Long rant short, I've been anticipating a (more) traditional Shining Force game ever since enjoying the original three~four, but being terribly disappointed by more modern additions to the series. Search up physical information yourself, if you're more interested, as this is more or less going to be a long, continuous quasi-journal of thoughts on the game.
Contrary to a lot of the promotional art they put up, the actual in-game portraits don't really grab me as much initially; they're just not as well-defined as, say, Tales designs. Granted, it's not that big of a deal, and the presence of voice acting more than makes up for it. The voices themselves seem slightly above par, after, like, half an hour into the game, but the cast list itself is enough to keep me patient.
Now, about the dearly anticipated battle system, it's really iffy for me right now. The biggest drag is definitely the map movement system, namely removing the tiles SRPG fans are so used to, but it may also just be that I'm too used to traditional styles, so we'll see. On the other hand, the actual battles themselves are phenomenal, easily with enough sprite variance to par with, say, GBA/NDS SRW; granted, that's not saying much, but this is definitely one of those 2D/3D sprite hybrids that HASN'T been an utter failure, at least to me. Characters move flawlessly and fluidly, despite a quasi-complex system (with attacks being comparable to Tales ougis, for example). Specifically in battles, it's definitely a graphical powerhouse, as far as the NDS is concerned... And that's after just playing with two unique units on my side, too.
I will say this, though - the character designs jump out, like, fifty-fold, come actual battles; Jin (and company) definitely look pretty generic via their portraits, but they absolutely shine in battle. Flight-Plan definitely deserves some praise for execution, even being able to convey characters' personalities through how they fight - even with voice acting, Jin's aggressively hotheaded nature doesn't really shine until he charges an enemy. Love Beiru's swords, by the way~
The storyline isn't anything particularly grabbing so far, but then again, few games catch on within the first half hour or so. Anyhow, I'll update this as I go (maybe), especially after I, you know, actually GET Alfin on the team. Definitely can't wait to get more Force members. XD
Contrary to a lot of the promotional art they put up, the actual in-game portraits don't really grab me as much initially; they're just not as well-defined as, say, Tales designs. Granted, it's not that big of a deal, and the presence of voice acting more than makes up for it. The voices themselves seem slightly above par, after, like, half an hour into the game, but the cast list itself is enough to keep me patient.Now, about the dearly anticipated battle system, it's really iffy for me right now. The biggest drag is definitely the map movement system, namely removing the tiles SRPG fans are so used to, but it may also just be that I'm too used to traditional styles, so we'll see. On the other hand, the actual battles themselves are phenomenal, easily with enough sprite variance to par with, say, GBA/NDS SRW; granted, that's not saying much, but this is definitely one of those 2D/3D sprite hybrids that HASN'T been an utter failure, at least to me. Characters move flawlessly and fluidly, despite a quasi-complex system (with attacks being comparable to Tales ougis, for example). Specifically in battles, it's definitely a graphical powerhouse, as far as the NDS is concerned... And that's after just playing with two unique units on my side, too.
I will say this, though - the character designs jump out, like, fifty-fold, come actual battles; Jin (and company) definitely look pretty generic via their portraits, but they absolutely shine in battle. Flight-Plan definitely deserves some praise for execution, even being able to convey characters' personalities through how they fight - even with voice acting, Jin's aggressively hotheaded nature doesn't really shine until he charges an enemy. Love Beiru's swords, by the way~
The storyline isn't anything particularly grabbing so far, but then again, few games catch on within the first half hour or so. Anyhow, I'll update this as I go (maybe), especially after I, you know, actually GET Alfin on the team. Definitely can't wait to get more Force members. XD
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