My apologies for not getting this update done yesterday – had a lot of things to see to around the house after my long weekend away!
Plenty of news on the Shining front, and indeed another piece of news (which I find most exciting of all!) to be posted after this article. So, I’d best get cracking!
Sega Japan have totally revamped their Shining World site and with it the Neo and Tears site. New sections of Shining World include a brief history of the Shining series (good to know they’ve not forgotten any games, and not added any that don’t belong there), and a section about the forthcoming Game Parade Mobile Phone titles: Shining Road: To the Force and Shining Force Chronicle. The Shining Force Chronicle site is not yet available but apparently will be within a few days. Bearing in mind that the ‘Shining Next Project’ announcement’s ‘few days’ turned into a few weeks, let’s not hold our b breath 😉 For the time being, all we know is that it somehow relates to Shining Force (seemingly about their offspring, and a new power of darkness) and is a strategy RPG. So, Sega – the PS2 video games console isn’t a suitable console for strategy RPGs, but a mobile telecommunications device is worthy of two in a row?! Not that I mind them being mobile games, but I would at least like an opportunity to play them without having to live in Japan and subscribe (it’s a 315 yen monthly fee to pay – that’s around US$3, which isn’t bad IMHO).
Regarding Shining Road: To the Force we now have much more info as it seems the game is now available for players in Japan to subscribe to – since March 14th, I believe. I could spend ages translating every detail, but I think you’ll gather as much as I can by taking a look at the page via Babelfish, here. For those of you too lazy to take a looksie, here’s what I can make of it thus far. The game would seem to be a Shining Force/Shining Soul hybrid, merging (at a glance) the best features of both. We have at last some almost classic Force style battles, in an isometric 3D-style 2D view with graphics much like those of Shining Soul II. With distributable stats, monsters dropping chests of items when they die, a card collecting system and over 200 items of varying rarity, this game’s roots are quite apparent. Although it’s a turn based game, it seems that the characters will respond to one another’s moves, joining in the attack if positioned correctly. There are four characters in the force: Arfen the Human Swordsman, Ralzack the Claw-weilding Wolfling, Tiaris the Magic Bunnygirl (she looks very much like the bunnygirl in Shining Tears, it probably is, I just can’t recall her name!) and Steel Dragon Ogre a Dragonman who uses Halberds and the like. I think it looks really sweet, it’s a real shame we’re unlikely to be able to play it. Time for a holiday in Japan I guess 😉 I wonder whether Rei could buy me a phone, download/subscribe to the game and then send me the phone? *lol* There must be an easier way…
An update to the Shining Tears site echoes some of the other info on the Shining Road Site, though I don’t entirely follow it. The story seems to be set seven years before Shining Tears, and relates to the Kingdom of Bestia. Within the game one can collect cards, and depending on the card collected, the player may download artwork (some exclusive and quite rare) from the website. Presumably this artwork is for use on the mobile phone and isn’t downloadable on a PC. There are certainly some nice pics there, and I’m guessing the half-obscured Yog pic is one of the rare ones >.<;; Maybe they'll surface on the web sometime.
Last, but not least, an update to the Shining Force Neo site, detailing a launch-day promotional contest at Akihabara stores much like the one held for Shining Tears last November. Shoppers purchasing Neo in-store on its launch day will be allowed to draw a ticket to see whether they have won an exclusive item. The items range from hand drawn autographed illustrations, to clear plastic files and the like. I think more precise details on the nature of the prizes will be posted on the site nearer launch-day.