Shining Force II (Sega Genesis) | Bofner

My all time favorite RPG on my all time favorite game console. I try to be objective in all of my videos, but I definitely gushed a bit in this one. If you notice any discrepancies between the clips, it's because halfway through the game I got the OSSC and switched to that for recording. Therefore all SF II clips were recorded using my original Model 2 Genesis with HD retrovision component cables through either the retrotink 2X or OSSC with the Elgato HD 60S.
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[@UnimpressedViking]

Shining Force II is and will ever be my favorite game of all time.

[@BVBenzler]

True words.

[@gpl992]

Seconded!❤

[@xenocide1307]

SF I and II were the most iconic games of my childhood.

[@user-iy9kz2td2u]

This is my FAVORITE game in existence and ill never stop playing it over and over

[@user-iy9kz2td2u]

I dont really use a main team anymore. I like the suspense of switching it up

[@thuzzwhistle1028]

@@skipduffee9453 Oof, I’ll try: Bowie Peter Slade Kazin (SORC) Karna (MMNK) Rick (PGKT) May Jaha (BRN) Sheela Gerhalt Lemon Zynk

[@elscorcho7033]

If i could just have Zylo in SF2 I'd be in heaven, love both 1 & 2 so much!

[@user-iy9kz2td2u]

@@elscorcho7033 personally the characters i want from shining force in shining force 2 is Lyle, Hanzou and masashi

[@eriks2962]

I play shining force 2 at least once every couple of years. It's just that good. There are a couple of constrained runs I used to do. The simple ones are things like: -spell casters only (that's pretty tough early on, but it get easier. You can use Slade, since he eventually get spells) -no spellcasting (you can have a spellcaster but can't actually use a spell) -can not buy equipment (this is pretty hard) -can't raise -no egress (or wing) -can't restart battle (kraken and chessboard gets real tricky)

[@gentlemancaller4058]

My first foray into TRPG. I played this at my grandmas house when she got the Sega Channel for her grandkids. Love ya grandma.

[@jmalb42]

Immediate upvote for "favorite game ever" :)

[@alfredojudah6505]

sorry to be off topic but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account? I somehow forgot the login password. I would love any tricks you can give me.

[@briggsjefferson9940]

@Alfredo Judah Instablaster :)

[@alfredojudah6505]

@Briggs Jefferson thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im trying it out atm. I see it takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@alfredojudah6505]

@Briggs Jefferson it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy:D Thank you so much you saved my ass :D

[@briggsjefferson9940]

@Alfredo Judah no problem :D

[@yumemirai4419]

Shining Force was great; Shining Force II was a MASTERPIECE! The art and music are peak Sega. And the STORY! The Nazca ship is still the first thing I think of when it comes to "futuristic ancients." And Oddler is one of the best twists in gaming history--and certainly mind-blowing at the time. Nothing compared. Man! THIS is an adventure. It's like watching a anime, each episode going to some amazing wild locale, fighting some crazy monster... And so many of my OCs as a kid were based on SF2 characters... Thanks for this blast from the past, this was wonderful 🤗

[@shootits48]

This is my first RPG, I'll never have better memories than I do with this game

[@alexmorpheus6762]

My friends played Final Fantasy series but I played Shining Force series during our childhood. Shining Force I introduced me into RPGs and Shining Force II became my personal favorite RPG game of all time!!! ♥️

[@soakedbearrd]

I remember renting shining force from blockbuster and going bananas over it. I managed to beat it before I had to return it. When part 2 came out I forked out 60 bucks (a lot for a teenager back then) to buy me a copy. I was not disappointed! Both parts would forever have a place in my heart.

[@jameslewis4434]

I don't think I'll ever forget my shock when I found Oddler was Odd Eye, truly a terrifying moment for me and made sad by the knowledge I would eventually have to fight someone who I considered to be on my side.

[@ant9925]

"You know how strong I am". Best line in the game. Loved that Odd Eye fight.

[@zparklebugz424]

EPIC turning point for sure!

[@townrowj]

Shining Force 2 Is one of the greatest games of all time I don't even know how many times I have played it or the years.

[@mjkl614]

I played the game when I was 13 and now I'm 40, so much memories...

[@timculhane625]

I am going to be 40 years old in July. This was one of the first games I ever got for the Genesis. What a great great game

[@eben3357]

@@skipduffee9453 Having 12 units in battle is inefficient. The game is broken using a smaller team due to power leveling. Bowie and a a couple of gladiators and red baron will destroy anything. Best team for fast complete however is probably: Bowie (have to use him), Peter, Eric (pegasus knight promote) and Jaro (Valkyries equipped) to nuke the bosses and Lemon to protect a low level Bowie from later demons.

[@eben3357]

@@skipduffee9453 If you promote your characters at around lv. 30 then a smaller team is optimal. Sarah is effective with the Slow spell, but overpowered attacking units are generally better than magic users.

[@deezboltz]

38 in July and yep one of my all time favorites

[@cuylshepherdton7437]

35 years old in May. Shining Force is a religion. Great games. Part 3 is also not bad at all, if I do say so myself. The English translation project is almost to the point where the 2nd and 3rd scenarios are well written and the gameplay is pretty fantastic. I made the mistake of taking my scenario 2 party to level 30 promoted before going to the 3rd scenario where it's much more time efficient to do your second promotion at level 20 promoted so much of Julian's force has lagged behind, but it's pretty awesome. Shining Force 1 is a classic that I remember from my early years and Shining Force 2 is a game I have beaten numerous times. Both are truly classic and amazing games. SF1 is great for the diversity in the cast and 2 is just everything 1 was but better in every conceivable way.

[@WhoLoc]

Absolutely love this game , so fucking good . And the music .... god tier

[@Baneslayer]

"Shining Force II might just be my favorite game ever" SUBSCRIBED instantly. I need to add.... This... and Ultima Online... RIP.

[@CharlieColeslaw]

Ultima Online was my favorite game of all time and I just picked this game up, first time play-through!

[@dmitryk9977]

This is too much NOStalgic... I love SF 2 so much. Thank you for that video

[@TaiJason37]

Played this game to death back in the days during my vacation at my grandparents (they let me play all day, it was like living a dream!). I was very young and fall in love with this game FOREVER. I learned englisch with it, learned how RPG systems work and how good characters are very important for a game. After this i played Shining Force 1, Landstalker, Light Crusader and even both Gaiden 1/2 games on my Game Gear in japanese (i learned i little bit japanese) because i loved RPG’s so much. Now i‘m 38 years old and guess what. To remember the good old days i started all games again on my Series X (yeah, 12TF to play Shining Force) and allready completed Shining Force 2 with all secrets. Phantasy Star 4 is my new thing rn and after that i will play SF1 again. Oasis, Light Crusader and Landstalker are ready to go after this. Someday i will play SF2 again. Maybe when i‘m 50…or next year. Who knows :D

[@LaceyFilm]

Beautiful review. You echoed all of my feelings on the charm of SF2.

[@edenconeby8227]

I’ve played shining force 1 and 2 on every system I’ve owned. The game just grabbed my interest like no other. I’m very grateful sega is good about allowing access to previous games

[@wishiwascooler]

Shining Force 2 is so amazing. Played it a ton as a kid with my dad

[@CelestialReturner]

Just finished it. Became one of my favorite video games of all time!

[@rickyseedo4067]

shining force 2 is my favorite game of all time too.

[@clanpsi]

I really love the music in this game.

[@86RSJag]

One of the best RPG’s ever

[@robthebobz]

Great video! Shining Force 2 and Suikoden are some of my favourite all time games

[@UmeastudentTV]

Shining Force 2, Sonic 2, Streets of Rage 2, Phantasy Star 4, Thunder Force 4... there are so many sequels on MegaDrive that are not only better than their prequels but some of the best games ever made 😍.

[@oakfire12]

I finished this game during the lockdown. Awesome fun.

[@Bofner]

Yeah it's great, and I haven't played anything else that hits quite the way SF II does

[@maniacal1870]

This is the game that got me into gaming.

[@jpmf8050]

It's so nice to see Shining Force 2 getting some love! This was not only the game that introduced me to the series, but also the first RPG I ever played, and it made me fall in love with the genre. I agree with pretty much everything you said, except, after recently playing through both this and SF1 again, I found the story of the first one a lot better, much to my surprise. I found some parts of 2's story a bit silly ( the ending stuff with Ellis especially, lol) but still fun to go through. But that's just a minor nitpick, everything else about the game is absolutely fantastic and one of the last truly great games in the series ( I still hate SEGA for what they've done to the series after SF3, ugh). Anyway, I'll stop rambling now, great video, man😄

[@paulman34340]

I'm in agreement with you! Even though FF VII when it first came out was what got me into RPG! Shining Force 1 + 2 were my first RPG in general (I ended up renting them by accident because of the box art! I may misremember! But I think I rented a version that had both games in one! Sort of like Mario All Stars/Bioshock Collections asks you what game you'll play when you start it up! Did sega do that with Shining Force back on the Sega Genesis? It's kind of Ironic since I only rented FF VII because of the commercial that "hid how the game actually played! Yet both cases intrigued me into looking more into RPG in general and loving it.....like how seeing someone play Baldur's Gate 2 at a computer lab and trying it myself got me into CRPG and D & D in general! It's always those moments you don't think as too big as a kid that ended up having such major effect on you in the long run!) And yeah I agree with you. The "railroading you with the Princess Ending" was fucking garbage.....poor Sarah! I really wanted Bowie to end up with her (I love how they spent so long trying to downplay her crush on Bowie after 2 such as making her shallow with the "only noticing guys who are heroes!" Seeing how the crush doesn't show up till later and it's mentioned her "replacement love interest" couldn't even get her attention till he became "a well known hero!" Fuck you SEGA! It amounted to nothing really when you think about it since as far as I know they never came back to Bowie or his bloodline....or anything from 2 in Shining Force 3! So why railroad him into King and trying to "keep the Hero Bloodline HUMAN ONLY! It's Max all over again, The closest he has to a love interest in 1 would be Mae and I guess they didn't want people questioning the love between a Human and a "Female Horse Woman"...Damn Human Supremacists!). Luckily those stupid parts (and "that one I just ranted about") don't hurt the rest of the experience story wise (I really feel Sega shouldn't have relied so heavily on so many side games to a number entry and in the case of 3 "A FUCKING TRILOGY TO GET THE ENTIRE STORY!" Oh for the Japanese they had no problem seeing how all those were released over there obviously! But outside....jack shit because the system or previous game didn't sell well...or it was on the game gear! I'll admit that I didn't play the Game Gear Shining Force till it became available on my 3DS as I still remember what a horrible experience playing the damn system was when my cousin once had it. But damn are some of those games fun to play NOT ON SAID MONSTER OF A SYSTEM! And people said the Original Game Boy was bulky! At least that thing didn't need A SHIT TON OF BATTERY'S JUST TO WORK FOR IF I REMEMBER LESS AS LONG THEN THE STANDARD OF A BRICK THAT ONLY NEEDED FAR LESS)

[@noahpaulog7617]

💯

[@matthias4037]

Sega lost Camelot (formerly Sonic Software Planning). Without the talent of Camelot Sega otakufied the series in Japan to a point where the new games are more known than the originals... try to play SF3 on Sega Saturn. They are really good.

[@superretrogamerbros.8492]

By far my favorite game! Love this game so much!

[@RadicalDreamer777]

This game is the definition of epicness...

[@nigelhighlands3131]

Just beat this game and never had played it until this year. Absolutely amazing game & one of the best I've ever played. Looking forward to getting into more strategy RPG's but I fear the charm of Shining Force 2 will be hard to replicate.

[@pedronicolau9246]

Try fire emblem 7 for the game boy advance its also a really good tactical rpg.

[@Loxias321]

I love your enthusiasm for this game. I love it so much too. Every few years I play SF2, Link's Awakening, and Final Fantasy 7. Playing again now. Is this the time I finally get three master monks...

[@Bofner]

Hell yeah! Three master monks is so much fun!

[@captainunload]

How could you forget about the Elven Town! Best music ever!

[@explosivehotdogs]

I'd live there.

[@opaljk4835]

I think it’s my favorite as well. It kicks so much ass

[@mintydog06]

Great video. I love the SF games, and SF II is one of the finest games ever made! I agreed with almost everything that you said. Even though the manual doesn't tell you what things like the Vigor Ball do, it's great to find them and then wonder and you try different things until you hit upon your first promotion with a special item, then you realise what it is, then you go looking for all of the other items. Despite playing through the game many times, I still haven't found all of them. I've only played Scenario 1 of SF3, maybe I'll play the others some day.

[@InGodshands7]

I played SF1 back in the day, and then played SF2 on my iPod Touch and iPhone 😄

[@capnheehee8103]

I knew enough to upvote your video in 30 seconds, after your intro. Very well put together, and well-narrated. It's better than 5.5k views, that's for sure.

[@Bofner]

I really appreciate that! Shining Force II deserves more love in general

[@ditship]

Loved SF1 but like you SF2 was my favorite game growing up. I played the first all the way through maybe 5 times? Part 2 I have no clue.. 20 times? It just brought so much joy to a bored kid growing up in the middle of the AZ Desert in the 90s. Great video!

[@franciscocampos8857]

Shining Force II IS my favorite game ever. The RPG / Strategy combination of this game is just perfect!

[@shivasthong4924]

I honestly do believe it superior to the original. And it stands up there as one of my favorite Genesis games. Hell I remember buying it used in one of those little used game bins they had back when Gamestop was Babbages. Best 17 bucks I spent.

[@NeutralAtJSP]

Everyone knows it's better objectively

[@420haxx]

Even though i played SF1 first and have huge nostalgia for it, it's simply impossible ignore the numerous UI improvements, improved graphics, and better story of SF2.

[@marcorc5167]

I was 14 when I played this game and I looked exactly like Bowie lol! Then when you promote him I loved the way his hair looked so I also let my hair grow. Awesome times. I still have long hair due to this game and I'm 32 now.

[@Bofner]

It was always fun playing Genesis RPGs as a Blond haired blue eyed kid, because pretty much off of the protagonists looked like me too!

[@neon-idol2538]

Nice I played it when I was 10, now 29 and still love it, also still have the long hair too lol.

[@gozirrra]

I had to look it up after you pointed it out. Peter's starter class, PHNK is Phoenik and he promotes to PNNX the Phoenix class.

[@Dovahkiin-fc9bd]

You being happy to explain this game is like me being excited to do a final fantasy game and explain whats happening I love it

[@brian8718]

This was great to watch. One of my absolute favs.

[@neozzickmixes3987]

Ahhh man the feels when you talked about the elven town. I still remember when I first found it as a kid. This game will always have a special place in my memories. Same for the first one of course

[@AnimationAndMusicTimeTunnel]

I agree about this game, it's one of my favourite games ever however for me it really is the whole getting lost and not knowing what to do, specially if you've saved the game and gone back to it a little later, it's hard to find where you're up to and what you're doing as there's no map or dialogue to navigate to with this, hence why I've never finished the game haha Although I do want to and am playing it again so hopefully I'll get through it this time, using a guide of course for this. I also agree about the items and not having a clue what they do, again, have to use a guide to see but that aside it really is a fantastic game and one of the greatest games I've ever played. Every part of this review was spot on!! 😊

[@punkskabassist87]

Excellent work! Shining Force II is one of my favorite games of all time, and introduced me to the RPG genre back in the early/mid 90s! I have never met in person another person who's played this game, and even now trying to find much about the game online is nowhere near as comprehensive as other games. This game was very well done, beautiful, and really puts you in the adventure. I usually beat this game once every few years, and it always feels so good. Great job!

[@Bofner]

Glad you liked it! I was big into the Genesis when I was in high school and was lucky enough that one of my teachers had a Genesis when he was a kid too, and told me all about how amazing Shining Force II and the Sega Channel were. He said I NEEDED to play Shining Force II and I've been in love with the series ever since!

[@GokulRG]

Man... This guy loves this game so much ... Just like all of us...

[@theimperial6158]

Immense nostalgia This is truly the greatest RPG of all time Many other games would have done well trying to perfect the turn based strategy genre but ...

[@xRocketzFighterx]

This game made me fall in love with tactical rpgs and i didn't grow up with this as a kid in the 90s. I first played this on the xbox 360 sega collection and i still play this game on my switch, PC. from 2020 to just over 2021 I've beaten the game about 3 times while playing other tactical rpgs and other jrpgs to. Slade is always my no.1 unit also kudos for having a good rat protagonist in a rpg just like Freya from FF9. I swear these are the only two protagonist rats in rpgs and rats are kind of a meme in rpgs as the first enemy. Most other non human races in rpgs are mostly orcs, elves and only animal like non human is mostly related to wolves or felines and that's if we're lucky.

[@Ginkgobonobo]

Oh my god, I'm not the only one who made Chester a Pegasus Knight! It's such an unholoy pain in the ass to drag him along un-promoted until you find the item. I figured I was the only one sentimental enough to do that, also made Sarah a combat monk like you. Looking back I can't think of any tactical advantage this had, nice to know there were other hardcore fans out there :)

[@monkeyspank3005]

Thing about kiwi is he packs a punch if you grind him out and give him potions. He and Peter have great mobility. For example mine was killing enemies at full life even without the fire lol.

[@luceena6165]

3:17 This is actually something fixed in the GBA version of Shining Force I :D Nice video btw, can't wait to play this game

[@AJRisley69]

I'm glad to see people play this game still, thank you

[@SouLofthegroup]

So, I like to have three master monks by games end. I’ve been reading that Eric is the best knight in the game, that “boost” spell is so clutch later in the game. I just started my play through again and Chester is leveling up so dang quick, I love this game so much. Thanks for the video.

[@campkemp9466]

I'm a nintendo guy at heart ❤ but Shining Force 2 is 100% MY FAVORITE GAME ALSO!!! And it's really not even close

[@campkemp9466]

Shining Force 2 was the first game i ever played in the series and i eventually played 1...BUT 2 is my FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME AND I'M A NINTENDO GUY...its the perfect game in my opinion

[@JesGolbez]

Yeah this game was a huge part of my youth, as well. I've played thru at least 10 times, trying to use even the bad characters fully even once. Using Peter to just 1-handedly finish a battle is a bit easy :p

[@Roseveld]

Me too, the best game of all time! 🥳🥳🥳 Not part 1, CD or 3 - the second was my childhood, absolutely gorgeous 😋💯🎊🎉

[@jaycenteno8385]

Wonderful review. This is my fave series ever and I wish it was more widely appeciated, looking forward to what you think about SF3! :)

[@momonemi2681]

Really cool game! I finished them Shining force 1 & 2 I think 18 years ago, it was amazing game and I enjoyed Shining force 2 more than other

[@krodus7578]

I remember first playing this through the Sega Channel. It was like playing a ROM before ROMs were cool 😎

[@toronaldaris]

Same! Originally Played this through Sega Channel, and later Acquired it before it became hard to find. It was my indoctrination to RPG's. The Music. The Characters. The Story. The Gameplay. *swoon*

[@wonderboy13579]

As far as I am concerned, there has always only been one shining force, and that is the second one. never touched another game in the series, but I still play this game occassional through emulators. Amazing game

[@bugs1yb1ins]

Best non-playthrough video of Shining Force 2 on this part of the internet, thanks for the quality content

[@Bofner]

Thanks for commenting! Comments like yours really mean a lot!

[@Luke.Skywodka]

I played this and SF1 decades ago, now i`m hitting lvl 40 ;). I bought a Mega Drive and SF1&2 for around 200 Euros, best buy i have ever made! So good memories coming back!

[@gonzalogorosito9562]

Man, I loved this review, this is my favourite game, and I think I was alone in the world jaja. We should create a discord groups or sth like that to talk about this nostalgic good game

[@Bofner]

I think there is a discord group for people who really love the series. I'd recommend the subreddit!

[@gonzalogorosito9562]

Wow man! Thank's a lot to answer back. It's great to see a person who likes this game as well. It's my all time favourite game, IDK why, maybe the nostalgia jajaja Great review!

[@cuylshepherdton7437]

Peter is so OP in this game. He is awesome.

[@RogueFather]

I love both 1 and 2 they just give me such a sense of nostalgia

[@lukelawrence5862]

Slade might be my favorite character of all time

[@luisreyes1963]

Armed with the Gisarme, he's practically S-Tier!

[@mikem1825]

Man I loved this game.

[@FinnDelMundoTravel]

What a review!! 👌 It’s my favourite game of all time (since 1994) - I feel like a Shining Force convention somewhere in the world is needed 😜!! Awesome video.

[@Bofner]

It's truly such a special game. I'd love to see a new game in the series come out with a similar style

[@FinnDelMundoTravel]

@@Bofner yeah man! - A new game with a 2D style, a new map and follow-on storyline from SF2!! I’m only new to your channel so unsure of your previous videos, so curious, have you ever played the Shining Force 1 remake for Game Boy Advance SP? It was INSANE!! The extra characters and cards added a new depth to it that made it far superior to the original.

[@Bofner]

@@FinnDelMundoTravel I own it, but I've only played the first chapter! It's SUPER interesting though. I plan on playing it as soon as I finish up with Shining Force III scenarios 2 and 3

[@Michael.Hunt.14-52]

i think youve reignited my love for shining force. I first played it on the sega smash pack on dreamcast. Ive only played the first but I absolutely loved it.

[@blazeknight4120]

Aged so well. Don't know that I ever actually beat it though. Maybe time to check this off my official backlog.

[@Bofner]

If you haven't beaten it, I highly recommend it. There's maybe 2 parts in the game that are a bit cryptic, so don't feel bad if you need to look up a guide on where to go a couple of times. It definitely won't ruin the experience for you

[@Jeffmetal42]

such a good game! I love all of the games, even really like Shining in the Darkness too.

[@k1m198]

This game, shining force 1, and Mario rpg are my all time favs as well! And as far as PHNK, I always just said Phoenik lol

[@lildarker4044]

my first encounter with sf2 was when our ISP offered sega games with an adapter for the mega drive

[@billcox8870]

I loved turning Carna into a master monk with a vigor ball. I used the boost spell to send her levels way up.

[@RoteGarde]

OMG I LOVED IT ON MY MEGA DRIVE !!!! The Music Atmosphere is INCRIDIBLE and still today. I remember if you managed to Skill "Slade" to full potential he will became an absolute murder machine :) But it is not easy to train him. Today I play the Fire Emblem series, which nostalgically reminds me of the old Shining Force 2.

[@MnemonicHack]

Yeah man, legit. SFII is my actual favorite game of all time. Bloodborne gives it a close run for it's money, but SF wins out because hell, it was my childhood.

[@MrKkkkkkkk99999]

Underrated comment right here i agree

[@alucardvania986]

Something interesting; Motoi Sakuraba who was the composer for Shining Holy Ark & Shining Wisdom, was the composer for Dark Souls. Souls team made Bloodborne. Both fav games are linked! I would say Bloodborne and Shining Force 2 are also in my top games of all time.

[@seanpaul93]

Love the first two Shining Force games (Shrine theme is so good), only 2 issues I had were: 1. The open world map - You touched on it but I found it confusing to navigate and slightly frustrating, compared to 1's fairly straightforward levels. 2. No Jogurt. They were my first TRPGS too, and they've yet to be topped imo. Great video.

[@Ikouy]

I grew up in the 90s primarily on PC, so a lot of Genesis games I end up getting as PC ports. The original Shining Force I got with Sega Smash Pack 2, and I played it enough to recruit hidden characters such as Jogurt without an online guide. As for Shining Force II I had it downloaded years ago but only really got around to completing it on an iPAQ (yes, with a Q and its native Genesis resolution) and it must be my age in that while it is a great game and surpasses the original in almost every way there's two things that stick out to me. Namely I think having chapters allow for different locale and environments in which each area in the original was fresh and not overly tied together. Here a lot of the map and environments feel either the same, recolored or generic. I agree while the sand in the original is just bad, I also feel that the Ancient Tower and to a lesser extent the ancient passageways hidden throughout the map lack distinguishing features and aren't memorable like the final areas before Darksol. The plot is the other thing. Shining Force II makes it painstakingly clear (though again, my age probably does not help lol) that the game starts and ends in the Ancient Tower. I feel like that overly puts too much strain on the story because it hinders character motivations outside of trying to sail back to the ruins of Granseal. Like, if there was more exploration (like, I don't recall Slade's motivation to steal the jewels) of the characters it would counter it, I guess?

[@paulman34340]

It's why I bought the Sega Collection on my switch! (Well this and the first Shining Force & Phantasy Star 2-4) This series and Warsong were my childhood (Final Fantasy VII got me into RPG in general when it first came out when I was 12, But playing This one and Warsong is what "prepared me" for when I played Fire Emblem Blazing Sword back on the GBA! Without those two. I would have never given Fire Emblem a chance....well that and playing Marth and Roy in Smash before even SEEING their game coming out on the GBA....and I didn't know the GBA one was about Roy's dad till I beat it wondering where Roy was....half-way assuming this was a different Fire Emblem game like how Final Fantasy is different....and then seeing the ending and learning it was a "prequel" to Roy's game...the one we didn't get!). I'm happy to get a chance to play and enjoy them "properly!" (Especially Warsong through the remake of the game IT ACTUALLY IS Langrisser 1 AND 2! Color me surprised when I found out the truth! I never knew a thing about Langrisser till that bad DS entry we got and only learned when I saw the remakes on the Switch that I was playing "Warsong", I honestly thought THEY were ripping off Warsong....till I discovered it was the usual case back then of "Japan thinking we Americans can't get their lingo so they change names to more ACTIONY ONES!" I mean look at the american box art of the Phantasy Star 2-4 and Shining Force 1 & 2! When I played the games I was like "why doesn't my character look like the one on the box art? or Why am I playing an anime? I loved anime even back then! But the attempts to hide the anime appearance was a weird choice for Japan to make, though seeing how Anime only became heavily popular much later on and not that many like myself were attracted to anime when it was still sinking it's teeth outside japan. I guess I understand. Especially since without the internet and easy access to reviews and information. Every purchase for the 8-15 year old me was a dice roll on it being good or not! Hell I hated Legend of Dragoon and felt I wasted my money on it when I bought it for cheap at Kmart back when I was a kid before FF IX assured I learned how to appreciate a good RPG Combat and Gameplay systems and actually payed more attention to story or characters....like why I'm among those who love the FF VII Remake and not crying "betrayal" at the top of my lungs like I'm "the Spoony One" with EA's Ultima entries!)

[@diegoarmando5489]

Warsong and Langrisser 2 MD are harder than Fire Emblem. Der Langrisser is easy though, as are the Langrisser 1 remakes aside from Langrisser Hikari no Matusuei.

[@squidwardtentacles2736]

while Final Fantasy was first rpg I ever played, Shining Force is what got me into rpgs in general (srpg specifically.) somehow the simplicity of it is part of what makes it great. diverse and interesting characters, especially including nonhuman, really emphasizes that ragtag group of people who came together for a singular cause. the promotion system in 2 with inclusion of alternate promotion paths really amped up the replayability. one of my personal favorite games of all time.

[@OMGITzGriFFith]

One of the best review's. Thank you so much.

[@Bofner]

Glad you enjoyed it! Means a lot to hear that

[@MR-qy9op]

Well you win . My story with how I discovered the shining force series is mere luck and a weird PC release of Sega game pack 1 & 2 i used to have a CD's now i'm not So it goes like this i was a gamer playing in the early 2000s freshly bought a new Pc bundled with Win Xp and it was a fresh and new good times and memories for me so a friend of my uncle gave him a present that he doesn't need (Sega game pack 1 & 2) so in return my uncle gave it to me and I had CD ROM installed in the main motherboard (note: at the time it was a luxury to have one because there was a crisis in my country although every thing was cheap) so I fired it up copied and installed some stuff and that included Sega swerrl yup there its for ya pure 2000 I started playing all the for hours on end and beated them all it was approximately 3-5 good hours of gameplay per game (sonic 1&2/chameleon kid/comics zone/etc...) And the last one was shining force 1 it was the longest and the hardest yet the best one and most enjoyable especially that it changed the phase of everything it took me a whole week to finish it first time and then i made a tradition on every Friday to finish it quicker with a different strategy (that was a speedrun before I knew what speed run is at the time) so I was setting on every Friday from early morning to midnight trying to finish it quicker and faster and to this day it was worth and I didn't regret it although I lost the CDs and I stopped playing and stopped the old habit my memories was made that day I finished it first time so thank you for reviewing shining force 2 and the whole series as I played and replayed all of them on emulators and not on consoles i still had a good time and ngl i cried at the middle of your video due to nostalgic memories. So thank you and you win not just my respect but my sub and like .

[@d3nxfr494]

Excellent review ! I just finished the game today and I pretty agree and your points ! Good job really :D

[@SMABackup]

This is honestly one of the best games ever made. It’s downplayed because a lot of new school chumps only care about graphics. But in literally every other aspect this game scores a solid 10/10. I mean heck, at the time, the graphics of this game was considered off the hook. Truly an underrated gem

[@Bofner]

I honestly can't see how someone could say the graphics aren't good, even today. It easily stands toe to toe graphically with a modern game like Shovel Knight. It's so colorful and detailed, especially those character portraits

[@SMABackup]

@@Bofner I agree 100%. Personally I don’t have any issues with the graphics. Truth be told I played this game for the very first time when I purchased Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. I was absolutely shook and couldn’t put the game down (and this was in the ps3 era!) The plot, the dialogue, the colourful array of characters, the free-roam, the music... It was all perfect. Most definitely one of it not the best RPG’s ever made

[@Bofner]

@@SMABackup I gotta agree. I didn't grow up with this game either (I'm 25) but in high school I was somehow talking to my Spanish teacher about Sega, and he said he grew up with the Sega Channel and Shining Force II, and told me that I NEEDED to play it, and from there I was hooked. The only issue is that neither the game nor the manual tell you how special promotions work, and that wooden plank tree puzzle can be tough if you don't know about it beforehand

[@ozzyarroyo2171]

My absolute favorite genesis game it just screams childhood and summer nights to me

[@gmizzac]

I used to love playing this game on The Sega Channel 🎮

[@420haxx]

I love the Shining Force series, so many great childhood memories from the first two games, later in life i got to play SF 3 and whilst its a great, epic game, it's pacing and charm doesn't compare to to the originals.

[@Bofner]

I feel the same way. I played the first scenario of SF3, and while I really enjoyed it, I didn't like it quite as much as I did SF2

[@maxstone9999]

This was awesome. Well done!!

[@angelroman.709]

Sh2 music and story is really good and the little references to sf1 in books and the priest that talk about max but then he go to take a nap and never finished the story.

[@Bofner]

I think that was one of my favorite parts about sf II, the music is just so good and the graphics are so vibrant and colorful

[@explosivehotdogs]

Such an epic game... somewhat simple mechanics compared to RPGs now but it doesn't need to be complicated to be excellent. The characters are compelling and the story is top notch IMHO. Slade was always my favorite too - how often do you get to have a rat ninja on your team?? And agreed, the fact that he can use magic and chop up enemies just makes him that much more awesome. At least it makes up for his lack of dialogue... Also Peter starts as a Phoenik, it says in the manual. : ) I guess it just means a young phoenix.

[@UnlicensedGamer]

Have always loved shiny force. Never got to try this one. Just based off your review I’m gonna play it.

[@shadowednavi]

I walked down the aisle to Princess Elis' theme. This game is so important to me. Thank you for this fantastic love letter to one of the best genesis games 💖

[@Bofner]

That is the cutest thing I've ever heard! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@SyddlesFuzz]

This was a huuuuge part of my childhood.

[@Bofner]

NO WAY! How did that work playing it on Sega Channel? I was WAYYY too young to know about it when it was actually a thing. Did it wipe your save every time you turned the console off?

[@SyddlesFuzz]

@@Bofner So the game line-up changed periodicly. I got to play it once, and then it shifted, so I begged my parents to buy it and that's how I ended up with SF2 instead. D: I never got to try and save, on Sega Channel.

[@jacintoguinoo7752]

Also it’s better than the first one because when you promote characters they stay with the same status but in the first one their statuses decrease or stay the same

[@elscorcho7033]

Creeds Mansion was so fun, i think i spent 30 mins trying to decide who to take the first time lol.

[@morferismoinmunoneuropsico1777]

Lmao same

[@Venoix]

This is a really good review. I love your passion for the game, and the dramatic way you read some of the character dialogue, and explain elements of the story. I sadly have never beaten this game, as I never owned a Sega system, but I have recently picked up the original Shining Force, and plan to play this one eventually too. The desert battle in Shining Force... I didn't even realize it was a desert at first. I thought it was dirt, and then I was like..."why are my character's movements so limited.. ohhhhh!" It's always great when a game improves on things that didn't work too well whether it be system wise, or graphically, in the sequel. I really enjoyed this review. Great job! Keep it up!

[@Bofner]

Thanks a bunch, that really means a lot. Shining Force II is one of my all time favorite games. I hope you fall in love with the series just like I did

[@campkemp9466]

The random part of the game is what makes it good...like chess but way better with more possibilities