Shining Force II: First time playing, and Higgins happened

[DomingoRules!]

After we finished SF1, I started playing this game with a friend. Like with the previous game, this is his first time playing Shining Force 2, and it's been quite an interesting experience. Some of the most notable occurrences have been the tremendous amount of effort my friend decided we should put into leveling up Kiwi after he fell behind so we could promote him, getting our asses kicked in the Harpy battle because I totally forgot that there's new weapons to purchase after Taros (which I blame on him being in control outside of battle), and one time (due to our few game overs we've had since coordinating strategies can sometimes lead to poor situations) where we bought weapons before we revived our characters, and actually didn't have enough money remaining to bring everybody back.

However, one of the most amusing things (at least for me) is that Slade learned Higgins. It was just so funny watching that spell appear in Slade's spell list since it's my friend's first time playing the game, and watching my friend be super confused by it. He was so baffled, he even looked up information about it online while we were playing, trying to figure out what causes the glitch, and why the spell is called Higgins (of course, I didn't mention that's the name of a character, and I can't wait for his reaction to that, since I don't think he found that). Speaking of which though, that doesn't conflict with learning Raijin, does it? I haven't learned Higgins in years, so I can't remember if it conflicts with learning normal spells.

Oh, and we slaughtered the chess battle. Never thought I'd be able to say that, so I felt I must take advantage of the rare occasion. Right from the start of the battle, I couldn't stress enough to my friend that we need to just focus on the King. I made it perfectly clear that if we even try to take out all the enemies in the battle (especially since I've been letting him lead in terms of tactics, so we couldn't abuse the AI), we'd be dead before we even made a dent in their forces. So when the King was the very first enemy unit to rush in, we just creamed him while only losing a couple of our units in the process.

[MXC]

There are new weapons in Hassan after you beat Taros. You just need to be promoted to use them

I think Slade will learn Raijin if Higgins occurs before the normal level of learning Raijin. It has been a very long time since it happened to me though and IIRC, I stopped using Slade at that point anyway.

[DomingoRules!]

There are new weapons in Hassan after you beat Taros. You just need to be promoted to use them

I think Slade will learn Raijin if Higgins occurs before the normal level of learning Raijin. It has been a very long time since it happened to me though and IIRC, I stopped using Slade at that point anyway.

Yeah, I know about those weapons. It just slipped my mind because since this is my friend's first time playing the game, I'm letting him control Bowie, and be in control of exploration (while still being sure to point him towards special items and characters). Because of that, that new shop just slipped my mind until after we lost the Harpy battle, and were setting back out from that town to try again.

I'm not sure how things will go since I'm letting him choose our party members, but Slade is one character along with Peter who I pretty much always use. Sure, he dies in pretty much every battle, but you just can't beat his versatility.

[MXC]

Not very versatile when he's dead

Not saying you shouldn't use him. I just find he's not always worth it.

[Simpelicity]

Meh, maybe worth it, maybe not. I usually just take him because I like katon3 on bosses.

Must be fun to watch someone play this for the first time ^.^

[DomingoRules!]

Not very versatile when he's dead

Not saying you shouldn't use him. I just find he's not always worth it.

He's basically a wizard who can fight with a weapon. Problem is, that includes his Defense, and HP stats, while lacking in the MP department. Still, since I pretty much never use Chaz because by then I already have my party built the way I want, Raijin is a welcome spell for hitting groups of enemies. If not for that alone, I would probably look a bit less favorably on him.

Meh, maybe worth it, maybe not. I usually just take him because I like katon3 on bosses.

Must be fun to watch someone play this for the first time ^.^

It has been interesting. We're playing cooperatively in battle though, with each of us directly controlling different characters, but it's still interesting giving him the lead, and seeing how things play out as a result. Especially when we fought Kraken, and I refrained from telling him until we were already knee-deep in trouble that the easiest way to win the battle is to start by coaxing the head with Luke and/or Peter.

I don't let him go in totally blind however in situations where I feel it necessary to speak up. For example, when we fought Taros, I addressed the fact that only Bowie can damage him, yet still recommended we rush him with everybody to distract his blows from our leader.