Shining Force CD (MCD, 1994)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-7 Challenge-6.5/7.5* Story-5
Level Design-7 Frustration-7/8* Fun-7 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7
*Scenario 4/museum battle (normal w/o grinding)
+
3 scenarios/books (choose one at the start menu, the first two are based on the first two GG games; book 3 is short at only 6 battles but lets you pick between nearly all chars from the previous books) as well as an unlockable bonus scenario consisting of a single battle where you face every boss in the game
Difficulty options (easy-very hard, easy is default but I played on normal; can also pick between easy and hard for one batte during book 3 - evil clone/shadow battle)
Decent intro and book 3-4 endings (SML2 style)
Adds a hub/camp area from the get go (similar to Shining in the Darkness; can change party members or equipment, can shop at some locations, can talk to members for a short introduction comment, set members to auto-battle (the AI isn't great though), cure status ailments and save+promote chars)
Somewhat improved AI over first game
Nicer battle sprites overall
Wind element added (only other new spells are stronger versions of blaze and bolt though; SF2 adds earth and water elements)
2 secret chars in book 1 (Domingo and Amigo) and 2 in book 2 (Higins and Rush)
Equipping an item or using one that has no effect doesn't waste a turn
Some interesting level gimmicks (lose all your items after the first battle (have to scavenge wooden ones in the next one but can then rebuy gear after that), no magic can be cast until the Fizzle Ball is destroyed during battle 15 in book 1, have to equip and use a certain sword during the final battle to be able to damage the boss, sudden environmental changes during battle in book 2 (lava cave) although you don't really need to worry about it, minor stealth segment of sorts in the death balloon/moving mine battle - pass by them without attacking them or getting too close to not have them explode in your face, in one book 3 battle there are walls being built as the battle progresses)
Can equip a weapon while buying it+can see how a weapon affects a char's stats in the shop menu
Level stats from books 1-2 are transferred to book 3 unless a char is under a preset level in your saves (book 2 data takes preference over book 1 data for the book 1 chars returning in book 2)
At one point during Book 2 your force gets split in half and later reunites
Various hidden items in book 3 (they tend to be placed in a way that gives a visual clue though considering they weren't in previous books+barely existed there you could've been notified about them being common in book 3)
Comedic tone in book 3
From SF1: Accessories with spell/skill effects (SF1) - can break but also be repaired here, Respawning enemies at times (SF1; helps with not having to egress to level up as much), Map view (SF1; C while not selecting anyone), New sprites for promoted chars, Animated dialogue portraits
+/-
Save feature (at the hub/camp, one slot per game), Suspend game option (at any point during battle?)
Can use egress to escape from any battle to replay it and grind levels as much as you need
Linear structure and no alternate objectives during battles
No perma-death
Party members can pass through each other during battle and AoE spells don't hit friendly units
Boost now has the agility+def effect of Quick in SF1 while Attack has the previous Boost effect of increasing AP
Dispel=Silence and Desoul=Death
No wait or defend command (could've helped against the random double attacks, critical hits or double turns)
Status spells sometimes fail and don't give as much exp as damage spells when they succeed
No treasure or enemy drops during some battles
No hidden items in book 1 (two hidden chars)
Spells generally do more damage to your party than physical attacks (no magic defense stat?)
Poison is pretty weak and can't be used by the party
Better to promote as late as possible (lvl 20 unpromoted is optimal) as you'll gain more levels in total. Lvl 20 is max* after promoting so it's potentially 10 more levels than if promoting at lvl 10. At higher unpromoted levels you start gaining less and less exp from enemies - around lvl 16-17 your chars start gaining only 1 exp from killing most enemies as well as using healing items so it leads to grinding if you want to max out your stats+you can't swich to the best weapons as quickly as they require promotion+spellcasters spend more time not gaining new spells after promoting
Promoting makes a char weaker initially (SF1)
The mushrooms in the tunnel are an interesting gimmick except sometimes they can appear and attack immediately - would've worked better if there was a one turn timer to take them out
The deals feature in shops is pretty underused (can only buy back sold rare items)
Can't cast an AoE spell on the ground between enemies
You only buy weapons, accessories and healing items (not armor or spells)
No spell that increases movement points and you there are only three items in Book 1 that increase it, two of which are consumables with a random effect of 1-2 points. In book 2 there are no such consumables and in book 3 there's one. Would've helped with some battles dragging on or some chars taking longer to level up+could've rewarded saving up money for them and getting them via the "deals" feature
Healing rain is pretty OP and archers and fliers are a bit OP
While some book 1 chars return for book 2 their level stats don't carry over there (the level data transfer is only used for book 3 and the returning book 1 chars in book 2 (Claude, Randolf, Gyan for example) use your book 2 stats there). For book 2, only the player char's name carries over if you picked the sequel option when starting a new game
No restart battle option for if you don't want to egress and end up overleveling (takes about 15-20 seconds to reset and reload from the main menu)
A confused enemy can attack themselves and then block the attack (lol)
No customization when leveling up or promoting (see Langrisser 2 or Seiken Densetsu)
Lose all money, healing items and rings between campaigns/books. Can lead to some grinding for money for healing rains in book 3
Can't use mithril for crafting here (nor anything else but for selling)
-
Some control/interface issues (same old limited inventory system (4 slots per char and healing items don't stack) and no stash at camps, can't change battle speed (only messages) nor skip enemy movement animations nor individual battle animations with the press of a button, can't quickly browse characters' full stats (for example going into one char's status menu then pressing a direction or button to switch to others) - only browse their levels & spells+inventory via the member menu if you press C without selecting anyone, heavily abbreviated class titles in battle menus - SDMN=Swordsman for example, can't buy more than one of an item at once in shops, "trade item" command can only be used if trying to give an item to someone with a full inventory, have to be facing something searchable or the command won't show up - if you stand next to a chest but the character faces elsewhere it won't show, menus don't wrap around, the game sometimes makes new chars auto-join and replace the last char in your current force, can't examine items - some weapons have a spell attack if used like an item in battle, unskippable jingles after some actions)
The hub/camp screen replaces towns and exploration (you can't shop between each battle and you have to egress to resurrect dead chars)
The turn system seems a little off in its randomization (sometimes a character gets to go two times in a turn or even in a row - makes strategy harder)
Trial & error (have to do the last two book 1 battles one after the other - if you egress during the last one you'll have to replay the former one as well, finding the hidden chars (besides perhaps Rush) as well as the ticket that unlocks book 4 - no hints, enemies appearing out of nowhere at times, no way to tell which characters are worth keeping and leveling, items carried by an enemy are lost if the attacking char has a full inventory - you also can't buy it through the deals option at a later camp shop here!, sometimes can't access a shop after egressing (sometimes a shop isn't there before a battle but is there after egressing) - can't buy more healing items in-between various battles, weird how you use a new save file when moving onto book 2 and book 3 (best to create a RAM cart if you're emulating and save to there as you won't be able to play transfer your level data to book 3 otherwise), finding most hidden items in book 3, sometimes the "boss" of a battle is just a random enemy, some of the Taros enemies in book 2 use death spells - would've been fine if you could protect against them or resurrect during battle with an expensive spell or item)
Cookie cutter RPG storyline with some oddities (first scenario - three guards get killed and their queen apologizes for her soldiers being rude to the bad guys?, book 2 - Mayfair's blindness being cured isn't explained and she doesn't remember claude, can't interfere during hindel's sacrifice)
Randomized stat gains on level ups (some chars like the player char rely more on stats (due to a lacking assortment of better swords here) so it leads to a weaker char unless you keep reloading until you get the highest stats)
Some grinding and babysitting to help certain chars level up due to non-killing blows giving less exp+weaker starting stats and/or spells, weaker progression or them being healers (some chars like Stock and Kashing also join at strangely low levels compared to your party average, healing doesn't scale that well based on the amount healed)
Occasionally overly random battle results (enemies blocking twice in a row, at one point a boss moved twice in a turn AND attacked twice in the second attack, enemies attacking twice in a row - hard to plan for and since you can't resurrect during a battle it leads to restarting battles unless you're fine with that char falling behind in levels)
Some unbalanced chars (weaker: Ruce and Wendy after the early game, Sig after getting Mayfair? (or Cray if you prefer MP over attack power), Domingo is somewhat weak unless you grind to lvl 20, Gates, Amigo since she joins late and you already have Mayfair?, Lug but he's an extra member who joins for the final battle only)
Edmond, Geppel and other later bosses can act twice in one turn (slow spell?). Woldol can act three times! - can be hard to counteract
Repetitive (no reach x destination or holdout missions, no escort missions; several repeated enemies in book 2)
Sometimes stupid enemy AI (played on Normal; Bazoo and other spellcasters sometimes attack in melee instead of using a spell, enemies sometimes go for the player char even if he's at full health and there's a spellcaster near death in range, sometimes enemies just linger near where they started which is also kind of tedious, woldol would sometimes not use spells and the bishop would not heal during the book 1 finale)
Music tracks restart between 1 on 1 battles
Much fewer chars than in SF1 & SF2 (19 compared to 32 in the latter two; makes sense for the GG versions but a couple more could've been added here) - OTOH there are no palette swaps for the top down view sprites here (only the battle animation sprites)
Talking to party members could've been a lot more fleshed out
No deployment phase option
No MP restorative items (Natasha does start regenerating some MP per turn in book 3 however)
Some minor story events are told with plain text and no music
Can't remove members to have a smaller force, only replace them
So-so ending cutscene to book 1 - one still artwork and text+narration
The animation could've been a bit better (top down sprites compared to some of the FFs for example)
Too many cursed items in book 2
Unskippable staff roll
Annoying how removing a curse is so expensive plus you can't sell a weapon identified as cursed
Some pointless "joke" gear in book 3 (doesn't even sell for anything)
Can't choose who to bring nor egress to buy equipment/change members for the fourth scenario (museum battle) - means you should've leveled up some weaker members like ruce and wendy for example
Notes:
-Some differences in GG Sword of Hajya (Root of Evil here): https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/segacd/563491-shining-force-cd/faqs/75979, More: https://forums.shiningforcecentral.com/viewtopic.php?t=13165#p360762
-Domingo is found in battle 2 of chapter 3, near the lake on the right side (search to the left of it)
-Amigo is found in Battle 19. From where you start, go all the way right. You see a line of bushes. The third one (the one farthest right) is where Amigo is hiding. Search the bush and she joins.
-Fusion RAM Cart tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVnDCf2XSvg
-*It's still possible to gain +1 to a random stat when leveling up further but it's relatively rare
Level Design-7 Frustration-7/8* Fun-7 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7
*Scenario 4/museum battle (normal w/o grinding)
+
3 scenarios/books (choose one at the start menu, the first two are based on the first two GG games; book 3 is short at only 6 battles but lets you pick between nearly all chars from the previous books) as well as an unlockable bonus scenario consisting of a single battle where you face every boss in the game
Difficulty options (easy-very hard, easy is default but I played on normal; can also pick between easy and hard for one batte during book 3 - evil clone/shadow battle)
Decent intro and book 3-4 endings (SML2 style)
Adds a hub/camp area from the get go (similar to Shining in the Darkness; can change party members or equipment, can shop at some locations, can talk to members for a short introduction comment, set members to auto-battle (the AI isn't great though), cure status ailments and save+promote chars)
Somewhat improved AI over first game
Nicer battle sprites overall
Wind element added (only other new spells are stronger versions of blaze and bolt though; SF2 adds earth and water elements)
2 secret chars in book 1 (Domingo and Amigo) and 2 in book 2 (Higins and Rush)
Equipping an item or using one that has no effect doesn't waste a turn
Some interesting level gimmicks (lose all your items after the first battle (have to scavenge wooden ones in the next one but can then rebuy gear after that), no magic can be cast until the Fizzle Ball is destroyed during battle 15 in book 1, have to equip and use a certain sword during the final battle to be able to damage the boss, sudden environmental changes during battle in book 2 (lava cave) although you don't really need to worry about it, minor stealth segment of sorts in the death balloon/moving mine battle - pass by them without attacking them or getting too close to not have them explode in your face, in one book 3 battle there are walls being built as the battle progresses)
Can equip a weapon while buying it+can see how a weapon affects a char's stats in the shop menu
Level stats from books 1-2 are transferred to book 3 unless a char is under a preset level in your saves (book 2 data takes preference over book 1 data for the book 1 chars returning in book 2)
At one point during Book 2 your force gets split in half and later reunites
Various hidden items in book 3 (they tend to be placed in a way that gives a visual clue though considering they weren't in previous books+barely existed there you could've been notified about them being common in book 3)
Comedic tone in book 3
From SF1: Accessories with spell/skill effects (SF1) - can break but also be repaired here, Respawning enemies at times (SF1; helps with not having to egress to level up as much), Map view (SF1; C while not selecting anyone), New sprites for promoted chars, Animated dialogue portraits
+/-
Save feature (at the hub/camp, one slot per game), Suspend game option (at any point during battle?)
Can use egress to escape from any battle to replay it and grind levels as much as you need
Linear structure and no alternate objectives during battles
No perma-death
Party members can pass through each other during battle and AoE spells don't hit friendly units
Boost now has the agility+def effect of Quick in SF1 while Attack has the previous Boost effect of increasing AP
Dispel=Silence and Desoul=Death
No wait or defend command (could've helped against the random double attacks, critical hits or double turns)
Status spells sometimes fail and don't give as much exp as damage spells when they succeed
No treasure or enemy drops during some battles
No hidden items in book 1 (two hidden chars)
Spells generally do more damage to your party than physical attacks (no magic defense stat?)
Poison is pretty weak and can't be used by the party
Better to promote as late as possible (lvl 20 unpromoted is optimal) as you'll gain more levels in total. Lvl 20 is max* after promoting so it's potentially 10 more levels than if promoting at lvl 10. At higher unpromoted levels you start gaining less and less exp from enemies - around lvl 16-17 your chars start gaining only 1 exp from killing most enemies as well as using healing items so it leads to grinding if you want to max out your stats+you can't swich to the best weapons as quickly as they require promotion+spellcasters spend more time not gaining new spells after promoting
Promoting makes a char weaker initially (SF1)
The mushrooms in the tunnel are an interesting gimmick except sometimes they can appear and attack immediately - would've worked better if there was a one turn timer to take them out
The deals feature in shops is pretty underused (can only buy back sold rare items)
Can't cast an AoE spell on the ground between enemies
You only buy weapons, accessories and healing items (not armor or spells)
No spell that increases movement points and you there are only three items in Book 1 that increase it, two of which are consumables with a random effect of 1-2 points. In book 2 there are no such consumables and in book 3 there's one. Would've helped with some battles dragging on or some chars taking longer to level up+could've rewarded saving up money for them and getting them via the "deals" feature
Healing rain is pretty OP and archers and fliers are a bit OP
While some book 1 chars return for book 2 their level stats don't carry over there (the level data transfer is only used for book 3 and the returning book 1 chars in book 2 (Claude, Randolf, Gyan for example) use your book 2 stats there). For book 2, only the player char's name carries over if you picked the sequel option when starting a new game
No restart battle option for if you don't want to egress and end up overleveling (takes about 15-20 seconds to reset and reload from the main menu)
A confused enemy can attack themselves and then block the attack (lol)
No customization when leveling up or promoting (see Langrisser 2 or Seiken Densetsu)
Lose all money, healing items and rings between campaigns/books. Can lead to some grinding for money for healing rains in book 3
Can't use mithril for crafting here (nor anything else but for selling)
-
Some control/interface issues (same old limited inventory system (4 slots per char and healing items don't stack) and no stash at camps, can't change battle speed (only messages) nor skip enemy movement animations nor individual battle animations with the press of a button, can't quickly browse characters' full stats (for example going into one char's status menu then pressing a direction or button to switch to others) - only browse their levels & spells+inventory via the member menu if you press C without selecting anyone, heavily abbreviated class titles in battle menus - SDMN=Swordsman for example, can't buy more than one of an item at once in shops, "trade item" command can only be used if trying to give an item to someone with a full inventory, have to be facing something searchable or the command won't show up - if you stand next to a chest but the character faces elsewhere it won't show, menus don't wrap around, the game sometimes makes new chars auto-join and replace the last char in your current force, can't examine items - some weapons have a spell attack if used like an item in battle, unskippable jingles after some actions)
The hub/camp screen replaces towns and exploration (you can't shop between each battle and you have to egress to resurrect dead chars)
The turn system seems a little off in its randomization (sometimes a character gets to go two times in a turn or even in a row - makes strategy harder)
Trial & error (have to do the last two book 1 battles one after the other - if you egress during the last one you'll have to replay the former one as well, finding the hidden chars (besides perhaps Rush) as well as the ticket that unlocks book 4 - no hints, enemies appearing out of nowhere at times, no way to tell which characters are worth keeping and leveling, items carried by an enemy are lost if the attacking char has a full inventory - you also can't buy it through the deals option at a later camp shop here!, sometimes can't access a shop after egressing (sometimes a shop isn't there before a battle but is there after egressing) - can't buy more healing items in-between various battles, weird how you use a new save file when moving onto book 2 and book 3 (best to create a RAM cart if you're emulating and save to there as you won't be able to play transfer your level data to book 3 otherwise), finding most hidden items in book 3, sometimes the "boss" of a battle is just a random enemy, some of the Taros enemies in book 2 use death spells - would've been fine if you could protect against them or resurrect during battle with an expensive spell or item)
Cookie cutter RPG storyline with some oddities (first scenario - three guards get killed and their queen apologizes for her soldiers being rude to the bad guys?, book 2 - Mayfair's blindness being cured isn't explained and she doesn't remember claude, can't interfere during hindel's sacrifice)
Randomized stat gains on level ups (some chars like the player char rely more on stats (due to a lacking assortment of better swords here) so it leads to a weaker char unless you keep reloading until you get the highest stats)
Some grinding and babysitting to help certain chars level up due to non-killing blows giving less exp+weaker starting stats and/or spells, weaker progression or them being healers (some chars like Stock and Kashing also join at strangely low levels compared to your party average, healing doesn't scale that well based on the amount healed)
Occasionally overly random battle results (enemies blocking twice in a row, at one point a boss moved twice in a turn AND attacked twice in the second attack, enemies attacking twice in a row - hard to plan for and since you can't resurrect during a battle it leads to restarting battles unless you're fine with that char falling behind in levels)
Some unbalanced chars (weaker: Ruce and Wendy after the early game, Sig after getting Mayfair? (or Cray if you prefer MP over attack power), Domingo is somewhat weak unless you grind to lvl 20, Gates, Amigo since she joins late and you already have Mayfair?, Lug but he's an extra member who joins for the final battle only)
Edmond, Geppel and other later bosses can act twice in one turn (slow spell?). Woldol can act three times! - can be hard to counteract
Repetitive (no reach x destination or holdout missions, no escort missions; several repeated enemies in book 2)
Sometimes stupid enemy AI (played on Normal; Bazoo and other spellcasters sometimes attack in melee instead of using a spell, enemies sometimes go for the player char even if he's at full health and there's a spellcaster near death in range, sometimes enemies just linger near where they started which is also kind of tedious, woldol would sometimes not use spells and the bishop would not heal during the book 1 finale)
Music tracks restart between 1 on 1 battles
Much fewer chars than in SF1 & SF2 (19 compared to 32 in the latter two; makes sense for the GG versions but a couple more could've been added here) - OTOH there are no palette swaps for the top down view sprites here (only the battle animation sprites)
Talking to party members could've been a lot more fleshed out
No deployment phase option
No MP restorative items (Natasha does start regenerating some MP per turn in book 3 however)
Some minor story events are told with plain text and no music
Can't remove members to have a smaller force, only replace them
So-so ending cutscene to book 1 - one still artwork and text+narration
The animation could've been a bit better (top down sprites compared to some of the FFs for example)
Too many cursed items in book 2
Unskippable staff roll
Annoying how removing a curse is so expensive plus you can't sell a weapon identified as cursed
Some pointless "joke" gear in book 3 (doesn't even sell for anything)
Can't choose who to bring nor egress to buy equipment/change members for the fourth scenario (museum battle) - means you should've leveled up some weaker members like ruce and wendy for example
Notes:
-Some differences in GG Sword of Hajya (Root of Evil here): https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/segacd/563491-shining-force-cd/faqs/75979, More: https://forums.shiningforcecentral.com/viewtopic.php?t=13165#p360762
-Domingo is found in battle 2 of chapter 3, near the lake on the right side (search to the left of it)
-Amigo is found in Battle 19. From where you start, go all the way right. You see a line of bushes. The third one (the one farthest right) is where Amigo is hiding. Search the bush and she joins.
-Fusion RAM Cart tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVnDCf2XSvg
-*It's still possible to gain +1 to a random stat when leveling up further but it's relatively rare