk at the battle before the prism flowers one).
Also, IINM, only Sarah has detox spells, for some reason. Of all healers, though, Karna is the best.

[Anonymous No.9392997]

>>9392741
if you just redo the kain fight and feed him the gargoyles (or whatever the little flying dudes right above the spawn are) over and over and get him to 20, then promote, then feed a little more, he's actually decent. he starts off barely able to hit for anything, so he needs some tender love and care, but he does grow into his own after a few post-promo levels. the criticals are a non-factor.

[Anonymous No.9393006]

>>9392992
detox is meaningless. only the first battle where you even CAN get poisoned is where it might make any sort of difference. i dont really recall many enemies late game that apply poison, but health pools are so bloated that it doesnt really do anything worth noting.

as for strength, you'll only ever notice that after level 25-30, and only if you waited for 40 before promotion. regardless, sheela, karna, and frayja can hit 99 years before sarah. sarah is trash.

[Anonymous No.9393064]

>>9393006
I was actually having to use detox a lot in the playthrough I just finished.

[Anonymous No.9393071]

>>9391359
It's a cool game, but I do agree. Cray and Luke are fucking beasts in my playthrough.
Magic just seems really underwhelming, like Blaze Lv1 only ever does 6 damage, and even level 3 is lucky to get 16 damage. It doesn't seem to get better as you level up either?
Freeze is equally bad for the MP cost, although Bolt seems okay-ish. I still find myself having to babysit any magic user and usually just swap them out.
Something I note for all older Shining games though, I kind of wish that there was more incentive to level up the 'B-team' members. You never actually need to use your reserves like you do in Shining Force III, so I find that I never actually bother to swap out party members after I've found the team I like.

[Anonymous No.9393083]

>>9392827
>>9392882
>>9392904
>>9392917
Yes, you can burn it to disc or use an ODE to play it via Saturn. The patch is pretty damn polished. I played the whole trilogy last year, it was fantastic.
I thought Saturn emulation was pretty good now though? Even if not, just burn the discs and get a Psuedo Saturn.

[Anonymous No.9393123]

>>9393083
I haven't tried Saturn emulation since 2013, I have vivid memories of endless errors, sluggish, unresponsive gameplay, and general fuckery.

Then after slugging through all that, my save file got corrupted halfway through Scn2. I gave up.

[Anonymous No.9393132]

>>9393123
I want to hate Narsha for being stupidly OP but she's cute.

[Anonymous No.9393198]

>>9393064
1) what was even applying it?
2) certainly by the time you beat taros everyone's health/stats are high enough that 2hp a turn is meaningless, and you're better off just casting heal (especially since you took damage in order to get poisoned in the first place).

[Anonymous No.9393202]

>>9393071
i dont know about sfcd, but magic's appeal has always been flat damage regardless of defense. good for softening up multiple enemies, or finishing something off from range. sometimes if you hit enough enemies and deal enough damage you can get as much exp as a full kill, while only dealing partial damage to everything, so the fighters can clean up for that sweet kill experience.

[Anonymous No.9393216]

These were mostly killing tons of monsters and getting trough loot but I had fun, especially when you go to areas above your normal level to try and get ahead of the curve.
What is crazy is how 90% of the maps and enemies in EXA are recycled from NEO.

[Anonymous No.9393236]

>>9393216
The gameplay of these two were solid, I just wish that the plot and characters had some work done on them. Mainly in Neo, Exa was decent enough even if it had room for improvement. (I did sort of like when that idiot king owned up to his fuck ups and tried to face down all those monsters to make up for it.)

[Anonymous No.9393552]

>>9393216
I would prefer if Neo wasn't piggybacking of the SF1 so hard.
Also a some sort of multiplayer would be nice, since it's a Diablo-clone. I mean, Tears x Wind and Soul 1-2 got that right at least.
Other than that they are alright.

[Anonymous No.9393578]

>>9392992
I know, that wasn't the argument.
But I should add that I wouldn't pick Karna the first time around since I'll always be able to level her later. Tyrin gets the priority. Or the other two.
>>9393006
Dude, Sarah is getting a level just by casting a Heal 1 ten times on herself and healing 0 HP during a battle. Even if it's not as effective as Karna, Frayja and Sheela, you're getting her much earlier.
I remember you saying that she falls of before she gets that much MP and all that, but she's a decent fighter in the first two battles and right after she gets a Short Rod, so it's not like she's that starved for XP, if you just let her be on the frontlines.

[Anonymous No.9393617]

>>9393071
>Magic just seems really underwhelming, like Blaze Lv1 only ever does 6 damage, and even level 3 is lucky to get 16 damage. It doesn't seem to get better as you level up either?
Magic is good because it ignores the defence and never misses. Combined with multi-target variations, it certainly got it's use.
>Something I note for all older Shining games though, I kind of wish that there was more incentive to level up the 'B-team' members. You never actually need to use your reserves like you do in Shining Force III, so I find that I never actually bother to swap out party members after I've found the team I like.
I can see it being true in CD (though then there's that one situation in Scenario 2), but for SF1 I always keep mixing and matching shit, like swapping Lug and Gort for Musashi and Hanzou or doing "challenge" runs, where Alef might be the first mage you get, since Tao and Anri are skippable. Combined with the fact that even with hardcoded rubberband RNG can fuck up some characters (mainly Gong), there is no set B-team.
And I guess even SF2 got some stuff, like trying to fit all 4 Creed's Mansion guys in the party, swapping the characters for ones who come already promoted or just trying out oddballs like Zynk and Claude, who, I heard, are actually somewhat decent.
Treating death like permadeath might also be interesting, though it's not really for me.

[Anonymous No.9394095]

Ah, yes, I do love SF2 and it's starting team!
Bowie, Slade, Chester, Jaha, Kazin and May are so iconic!

[Anonymous No.9394097]

>>9394095
oh no no no sarahsisters this can't be happening!!

[Anonymous No.9394121]

>>9394097
Look, cute elves are cute, but we all know who's the best girl of SF2 is!

[Anonymous No.9394368]

>>9394095
i dont recall being able to stand beside volcanon like that.

[Anonymous No.9394391]

>>9394368
That's because you can't.
Shot was probably taken with debug mode or something.

[Anonymous No.9394514]

>>9394391
i wasnt sure if the jp version was different somehow.

[Anonymous No.9394534]

im trying to search for it, but i cant find anything. isnt there something in sf2 where if you press a button, nothing happens, but everyone turns to face the spot? or something like that? or some kind of secret/useless item? i want to say it was in ribble, one of the doorway tiles (bottom right of the town?) but i dont know if im confusing my games. i dont recall there being secret/useless items like sf1, but i suddenly recall some weird interaction with pressing C or searching or something on some door tile. there might be a second one somewhere else in the game too? am i losing my mind?

[Anonymous No.9394558]

>>9394534
It was the church door in Ribble, yes. Pressing the button makes you auto search just like a barrel or vase, and it says "You search the area. Nothing special was there". It is something of an anomaly.

[Anonymous No.9394567]

>>9394514
I thought about it, but it doesn't make sense.
Then again, SF2 is buggy, especially the western version.

[Anonymous No.9394614]

>>9393216
These aren't Shining Force games.

[Anonymous No.9394813]

>>9394614
Good thing the thread isn't about Shining Force games, then.

>>9393617
>>9393071
I swap out my highest level/exp characters out for lowest level/exp characters between every battle so I know which chars are shit (IE literally everyone you get who's unable to be unpromoted, especially Taya).
Also, about magic being underwhelming, tell that to my unmissable summons and Level 4 bolts.

>>9393006
I don't like that poison doesn't go away after battle and I don't wanna pay a priest to detox my chars, so I always use Sarah to do it while we're walking around a town or the world map.

>>9393198
1) Lotsa things, especially those worms on the way to Tristan, the worms after Nazca and any bat-like creature as well as most lizard-like ones.
2) Besides poison, detox also cures other ailments, rare as they might be.

[Anonymous No.9394814]

>>9394095
>Kazin
That nigga ain't Kazin

[Anonymous No.9394836]

>>9394814
it is tho

[Anonymous No.9394837]

>>9393617
>Magic is good because it ignores the defence and never misses. Combined with multi-target variations, it certainly got it's use.

This is true, and I do normally try to use it in this way (finishing off low health characters, or doing damage across 2+ characters). But the damage is always so low in CD, and the mages are so fragile it hardly seems worth having them around to me. I didn't feel this way for 1 or 3 (can't remember 2, it's been so long).

>Treating death like permadeath might also be interesting, though it's not really for me.
This is an interesting concept, although could be really damn difficult.
I totally get it being great for repeat playthroughs, but the games are long enough that I don't find myself replaying them often/near enough that it's something that appealed to me. SF CD in particular feels like a really long game.

[Anonymous No.9394842]

>>9394614
More Shining Force than Mario Golf and Golden Sun

[Anonymous No.9395196]

>>9394095
To be fair, SF1 cover and some other pieces showing the Force lack Tao as well.

[Anonymous No.9395210]

>>9393071
at level 4 magic becomes a single hit nuke, unless you have done over leveling shenanigans it is typically going to hit harder than anyone else when you get it and things can be weak to it for even more damage. Blaze 4 typically has some of the best MP to damage efficiency of all spells and common undead or ice enemy weaknesses, Freeze does more damage than Blaze for it's higher cost and is strong against obvious fire enemies and most enemies that breathe fire in general, while Bolt is just an absurdly expensive mega nuke.

You just have to level your mages to get these spell levels and in shining force CD I believe you basically have to keep your mages topped up on exp and getting 1 exp per monster to be high enough to get these before the last fight.

[Anonymous No.9395293]

>>9392728
I'm telling you man when everyone tells you to kiss her you have to say no and get outta there

[Anonymous No.9395365]

>>9395293
Shining Force 2 has been played, dissected, replayed, and then had the source code picked through by modders. This isn't 1996, where you can tell your buddies that there's a secret code you can enter to get Max to join.

[Anonymous No.9395432]

>>9392723
>>9395293
Ok but why tf would i choose the worst option? lol

[Anonymous No.9395468]

>>9392723
>>9395293
based gold truth anon.

[Anonymous No.9395469]

>>9395210
Funnily enough my two Hero characters have Bolt Level 4, but Natasha is still only at L3 for Blaze and Freeze.
Maybe I just neglected the mages more than I did in SF1 and SF3, but they seem a lot weaker in this game. I found magic quite useful in the others.
I'm up to what I think is the last battle with Dava, I almost got her but my hero got killed when she did a breath attack and then a regular one to KO him back to back. Should have popped my healing rain first instead of trying to be greedy.

[Anonymous No.9395493]

>>9395365
I'm literally so fucking confused I had to replay the ending just to try to get the scene I remembered. The only explanation I can think of other than this being some mandela effect parallel timeline shit is that they put an easter egg on the sega channel version

pic related is the exact spot where I remember him jumping off the balcony to get out of there

[Anonymous No.9395503]

>>9395493
Did you play this or did you see it played? It's possible someone did a fan-edit or something if it was a let's play.

[Anonymous No.9395516]

>>9395503
I was playing it. Bowie jumps off the balcony there and spins around turning back into his first job class then runs and finds Sarah at the town gate, she turns back into her original sprite and then the two of them run after Astral shows up chasing them.

It makes me angry that I can 't find a version of the game that has that because it was literally perfect for the tone of the game.

[Anonymous No.9395678]

>>9395516
Sir. Such a sequence does not exist. I think you must have dreamed it.

[Anonymous No.9395679]

>>9394813
>I don't wanna pay a priest to detox my chars
dude its like 10 gold.

[Anonymous No.9395742]

>>9395516
>the absolute state of sarahfags
just when i thought they couldnt get any worse.

[Anonymous No.9395746]

>>9394842
Those games are made by Camelot so are more Shining Force than garbage Diablo clones made by nobody involved with the actual games.

[Anonymous No.9396034]

>>9395679
Not in /this/ economy, it ain't!

[Anonymous No.9396056]

>>9395746
Camelot is overrated. Shining took a turn for the worse when Climax left the series.
>made by nobody involved with the actual games.
Wrong, by the way.

[Anonymous No.9397157]

I finished Shining Force CD last night, the third scenario is really fun and a great way to finish the game.
Overall really enjoyed the game, great addition to the franchise and followup to 1. Surprised I don't hear more about it (although the Mega CD was so unpopular it's not THAT surprising).
I also have to note that coming straight from SF1, the voice acting and the music really caught me off guard, you really felt like it was a step up tech wise from the Mega Drive games. I can see why CD was built up so much in the early 90s with even incremental changes like that being possible.
Shade and Chester are best girls, and finally, is Deanna meant to be a boy or girl? They keep referring to them as 'him' but Deanna sounds like a girls name and they seem very feminine.

[Anonymous No.9397191]

>>9397157
>Shade and Chester are best girls,
Dude, I like archers in SF more than the most, but they are outclassed by bow knights so hard, it's unreal.
Shade is the coolest of the Guardiana kids though, I'll give you that.
>and finally, is Deanna meant to be a boy or girl? They keep referring to them as 'him' but Deanna sounds like a girls name and they seem very feminine.
A boy. His name in Japanese is Shu. What the fuck translators were thinking, I got no idea. His sprites are pretty boyish too.

[Anonymous No.9397354]

>>9396056
>Shining took a turn for the worse when Climax left the series.
Based!

[Anonymous No.9397748]

>>9397354
seriously anon, where are you getting all these pics
Not only I am seeing old pictures but with different backgrounds but also stuff without the artist's signature

[Anonymous No.9398013]

>>9397748
There's at least two of us.

I have a massive folder of Shining art, but I can't remember where I've gotten it all.

Captcha literally says Y0 SITD, so I guess I should post another Pyra pic.

[Anonymous No.9398328]

>>9397748
I mostly posted stuff that is either official, drawn by the artist of SF1, stuff from Pict_A_Piyond or just things that were posted in old Shining threads on /vr/.

[Anonymous No.9398621]

>>9398328
fair enough, it's not been a long time since I fonud the artist's twitter and I stopped lurking /vr/like two years until very recently
I'm just glad there's so many pieces I hadn't seen before

[Anonymous No.9398656]

As a complete newbie to the series, should I even bother starting with 1 or should I go straight into 2?
Managed to pick up both at a garage sale

[Anonymous No.9398678]

>>9398656
Both are worth a playthrough. You also might like one but not the other, as they are plenty different, even if they are similar at the core gameplay-wise.
The first game is a bit rough, but it got more of a unique tone to it. The sci-fi elements that RPGs loved going into at the time are more apparent.
The second game offers more QoL stuff, but it's also a bigger commitment. It's also brighter, sillier and gives more of a classic fantasy feel.
If you have to pick one, try them out yourself and play whichever you like more first. They aren't connected directly, so you can always go back to other one later.

[Anonymous No.9398731]

>>9378616
>>9398013
Question: Pai-rah or Peer-ah? I always said "Pai-rah" but my best friend back then said "Peer-ah." But then, he also pronouned Celes from FF6 "See-lez," the Genji equipment the "Genie" equipment, scimitar as skimitar, behemoth as "beh-heh-moth" (like "moth to a flame" moth) and, most ridiculously, Leviathan as Levvee-uh-thon, as though it was some sort of sales event or charity auction or something. And I always let it slide, but he busted my balls for like a week for reading the manual for his newly acquired Earthworm Jim game aloud and accidentally reading part of the queen's name/title as "sweety" rather than "sweaty."

[Anonymous No.9398983]

I heard that this one is like shining force.
How similar is it?

[Anonymous No.9399037]

>>9398656
1; then emulate CD and Final Conflict; then 2. And it's probably a good idea to install fresh batteries in the cartridges.

[Anonymous No.9399060]

>>9398983
Would call it a clone if it wasn't literally made by people who worked on the SF1 and didn't have a crossover of sorts in some manga or something. In some ways more similar to it than CD and SF2.
It's more grim, militaristic and all though. It also got an alignment system and different routes attached to it, which you get into depending on how you play.
tl;dr It got a centaur girl, the fuck else do you need?

[Anonymous No.9399092]

>>9398731
"Pai-rah" is probably right.
I always said "Peer-ah", but I'm ESL and this stuff always fucks me up, since it's the way it would be in my language.
Fun fact, in Japanese her name is Merlin and Milo's name is Bilbo.

[Anonymous No.9399103]

>>9399092
The little bit of Shining in the Darkness I played was SOVL af but I think I'm too retarded to play a DRPG without an ingame map.

[Anonymous No.9399134]

>>9399103
I've got a solution for you.

[Anonymous No.9399159]

>>9399103
Is Pyra's View spell not enough for you?

[Anonymous No.9399304]

>>9399060
That dark elf chick in the manga crossover hit just right for me. Mmm.

[Anonymous No.9399317]

>>9399304
If it's who I think it is, she's the best wizard in the game.
Honestly, dark elves, dwarves, etc is such an underexplored concept in Shining.

[Anonymous No.9399326]

>>9399304
mishaela one of my earliest crushes.

[Anonymous No.9399329]

best versions of each game?

[Anonymous No.9399386]

>>9399329
Unless you mean hacks:
SF1 is a different experience on the GBA and despite the new content, I wouldn't call it better.
Japanese version of SF2 is less buggy, but you'll be stuck with Japanese text. It's better to play Shining games in Japanese in general, but it is what it is.
SFCD is better than Gaidens 1 and 2. Well, balance got a bit weird, considering the engine change, but presentation is much better than on Game Gear.

[Anonymous No.9399607]

>>9399386
what hacks do you recommend?

[Anonymous No.9399615]

>>9399607
I never played any, so none.

[Anonymous No.9399786]

>>9399092
I didn't wanna get into it, but I'm also ESL. That friend should commend me for speaking THREE GODDAMN LANGUAGES (or four, depending on how you look at it) at the age of 10 rather than talking shit because I said "sweety" by mistake, the monolingual fuck.

[Anonymous No.9399971]

Look, I'm out of comments at this point, so I'm just going to post random art and random trivia at random intervals.

Zylo is actually the King of Bustoke.

[Anonymous No.9400065]

>>9399971
A bit weird doing that in a thread that is on autosage, but go ahead. It's appreciated.

[Anonymous No.9400106]

>>9400065
Oh it is? I was not paying attention.

Eh, I'll just do it next thread I guess.

[Anonymous No.9400123]

>>9400106
I also was surprised that it's been 2 weeks already.

[Anonymous No.9400346]

>>9399971
gonna need the source on that one. from everything i remember, he was just some resident and the soldiers invading put something in his drink which made him go crazy.

[Anonymous No.9400670]

>>9400346
he is referred to as lord Zylo by several npcs and while he might just be the mayor he has a throne house.

[Anonymous No.9400978]

>>9400346
From the SF1 Character Book

p.24
====

[If it's power you need, leave it to him! A combat expert]

As you'd expect from a werewolf--his veins flowing with the blood of a
beast who has been enriched by adversity in many battles--his
offensive strength is preeminent by far. His other parameters are not
bad either, and he'll probably work out well for you as your top
soldier.

Like Balbaroy, he is an attack type that will gain levels rapidly. His
HP is lower, though, so if he's forced to face an unreasonable number
of enemies, he'll get taken down. Have him move with his comrades.

[Zylo]
Occupation: Wolf
Race: Wolfling
Sex: Male
Age: 47
Height: 212cm (6'11")
Weight: 107kg (236lbs)
Birthplace: Bustoke
Initial Level: 9
Initial Equipment: None

[His honest personality causes him to throw himself earnestly into
everything he does]

He is a leader who takes great pride in his Wolfling heritage, and
he's willing to lay his own life down in the effort to protect the
people of his country. People revere him as the king of the mountain
denizens and the spirit of the forest. An unkingly king, when war
breaks out he rushes to the vanguard and makes directly for the
battlefield, pouring all his strength into the battle. He is a
prototypical brawler.

He has some allure that entrances people, and he is adored by his countrymen.

[His Form May Be That of a Beast, but He Has a Bigger Heart Than Anyone!]