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in: Shining series, Shining Force II: Ancient Sealing, Strategy Games

Shining Force II

Revision as of 00:51, 11 July 2014 by Kimlasca warrior (talk | contribs) (→‎Packaging Artwork)
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Shining Force II: Ancient Sealing
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Information
Developer(s) Sonic Co.
Publisher(s) Sega
Genre Strategy
Platform(s) Mega Drive/Genesis
Release Date(s)
1993

Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal (シャイニング・フォースII 古えの封印, Shainingu Fōsu Tsu: Inishie no Fūin; also known as Shining Force II: Ancient Sealing or just as Shining Force II) is a tactical role-playing game for the Mega Drive/Genesis console developed by Sonic! Software Planning in 1994. The storyline is not directly connected to Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention, although a Japanese Game Gear title Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict does draw the two games together.

The game is much longer than the first, and is more free-roaming. There is no chapter system like in the original, so the player can return to most parts of the world that he/she had been to before. There is also a larger number of playable characters giving the option of multiple ways to build the Force.

This game was released on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe on October 3, 2008 and in North America on October 6, 2008.

Gameplay

Shining Force II gameplay is a tactical role-playing game. There are two forms of gameplay: exploration and battles. When exploring, the player assumes the role of the Shining Force leader. The player can walk around, interact with people, and set the members and equipment of the army. It is also possible to find a headquarters in some towns where the player can inspect and talk with allies. While roaming through town or moving throughout the world, one can find both visible and hidden treasures and interact with certain objects.

Each ally unit is represented by a character with a background and personality. Some of these characters are also hidden, requiring specific events to occur before they will join the allies. Not all the characters can be used during a single battle so the player must mix and match their forward team. The main character, Bowie, must be in every battle.

Each ally unit also has a class, which defines the abilities for that unit. These abilities range from what type of weapons they can use to what kind of spells they can learn. Units can become stronger by fighting enemies and performing various actions which gives them experience points (EXP), which allow them to gain levels. Once a unit reaches level 20, that character has the ability to advance to more powerful version of their class through promotion. A unit can be promoted at any level between 20 or 40; the longer the player waits to promote a unit, the stronger it will be after promotion. Some characters do not have promotions. These units tend to be significantly weaker than those promoted at level 40. Some characters also have two options of promotion; one of the options is only accessible only through the unit holding a special item that must be found.

Battles

Battles take place on a square grid, and each unit occupies a single square. Units can belong to one of two sides: allies and enemies. Allies are normally controlled by the player while the enemies are usually controlled by the computer's artificial intelligence).

The gameplay during battle is turn-based where during a character's turn, they can move and perform one action: attacking, casting a spell, using an item, or standing by. Some minor commands such as equipping or dropping an item during the turn does not count as an action. The order in which units take their turn is determined by the unit's agility score. Units can use offensive actions like attacking or spells only on units belonging to other side, and they can use support actions such as retreating or using healing magic only on units belonging to the same side. There are some attacks that damage units regardless of which side the unit is on.

Battle objectives are either kill all enemies, or kill the enemies' leader, if one is present. Killing the leader of the opposing army will herald the defeat of the entire opposition. Likewise, the enemy side wins if they kill Bowie. Even if the party escapes or the leader is killed, however, the player can recover the allies and fight the same enemy again. In fact, it is possible through retreating from the battle before obtaining the main goal to fight the same battle again and again. However, the amount of money and EXP that is obtained from damaging and killing an enemy is reduced as a unit increased in level. Anything gained or lost during battle is not changed even in the event of an ally being defeated. This included even if the entire battle is lost when Bowie is defeated. This makes the game easier since there is no Game Over result.

Plot

Shining Force II opens with a thief, Slade, stealing two jewels in an ancient shrine, thus setting in motion strange events leading to the resurrection of Zeon, the Devil King. When the king of Granseal, protector of the Ancient Tower, falls ill, Sir Astral and his students investigate the opened tower.

An evil Gizmo escapes and possesses the king of a neighboring kingdom, Galam, Granseal's princess is kidnapped, and the door to Arc Valley (where Zeon is sealed away) is opened. Arc Valley and the evil that resides there begins consuming Grans Island, forcing the Granseal population to evacuate.

When the true danger of the opened door is realized, Bowie and friends have to fight against the invading armies of Zeon to find the Holy Sword and the stolen jewels so they may once again reseal the Devil King in Arc Valley.

Locations

Grans Island

Grans Island is an island to the west of the mainland. The game begins and ends on Grans Island. Natural locations and non-settlements on Grans Island include Arc Valley, the Valley of the Prism Flowers and the Nazca Ship Crash Site. Settlements and other points of interest on Grans Island include:

Parmecia

Parmecia is a vast continent to the east of Grans Island. There is a narrow section in the middle of Parmecia featuring mountains and other natural obstacles, with large landmasses to the north and south, and as such Parmecia is sometimes divided into North Parmecia and South Parmecia. Natural locations and non-settlements include North Cliff, Ribble Ruins, the Cavern of Darkness, Mount Volcano, Petro's Grandfather's Shrine, the Taros Shrine, the Dwarven Mine, the Harpy Pool, Pangoat Valley, and Mount Tristan. In the extreme north-west of the continent lies the mysterious desert plains of Nazca, uninhabited for eons, where mysterious and ancient technology awaits discovery beneath the surface. To the extreme south-west of Parmecia lies the equally mysterious area known as Devil's Tail due to its geological shape, surrounded by mountains, forests and lakes. Parmecian settlements appearing in Shining Force II include:

Characters

Shining Force

Main storyline;

Optional;

Allies of the Force

Bosses

Greater Devils

Strategies

Frontline

Knights/Paladins/Pegasus Knights

Unlike the previous game, its sequel relies less on the "knight" classes. They are once again the Forces main fighters, acting as interceptors to gain ground over enemies. They hindered by rough terrain, suffer from weaker stats then the Warrior/Gladiator/Baron/Blood Baron class.

The player will naturally recruit Jaro a Pegasus knight, and have the option of transforming one of the Knights into a second Pegasus knight. This makes the alternative "knight" characters more uniformed and puts them on more even terms with the Paladins. They, however, will end up overall slightly weaker then the Paladins. A total of 4 "knight" characters are given. There are no alternatives supplied to the knights this game beyond the option to promote one to Pegasus Knight. However, the Pegasus knights are more then adapt enough to fully replace the Birdman class if need be, making them also alternatives to this class.

  • Chester; low-mid tier knight.
  • Rick; mid tier knight
  • Eric; a mid-top tier knight
  • Higgins; mid-top tier Paladin
  • Jaro; mid-top tier Pagasus knight

Warrior/Gladiator/Baron/Blood Baron

This game gives the player 4 "tank" characters instead of the previous games 2. Like the previous game, they work best in teams of two acting a slowly moving barrier to back up the knights. Unlike the previous game, the play is given the option to promote one of the Warriors into a Baron, acting as a slightly alternative warrant on the gladiators style of fighting. The alternative class held by Lemon of "Blood baron" is almost identical to the normal "Baron" class, except he does not require resurrection if he falls in battle. Barons/Blood barons are slightly overall weaker then gladiators, but have one extra movement to compensate and can also use swords as well as axes.

  • Jaha; low-mid tier Warrior
  • Randol; mid tier warrior
  • Gyan; mid-top tier Gladiator
  • Lemon; top tier Blood Baron

Birdmen

Birdmen return as the Forces primary focus of the air fighters. They bare much resemblance to the previous games Birdmen and have changed little in fighting style. They are, however, much more useful in terrain battles and are able to maintain their grounds in far more battles. They begin to wane, however, once the player gains access to Pegasus knights and renders them more optional as fighters then even the previous game.

  • Luke
  • Skeetch

Misc.

  • Bowie; Bowie acts as a main fighter, risky to place in battle early game and with some spells.
  • Peter; Alternative to the Birdmen and potentially one of the strong top tier fighters in the Force. He easily gains much strength after promotion and does not need resurrection if he falls in battle.
  • Claud; Claud is an alternative to the Warrior/Gladiator/Baron/Blood Baron class and is a "tank" based class able to take a beating. He is relatively strong at giving back what he takes.
  • Zync; Zync is like Claud, a alternative to the Warrior/Gladiator/Baron/Blood Baron class.
  • Slade; Slade is a optional character who can replace any of the centaurs.
  • Kiwi; Kiwi is one of the most extreme defensive character and a alternative to the Warrior/Gladiator/Baron/Blood Baron. He laters promotes to a monster, which can cross almost all terrains, making him almost as good as the "flyers".
  • Gerhalt; acts as a replacement for any of the centaurs.

Support

Archer/Sniper/Brass Gunner

Archers are largely unchanged from the previous game. Since many of the battlefields are larger then in the previous game, however, their bonus range makes them more useful. They do more damage against the flying foes in the game, but do not have as much damage potential as other fighters.

They can be alternatively promoted to either Sniper or the stronger, but slower Brass Gunner class.

  • Elric, joins as a archer, low tier.
  • Janet, joins as an archer low-mid tier.
  • Rhode, joins as a Brass Guner, mid-top tier.

Mage/Wizard/Sorcerer

Returning to the game is the spell caster class. Unlike the previous game, all spellcasters can use lvl.4 of each spell they learn.

They can promote to a Wizard or Sorcerer. Sorcerer completely re-rewrites the Spell casters method of fighting, replacing old spells with new ones, while Wizard allows the character to keep and advance their existing spells. They have poor defense and health.

  • Kazin; low tier mage
  • Tyrin; mid-top tier mage
  • Taya; top tier Sorcerer
  • Chaz; top tier Wizard

Priest/Vicar/Mastermonk

The only characters with healing abilities, these serve to keep members of the shining force alive, avoid the need to pay to resurrect them post-battle.

They can promote into Vicar or Mastermonk, keeping all learnt spells. Mastermonks are able to become mid-tier fighters, competing with the top tier fighters of the Force. Vicars maintain a strictly supportive role, but end up with a large mana pool.

Due to a coding error in the English version, it is possible to find two Vigor Balls instead of one, thus both Sarah and Karna can be promoted to Mastermonk.

  • Sarah; a low tier starter Healer.
  • Karna; a mid-top tier healer
  • Fayja; a top tier Vicar
  • Sheela; a mid-top tier Mastermonk.

Misc.

  • May; a ranger, who is an alternative to any of the 3 archer characters.

The Class "balance"

Unlike the previous Shining Force game, the developers attempted to balance out the classes more. The main bulk of the forces characters are therefore more uniformed and rather then random classes added as alternatives, players are given the option to alternatively promote characters to other classes.

The main frontline of the Force is less Lance/spear based, and each class has potentially 3-4 characters. Mixed tactics are therefore possible, with more options given to the player. there are no Easter Eggs like Yogurt and all characters have their uses within the Force. Also, due to the ability to promote certain characters to alternative classes, the low tier characters are still able to hold their ground late game. Alternatively, speed run play through can use alternative promotions to quickly run through the game by promoting the mid-tier characters instead.

The player also has access to a handful of characters that, despite able to die in battle, do not require money to resurrect such as Peter and Lemon. Most of the spellcasters, be it mage or priest, can learn all levels of the spells they possess, making the traditional tiers between each caster less noticeable. While there are still differences between class members, there are no extreme differences such as seen with Pelle and Arthur in the previous game.

In addition, unlike the previous game, players can opt to not include the full roaster of possible characters they take into battle.

Packaging Artwork

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