Forums > Submission Feedback > overdrive's Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict review

I’m not sure what angle you were going with here. Yeah, Shining games are simple turn-based strategy titles, but your entire review seems to focus on the plot aside from maybe a couple of paragraphs. You talk about how the game is easy but spirals into more of a challenge – I think the review would have been much stronger with that as a focus. Instead, you start off by saying “The plot here is throwaway and weak”, and then talk about nothing but the plot you’d just hamstrung. I’ve not played Gaiden in a long, long time, but I was expecting to be reminded of my playthrough here. How were the last missions? What units did the game supply? Other games have things like magical squids, phoenix warriors that look more like bespectacled chickens or bloody dragoons making up their ranks – does this have similar?. Are there hidden allies? Are there still special items that give brand new character classes during promotions? Or is all this absent and the title is a truly stripped down, bare bones handheld offering?

I love Shining games; that’s never been a secret, but even I find it pretty hard to care about their plotlines. I honestly think you went with the wrong angle on this one.

Hmm, fair points. I guess, since this is only the second SF title I've played for any length of time, neither were played as remotely new games and since, as time's gone on, strategy RPGs tend to be the most story-dense of any game (believe me, there's nothing like playing Stella Deus, cruising through a battle in 10 minutes and then sitting through 20 minutes of exposition...), I do sometimes struggle to consider things like that.

I'd probably mostly say it's a somewhat stripped down SF game. You promote characters when you want after L10 (no items needed, which was started in 2, I think, but not used on this game on this system); there are a couple hidden ones in stages, but nothing too elaborate as you don't travel a world map like in the Genesis ones; characters are the typical SF types with centaurs, birdmen, dragon knights and so on; much of the game is easy, but the last few fights are brutal because about everyone has very damaging long-range attacks.

It was probably just tough to focus on the nuts-and-bolts because this game was so by-the-books. Basically a "create a fairly no-frills SF game with enough references to other games in the series to make fans happy" sort of thing where the old ground was covered competently and no new ground was even thought about approaching.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Or in short. It was a somewhat parallel and slightly trimmed take on SF1 and a lot lesser than SF2.

I guess one way to look at it is that it was a solidly-made, but still simplistic game on a portable system to cash in on the popularity of the SF 1 and 2 while tying their plots together. That probably is why I focused on plot so much, as I doubt there'd be any purpose to the game being made without the desire to play "connect the dots" between the first two numbered games.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle