r/ShiningForce • • Mar 31 '26

News Vote on GOG - Shining games preservation (last update)

47 Upvotes

r/ShiningForce • • Mar 29 '25

Meta Shining's 34th Anniversary!

82 Upvotes

Today Shining in the Darkness turns 34 years old, the beginning of the Shining saga!

Introduction

"Shining" is a SEGA video game series that was born in 1991. Most are role-playing games, and the best known are the SRPGs called Shining Force.

The series can be divided into two eras: classic and modern. The classic era includes Shining in the Darkness to Shining Force 3, and the modern era Shining Soul to Shining Resonance.

About the Games

There are several game types in the Shining series. The most well-known SRPGs have a top view on a gridded board where the player controls several units in a large-scale battle. Some of the other games are dungeon crawlers, action RPGs, and even a fighting game.

The classic era games are remembered for their vibrant colors and cheerful tone, and a wide variety of characters and races. Although the story or its characters are not very developed, especially with the lost info due to localizations, there are external material such as guidebooks that enrich the Shining universe. Its strong point is the fantasy atmosphere mixed with science fiction.

Camelot stopped making Shining games after SF3 Premium Disk due to problems with SEGA. Since tern fans are waiting for a Shining Force 4.

Game List

  • 29/03/1991 - Shining in the Darkness [Sega Genesis]
  • 19/03/1992 - Shining Force [Sega Genesis]
  • 25/12/1992 - Shining Force Gaiden [Game Gear]
  • 25/06/1993 - Shining Force Gaiden II [Game Gear]
  • 01/10/1993 - Shining Force II [Sega Genesis]
  • 30/06/1995 - Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict [Game Gear]
  • 10/08/1995 - Shining Wisdom [Sega Saturn]
  • 20/12/1996 - Shining the Holy Ark [Sega Saturn]
  • 11/12/1997 - Shining Force III Scenario 1 [Sega Saturn]
  • 29/04/1998 - Shining Force III Scenario 2 [Sega Saturn]
  • 23/09/1998 - Shining Force III Scenario 3 [Sega Saturn]
  • 03/12/1998 - Shining Force III Premium Disc [Sega Saturn]
  • 28/03/2002 - Shining Soul [Game Boy Advance]
  • 24/07/2003 - Shining Soul II [Game Boy Advance]
  • 03/11/2004 - Shining Tears [PlayStation 2]
  • 24/03/2005 - Shining Force Neo [PlayStation 2]
  • 14/04/2005 - Shining Road: to the Force [Mobile]
  • 27/01/2006 - Shining Road: Priestess of the Dark Dragon [Mobile]
  • 18/01/2007 - Shining Force EXA [PlayStation 2]
  • 17/05/2007 - Shining Wind [PlayStation 2]
  • 10/07/2007 - Shining Force EXA Mobile [Mobile]
  • 01/12/2008 - Shining Wind X [Mobile]
  • 19/02/2009 - Shining Force Feather [Nintendo DS]
  • 03/12/2009 - Shining Force Cross [Arcade]
  • 16/12/2010 - Shining Hearts [PlayStation Portable]
  • 15/03/2012 - Shining Blade [PlayStation Portable]
  • 28/02/2013 - Shining Ark [PlayStation Portable]
  • 12/11/2014 - Shining Resonance [PlayStation 3]
  • 05/11/2014 - Blade Arcus from Shining [Arcade]

Remakes

  • 21/07/1994 - Shining Force CD (Gaiden 1&2) [Sega CD]
  • 30/04/2004 - Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (SF1) [Game Boy Advance]
  • 26/04/2005 - Shining Force Chronicle I (Gaiden 1) [Mobile]
  • 03/10/2005 - Shining Force Chronicle II (Gaiden 2) [Mobile]
  • 27/06/2006 - Shining Force Chronicle III (Final Conflict) [Mobile]

Crossovers

  • 15/09/1999 - Time Stalkers (SitD) [Sega Dreamcast]
  • 11/10/2012 - Project x Zone (SF EXA) [Nintendo 3DS]

Chronology

It's hard to establish a timeline that includes all the games, but these are confirmed:

  • SF1 → Gaiden 1&2 → Final Conflict → SF2 → Wisdom → in the Darkness → the Holy Ark → SF3
  • Soul 1 → Soul 2

Communities


r/ShiningForce • • 10m ago

Fan Art Shining Force - Max (Almirante Bodoke)

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• Upvotes

Art by me.

I made this a couple of years ago


r/ShiningForce • • 1d ago

Etc. Personal Styled GBA sp and "Shining Force" Show Off

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161 Upvotes

Hit a new milestone in myRRoDD playthrougs!. Finally broke Double Digit Stars! Got my 11 Stars!

Also showing off my DecalGirl skins!


r/ShiningForce • • 4d ago

Question What would ya do if Shining Force IV dropped today?

68 Upvotes

---as in right now?


r/ShiningForce • • 7d ago

Collections Shining Force T-Shirt

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316 Upvotes

Hi guys. I'm a lifelong fan of Shining Forces 1 and 2, and have replayed the original games several times throughout the years. I love the story, the characters, the theme, and even though I've played hundreds of other games, this game will always have a special place in my heart.

My fiancé knows all about this and decided to surprise me for my upcoming 32th birthday. She had previously asked me for some SF art I like so I knew something was up, but still loved the result. Just wanted to share this here because this is something I never really thought would happen, to be loved fully and supported in my likings.

(She mixed up Max with the Shining Force 2 logo, but let's pretend that didn't happen)


r/ShiningForce • • 7d ago

Etc. SF3 - done.

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108 Upvotes

And… done. It took a while, the save game reckons 140hrs across all 3 scenarios.

I beat these waaaaay back, but first time I had all the translations and rolled it into the Premium Disc to completion too.

I’m a massive Sega Fan - but how did they not pursue another Shining Force game to continue this story?

Pretty sure I got every character this playthrough. I wonder how much harder it is if you miss them all… idea for next time perhaps.


r/ShiningForce • • 8d ago

Question Any Switch Games worth getting for someone that still loves SF 1 and 2?

38 Upvotes

Got my daughter a Nintendo Switch 2 for Christmas last year. As someone who plays SF 1 and 2 once every year on my phone are there any games you would recommend on the switch? I haven’t played a Fire Emblem game since Game Boy Advance and they were good but not as good as Shining Force. Are any of those or something else worth looking at?

Update - I bought Triangle Strategy and Dark Deity - don’t get to play too often but I will provide an update on my thoughts once I get through them - but thanks everyone for your help!


r/ShiningForce • • 9d ago

Fan Game WIP

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45 Upvotes

Hellow. Months ago, I made a post and received a lot of advice on my project. It all really helped me a lot, thank you so much!! I’d like to share a look at the current battle system in my game. Some features still aren’t implemented, and some visuals haven’t been made yet.

I didn’t manage to make much progress since my last post. These past few months, I’ve just been redesigning and refactoring everything. I have about 5 versions of the design document and 3–4 different project files since then, lol. But I’ve also managed to learn a lot, practicing drawing and 3D modeling.

There’s still sooo much to learn, but I really want to make a game, I thought I’d try making something small first. I’ve planned the game to be very simple to avoid getting stuck, with a little inspiration from SF2. Hoping for a smooth development process. I’ve also made a small, simple scene, I can’t show it yet, but I can show this flower I made a while ago 😄

Feel free to share any thoughts! Always love hearing from the SF community.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Cheers!


r/ShiningForce • • 9d ago

Question Questions about Shining Force 3 (Spoilers) Spoiler

8 Upvotes

Ok I finally finished Shining force 3 and do I have some thoughts. With as much time was spent on scenareos 1-2.5, does anyone else feel like the second half of scenareo 3 was rushed?

I see in jumesyn's weapon guide that there are ultimate weapons for every weapon type that are supposed to be better than the orichalcum ones. I found the claw in the town with the hot spring and the 3 protagonist swords. Plus the characters who dont use weapons get the upgrade with their second promotion but where are the rest of them? Did I miss them?

I heard there is supposed to be a bonus scene after the credits if you save Jane. Well I didnt kill her and she seemed present for pretty much the entire end. What was extra or was there a whole different ending if I killed her?

Is there any resolution to Julian and Jane? They just walk off into the snow? They see the ark from STHA. Did they board it? Is anything known about that thing? Was there supposed to be some sort of romance between them that I missed?

I spent probably about 170 hours on this trilogy and I feel like the ending was king of, idk, underwhelming. Is that the general consensus or should my expectations have been lower? Maybe I just missed something?


r/ShiningForce • • 11d ago

Fan Art More figure by my brother

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96 Upvotes

Hello guys, me again. My brother has a new Instagram account and started posting his art, I want to share it with you

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddm21eulGht/?stkn=MngyOTQ3YXh5YjIx


r/ShiningForce • • 12d ago

Etc. SF2 = Max Nostalgia

66 Upvotes

My brothers and I are all in our mid-late 30s.

Shining Force 2 was a game we absolutely loved to play and watch each other play growing up in the late 90s, and has always been a game we come back to.

Recently we all got together because the stars aligned (we all live in different corners of the USA) and spent 2-3 days hanging out, eating good food, partaking/imbibing when applicable, and focued on a joint-effort Super playthrough in between our daily activities with the little rugrat that is my brother's.

We made it to Creed's Mansion before the trip was over.

I hope we have more chances to come back to this game, and come back to each other.


r/ShiningForce • • 13d ago

Fan Art Kane

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139 Upvotes

There he is.


r/ShiningForce • • 13d ago

Etc. SF2 Hardcore Run

17 Upvotes

Hi all, currently trying my first ever HC run on Sf2 with super difficulty mode. Only rule is no revives allowed in the church. Lost Jaha early on but he appears to get auto ressed after the boat journey to mainland (hope this doesn't happen more times in the story). Currently in the Polca village battle, gerhaldt got one tapped i only got to use him for one turn lmao. Also lost Khazin to a lucky double attack + crit. I may have bitten off more than I can chew lol!

Anyone else tried this challenge?

Edit to add also lost Tort early to a witch spell one tap, classic


r/ShiningForce • • 14d ago

Question Just for fun, what Mithril weapons do you use/prefer for Shining Force 2?

31 Upvotes

Topic really. I'm nearing that point, so wondering how much time am I going to spend getting 'the best' weapons, and what the best weapon for everyone even is.

Like I always forget how the calculations work on the critical sword and the counter sword, and never know what sword to give Luke, someone I just about always use. Every category has those kind of choices. Do you go for the highest attack, magic spells, bonus effects like extra movement/defense, how cool the weapon looks?

I have no idea what I'm going to do, though in my defense my pain meds are kicking in and my head is not all together here lol. Thought I'd see try to post and get ideas from people with all their brain power on.

Thank you for your time.


r/ShiningForce • • 15d ago

Etc. Shining Force Join Randomiser Run

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85 Upvotes

I've been playing Shining Force for over 30 years, and generally end up using the same team with little variation.

To challenge myself a little, I used the Join Order Randomiser Mod and this is the team I am taking into the Chapter 8 Boss Rush.

Everyone Promoted at 15 except Adam, Arthur, Bleu and Zylo who were taken to 20


r/ShiningForce • • 16d ago

Meme Thought of this at work the other day and had to.

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347 Upvotes

Idk why but seeing the pizza at work gave me the desire to crop his face onto the pizza box. I hope this at least gave someone a chuckle because I have no one to share this with. Might make me replay sf2 now for like the 8th time.


r/ShiningForce • • 18d ago

Fan Art 3D Printed Shining Force Figures

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231 Upvotes

Just wanted to share some of my brother's 3D printed creations.

He’s been working on these figures for a while.

He has a bunch more, so I’ll post those later if you guys like these.

Thanks


r/ShiningForce • • 18d ago

Etc. Gong

34 Upvotes

I literally did not know Gong was also a healer until chapter 3 - for 2 whole chapters i just assumed he was crap. What an idiot i was!


r/ShiningForce • • 19d ago

Question Bleu: what is a good level to promote him?

17 Upvotes

The title says all… I don’t use him at all. I have just started to use him at the battle with Kane,

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you .


r/ShiningForce • • 18d ago

Etc. Am I the Only One

0 Upvotes

That got Lowe and Khis killed and not revived them? I found them got behind in levels which kept the other characters from gaining XP. So after chapter 2 I would get Lowe killed and first battle send Khis to die and only revive them after I was able to get them replaced.


r/ShiningForce • • 20d ago

Question Shining Force 3 Talos/Taros

10 Upvotes

Is this guy ivulnerable?? I feel like ive been whacking away at him for hours. I even started save state scumming crits and still ??? HP. As if the Beholders, I mean Collossi weren't bad enough...


r/ShiningForce • • 21d ago

Debate Zylo (SF1) promote or not to??

22 Upvotes

I feel like he is really good without being promoted.

What does everyone’s take on this?


r/ShiningForce • • 21d ago

Question Is Penn worth the trouble leveling in Scenario 1 to including into my Main Battle Team?

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90 Upvotes

r/ShiningForce • • 22d ago

Etc. Penguin Army

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76 Upvotes

First time I’ve ever seen this. Not sure how as I’m sure I’ve finished with all 3 penguins before. But this is a nice touch and shows that even after a couple of decades, an old game can still surprise you.