Shining Force on the Sega Genesis | Mega Drive: Shining Force Retrospective Episode 1

[@dungeonchill]

Shining Force is my favorite SRPG series. I’ve played and loved every single game. This was an excellent retrospective on the first. Looking forward to the others!

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, glad you liked it! There's plenty more on the way!

[@CaptainColdyron222]

Shining Force I & II are two of my favorite games of all time. I take them out and play each of them once a year.

[@CasperEgas]

Why didn't you like the third? I think that is the best one by quite a big margin.

[@destructionator17]

Something about this game that can help you zip through the battles is that there's actually often a specific goal to the battles, not just kill all the enemies. For example, in the first battle, if you rush to the back and kill the knight thing, you win. In the second one, if you rush to the castle, even leaving enemies behind, you win. Or the laser eye fight: the laser eye doesn't actually matter. Fly over and kill the knight that knocked Pelle down and the battle is over. Sometimes it is just getting a specific treasure box too... I kinda love it, this fact gives you whole other ways to play the game if you want.

[@Lenoh]

18:20 That's...that's gotta be... *_THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!_*

[@DungeonLords]

Think I only ever played part one, but sunk countless hours into it!

[@timeforringydingy]

Your work on Shining Force deserves way more recognition than this is drawing. For whatever it's worth, you nailed it, dude.

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! This one is doing OK for my audience, it's 5he newest one that KZbin just doesn't feel like promoting for some reason.,

[@caseygoddard]

Much apricated that you took the time to go into the game in detail. I'm looking forward to watching the other installments in this series.

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks! New episode coming in a couple of weeks! But I've already done Shining Force, the first two Gaiden titles on Game Gear, Shining Force II and SHining Force CD if you want to check them out!

[@DragonKingX78]

Classic game series, really deserves more love....a lot more.

[@rumblered1850]

I played Beyond the Beyond on a whim recently because I thought the battle scenes looked cool. I'd played some of the Shining games and Golden Sun before but I didn't know about Camelot's history until I looked into what BtB's deal was. I felt a little dumb for not making the connection. This should be a fun series. I'm interested in how the GBA version holds up, I didn't even know that existed.

[@InglebardGaming]

Beyond the Beyond definitely has its issues, but the Shining pedigree is there and it felt like the first traditional Shining series RPG. Still, it could have had better production values even though it was an early release. It's been fun replaying the games, hope more people discover these videos!

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

For me I immediately made the connection based on the art style, inventory and stats used in the game. But what shocked me more than anything was...why was a Sega related company making software for it's rival Sony at the time and not for the Saturn? In hindsight it was a fairly good idea to go with a larger platform but in the end it was an early title that got little to no promotion at all. Despite it's simplicity I want to complete the game one day but have only played through the first couple areas in the adventure.

[@opaljk4835]

@@thedrunkmonkshowa lot of companies made games for both platforms, but I do agree it’s a little odd. I don’t think they made anything aside from shining games for sega though, right?

[@orangeslash1667]

@@opaljk4835 I recommend Unicorn Overlord, its strategy RPG published by Sega.

[@1funkylionsfan913]

I love beyond the beyond. It's one of those no body ever heard of games that rocks , like doom and destiny

[@InglebardGaming]

I've always liked it. It's not one of my favorites, but it's always been like the straight up traditional Shining RPG that we never got. It's also a bit on the wordy side, but I still like it.

[@jezebeltryst5444]

I tried to get into it but just couldn't

[@1funkylionsfan913]

@@jezebeltryst5444 to each their own I guess, I got the game when it was new almost 30 years ago . Maybe if I played it more recently I wouldn't have the same feels for it

[@jezebeltryst5444]

@1funkylionsfan913 I think the biggest issue I had atthe time was sooooo many other things to play when I had beyond the beyond it just sorta fell to the wayside. I know the beginning didn't grip me but I know several games that started slow but got great. Maybe it's one of those

[@1funkylionsfan913]

@@jezebeltryst5444 and maybe it's just not for you , and that's OK. It's like some people prefer Coca-Cola to Pespi and some like me don't like either. I personally remember playing this game when life was simpler and maybe part of the reason I enjoy it has to do with nostalgia glasses and maybe if I played it today I wouldn't want to deal with some of the slow stuff at the beginning or that the HP system would bother today . Who knows ? but I do remember it fondly

[@TJDious]

The laser eye battle is my favorite in any SRPG I've ever played.

[@InglebardGaming]

It was definitely interesting. I like the battles like this one that switch up how you play the game.

[@brodiereed7570]

have a lot of work to do in the next couple days and i'm so glad i found your channel you saved my sanity this week king!

[@InglebardGaming]

Welcome and hope you like it! There's already 7 Shining Force videos like this one up 😁

[@roberto1519]

Shining in the Darkness (AND the Darkness in Japan), SF1, SF2, SF Final Gaiden (Game Gear), SFCD, The Holy Ark and the greatest of all, Shining Force III trilogy on the Saturn are great games, the series never returned to its glory after that, much like Golden Axe, Shinobi and other SEGA series. Looking forward to watching your perspective on the series.

[@InglebardGaming]

Sega basically killed the series the exact moment that the whole strategy RPG genre got popular. Shining Force should have been a giant of the genre, a pillar that still continues today. They did the same thing with Phantasy Star. In the US they were one of the first big companies to do console RPGs, as soon as the genre got huge, they pretty much stopped making regular Phantasy Star games. The PSO titles are so different they don't count.

[@roberto1519]

Totally, they also didn't recognize even later Saturn games potential, Burning Rangers would have benefitted a lot in a Dreamcast, or even better a Xbox sequel or remaster. SEGA had gold in their hands with so much original IPs. As a kid I enjoyed Miracle Warriors on the Master System, one of the ver first RPGs to grace a console, Golvellius later and much more. I also consider Story of Thor 2 a masterpiece on the Saturn. You hit the nail on the head there, Shining Force is the staple of the Tactical RPG in the west, it's hard to believe, I remember quite well how puzzled I felt with the Shining games my brother got on the PS2, I was so excited yet, the games are a far cry from what I expected. As a teen, my expectations from the 32-bit expanded games in the 128-bit era were hardly matched, dreaming about a true Shining Force in the 6th gen, even Sony's own, Legaia had a sequel but stopped there, Brigandine is amazing on the PS1 and it got an expansion only in Japan (you should check to see if you like this), Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Cross, etc so many memorable games didn't get a follow-up.

[@Troll_On_YouTube]

Best SRPG ever, the battle sequences were addictive.

[@MBulldog1979]

I love the anime design of the characters on the 1st and 2nd game. I actually started playing the first one recently on the switch by way of the Sega Mega Drive collection. Even though I suck at srpgs. Nice video btw.

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks! I'll be doing SF3 Scenario 2 soon!

[@MiBrCo4177]

Having recently just started my first ever legit playthrough of Shining Force 1 on the Genesis (never owned a copy myself always used my friends game to have my own score) I'm on chapter 7 and loving it. I've beaten 2, countless times, and never really tried 3, only for a few hours here and there over the years. The SegaCD (sf gaiden 1/2) and the GameGear game, shining force gaiden: final conflict (game gear only, fan translation) are on my emulator playlist. I can't wait to see where this series goes. You just earned a sub on nostalgia alone lol, Great job!

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, appreciate it! So far I've covered all the games in the series with similar videos through Shining Force III scenario 1. SC2 will be coming probably early next month!

[@cheems418]

Thanks for all your effort here. SF is a great series of games.

[@InglebardGaming]

NP, thank you for watching! First SF III video coming soon!

[@MrSheduur]

Shining Force is one of these titles from my teenage years that I absolutely loved and still have such fond memories off. The artstyle was so nice and as you mentioned, it really has that Disney type flair to it, combined with the really nice looking battle backdrops it made for a real visual treat back then. I wish someone would give these games a modern facelift and only recreate the visuals but leave the gameplay, similar to how Square did it with Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Remaster.

[@buckjones4901]

I was in my 20's little older, but I agree I always enjoyed the artwork in the battle scenes. Would have like to see this game made again by Sega for modern PC's and systems.

[@kaleeshsynth9994]

These are really well made videos, they need more views. Like how sega needs to give this franchise more love and attention

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, appreciate it. The algorithm has never been a friend, but that's life I guess!

[@Jedikun]

Well written, good commentary, audio sounds good, great production and pacing. Surprised your channel isn’t bigger. Keep at it I really enjoyed watching this!

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, glad you liked it! For whatever reason, the algorithm has never been big on recommending my channel so glad you stumbled onto it! Enjoy!

[@TJDious]

"If Darksol can long distance kill like that, why can't he do it to you and the rest of the Shining Force?" Evil generals like Ballsa- umm, Balbazak make pacts with Darksol for greater power. It forges a bond that allows Darksol to do such things. It's just headcanon but it makes sense to me.

[@darkwolf9204]

Fun story, my brother and I played this so much we burned our cartridge and could no longer save. That didn't stop me from playing through in one sitting, usually coming in around the 8 hour mark.

[@InglebardGaming]

I don't get it, the early SF games in particular seem to have really bad saving issues on both real hardware and even when using emulation. Not sure what that was all about. I lost my save on my real cartridge a few times and once during emulation.

[@Ninjaswithipods]

Max pulled a homecoming spidey and just wrote himself off as dead or nonexistent.

[@InglebardGaming]

More like Spidey pulled a Max, since that movie came out like 30 years after this 😁

[@mikeclark4480]

Love that man. New so can't wait for the rest

[@InglebardGaming]

Glad you liked it! The first three episodes are up already!

[@rjmario2234]

Great retrospective!

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@kevincouto350]

Childhood memories 😢..game was awesome

[@InglebardGaming]

Definitely a classic!

[@gradystephenson3346]

I used to get down to the last guy in this game and then do the fight over to level everyone up

[@DylanScottDavis]

Just found this channel because I'm on a Shining Force kick once again. I've always loved SF as a series, even though I've only played a few titles and I don't even think I've beaten them. But to me they hold a special place in my heart, and I really should rectify having not beaten them. Perhaps watching your retrospective will make me want to replay and finally finish these games.

[@InglebardGaming]

If you want to just see what they are all about first, I've got retrospectives on each one currently (as of Oct 5th 2024) going through Shining Force III Scenario 1!

[@Yu-Fei-Hung]

Great story and the detail about the name “Granseal” was superb!

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@maxstone9999]

Great video. Love these games. I did a playthrough of Shining Force on my channel with some creative touches and will probably do a review of my own at somepoint.

[@InglebardGaming]

Thanks! Sorry for the late reply, been really sick :P Good luck with your video!

[@mtgdiagnosis9469]

loved this video. Thank you.

[@InglebardGaming]

Glad you liked it! I have similar videos up for the series up through SF III Scenario 1!

[@diegoarmando5489]

Not a dungeon crawler fan generally, but Darkness (which I don't care for) and Holy Ark (which is pretty good) are part of the same universe as the SRPGs, as is Wisdom (which I've never played).

[@xnflg3074]

omfg i just got PTSD from the circus fight. FUCK that fight.

[@InglebardGaming]

Ha, yeah I remember it being a pain the first time I did it.

[@billcox8870]

I don't know where I learned it but in several the battles, I just wish I could remember where there was spots you could search for a hidden item. That was some years ago

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

I got introduced to the series in a roundabout way of the early 2000's while borrowing my friend's Sega CD with his burnt copy of Shining Force CD. If I remember correctly I beat Book I of that game and got close to beating Book II but that portion of the game seemed longer and tougher with the battles than Book I. I didn't find out until years later that the Shining Force CD was an enhanced remake to the first two Game Gear Shining Force Gaiden tales. A few years after that it just so happened that Shining Force 1 remake was coming out for GBA to which I immediately played and beat. I had no frame of reference going into the GBA remake because I had never played the Genesis original but all-in-all I thought it was extremely well done minus some of the tedious battles mid game due to limited terrain movement. I've wanted to play the 3rd game Final Conflict for the Game Gear but it was never released to western audiences and there's no complete English translation that I know of. While I understand a little Japanese and can get through some of the early battles I didn't want to ruin it buy not understanding the story or being able to read the item descriptions in the inventories/shopping. Thanks for showing this classic series some love and can't wait for the next ones. 😄

[@InglebardGaming]

It's a great series, glad you had a chance to discover it. And good news, there IS a full translation of Shining Force Gaiden: The Final Conflict. I actually reviewed it here on the channel about two years ago, it's been out for quite a while 😁 You can find it on romhacking.net. Storywise it's more of a follow up to Shining Force II on the Genesis, but you can still enjoy it without having played that one.

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

@@InglebardGaming Oh no way thanks for the heads up! While checking the site I see they have a translation of Sylvan Tale too! I grabbed them both and can't wait to sink my teeth into them this weekend 😁

[@InglebardGaming]

Yeah, pretty much every GameGear RPG has been translated. If you're a fan of srpgs, check out Royal Stone!

[@alfredocanas6802]

I have beaten Shining Force 1 so no spoilers for me, I remember the last boss was pretty difficult and it took me a while to beat it, it was brutal, at first I thought it was almost unfair but in the end if you stick to your guns you can beat it.

[@InglebardGaming]

I remember the last fight being tough the first time I played it, back when it was new. But I'm so used to strategy RPGs these days I blazed through it in just a few minutes this playthrough even though I hadn't played this game in like 25 or so years.

[@billcox8870]

I really enjoyed the huge variety of party members you could get in the game

[@InglebardGaming]

Yup, you had plenty of choice if you recruited everyone!

[@PericlesBeber]

I had the chance to play in my Genesis in the 90's, and the Shing Force 2 too, in that time, I love every battle and every minute of the game. Sadly I do not had the chance to play the SegaCD version in the 90´s, these 3 games are so great.

[@InglebardGaming]

Well, you'll be able to see what you missed pretty soon! 😁

[@PericlesBeber]

@@InglebardGaming nice :) .

[@mintydog06]

The Shining Force games are some of my all time favourites. I could replay them countless times and not get bored. They are such good fun. It's bloody crazy that Sega isn't still making 2D Shining Force games. I'd buy them in an instant. And mediocre song? Nah I love the music in this game, especially the theme during the first battle. Although overall SF II has a better soundtrack.

[@TJDious]

I know its not maxed out but my favorite party to play with is Max, Luke, Gort, Gong, Tao, Anri, Hans, and Diane. Sometikes I'll add Domingo and Kokichi for air support.

[@KingofCrusher]

Do Langrisser next!!!

[@cherokeefit4248]

I’m playing this on my sega mini. I got this downloaded on the sonic collection but it’s flawed and the bug destroys my tv speakers.

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

10:14 dunno why they cant use the sega cd or even the Saturn or 32x

[@Sularus92]

I never understand why people claim its so important to promote at level 15 or higher. I have played and completed this game countless times. Its more rewarding to promote at level 10, otherwise you miss out on playing the advanced classes until the end of the game, weapons, and fresh cool sprites. Promote early, enjoy the challenge!

[@InglebardGaming]

Like I said in the video, anyone can promote when they want, but if you want better stats with higher maxes, you have to wait. I'd also say waiting to promote makes the game much more challenging, especially that chessboard fight! It's super hard with unpromoted characters. Anyway, everyone should just play it however they enjoy it the most, I say.

[@tenebrasm]

SRPG here we go!!!

[@Nextliar]

I give the chaos breaker to Balbaroy, best decision ever.

[@CasperEgas]

Love Shining Force. Part 3 is my favourite, but the original is my second favourite. Love the 'mediocre song' too. Never played Beyond the Beyond ... But sadly it wasn't released in Europe, so I can't run it.

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

Semantics, but I would argue that Square unofficially cancelled the Final Fantasy series after 10, and now just slaps the title on any random game for brand recognition.

[@KOdenwalder]

I noticed you didn't recruit anri before the cavern of darkness fight

[@InglebardGaming]

I definitely didn't do everything. Like I said in the video itself, this was not a 100% run. I noted some of what I left out at different points but definitely didn't mention all of it. That'll be a running thing throughout the series, though I'll try to be better about mentioning the things I specifically didn't do in the video in future episodes.

[@KOdenwalder]

@InglebardGaming just wasn't sure if you knew you could recruit her before that fight or not. Technically you can skip her joining entirely. In the GBA remake it's an immediate cut scene.

[@jjwhy321y3]

They should at least port GBA ROTDD over to Switch. In the meantime at least we get Golden Sun. After years of waiting to play Shining Force 3 and Holy Ark games I might buy a handheld emulator this week to play them. Those 2 aren't getting ported anytime soon.

[@InglebardGaming]

It'd be great to see remakes of everything, especially with Sega's focus on bringing back old franchises. Also, be careful with portable handheld emulation systems. A lot of them don't handle Saturn very well. You'll porbably have the best experience on a PC emulator if you have access to a decent desktop or laptop.

[@jjwhy321y3]

@@InglebardGaming It's been that way for a while but changing. There's a few that handle Saturn, like the retroid pocket 4.

[@InglebardGaming]

@jjwhy321y3 yeah, but even some of the more powerful ones have issues with Beetle Saturn in retroarch, which so far is the only accurate Saturn emulator on Android. Normally I'd double check this but I'm really sick so I'll go from fuzzy memory... I do think I remember some recent reviews of high end devices like the Aya Neo Pocket S saying that only it and the Odin 2 run Beetle Saturn without issues. I'd love to get a retroid pocket 4 pro for testing myself, but can't afford that right now unfortunately.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@jjwhy321y3 I recommend Unicorn Overlord, its strategy RPG published by Sega.

[@neosildrake]

Imagine things happened 811 or 653 years ago. Just doesn't ring like 1000 or at least a nice Xhundred.

[@vanda777_]

nostalgia

[@EdmistenSound]

Personally, I first played this on the Sega Smash Pack 2 collection.

[@iami3rian394]

+1 sub, i will edit with other comments, magbe.

[@InglebardGaming]

Welcome and feel free to share any Shining Force memories! Lots of people have been doing that as you may have already seen and they're great!

[@iami3rian394]

@InglebardGaming believe it or not, I've never actually played them. Which is cool. I get a first playthrough for the entire series. 🙃

[@stljumpster86]

You forgot to get Gort...

[@InglebardGaming]

I've done a few of these now so I can't remember if I specifically mentioned it in this episode or not, but these aren't 100% runs, the videos are more just about the history and the story. I also didn't get Gong and one or two other characters in th is playthrough, there'll be stuff I don't do in all of them.

[@kefka14]

No Gong, No Gort. Rip. Good vid though.

[@InglebardGaming]

I'll be sure to get everyone when I do the GBA remake 😁

[@bobbykbobette7426]

24:54 satisfaction

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

Even though the first "Force" game was the second in the series, it is still considered to be the "main branch" of the series.

[@InglebardGaming]

Not sure I totally agree. We were still getting non Force Shining games for quite a while after the last SF game (III). With Darkness, Holy Ark, Wisdom, Soul I and II, Tears and a few others, I'd really call Force a subset of the whole series and not necessarily the main part of the series.

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

@@InglebardGaming I'd also consider 3 to be the end of the Shining series. It's just the title that's still being used, nothing more.

[@InglebardGaming]

@guruthosamarthruin4459 Yeah, definitely.

[@captainunload]

Fun game. Hate how all the monsters dodge you at the end. Frustrating and annoying.

[@piccolo1976]

I tried to play the Mega CD version at the time but didn't really like the strategy/tactical element, I preferred the ol traditional RPG's like Vermillion and PS2 so returned it. Still, I enjoyed watching the walk through, the way you edited the game and your narration throughout, the battle scenes in the game are nicely done as well. Look forward to the next instalment, nice work here. Wasn't there a similar strategy RPG on the Saturn like this call Riglord or something?

[@InglebardGaming]

The first strategy RPG on the Saturn was Riglord Saga which came to the US as Mystaria at first and was later retitled to Blazing Heroes. It's a fun little game, but visually it looks more like a 3DO game than a Saturn game. It's good for an early game, but nowhere near Shining Force III on Saturn.

[@piccolo1976]

@@InglebardGaming Ahh yes, that's what it was called. I liked Shining Wisdom on the Saturn as well, never knew it started life as an MD title that got ported to the Saturn, I tried to convince myself it looked 32bit at the time!

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

@@InglebardGaming There's a free game from the mid 2000's called Exit Fate on PC, if you like Suikoden type games. I thought it was really pretty good.

[@NobodyNothing-f5c]

If you grind everyone to the same level range, and use save states to guarantee something every level up the characters are all the same functionally. Gort and Luke are the same, all of the centaurs are the same, etc with only slight variations of 3-5 points, 9 points between Mae usually on defense and all other centaurs. Only the truly unique characters are unique, xylo, adam, bleu, domingo, jogurt, kokichi, musashi, and hanzou. Gong is a joke, any healer can hit just as hard and have better spell progression. The main character is just a birdman with less movement and agility. I can show screenshots if you have x, etc.

[@zenyousapprentice3732]

it aint that serious

[@CasperEgas]

For me this format for a video doesn't really work. Love the game, but I don't see the point in just going through all the battles in quick succession.

[@fazares]

played this one, the sequel and the mcd ones on my md minis...not a fan but i understand why theyre so much loved and considered

[@InglebardGaming]

What didn't you like about them? Are you just not a fan of the genre or was it something about the Shining Force games specifically?

[@fazares]

@@InglebardGaming i much prefer the srw series but its more related to my characters and story preference....i m not a fan of 16 bit rpg, generally speaking

[@orangeslash1667]

@@fazares I recommend Unicorn Overlord, its strategy RPG published by Sega.

[@Shishkebarbarian]

this plays more like a walkthrough/let's play than a retrospective. I didn't find it very fun to listen/watch you roll through the game. i would be much more interested in listening to the history, the quality, the themes, development/reception and maybe a brief review of the actual game. watching a summarized speed run isn't interesting. Otherwise, good editing, good jokes and i'll check out your other vids to see if anything else interests me

[@MMAKommunity]

Gort

[@vsolyomi]

Fire Emblem has slow pace... Original SF is a SLOOOOOGGG!! I tried it some time ago again and it was unbearable

[@InglebardGaming]

Personally, I thought Shining Force was fine playing it again recently. Famicom/NES Fire Emblem 1 though... I find it kind of unbearable because of how slow it is, to me that one is the slog.

[@vsolyomi]

@@InglebardGamingI should revisit early emblems then :)

[@InglebardGaming]

I'd love to... only I literally find the the first Fire Emblem unbearable 😁

[@Troll_On_YouTube]

​​@@InglebardGamingHe's definitely trolling.

[@Troll_On_YouTube]

Nice try coming here and trolling the awesome SF, but none agree with your assessment.

[@Renegadebane]

Only Shining Force 1 and 2 matter, before and after, is just so much trash.

[@InglebardGaming]

Hard disagree there, Shining Force III is great. I like the GG/Sega CD games and even the GBA version, despite a bit of jarring style change, is solid.

[@opaljk4835]

That’s a terrible take. SF3 sc 1-3 is a collective masterpiece. SF CD is a joy. The GG versions are so charming and fun. Have you played them?

[@BillDaBigChief]

Lmao, no one will ever take you seriously now. SF1/2/3 and CD are all solid 10 outta 10 tactical RPGs. We literally wouldn't have games like Divinity: Original Sin without these original Shining Force titles.