Should I start with Shining Force 1 or 2?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

If you want to consider the larger series as a whole (The Shining Series), you could play Shining In the Darkness first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_%28series%29

It was a long time ago when I last played Shining In The Darkness, it was one of the games I received when I first got my Genesis. I recall beating it (or at least getting close).

[nightrnr]

I missed this post earlier, but are the other SF games different from this or something? Can you explore towns in the other games?

Shining Force 1 lets you explore a few towns, but that's about it. Otherwise, I remember walking from point A to B then battle...no real exploration going on.
SF2 is the only Shining "FORCE" game that's exploration friendly.
--EDIT--
I haven't tried Shining Force EXA and NEO yet. I think those are quite different anyways though.

As for the topic, I don't think it matters too much.
I played SF2 first (that's the game that was available to me at the time) and I like it better. But that just made me thirsty for more and didn't lessen my enjoyment of SF1 any.

[MrPopo]

If you want to consider the larger series as a whole (The Shining Series), you could play Shining In the Darkness first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_%28series%29

Shining in the Darkness is a dungeon crawler and is set chronologically after Shining Force Final Conflict.

I missed this post earlier, but are the other SF games different from this or something? Can you explore towns in the other games?

In Shining Force 1 you can explore the towns between battles which can lead to finding treasure, more party members, or just some additional lore. However, the flow of the game tends to be that you exit a town and are thrust into a battle, at the conclusion of the battle you enter the next town. So it's a minor amount of exploration. Additionally, the game is based on chapters, and at the conclusion of each chapter you are locked out of the lands from earlier chapters.

In Shining Force 2 you have the same town exploration but there is more of the world that you can see in between battles. You might walk a fair distance on the world map between battle scenes, for example, and you are not permanently locked out of any area of the world map by end game. Some of the areas you can revisit will have a new fight available, as well, for level grinding purposes. There are also in general more hidden items in Shining Force 2 compared to Shining Force 1.

Shining Force 3 on the Saturn is more like Shining Force 1 in terms of exploration. You again have distinct chapters which prevent you from exploring previous areas, but the hidden items in towns is on par with Shining Force 2. And really, the overworld exploration in Shining Force 2 didn't add a whole lot to the game.

The three Game Gear Shining Force games don't have town exploration; you instead get a town menu where you can shop and save.

Shining in the Darkness is a dungeon crawler set after the events of Final Conflict. There's a single dungeon and you can move between the dungeon, the town, and the castle via a menu. And the town is just a menu as well (albiet a graphical menu).

Shining the Holy Ark is another dungeon crawler and a prequel to Shining Force 3. There are more distinct "dungeons" that are dotted across the world map and there is a town exploration feature. However, the town exploration is pretty primitive; there's usually only a couple of buildings and you move through the town like you're playing Myst.

Shining Wisdom is an action RPG that I don't have much experience with, but it's set after Shining Force 2.

The remaining Shining games diverge pretty heavily from the existing storylines.

[Croooow!]

Has anyone ever played SF1 for iPod Touch/iPhone? I see it's only three dollars and thought it would be worth picking up if it was a decent port.

[MrPopo]

It's a fine enough port of the original Genesis version, not the GBA upgrade. It uses a virtual d-pad and buttons which makes me think it's just running on a Genesis emulator. Since the game is completely turn based this isn't a problem.

[Redifer]

I own Shining Force 3 and I could never get into it. It moves at a snail's pace, the towns are tough to explore and everything looks ugly as sin. I remember it taking forever before I even got to the first battle. I only lasted 2 or 3 battles before I got bored and stopped playing, despite loving the previous games. Shining Force is not a game that benefits from being 3D.

[Runefaust]

I own Shining Force 3 and I could never get into it. It moves at a snail's pace, the towns are tough to explore and everything looks ugly as sin. I remember it taking forever before I even got to the first battle. I only lasted 2 or 3 battles before I got bored and stopped playing, despite loving the previous games. Shining Force is not a game that benefits from being 3D.

While I loved Shining Force 3 it definitely would have aged more gracefully had it been done in 2D. Though, I still very much enjoy me some Shining the Holy Ark!

[nightrnr]

I just learned about this fan remake of SFII:

http://forums.shining-force.co.uk/viewt ... &start=400

It looks might it might be a while before it's done though... if it ever gets done.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I just finished Act 1 of SF1 and I'm really enjoying it so far. Not amazingly deep but definitely holds my attention. I just got pwnd in the first battle in Act 2. Damn zombies

Next attempt I'll be bringing lots of medical herbs.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, those zombies are the first wake up battle. Then there's an evil level against your first boss character (as opposed to just a regular mob in the leadership position). You'll curse it when you get to it.