It’s a sorry state of affairs when a new Shining title is announced and I’m not excited in the slightest, but that has been the case for almost every announcement since the series was rebooted back in the early 00’s.
Shining Blade may not be the Shining Force 4 I’ve been waiting for but it has certainly gained my interest. It has been said that Shining Blade will take many cues from Sega’s other big SRPG series Valkyria Chronicles. It’ll use the same canvas style graphics engine and similar game play mechanics. This is already a huge step up from the horrible D-list Action-RPGs from a few years back.
This animated intro is quite nice too but I’m still having one big problem and that is the sheer number of half dressed woman clogging up the roster. Where are the quirky dwarves, centaurs, birdmen and the rest made the series stand out in the first place? Personally I don’t care if they add a bunch of skanky girls but don’t get rid of the characters I like to do it…
Oh well, I’m cautiously optimistic this could be the game changer in terms of game play, it’s coming to the PSP and probably wont leave Japan. Stay tuned kids!
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How about half dressed dwarves?
Please, SEGA, ask Camelot to resume their work.
To be honest the first Valkyria Chronicles is better than anything Camelot have made before or since Shining Force 2 and 3. (…in my opinion.)
No but really it is, and I love Shining Force 2. So I think Sega have the talent to make an absolutely amazing SF game. The problem is a number of things, the first is that the newer games sell better than the originals!
The second is that there are tons of people that actually like that Tony Taka guy and his shitty art.
If they can make a Shining Force game similar to Valkyria Chronicles then I’ll be more than happy. I still dislike the art and girly roster but it’s a small price to pay.
I would like the art better if Tony stepped away from his erotic roots and stopped sexualizing all the females. I should look at the characters and wish to connect with their plight, rather than just want to motorboat.