Shining Force Exa: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Discuss the followup to Shining Force Neo on the Playstation 2.

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TheUnknownMarine
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by TheUnknownMarine »

I thought it was fun. It's basically an upgraded SF Neo. A chunk of the plot is retarded, but it has fun characters and my standards were pretty low going in, so I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the upgradeable base aspect.

'Course I got it used for 15 bux, so...
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by sbloom85 »

Personally, aside from the fact that most of the game is a carbon copy of Neo (maps, music...) I thought it was okay. I like what they did with it, being able to switch lead characters at will, defending the base. But I thought they were a little lazy with it, like I mentioned, a lot of the maps and the music were ported over from Neo.

It doesn't seem to lag as much as Neo though, which is a big improvement.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Geoffrey Duke »

I might check it out in a few decades' time when I have nothing better to do, assuming of course that we aren't all living in a zombie filled wasteland, although that sounds more fun to me.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by thepeaguy »

No, because I'm loyal to Camelot. I vowed never to buy a post Camelot Shining game. Not ever.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Martin III »

After declining to buy it new due to ethical compunctions, I finally picked up a used copy last month and have since completed it. While I'm generally no longer an active member on these boards, I still feel I have to post my thoughts on the first new (to me) Shining game I've played in three years.

It's pretty good. Gameplay-wise it's largely a retread of Record of Lodoss War, but the Fortress system is a very welcome addition. It prods you into keeping more than three of your party members in circulation, and more importantly, breaks up the formula of dungeon traversing with some variety and danger. :thumbsup:

The challenge level does have some oddly-placed spikes, but in general I found it neither too easy nor too hard.

The story's also decent, with at least a few breaks from RPG standards and a well-developed relationship subplot to keep things entertaining. I also love how they flipped traditional J-RPG gender roles by having the guy be a half-naked stud and the girl be brooding and emotionally withdrawn.

Overall I would never rank it alongside Shining Soul II and Shining Force Feather as a later era series highlight, but Exa is a respectable entry which I much enjoyed playing.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Nekomimist »

Shining Force EXa was my first Shining game. :3 I was originally trying to get a copy of Shining Tears and Shining Wind, but couldn't find them anywhere. I settled on EXa. It's fun enough, but for me as a gamer it leaves a little much to be desired. ^^ SF Feather is my favorite, however, I still have yet to play Tears, Wind, or Hearts, which are all on my list. Even in Japan, I still couldn't find them for a price I could afford at the time. :\ (meaning dirt cheap XD)
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Faisal »

The game is actually pretty nice but one thing that I didnt like was the map of the game it seemed to be an exact replica of the map of NEO.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by sbloom85 »

That's what I've been saying. The music was ported to this game as well.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Faisal »

Maybe Sega got lazy and used the good old copy paste :p
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Plazzain »

This game was either way too easy (i.e. I would sprint through mobs of monsters like a hot knife through butter) or way too hard (i.e. monster kills me in one hit)

That said...Fun as f*ck to play.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Wanuska »

thepeaguy wrote:No, because I'm loyal to Camelot. I vowed never to buy a post Camelot Shining game. Not ever.
Then you will never buy a Shining Force again.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Kalkano »

Wanuska wrote:
thepeaguy wrote:No, because I'm loyal to Camelot. I vowed never to buy a post Camelot Shining game. Not ever.
Then you will never buy a Shining Force again.
There likely will never BE a Shining Force, again...
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by DomingoRules! »

Wanuska wrote:
thepeaguy wrote:No, because I'm loyal to Camelot. I vowed never to buy a post Camelot Shining game. Not ever.
Then you will never buy a Shining Force again.
Well considering this is what happens when Shining Force is handled without Camelot's inclusion, I'd say that speaks for itself.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Sugoi »

Enjoyed the game very much. The ending was disappointing to me, though...
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Martin III »

Sugoi wrote: Mon Dec 28 2015 12:09am Enjoyed the game very much. The ending was disappointing to me, though...
Copy-and-pasted my thoughts on this subject from the "Just finished this game" thread because they still hold true:

As far as the ending goes, I liked it. It wrapped up everything that needed to be wrapped up in an unambiguous manner. I'd much rather they pull that off with two minutes' worth of voice acting than have an ending that's a half hour long and still doesn't resolve some of the major subplots (the ending of Grandia II is a good example of this).

I do wish Sega had splurged for a five-second FMV of
Spoiler
Cyrille and Toma's climactic embrace instead of using a recycled still from chapter 11,
but otherwise I found it a very satisfying ending.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Sugoi »

Martin III wrote: Fri Dec 09 2022 5:06am [...] As far as the ending goes, I liked it. It wrapped up everything that needed to be wrapped up in an unambiguous manner. I'd much rather they pull that off with two minutes' worth of voice acting than have an ending that's a half hour long and still doesn't resolve some of the major subplots (the ending of Grandia II is a good example of this).
Mhh, I guess that two minute ending dialogue has fallen short of my expectations. Especially with RPGs I personally like a bit of "afterstory" or an epilogue if that's a better term. I want to know what happens to the characters and maybe their world afterwards. That's something which Grandia 2 at least delivers. In regards to this even the much older Shining Force 2 does a far better job with IMHO.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Martin III »

Sugoi wrote: Sat May 06 2023 1:59am
Martin III wrote: Fri Dec 09 2022 5:06am [...] As far as the ending goes, I liked it. It wrapped up everything that needed to be wrapped up in an unambiguous manner. I'd much rather they pull that off with two minutes' worth of voice acting than have an ending that's a half hour long and still doesn't resolve some of the major subplots (the ending of Grandia II is a good example of this).
Mhh, I guess that two minute ending dialogue has fallen short of my expectations. Especially with RPGs I personally like a bit of "afterstory" or an epilogue if that's a better term. I want to know what happens to the characters and maybe their world afterwards. That's something which Grandia 2 at least delivers. In regards to this even the much older Shining Force 2 does a far better job with IMHO.
I think what happens to the characters afterwards is better left to fan fiction and the players' imagination in general. I say, finish the story, and let us pick whichever future for the characters we like, rather than forcing us all to live with one particular one which doesn't serve any function to the plot or themes.

In the particular case of Exa, if there were such an ending, then the classic fan fic "Little Healer Boy" by Silverblue-Sakura (now going by EnchantedRealmsFiction) either wouldn't exist or would have to be regarded as alternate universe.
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Re: Anyone Ever Try This Game?

Post by Sugoi »

Martin III wrote: Sat Jan 27 2024 5:11pm I think what happens to the characters afterwards is better left to fan fiction and the players' imagination in general. I say, finish the story, and let us pick whichever future for the characters we like, rather than forcing us all to live with one particular one which doesn't serve any function to the plot or themes. [...]
Mhh, that kind of approach is not my cup of tea at all. Seems pretty lazy to me if game devs do that. It leaves a bad last(ing) impression. Similar to what BioWare did with "Mass Effect 3"... very unsatisfactory IMHO.

As for fanfic, I have no interest in that.
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