Shining Soul II

"The brightest shining game I've ever played!"

This game is an incredible one, a game I highly suggest. Although it's incredibly addictive, it is for a reason.

Gameplay: 10/10

The first quirk of this game is the fact that you can play with other people by linking. There are 8 great characters to choose from, each having a choice of 10 color schemes to choose from, and you can name them yourself. It also has a secret dark wizard character that you need to beat the game to play. But be careful if you aren't to good at fighting, because this game has quite a bit of difficulty in it. When you first start out, it's possible you might have a hard time defeating blue blobs(The first enemies). However, when you level up, you will have two level-up categories: Skill points and status points. Skill points level up certain weapons and spells. Status points strengthen your attack, dexterity, intelligence, and vitality. Also, there are certain sidequests you can take that can net you some good items. In fact, some of the best items you can get are called souls. Souls are basically like giant bombs, they will hit everything on the screen with a certain element. The higher the level of the soul, the stronger it will be.

Plot: 7/10

The game suffers a bit from the plot. The plot is INCREDIBLY cliched. First, you have to rescue a princess. Then, you learn that darkness and chaos is overpowering the light, and you need to stop it. Are you asleep yet? No? Well, another thing is the cutscenes. I mean, the cutscenes are so huge you'll spend a lot of the game waiting for cutscenes to end. You'll spend 45 minutes waiting for the King and queen of Klantol to stop praising you when you win. you'll spend an hour and a half waiting to play the game again when you beat the final boss and see the credits.

Replay value: 9/10

The only thing wrong with the replay value is that the game is the same every time. Also, when you beat normal and advanced mode once on a file, you cannot play through it ever again without starting a brand new game. The replay value is nearly restored by the search for monster cards and the royal colosseum.

Controls: 10/10

Your character moves very fluidly, and you have no trouble at all getting around. No cons to say about this one.

Gameplay - 10/10
Plot - 7/10
Replay value - 9/10
Controls - 10/10
Overall score- 9/10

If you've played the original shining soul, there is no doubt you should play this.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/06