Sega failed their fans with the Sega Saturn. I say this despite it being my second favorite console of all time. They had a whole slate of amazing looking titles in development for years. When they finally came out Sega either did low run prints of them or didn’t bother with localization at all. Shining Force III was a heavily anticipated game for the console. This game released with three different scenarios in Japan, all in different packages, but North America only received the first. Here it was just known as Shining Force III. There were only a limited number of discs printed but I managed to snag one years later. Today we’re going to take a look at the first scenario for Shining Force III. Let’s check it out!
Shining Force III is the final mainline installment in Sega’s premiere strategy RPG series that originated on the Sega Genesis. These games were traditional turn based, experience gaining, grinding battles fare and I love it. Shining Force III continues the tradition despite transitioning to 3D graphics. Both exploration and battles take place from an isometric perspective where you can move the camera. It’s not particularly impressive these days, but back then the jump was amazing.
The setting here is a pretty basic medieval world with a healthy dose of fantasy and politics. You play as Symbios. He’s the son of a famous general in the Republic of Aspinia. This country seceded from the Empire of Estonia years prior, and our tale begins with the two nations engaging in negotiations for peace. Things don’t go as planned as a mysterious sect of monks abduct the emperor of Estonia while disguised as the king of Aspinia.
Symbios discovers the deceit and is thrown into a plot full of turmoil between the two nations. It’s a decent plot with plenty of likable characters and many a plot twist, but it’s not quite on the same scale as other RPGs of the time. For a Shining Force title the story is grand and large scale. I enjoyed it. My only complaint is that this game ends on a cliffhanger.
As I mentioned earlier Shining Force III is actually divided into three different scenarios, and this is just the first. The second takes place parallel to the events of this one while the third begins later on in the overarching plot. What’s particularly interesting is the fact that your actions have direct effects on the others. You can find hidden characters here that you must interact with in specific ways to unlock them in the later scenarios.
This includes things like giving specific answers in dialogue trees, finding and interacting with objects/characters off the beaten path, or even leaving particular enemies alive during combat. This system is not always transparent so you’ll probably want to use a guide if you plan to play the other scenarios. Regardless this is one of the most interesting mechanics I’ve ever seen in any video game, and the execution is incredible.
Gameplay is divided into two different sections. The first is exploration. Here you guide Symbios through town areas and occasionally the world map. These environments are fully 3D but you always view the action from an isometric or overhead perspective. The camera can be manipulated but your options are limited to rotating it left/right, or zooming in/out.
While exploring you interact with characters, purchase items/weapons, and progress the story. You’re basically moving from point A to point B, but it’s more interesting than it sounds. The word of Shining Force III is surprisingly interesting. I also liked soaking up the lore by speaking with NPCs and found it adds a lot to the plot. Even seemingly pointless conversations hint at future events, and even those in the other scenarios.
The battle system is where Shining Force III’s main strengths lie however. These battlefields are grid based in nature which is consistent with previous installments, but the 3D presentation adds some flare to it. The camera is much more dynamic than that of other strategy RPGs of the time.
Take Final Fantasy Tactics for example. Switching the camera there freezes the action and it doesn’t feel dynamic at all. Here you have full control over perspective even during the enemy’s turn, and the action continues seamlessly. Each character gets a turn each round. The order is determined entirely by speed statistics, and this has a direct effect on strategy depending on the gameplay scenario.
When you are in range of a foe you can attack them. There’s a basic rock papers system when it comes to weapons where they’re each strong against one type, and weak against another. Thankfully each character can use different types. There’s also range to take into consideration. Basic melee weapons need your character to be in an adjacent grid to strike a foe. Meanwhile bow and spear users can hit one or two squares away, and magic users can cast spells that can strike at a greater distance and sometimes multiple nearby enemies at the same time.
There’s a lot of strategy in character placement when considering their methods of attack. Any action you perform transports your character and the enemy to a 3D battlefield while you watch each command being performed. This is really impressive especially given the Sega Saturn’s hardware limitations, but there’s no way to speed these animations up. This can slow down gameplay which can make grinding a bit of a chore.
That’s classic Shining Force for you. So what’s new here? The big new feature is the buddy system. Characters have relationships with each other in battle that they can gain bonuses from. Here’s how it works. As units in your force stand near each other and attack foes their relationships increase. This also occurs when characters heal each other, or strike foes that the other one just hit. When they become friends they gain attack or defense bonuses when standing in adjacent grids.
There are several relationship levels each unit of the Shining Force can reach with one another, but it’s never a tremendous difference. Sometimes subtle bonuses can mean the difference between victory and defeat however. These levels are reset when a unit dies in combat which discourages luring enemies and sacrificing units in your force. I like this new mechanic, and appreciate the subtle effects it has on battle. Relationships did change the way I played compared to in past Shining Force installments but if I’m perfectly honest it’s not an earth shattering change.
Characters also have weapon levels here. That’s why it’s best to stick to just one type. As they use weapons they gain experience and eventually levels with them. This affects not only their attack stat, but also unlocks special moves. These occur at random but dish out more damage than a standard strike and can sometimes cause status effects. Because you have no control of when or where these will be used it can make battles a little more chaotic than in past installments.
Battle scenarios offer quite a bit of variety this time around. You generally have two different missions. Typically you’ll be tasked either with defeating all enemies or destroying a specific one. Most of the time battles take place in restricted areas such as in towns, caves or dungeons. There are often environmental hazards to keep players on their toes, and these significantly alter the flow of battle. One encounter in particular involves moving trains, and protecting refugees. This is one of the best moments in the game and requires more strategy than any other battle up to this point in the series history. The final enemy encounter actually has two different parties fighting in different areas which is really cool as well. Scenario 1’s greatest strength is how dynamic some of the battles are.
I do have a few complaints however. Let’s start with the Shining Force character roster. You have a smaller selection of characters than in any other game in the series up to this point. If you recruit everyone possible you can only exclude four or so of them from your party. This severely limits your options at the end of the game. Furthermore there aren’t enough unique units. Scenario 1 has far too many archers and monks, and not enough of anything else. Frank is a werewolf, and Ratchet is a mechanical long ranged unit, but besides that they just aren’t that interesting.
One of my favorite aspects of Shining Force II was the branched promotions. Many characters could branch out into two different classes. Unfortunately this feature didn’t survive the transition. Now every member of the force can only become one updated class. It makes little sense that Sega didn’t give more options here. This was one of Shining Force II’s greatest strengths and the feature being discontinued here feels like kind of a downgrade if I’m being honest. I’m not sure why the developers decided to pass on it.
Shining Force III: Scenario 1 is a tremendous upgrade from previous installments in the franchise. This is all thanks to the 3D hardware of the Sega Saturn. In the overworld, and on battle maps the characters all appear as sprites. The environments however are entirely polygonal. There’s some weird jank with this as the shadows and hills often look strange. It’s like something from the 3DO era at times. When characters are performing actions in battle the models are super impressive and look better than most PS1 games. The animations in particular are very detailed and change depending on what type of weapon is used. Unfortunately these 3D models lack mouths, or even facial textures beyond eyes. It’s off putting at first but there’s a certain charm to it.
The audio is kind of a mixed bag. Most of the music is largely forgettable. I liked it plenty, but there were very few tracks that stood out. There’s fair diversity in town themes, but the battle jingle gets pretty old fast. Thankfully there’s two of them, but one only plays when you perform an action with a promoted unit. The only real standout track is the world map theme. It perfectly conveys the theme of adventure, and is catchy enough that it plays in my head whenever I think back on Shining Force III: Scenario I. Overall the soundtrack is okay but it’s not earth shattering by any means. The voice samples however have laughably bad acting. I think it adds to the charm but I understand why others would be annoyed.
