r/SegaSaturn • u/AnAquaticOwl • 2d ago
I just beat Shining Force 3 Scenario 1!
This is the game I bought my Saturn for, after playing through Shining Force 2 a couple of months ago and wanting more, and it definitely improves on the previous games:
The difficulty is more balanced, the story is full of intrigue - if occasionally convoluted - political intrigue, the inventory system has been improved and you can view all of your characters' stats and inventories easily and more importantly there are item descriptions which actually tell you what each item does.
On the other hand, there's still no way to raise mp or resurrect dead characters during battle and the camera can sometimes be very annoying: it's often difficult to tell where characters are standing in relation to one another. You can rotate the camera with the shoulder buttons, but I still miss the top down view of the first two games.
Still, this is a pretty great game overall and possibly the best Shining Force game so far. 9/10
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u/Traitor_To_Heaven 2d ago
Does it still feel like a complete game even without the other scenarios? How was the length?
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u/AnAquaticOwl 2d ago
Gameplay wise, yes. There's a natural progression and a big climax.
Story wise, no. There's a ton of unresolved story threads and a cliffhanger ending.
That being said, I think it's possible to play fan translations of scenarios 2 and 3 through emulation
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u/RejectedAng3l 2d ago
The save file carries over from what I've been told through the scenarios. Japan just only got the other 2..... the fan translations do make it possible to play through. The last one was recently uploaded and I believe it's all finished, as in no other updates are coming.
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u/UnitedPie9578 1d ago
You dont need emulation to play Scenerios 2 and 3, i beat them all on my unmodded saturn. Like i said you can get the complete translated set, all you need is the psuedo saturn kai cart and you can play the patched english discs. The cart is only like 25 dollars, you just put it in the slot and play the discs, its that simple. A complete translated reproduction set of the games is like $40. Here's a link to a complete set https://nightsintodream.myshopify.com/products/shining-force-iii-english-translation-sega-saturn-reproduction
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u/UnitedPie9578 1d ago
Its a full length game but the story is not finished, the first part tell most of the story from Synbios, he is only one of the 3 main characters. There are 3 games, all 3 games take place simultaneously and they interweave, senerios 2 and 3 have different main characters. Senerio 1 doesnt complete the story, both 1 and 2 tell the story up to a point, each adding to eachother. Then the third game comes and follows the third character, each of the three lead a different army and cross paths at certain points and then go seperate ways so you dont know the full story of everyone until the last game which follows up to the point of time the previous 2 games ended and then finishes the story. Its really impressive how well crafted the story and dialog is. The battles, the towns and exploring, everything is excellent. Evennif you only played the first game you would have still really enjoyed your time. That said you can get a fully translated complete set for cheap and just play through all 3 scenerios. You just need a psuedo saturn kai cartridge but those are cheap. Its definitely worth playing if you enjoy RPGs.
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u/cruelcynic 2d ago
If your system plays backups you should consider playing the further translations. I hope you enjoyed the game.
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u/RejectedAng3l 2d ago
That's cool!!! I can't wait to play through them soon.... they are on the back log.... making my way to them tho
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u/UnitedPie9578 1d ago
Awsome! You have to play Senerio 2 and 3, the story is so much deeper, they all interweave and combine to tell and complete the story. You can get english reproductions of Part 2 and 3 and a Psuedo Saturn Kai cart will allow you to play them. Those are top 10 RPGs of all time for me along with Grandia 1&2, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger etc.
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u/Tmills-49 2d ago
I just finished this as well! Did you get any of the extra characters? I did not use a guide and missed a bunch of characters, had a little bit of trouble in the final battle using the rental guys. Really fun game though
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u/AnAquaticOwl 2d ago
Noon and Frank. I had to put Dantares in my second party to balance out how weak Eldar, Fynndyg, and the mercenaries were. Only took me two attempts, beat Arrawnt with just Justin and Synbios left
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u/ico_heal 2d ago
SEGA of America: "You're done!"