Shining Force 2

[OCH]

The Good old days when (western) box art was largely unconnected to the game itself. But Japan was more on the money...

 

Anyway, at time of writing I'm an hour at most away from the ending. So I should probably give some indication I've been playing anything at all for the past few weeks. Fun fact: I played this upon it's original release (1994) but never played the original game until the 2004 GBA remake. As you can imagine, I have a natural bias to the sequel.

 

I still adore this game. Mostly I find the "jank" is associated to the control scheme. You have to pull up a menu to do just about everything. Every character can only hold four items (one of those is typically a weapon) and it just generally slows the whole process down. Funnily enough I've found the game wide secret largely on my own. Mithril. You find pieces of Mithril on the world map and in hidden treasure chests. There are fifteen in all. But there is an early point of no return in the game that means you can miss three of them. Those ones I always miss. Jump through a few hoops later and you reach the Mithril Blacksmith. Get ready to save scum if you want the best aka Ultimate weapons, though. The RNG is abysmal.

 

The cast is quite expansive in this game. Which is quite standard for an SRPG. By the same token, a fair few aren't worth even using in your team at any point (points to Skreech, Birdman number two). You'll note from above some have alternate portraits. Due to the class promotion system in this game. There are also secret added items that grant some characters a new class promotion. For example, Kazim (sixth portrait on the top row). He can be promoted from Mage to Wizard at level 20. However, if you hold off on that for a town or two. You find a Secret Book which can make him a Sorcerer instead (this games Summoner). This applies to several classes of character. But you don't need to fret over it if you miss these items. The ultimate class promotion of the Centaurs is Pegasus. If you miss the item in the Centaur town. The Pegasus Jaro (the blond, seventh from the end on the bottom row) joins you by default later. Naturally, these characters won't be as strong as your initial characters would be in these classes. 

As an aside, much like the first game. I really don't get the fixation these games have with the Centaur class. There are five of them in this. Six or seven in the first game. There is very little between any of them.

 

So yeah, on to my last two bosses of the game - Odd Eye and, King of the Devils, Zeon. I remember the latter being a chore. I've set the game to Hard mode. The 'Super' and 'Ouch' Modes beyond that seem really unnecessary to me. Since it isn't like you get anything extra for the added struggle.

[OCH]

On 12/02/2023 at 15:58, OCH said:

So yeah, on to my last two bosses of the game - Odd Eye and, King of the Devils, Zeon.

When two bosses translates into five battles😄

 

 

THE END

Technically, this isn't the final screen of the game. But it brings up a dissonance I had with said ending. The lack of interaction. Obviously, this is a 29 year old game. But I can't help but see it in the same light as the other SRPG I'm currently playing - Valkyria Chronicles 4. Other than the fact I can visualise this game in that latter game's engine. The characterisation of VC is nonexistent here. For example, there are two archers (dressed in green and pink respectively above) called Elric and Janet. Now Janet joins you in pursuit of Elric, her love. To fight by his side. The problem is they have zero dialogue together. Even on the rare caravan/base maps that have you entire party idling. By the same token, there is a Centaur that says he is looking for a magic sword. A Dwarf that says he has a family in a nearby town. Neither of these statements are elaborated on. Upon recruiting, a good 85% of your party never utter a plot/opinion relevant point again.

Which brings us to the elephant in the room, the above image. The above protagonist (Bowie, canonically) and Princess Elis. They speak about three lines together in the entire game. Through >spoiler free< plot twists. She has to be awakened by a kiss from her true love. You. Naturally this is a "save the princess" trope. But in 2023, I can't help but see how shallow it is. They are basically strangers.

 

Also, funny story. There are 15 out of 30 characters in the final village sequence. The rest, barring a plot specific omission, are absent. Including the seven characters you have to go out of your way to recruit.

It reminded me of the purposeful absence of Yuffie and Vincent from the FF7 final cinematic. Didn't recruit Kiwi (the turtle)? Don't worry, it won't affect the ending.

Still love this game. But ...I don't think I'll play it again. Certainly not all the way through. The ending just gave a bit of tonal whiplash that I didn't experience back in '94. 8/10