I really have to hand it to Sega. They had a failing console, and a promise to release three different scenarios for a strategy RPG late in it’s lifespan. Unfortunately their American branch only gave us the first of these. Scenarios 2 and 3 were left only in Japan, and it was only fairly recently that fans translated them. Those of us who don’t speak Japanese only got to play them decades later. I made it my goal to complete all three scenarios to experience Shining Force III to it’s fullest. Now, after completing all three I’m here to talk about the third one. To put it bluntly Shining Force III: Scenario 3 is one of the greatest strategy RPGs of all time. Let’s take a look.
Scenario 3 takes place in the same exact world as the previous two, and involves many of the same characters. It’s a medieval fantasy tale involving warring nations and dark magical organizations pulling the strings behind the scenes. Scenarios 1 and 2 take place within the same time frame, but from different perspectives. That’s not exactly the case here. Shining Force III: Scenario 3 picks up near the three quarters mark in their story.
Here we start out as Julian leaves Medion’s team to aid Gracia the innovator on his quest to defeat the Bulzome sect. For all intents and purposes this is best considered the main scenario in Shining Force III because it ties together all of the loose ends, and wraps things up in a nice and neat bow. Very quickly into the adventure we reach the point at which both of the prior scenarios ended.
Immediately the plot in this scenario goes straight for higher stakes than the other two. The story picks up when Julian sailed away from Medion’s party in order to deliver the innovator Gracia to destroy the devilish Bulzome sect of monks. Julian’s ultimate goal however is to defeat the evil vandal named Galm who killed his family when he was a boy. Of course the plot becomes so much more with various twists and turns along the way. This is the scenario where everyone comes together in the end eventually to save the entire world. The other two scenarios ended on the same cliffhanger, but this is where the story of Shining Force III comes to an end.
Just as with Scenario 2 you are prompted to load previous save data from the previous game. This affects the experience in numerous ways. You can choose from either Scenario 1 or 2 data, but if you saved data when you begun the second version your info from the first also carries over. Basically all of the returning characters retain their levels, items, and equipment. While Julian and Donhort are the only two members of the force you begin with that were previously used, and so you’ll see the most immediate effects with them. Also, choices you made in the previous scenarios determine one of your other starting characters.
Eventually all characters in the force join, but can only be used with the leader of the scenario in which they were featured. This means that every character’s level, items, and stats are carried over. The final battle is literally divided into three separate skirmishes each with one of the separate scenario parties. I hope you leveled up your forces in the past two scenarios because it’s not exactly easy. Even if you didn’t you’ll get the chance to before the final battle. I was really happy about this because I didn’t realize my scenario one party was so much weaker than the other two!
Shining Force III: Scenario 3 plays identically to the previous versions. It’s a strategy RPG wherein you explore 3D towns and even a world map, but in battle movement is turn based and set on a grid. You can have twelve fighters in your party at once, and they each move independently during these enemy encounters. How many grids they can move is based on their movement stat. Each character belongs to a specific class (or job as it’s more commonly referred to in this genre) allowing them use of different weapon types, and some can use magic. Attacks have different ranges, as do spells which adds a lot of layers of strategy into the mix.
Several characters join your force along the way and you’re allowed a fair amount of party customization. When I reviewed Scenario 1 I complained about the lack of diversity and unique character types in the character line-up. When I discussed part 2 I found that the developers had gotten better in this regard, but there still weren’t enough interesting unique classes. Scenario 3 turns this aspect on it’s head. There are so many cool and special characters here that it isn’t even funny. They really went all out in this regard and it pays off in spades.
While you do still have your typical archers, centaurs, and mages there are a lot here that are completely unique. Gracia is one of the main characters, and a prime example. He’s one of the few characters that has both healing and attack spells. Then you have Cyclops who is a dragon man, Rollie a unicorn, Thousand the dragon, Leon a humanoid Lion, Honesty the sole pegasus knight in the trilogy, and more. Scenario 3 absolutely feels like the most unique of the bunch because of this. What’s more these characters are super fun to use on a strategic level.
Previously you could promote characters when they reached level 10. This enhanced their stats, and sent them back to lvl 1 where they would be easy to make stronger fast. I was very surprised that Shining Force III: Scenario 3 adds one more level to this. You can now promote characters to a third more powerful version of their former selves. This feature doesn’t unlock until a specific plot point is reached. While the gains from this the main force in Scenario 3 make are expected this breathes new life into some of the older characters. I’m referring to the casts of the prior scenarios. Some of the less useful characters from parts one and two become much more interesting when promoted to stage three.
This fact alone led me to fine tune my final parties for the last battle more than I thought it would. For example, Arthur from scenario 2 is largely useless when used in that game. When promoted to stage 3 however he becomes a true force to be reckoned with. The same goes for David from the same game. The stage three promotions are a fantastic new touch. Some may not like it, but this leads to almost necessary grinding just before the final battle. You must, after all, get the other scenarios fighters up to snuff. Personally I love grinding in RPGs so I wasn’t bothered, but I can see how others would be turned off. I’m sure you could win with just pure strategy, but I’d rather be overpowered.
Speaking of strategy you’re going to need it. I thought that the first two scenarios were fairly difficult, but this third one will really test you. Right from the start the game seems to assume that you’ve already played the past two installments. The difficulty begins at a higher level than the past two iterations, and if you didn’t level up Julian in scenarios 1 and 2 you may have a difficult time at the onset. Of course it’s easy to catch up and gain levels, but once you do, this game throws some truly interesting and head scratching battle scenarios your way. For example, early on you have to deal with a flying hazard that strikes specific areas of the landscape. In another you must avoid the light from a lighthouse while guiding your characters across a map.
These may sound insignificant but one false move, even early on, can spell disaster for the entire Shining Force. There are also a few escort type battles wherein you must protect a specific weak character. In one instance I assumed I had outsmarted the AI by leaving them where I assumed they were safe only to discover I was wrong, and had to scramble to snatch victory from defeat. The AI is actually fairly impressive in this regard. I was impressed in several instances that the game didn’t let me exploit it. Shining Force III: Scenario 3 will keep you on your toes even if you spend the time to over-level which is pretty refreshing for the genre.
The big question looms. Is Scenario 3 worth playing if you don’t have save data from the previous releases? In my opinion yes. While using the parties you built up in previous installments is a huge draw here I don’t think it makes or breaks the experience. Sega planned ahead for those that just want to cut to the good part. You can still grind your three different parties at the end of the game (although it’s more difficult to do so) and Scenario 3 is still not impossible to complete if you don’t have all of the bonuses. It’s better having experienced the other stories, but you could jump right to this one and be okay.
Graphically there hasn’t been a lot of improvement since Scenario 2. This game does contain more technical spells however, and the summons in particular look absolutely amazing for 32-bit hardware. Some of these look better than anything we ever saw on the Sony PlayStation, but fall short of the Nintendo 64. Outside of battle the 3D environments look okay. There’s some polygon pop-in, and slopes are shaded oddly. The game does however animate smoothly even when you’re rotating the camera. While performing an attack or other action the game looks absolutely stupendous. Characters have a lot of detail including facial features and clothing textures. Even the environments look nice. Honestly this might be one of the best looking Sega Saturn titles.
The soundtrack is also pretty good. I was disappointed to see that a lot of my favorite tracks from the previous iterations aren’t present. This is despite the music being largely recycled. After spending so many hours with the previous games I was happy to learn that the battle themes are unique to Julian’s crew. What’s more is that stage 3 promoted characters have a unique, and really good melody that plays while they’re performing an action in battle. The soundtrack is a slight step down overall, but still comparable to that of the prior scenarios.
