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Platform: Gameboy Advance Genre: Action RPG Publisher: Atlus Developer: Sega ETA: February 2004
Related Links: Review: Golden Sun (Gameboy Advance) Review: Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) Review: Dark Cloud 2 (Playstation 2)
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Shining Soul II
The Shining games have traditionally been hard to come by on this side of the Pacific. It started off well enough with Shining in the Darkness and Shining Force I & II making their way to the Genesis in the US in short order, but once we started seeing the series make it’s way to the Sega CD things began to grind to a halt. By the time the Sega Saturn installments came to be the Shining series was noticeably sparse in North America. Sega made a few concessions, releasing a scant few Shining games, but the main series, the three part Shining Force epic on the Saturn, only had one episode released here. Now it looks like Atlus is stepping up to the plate to feed our need for Shining goodness, at least on the GBA. They released Shining Soul this fall to luke warm reviews with its decidedly mediocre dungeon hack experience. Perhaps this sequel will address the problems of its predecessor. Shining Soul II looks to once again put a strong emphasis on multiplayer gaming, with mono et mono battles in the coliseum, as well as the ability to trade items with friends. The roster of selectable character classes has also been drastically increased, doubling to 8 classes from the 4 available in the first Shining Soul. The new classes available to players are the Brawler, Priestess, Dark Wizard, and Ninja.
But despite putting a lot of meat on the bones of the game in terms of additions over the first game, what Shining Soul II really needs to do is address the problems the first game suffered from in order to be a success. One of the biggest problems the game suffered from is the general lack of a story, or at least one strong enough to add cohesion to the game. Looking at what little info is available regarding the plot for this sequel it’s a little hard to get excited as we’re hit by the usual evil forces making the world a miserable place to live after so many years of peace and tranquility. In this case though, the world seems to be suffering from a serious case of bad luck, as the currently poor state of the land came to be first from a nasty drought followed by a massive influx of monsters into the region, thus exacerbating the problem. Now the king is holding a grand tournament in order to determine a hero who can prove himself worthy of protecting the land and driving away all of these bothersome monsters.
Features: - 4 new character classes for a total of 8! Become a mighty Brawler, Priestess, Dark Wizard, or Ninja. -
Know your role! Each character has certain strengths and weaknesses that
can mean the difference between victory and defeat in the exciting co-op
multiplayer mode. -
Enter the Royal Colosseum and challenge the computer or your friends in
a battle for special items and glory! -
Equip and combine your party's Force
Links and create the Shining Force, a powerful weapon capable of
decimating the enemy forces! -
Collect and trade valuable weapons and armor with your friends! - New side quests allow you to build your character and discover rare items. The game certainly looks like it holds some promise if its variety of multiplayer options are any sign. Hopefully the rest of the game will be rounded out in terms of narrative to really put some meat on the action RPG’s bones…and it would be nice if this time out there actually was a bonified pause feature in the game... Mr.
Nash November 9, 2003 |
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