#27

Shining Force 2 (Originally released in 1994 on the Sega Genesis.)

Fire Emblem might be the grand daddy of all SRPGs, but I did not get to play that series until much later in my life. My 1st SRPG experience came in the form of the Shining Force series. When I was young and still new to the whole rpg phenomenon, my step brother Justin was my guiding light for every and all that was rpgs. He introduced me back into Final Fantasy and he would always talk about these games where you play through generations of heroes (Phantasy Star 3; real bad game, but I digress.), and he would always play a plethora of rpgs so I could see every facet of the genre.

One game that I took notice of early and often was Shining Force. he would play it around me and I had never seen a game like it before. You get a cast of characters who are mostly all different types of characters. You have front line fighters, characters who can soak up some damage and deliver some to the opposition. There are mages and archers who enjoy attacking the enemy from far away. They are frail, so it is best to keep them behind your tougher teammates. You also have healers who float around and mend the wounds of friendly units all around the battlefield. You have a couple of people that have multiple functions. These could be monks who can damage enemies and heal people, or winged fighters who are frail but can usually move out of harms way before they are in danger. Then you have the hero and leader of the squad. The leader acts like a front line fighter and also commands powerful magic at his disposal. In this game, the main character is named Bowie and he has a special spell that is called Egress. If the fight is looking gloom, you can cast Egress and the battle is reset, but all experience is retained.

SF2 is a huge step above the first game in the series. The first game was episodic, meaning you went from one fight to the next without much exploration. The story and the characters within weren't all that fleshed out, but in the 2nd game you can explore the world, the story is improved, and the characters have a little more personality to them. in pretty much every category did SF2 succeed its predecessor. It works the same as most SRPGs do. You are given a map with a grid like you would find in a game of chess. Your characters placing is almost out of your control, but you can manipulate where everyone starts, its just extremely annoying and I never bother. The enemies are placed all over a huge map and you send your team out to destroy them, but don't send anyone frail out too far or they can be ganged up on and die rather quickly.

To think that by most accounts SF3, the game which was broken up into three games is the supposed best game in the series is a shame to me. I mean, I would have loved to play it, but for one it was on a system I did not own, and two: only one chapter was released in America. For these reason I enjoy SF2 as the best game in the series, but that could very well change if Sega gets off their lazy asses and ports over SF3 in a complete works fashion. What are you waiting for Sega? Do it already!