Shining Soul

"Sega Shining Series finally hits the GBA......check it out!"

Presentation and Gameplay:

This is one good part of the game but it also contains one of its bad points, the game was easy enough to change your equipment easily and you can easily switch your weapons and Items VIA the shoulder buttons. The game is easy to understand, you deal with your business in town, which includes buying, selling, identifying items and talking to a few people, then you enter one of eight levels (complete one to go onto the next). In the Dungeons, you fight a good handful of enermies, however the tactics the enermies use makes the game easy to get a preferred method of attack (depending on the weapon you choose) and you repeat it over and over again. This is the biggest downside to the game as it gives the game a repetivness that might drive some people insane, however if you can keep a hang of it, you should enjoy it. Then there are the bosses who again have a curtain types of attacks that they just keep on repeating, therefore figuring out a tactics to beat them will be the only difficulty in them. The game is easy to play however it may be too simplistic or boring for somepeople who like a demanding RPG.

Score: 5/10

Graphics: For a Gameboy advance game, it uses the hardware to good extent to develop some great graphics, both character and Backgrounds. There is nothing revolutionary here yet all the characters are well drawn and animated. Also the differant attacks and ''soul'' abilities show the full graphics scope of the GBA's Graphical Powers. I cannot say much more about the graphics as they totally fill the slot with quality.

Score: 7/10

Storyline and Character:

If you are a Shining Series Fan, you will mostly find this game dissapointing because of the way they use famous boss characters improperly and misplaced. However anyone who either pushes this to one side or is here just for the action then you will find it quite standed, however to a lower quality then alot of other games. The storyline is VERY simple, you need to defeat Dark Dragon, a massive dragon with three heads that plans to destroy the world. Its up to you four shining warriors to defeat him and his ''Generals''. People who talk to you in town dont give you any useful information, Noah is the only person that really give you any insight to the game. Alot of the bosses say a entrance and a closing line, which, like the townspeople, dont make much sense and dont give any decent character development. For anyone looking for good characters and story, Shining Soul is far from what you call a fully featured RPG and the storyline should really be ignored if you want to have fun with this game.

Score 1/10

Longitivity and Difficulty:

With its simplistic gameplay, you should easily get though the game without much difficulty. There are eight levels which get longer and longer the more you play but sadly they dont really get harder, becuase the tactics you use are still fully effective. Once you have completed the game, there is a special Advance mode, which again isnt much more difficult then the normal game because you know how the game works and you just play like you have always had. Then there is the multiplayer games, where the game gets slightly more interesting, however if you think thatmultiplayer will make the game more fun, you are right, but it dosent make it much more fun becuase essential its just the same game, but its just two of you swinging swords or whatever. etting extra equipment and collecting all the ''Souls'' will be the more intersting part of the game, however after a while, you will eventually turn it off and start another game, leaving Shining Soul in your to gather dust like many other games.

Score: 4/10

Well for the new generation of the Shining Saga (now that camalot have stopped making them), this really dosent give Shining Fans what they want, however it just fills a liitle more in the gap thats been left in the GBA market. Shining Soul can be fun if you let it be however it does focus more on the action rather then the Adventure. Yet the Action itself might be a little bland for the people who expect this to be like Diablo which this game is said to mimic. This is definatly a try before you buy however, you might just complete it if you try it. It is a good time consumer for long car journeys and if you enjoy it, it will keep your little thumbs busy.

Final Score: 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/03, Updated 05/26/03