Shining Soul II

"Much improved over its predecessor, complete with depth and fun!"

I very briefly played the first Shining Soul, simply because I had played most of the other Shining games, and I wanted to try out the new one. To put it bluntly, I hated Shining Soul 1. Which is why I am so impressed by the sequel-- Atlus took what, to me, was fatally flawed game and made it maddeningly fun and addictive.

Gameplay: 9
The gameplay in Shining Soul II is addictive, period. The bottom line is, it's like Phantasy Star Online or Diablo on your GBA. Hacking and slashing monsters is fun for endless hours, and with multiplayer, it only gets better. It's great fun to be playing an archer with a warrior or other 'tank' character, allowing you to stand back and blast your foes without worrying about them catching up to you... a good amount of strategy, I'd say. The eight different character types all afford a good amount of variety, and it is actually fun to raise multiple characters. There are plenty of items to collect, and with a level cap of 200 and two difficulty modes, you'll be enjoying Shining Soul II for quite a while, especially if you have friends with the game.

Graphics: 7-8
The graphic are a mixed bag. On one hand, the backgrounds are all pretty good, and the characters animate fairly well. The enemies look good, mostly, but there are some problems. Some bosses will be multicolored, detailed wonders, whereas others will look like a Gameboy Color sprite. Quite strange, but it doesn't hurt the game all that much.

Music: 7
Most of the music is pretty generic, but not bad. Some of the music, like the graphics, is inexplicably bad (like the mid-boss theme). Why would some songs sound so good, when others sound like an NES track? A mystery that may never be solved.

Story: 4
Very badly translated dialog, very generic, cliched plot. This game focuses totally on gameplay, and the story takes a total backseat anyway, so the lackluster plot doesn't really hurt the game as much as it normally would.

Overall: 8
Shining Soul 2 is a big, deep game. The combat is fun, the classes are unique, and the multiplayer is a ton of fun. The production values of the game are questionable, and the plot is ridiculously tired, but these are all small quirks in what is otherwise one of the best action rpgs on the GBA to date. Even if you hated the first Shining Soul, don't overlook this one-- you won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/24/04