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! 😀