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The story focuses mostly on two playable characters: Toma, a sword wielder who dreams of being "King of the World," and Cyrille, a mage of who keeps her intentions to herself. The rest of the party consist of AI characters that join the party during the course of the game. The world is divided into two main kingdoms at war with each other. The Noswald Empire is home to the human race and the demons rule the southern territory, Fyrlandt. While the story is solid, the character development isn't anything spectacular. The real time battle system is enjoyable, except that when you get spammed by monsters, you get SPAMMED by monsters. You can have full health and be dead in seconds if your not prepared. While characters traditionally level up, characters stats can be improved for Toma and Cyrille with the use of Mythrill often found in dungeons. Weapons and armor are a little strange, the same weapon can have a variety of different stats (which also can be improved with mythrill) but the stats are a little strange is this game, I don't know how to explain it other then its more complex then the basic JRPG. The main new feature of this game is the customizable robot castle Geo-Fortress. While adventuring, the party members left behind use the Geo-Fortress as a headquarters. They also protect and defend the castle in the event of an attack (this turned out to be much less exciting then I though it would be). In the beginning, the fortress is very basic and vulnerable. By collecting "Rare Material" from the given quests, the player is able to transform the fortress into two other forms, with the third form as the most impressive of the three. The Geo-Fortress is used for more than a mode of transportation and a place for the non-included party members to wait while the rest of the party is on a mission. The game is alright all in all, the main thing got me is the lack of character background and development. That battle system is fun but can get pretty difficult. Those who like Shining Force Neo should like EXA.Read full review
I loved this game when I first played it, and it still holds up today. The shining series rules!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Shining Force is a good classic game franchise. The games changed format in 2005 with the release of Shining Force Neo, going from a turn based strategy Rpg franchise to a real time Action Rpg format. Many old shining force fans didnt seem to accept the transition but i see it like this, where do you go with turn based strategy to improve on it after SF 3? I see SF 3 as the best strategy Rpg to date altho its often copied.(FF tactics was inspired by SF games) Shining Force EXA is a Nice game with very good real 3D graphics a compelling story line with a few twists & surprises thrown in. As far as the main characters go they are quirky modern personalities with a few anime cliches. They play real different from each other, 1 being a warrior & the other a sorceress. The art in this game is pretty stunning at times for a ps2 game! Top notch! The game itself is fairly long at 50-ish hours. (Thats a long action Rpg game.) They use an interesting "arts" system to boost characters abilities both in stat & skill form. If you played SF Neo its the same Arts system. You can also fight in arenas & certain Strength test monsters to find secret arts scrolls, secret arts can be bound to a piece of equipment to add stats & certain added bonuses like attack speed, movement speed, element dmg added, more hp just to mention a few. And you can boost normal stats by have an iten Forged at the smith They do have a standard exp level system for the characters but most of your stats will come from the Arts by collecting mithril. There are hundreds of equitable items in the game, from standard swords & shields to magic rings & armors. I gotta mention for the fighter the weapon you use determines what attacks you have & what combos are possible. Its nice you can sell weaker items or extract mithril from them. The pace of the game is good & moves along fairly quickly. If you wear an armor upgraded to the S class movement rating you run really quick & the games solid programming shows in the blazing 3-5 second load times so the mechanics of the game dont trip over itself as many good looking games do.(I love good graphics but not at the cost of long load times) You can take along up to two NPC characters choosing from a cleric, mage, archer, a wolf man warrior, robot, giant dragon & a few others. As with most real time npcs in action rpgs these characters can get in the way in "rare" situations. It is rare in this game. There is a new factor to the franchise with EXA it the ability & necessity to upgrade the Home base castle you have, there are several points you can upgrade including the energy generation(core power), barrier(shields), cannon (this can be used in certain battle situations & to blow up obsticals & walls blocking paths throughout the game, training ground(this sets up a dungeon to lvl up in if you want), Repair(this determines how fast your defences repair during & after an attack on the base there are other options as well. To sum things up, This game is a bargain at 50ish hours, nice graphics, great music, a compelling story & a fairly fast pace. If you like the Squaresoft Mana games, Y's4, SF Neo, or even the Baulders gate console games BUY This Game. NUMERICAL RATINGS 1-10 higher is better. Story: 9 its an rpg... Game play 9 kinda easy, but the final boss is Tuff! Graphics 9.5 Nice for ps2 & Fast load times! Music 8.5 Some tracks are great the others are appropriate. Thanks & Have FunRead full review
Game works great thanks a lot
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
its is awesome. thrilling and adventurous. mind blowing. shocking and lots of fun. better than any game out there.
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