Sega Japan have updated their Shining Soul II minisite today with some exciting new info! I was beginning to wonder whether they’d have some kind of contest, like the one for ‘Yogurt’s Little Box’ which they ran during the early days of Shining Soul’s release. Indeed, they are! This time they have a ‘Shining Soul II GBA SP Campaign’ – presumably it will once again be a case of sending in the registration card from the game, only this time entrants have the chance to win one of 100 Shining Soul II GBA cases, or one of 50 GBA SPs.

Not only have they announced this contest today, but also they’ve added a section about the game’s producer to the Special Page, which I’ve not had time to translate as yet, and started working on their FAQ – there are now 17 Q&A’s available, all in Japanese of course. I’ll try to translate these when I have more time, and put them up here for anyone who imports the game.

Atlus have put up a page about Shining Soul on their site. Nothing really new or exciting there (though it’s nice to see a decent picture of the cover design), but always good to know they’re still hard at work on it! I hope to be getting a review copy sometime prior to the release, so I will of course keep you as informed as I can 😀

Right, off to finish those Yogurt plushies now, so I can prepare the new contest later today!

First up, my apologies for the lack up updates since the site came back up. I’ve been working on a number of Shining/SFC related projects amongst other things, and have been really busy. There will be an update on Wednesday though, so watch out!

A few days back, Sega Japan added the Shining Soul II TV commercial to their site – I posted about this in the SFC Shining Soul II forum, but didn’t have time to update here. The advert isn’t really anything to shout about, and certainly isn’t as cool as the ones for the original Shining Soul, sadly!

Today, there have been several more updates on the site. The Specials page now features some new desktop wallpapers for download, as well as a set of Shining Soul II character icons you can use on your desktop too.

The Features page has been updated to include information about events in the game. For example, one of the events on the page shows two mummies hiding an item in a grave in the second dungeon. Apparently, if the player approaches them before they finish their task, they can be defeated and the item procured… leave it too late however, and you’ll never get the item! The item in this instance, is the Boken Soul… of unknown use, the page says… but relating to our old friend Boken of course!

Another event is shown on this page, from dungeon three. The translation isn’t perfect, but I gather a young lady is encountered in the prison of a place called Wizari’s Mansion. If the player has found the correct key earlier in the game, they have the opportunity to help the young lady. The story from there on will change depending on whether you were able to help her or not!

On the same page is a new section about ‘Monster Cards’, part of the new ‘Monster Dictionary’ feature! When monsters are defeated, they may drop a Monster Card, with information about that type of monster. If these cards are taken to the Castle Library, they can be added to the Monster Dictionary. If you find multiples of the same card, they can be exchanged with other players in multiplayer mode. The information contained on the monster cards looks like it can be quite useful in a tactical sense – it seems to include details of spell resistance, stats and items carried!

A section about Rare Items has been added too. Like in Shining Soul, rare items such as letters can be found in Shining Soul II. When the letters are arranged in the right way, something interesting may happen. The example shows a letter being found when fighting, being identified and then taken to the sancturary to be combined with other letters. I wonder what will happen?!

On the Characters pages, a new section has been added to show a selection of the monsters which will be encountered in the various dungeons.

In Dungeon 1, Goblin Fort, goblins, pastes (oozes) and orcs will be found, and the boss is the Goblin Colonel, at Gobugo Beach (?). The story reads that the goblins originally occupied only a small nook of the island, but have over the years created a military stronghold. With this in mind, and the recent confusion over strange phenomenon and the change in nature’s balance, it seems likely they will try to take over the castle.

Dungeon 2, Glove Giant’s (Graveyard?), will feature undead type monsters such as mummies, skeletons and also creatures like giant bats. The boss character is the Glove Giant, who is the spirit monster of the graveyard. Apparently, the Wizari’s Mansion is in the centre of the graveyard, using the graves as a sort of barricade to keep intruders out. The locals are quite terrified of this area, and seem to avoid it as much as possible!

Dungeon 3 is Wizari’s Mansion, where for the past few dozen years years or so, the witch Wizari has dwelled in the form of a young woman. She is, however, in reality at least 150 years old! Here, monsters such as spiders, gizmos and armoured spirits (?) will be encountered. It seems the witch may have kidnapped a young girl (daughter of someone important) from the castle town.

Looks as though Shining Soul II is going to be pretty fine game! 😀

Or they could just be bluffing! 😉

Camelot have updated their website – it seems they have been receiving a lot of emails recently, asking when the next Golden Sun release will be… Camelot talk a little about more recent projects (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis), and explain that although there’s a big demand for a new title, they can’t answer at this time. They go on to talk about about the size of the company and projects etc… but most important is the final line of the update. It basically says (as they have already stated several times) that they will not be continuing the Shining series, and any enquiries about that should go to Sega, since it’s theirs now.

While it’s sad to know they’ve not changed their minds, it does make me all the more sure that the info I’ve received about the next Force game is indeed correct in regards to which console it will be appearing on. But, at this time I can say no more, sorry! 🙁

Sega have again updated (gotta love their little ‘new’ icon, featuring our dear lil’ Yog!) their Shining Soul II Site,with some nice new additions! On the ‘Special’ page, there’s a cool new Yogurt desktop for you to download, and the ‘Power Up’ page has been updated with some new features:

• In the items section, ‘Santuary of Light’ item information has been added.
  Apparently, items (some of which you would not normally be able to use) can be merged here – in groups of four – to make new (and rare) items. You may find out about such combinations in the towns you visit. Screenshots show a simple proceedure for this – place the four items on pedestools, confirm you want to combine them, and a new item will appear for you on the fifth pedestal at the back of the Sanctuary.
  

• The ‘Shine Force’ section now includes instructions for activating the joint player powers…
  If all four players press the A button simulaneously, a ball of light called the ‘Shine Force’ will appear imbetween the players. The ‘Shine Force’ can then, it seems, be used by moving players around… it can open doors which would otherwise not be able to be opened in Single Player mode (without the ‘Shine Force’ power)
  

• A new section has been added – ‘Competition Place’…
  A nice new feature to the game – the Royal Competition Place, is a combat ground where one may battle monsters to gain items, or to battle against other players. In Single Player mode you pay 100G to enter the contest. As you defeat the monsters, you’ll rise through the ranks and be able to battle tougher and tougher opponents to win the items shown onscreen. In Multiplayer Mode, there are three different ways to battle – 3 against 1; 2 against 2 or everyone battling one another. When battling other players, recovery magic can only be cast on your own ‘team’ (whether that be two other players, one, or just yourself), attack magic can be used only against the opposing team, and items can be used on any player. The screenshots illustrate a four player all-against-all battle. To start the contest, a judge stands in the middle of the arena and signals for the battle to begin. The third screenshot shows Sachs doing an explosive kick attack (sweet!) and the final shot shows Prim being spun around as a result of one of Ruin’s attacks!

Looks like some great new features – here’s hoping Sega Japan will allow me to preview the game, to give you the full lowdown!

Since Atlus’ announcement regarding their US release of Shining Soul, RPGFan reports that they have also secured the US rights to Shining Soul II (though they make the mistake of saying Shining Soul is a Camelot-developed title, when we all know that’s far from the case ;)). Atlus have recently updated their website with estimated release dates, and have pencilled Shining Soul in for a September 2003 release. In addition to this, I have approached them regarding possible suggestions for improvements in the Shining Soul script, I was delighted to discover this evening that they are willing to hear me out, and await SFC’s return to the web to fully consider my offer. They may also be willing to announce important news regarding Shining Soul here, if they like the site enough.

In other Soul news, Sega have updated their Shining Soul II product detail page, to amend the release date – it has been pushed back from July 3rd to July 24th of this year. They have also added a streaming video demo, and I must say that Shining Soul II looks much more Shining (in fact, very Shining Wisdom, which isn’t a bad thing!) than it’s predecessor… I’m actually quite excited about it!

No further Shining news at this time, however it seems SFC should be back online during the first week of June – so not long now! Here’s hoping that a speedy restore & these extra few weeks until Shining Soul II’s release date will provide enough time for me to approach Sega Japan for a review copy (and hopefully promotional goodies I can use as contest prizes).

I’ve not been able to approach Sega themselves for any new Shining info during this last month, due to my not having a site to refer them to 😉 I hope to try to glean more info soon. In the meantime, a report at The Magic Box has some good news for us – Sega have confirmed that the new Shining Force game is still in development! I thought they’d say something about it soon, as it’s been almost a year since they first mentioned it 😀

And on a “new Shining game” note, I’ve posted the latest Shining Soul II info further down the page.

Sega have put up a mini-site for Shining Soul II, including all sorts of new information and new artwork.

I can’t translate the storyline summary at this point, since it’s an image, not text, but I can get some of the character information down for you…

The characters have default names now:
The Hero is named Alex (oddly enough, what I named my original SitD character… my first Shining Hero!) and he is able to use Swords, Spears and Axes. He is the decsendent of a hero who defeated the Dark Dragon long ago (presumably, the Warrior of the original Shining Soul), but Alex doesn’t know this. A mischevious young adolescent, Alex has been well looked-after and is, as such, in prime condition. He’s always wanted to travel the world as a soldier. He’s an easy-to-handle character, able to use strong weapons, and has a good defence.

The Wolfling is named Sachs, and is able to use Claws and Dantou. As a young wolfling he was raised in a place where he learned a special technique (from the description, it sounds like it may be similar to Zylo’s wind-type attack). Though he has a very high attack, his defence power is low – he doesn’t carry much equipment, in order to maintain his great speed.

The Dragonute is Tieloss, who can use Axes and Flails. Originally, from the Lava Zone of the continent, Tieloss, despite the long period of peace, would like to do and see much more. He has the best attack strength of all the characters, but due to the weight of his weapons, he is a slow-mover.

The Magician is named Pamela, and can use Staves and (light) Magic Books. Palema is Alex’s older (by 2 or 3 years) sister, who though still not fully skilled in the magical arts, has magic in her blood from a legendary magical quest in her descendents past. Her desire is to go on the Kingdom’s first magical quest of recent times, but this goal does not distract her from her studies – day or night! When she specialises in a spell, she can cast it from further away. She can also combine her spells with a partner to create powerful (and colourful!) magic. She does, however, lack strength and defence, meaning you must keep her safe from physical harm.

The Dark Wizard is named Bloodstar, and he too can use Staves and (dark) Magic Books. He’s a human-vampire halfling, who’s past was filled with darkness… and he’s proud of his dark magic skills. He is the older brother of a pair of twins. He uses the Powers of Darkness in his magic, and changes himself into a half-vampire monster, able to fly and poison (or so the translation leads me to believe… I could be wrong…). In addition, if you find a special sword, he is able to fight.

The Kyantol is called Prim (yes, Cull, a Kyantol!!) – a priest who is able to use Staves, Flails and (holy?) Magic Books. She(?) is one of the small Kyantol (half dog) population. She is proud to be of the Preacher of Light bloodline, and though she is not yet a fully-fledged monk, her spirituality and sixth sense are where she truly excels. Although she can use weapons, her recovery and auxillary magic are her main way of helping the party. However, she should of course be protected from attacks as much as possible.

The Ninja, named Raizen is able to use Swords, Dantou and Makimono. Born in a land to the far east, he is a typical ninja, continuously practising the art of ninjitsu (and invisibility? the translation was a bit garbled, at least I’m quite sure he doesn’t have a ‘sorcerer potato surprise’ 😉 ). He has fast attacks and special tecniques (which may be tricky to pull-off). He has the fastest movement speed of all the characters.

The Archer is named Ruin, and can use Bows, Spears and (nature-related) Magic Books. It is not certain whether he is descended from the Archer who originally fought Dark Dragon. He’s been in the area for several years, and has noticed in this time strange, noisy creatures in the forest, indicating that the balance between the Powers of Light and Darkness is deteriorating. He has long-distance spear and bow attacks, but doesn’t have a very good defence. His magic abilities allow him to use the power of the forest animals to attack.

There are lots of in-town NPCs and information about them too, but it would take me too long to put all the information here right now. I’ll list a few of their names, in case you’re interested though 😉 Perhaps I’ll translate more later on when I’ve done some more sewing on these Yog toys 😉

NPCs: King Marchel; Queen Yvonne; Princess Kokotto; Samuel; Deathheart; Boken; Morgan; Borb; Irma, Rin & Ran; Pendorino; Craft; Stella; Jensen; Angela; Fender.

Monsters: Viking; Salamander; Armour Obgaas(?); Ghost; Unicorn; Orc; Reaper(?); Gargoyle.

The artwork, as in Shining Soul, was created by Salamander Factory.

There are 6 ‘power up points’ (features enhanced since Shining Soul?) listed on the site:

1. 8 Characters to choose from
2. Dramatic story and events
3. 10 times the amount of items as in Shining Soul; special effect items (such as a bomb) added; matching sets of item (eg, armour, helm, sword etc that go together); items to be used in puzzles.
4. Soul Crystals
5. ‘Shine Force’ – a combined attack using the souls of the playing characters, it creates a ball of light midway between the characters. A certain item needs to be equipped for this.
6. New action – throwing items: eg, medial herb to heal friends; throw bombs at enemies etc.
7. The Controls for Single Player mode are listed on the site, along with a world map (it seems the main town is called Krantol, though there may be other towns from the looks of it). The interface has remained more or less the same as in Shining Soul, so playing the game shouldn’t be a problem for us importers 😉
8. There’s also a brief page about Multiplayer Mode, showing how to link up the GBAs etc.

Wallpapers and link buttons can be downloaded from this page of the site.

The FAQ section is not yet available.

I’ll certainly try to get more info up on those NPCs shortly. Going to have some breakfast first (why do I always find this stuff as soon as I wake up?!!)

Shining Soul II is now up for pre-order in Japan, at Sega Direct.

There are two different packs available to order, one as the game on it’s own, and one as the game with some extras: a Shining Soul II GBA carry case and a book, the Shining Soul II Data Collection.

Each pre-order will also include a keyring(?), with ‘Shining Soul’ written on it in Japanese, and a little Yogurt hanging from it 🙂

The set including the carry case and book is on pre-order at a price of 6,980 yen (about US$60), while the game on its own is listed as 5,382 yen (about US$45). Apparently, www.ncsx.com will be selling the game-alone set, and also hope to be able to offer the pack with bonus items.

You may or may not remember that a few weeks ago Sega announced a new service for broadband users in Japan, to enable them to download and play various classic Sega games on their PC, for a small fee. The initial lineup of games, according to The Magicbox, is set to include all three parts of Shining Force III – great news indeed!

Sadly, it seems there are no plans at present for a similar online game rental system elsewhere in the world, but here’s hoping this may lead to a PC or next generation console re-release for our beloved games 😀

Sega Japan today announced that their forthcoming title, Shining Soul II, will be released on July 3rd of this year. The retail price is listed as 5,980 yen, which is around US$50.

The game is not yet listed on the Sega Direct site, and so it is unknown whether this game will also include a special gift for those who pre-order it. Meanwhile, Sega Direct have almost halved the price of the original Shining Soul from 5,800 yen to just 2,980 yen, perhaps in a bid to increase interest in the series.

Well, although some shops across the country have been selling Shining Soul for the last few weeks, today is it’s official release, and somehow it’s managed to top the charts at Gameplay! What I’m looking forward to is being able to go into a games shop and seeing a shelf full of Shining games again… it’s been too long!