"An average game, but worth the time."

Well, it looks like Shining Force stays on the real-time battle system. I'll base this review solely on its own and not compare it to Neo, or try not to.

Story - 7/10
Standard "save the world" story. A group of adventurers travel together and set out to find the legendary Shining Force. As the search continues, they find themselves obliged to save the world from destruction by defeating an evil god. Yeah...the standard stuff.

Graphics - 8/10
First, the FMVs look amazing. I absolutely loved those and there were quite a few. During gameplay though, it's your regular PS2 graphics; nothing special, but nothing spectacular. The spells look pretty good and the character animations are rather clean though. You get 10 costumes for both main characters as well, so that's a plus.

Gameplay - 7/10
Hack and Slash grinding. This doesn't stop it from being fun though. You'll always be alert, as a lot of the times it's one or two hit KO. It doesn't require much strategy, just quick reflexes. Luckily you can save at pretty much any time, which you should be doing at regular intervals. Just expect to see a Game Over screen a lot. The game also kind of lags when there is a large amount of enemies on screen, but it isn't too bad.

Sound - 7/10
The music was kind of eh. Wasn't great, but it wasn't bad enough for me to turn it off. Voice acting is actually pretty decent though, but with a few exceptions of course. Overall though, if I had to compare it with a game I played recently as well, Ar Tonelico, Shining Force Exa had a much better voiceover than Ar Tonelico. This is a good thing too, since almost 95% of the game is voiced.

Value - 7/10
You'll probably want to play through at least twice, since there are two main characters. The things they say and how they react to certain scenes is worth the replay as the other character. The bonus dungeon and training grounds should last quite a while as well.

All in all, this game is worth the time and money. It won't be the best game you've ever played, but you'll have fun and that's what's important, right?

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/07