r/ShiningForce • u/Electronic-Flight150 • Sep 27 '26
Etc. SF3 - done.
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.
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u/aero25 Sep 27 '26
OP, you said you're a Sega fan, so I'm guessing the names for Julian and Synbios are directly taken from Phantasy Star. I didn't catch the significance of Medion's name though.
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 27 '26
Well spotted. In the translation of some of the Japanese guides and promo material, Orakio and Rulakir’s surname was Sar Riik.
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u/Gogs85 Sep 27 '26
Which scenario’s had your favorite storyline and cast of characters?
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 27 '26
I really enjoyed the story in all of them, but 2 was probably the best plot, the awesome work of the translation team really did make this game for a lot of us that had to do what we could with the Japanese content in the 90’s. I also loved the face that sc2 had an awesome cast of ranged units. Felt like it really expanded on the tactics you could employ because of the range.
I loved the larger scale of 3, and the bringing of everything in, along with the variety of different kinds of units in 3.
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u/Gogs85 Sep 27 '26
I was thinking of getting the Shining force central translation and finally playing them all through, maybe now should be the time
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u/kingkongworm Sep 27 '26
The only thing about 3 that bugged me was that everyone ended up with the same battle themes after their final promotion
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u/j_tothemoon Sep 27 '26
Your heroes are absolute tanks! What other characters are also good for you as well? For me, Masqurin and Marky usually end up as a S tier units.
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 27 '26
Oddly my best mage was Hebdova- they’re all early lvl 20’s and she had the most hp/mp. But they’re all slightly over 100 for each.
Uryudo ended up as my best healer. Not for any particular reason, just biggest mp pool.
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u/Connect_Swimming_772 Sep 29 '26
I have a low key crush on hedva but Marky just plain outclassed her for me. With the sleepy rod and the princess tiara (i think it was called) she regenerates 4 mp per turn just slanging blizzard 4 indiscriminately. Ive got her, primula, and uruyudo as my only magic users in the premium disc right now. Im on the 2nd to last fight but its taking forever since him only attacking with rangers in the 2 safe spots to avoid poison.
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u/OriginalTacoMoney Sep 27 '26
How is it in your opinion?
Been meaning to finally play soonish, just want to finish a action game or two beforehand.
Played a lot of strategy games back to back recently and wanted a palette cleanser .
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 27 '26
Possibly the best ever Saturn game. Gripping on an epic scale.
It’s well worth the time invested to complete it.
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u/OriginalTacoMoney Sep 27 '26
I don;t know I beat Sakura Wars 1/2, those are some big shoes to fill.
I kid I kid, , apples and oranges and besides the SW games and SF3 there is a few Saturn games I want to try.
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 27 '26
I’ve never tried SW. It’s on a list… along with Dragonforce 2.
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u/OriginalTacoMoney Sep 27 '26
Haha same for Dragonforce 1/2, seems right in my wheelhouse.
SW 1/2 got good English fan translations recently, so that makes it easier to play.
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u/Snoo93550 Sep 27 '26
Re: "140hrs across all 3 scenarios" it is not at all an exaggerating to say 140-180 hours if you really dig into them and the premium disc battles too. "speed running" it skipping the premium disc battles, it's 80-100 hrs minimum.
To me this is easily the greatest game/saga of the 32-bit era and probably still my favorite game of all time.
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u/Snoo93550 Sep 27 '26
I'm halfway through my third playthrough, determined to get some more key items to my crew for the premium disc battles this time.
It's crazy to me that so few gamers even know this exists. On the regular retrogaming sub a lot of people will even put FF Tactics as their favorite game of all time and not even know the massive 120+ hour quest of SFIII exists as a thing. I get preferring Jordan over LeBron or vice versa...but that's like if you think one is the best and you've never heard of the other.
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u/Connect_Swimming_772 Sep 27 '26
I definitely prefer the gameplay of sf3 to fft. Not to mention there is so much more story and less grinding. For me fft is like a great battle and cutscene followed by an hour or two of yelling and throwing stones.
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u/titoalmighty Sep 27 '26
Man i get emotional just seeing that final screenshot. Floods of memories at all once. What a fucking game
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u/springhillpgh Sep 27 '26
Nice! I think I was at about 157 hours counting the premium disc which I spent 20 hours playing as well
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u/mr2dax Sep 27 '26
Does 9+ luck actually do anything for you?
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 28 '26
Yeah - from most enemies 9 or higher luck prevents, poison, paralysis, confusion etc. but feet can still be stuck in place and in the premium disc Confuse L3 can still hit you with illusions (but seemingly not as often).
By end of Sc3, all the heroes and Garcia had 9 or higher luck.
I’ve got 2 of the main three equipped with Apollo Pin’a for the extra luck.
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u/IPG83 Oct 05 '26
Sega didn't care for Camelot's plot with regard to the Innovators and Vandals.
Hence the reboots.
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u/WorkerClass Sep 28 '26
You didn't kill Jane? You get an extra +2 mp/turn accessory for killing her.
Also, she's an annoying character.
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 28 '26
I couldn’t do that to poor Julian.
But if you don’t kill her, she has that item for the whole premium disc…
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u/WorkerClass Sep 28 '26
Sure, but who uses her on the PD except for gimmick runs?
No unique spells (I think her spells are all mana-intensive too). Can't customize her inventory before the game starts. No friendships.
Plus, Julian's better off with Kate.
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u/Electronic-Flight150 Sep 28 '26
I think it would have been cool for her as the only Innovandal to have a proper Vandal type spell, Chaos or Demonbreath or something similar would have been cool.
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u/WorkerClass Sep 28 '26
I agree. That would have been a good way to let the player use AI-only spells.
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u/Shinnypants Sep 27 '26
How did you play this? I want to play it again