Sega's role-playing Shining series got its start winding through some deep, dark corridors. Shining in the Darkness is the progenitor of the whole line, from the turn-based strategy series Shining Force to the hack-and-slashfests of Shining Soul and everything that gleams in-between. However, aside from the art and musical direction, this dungeon crawler shares little in common with its more complex descendants.
There’ve been lots of difficult games in my life. Shining in the Darkness was one of the hardest in my 16-bit era experience. A Sega Genesis game that was part dungeon crawler and part JRPG, Shining had a relentless enemy encounter rate and a Labyrinth that was very easy to get lost in.
I tried to play this on the Sega collection released on the ps3 but it was too dated for my taste (my opinion), however, I love love love Shining the holy ark and as you can see I love the shining force series (not anything after the saturn days). I want the game to make a comeback, at least an HD revamp.
I would love to have a crack at this one again. never finished it on my previous attempts.
Words cannot express how much i want a full 3-part localisation of Shining Force 3, and then Shining Force 4.
Carl Williams writes, "First person dungeon crawling adventures and me go WAY back. I love them. Probably my favorite genre, especially those that allow you to control a single person (I view everyone extra as just stats and equipment mules). While not a single party first person dungeon crawler, Shining in the Darkness is still quite awesome. I can overlook dealing with extra characters in my party as they do more than just hold stuff- they have personality and contribute to the story as it progresses. Sega did good."
Shining the Holy Ark truly took it to the next level, wonderfully engaging game. One of the best JRPG's on the Saturn, only to be beaten by Shining Force. Both soundtracks are outstanding.
And I've tried to recapture the magic with other Japanese dungeon crawlers but nothing match how amazing the Shining games are. Anybody knows any game that are just as good?
The bar is set quite high there. I have found quite a bit of enjoyment with Vandal Hearts (PSOne) myself. It is a 3D turn based strategy title. Not much compares with Shining the Holy Ark though. I am interested in seeing what is offered up for that one too.
