Shining Force Exa (2007/ps2)
Product Information. The most distinguishing feature of the 'EXA' edition in Sega's long-running Shining Force series may be its Fortress System, included to add tension and new aspects of strategy to the classic, console-style role-playing. The game's main story follows two young heroes, Toma the warrior and Cyrille the sorceress, who live in a land marred by decades of unending war. The heroes embark on an epic journey, to reach their destinies and return peace to the land. Yet even as they travel the realms, gaining allies and defeating evil, they must also see to the protection their greatest asset of all: their home base fortress. When monsters attack this base, players will have a chance to defend it through tactical combat.
The fortress may come under attack at any time, even when the main heroes are busy questing far from home, so leaving a few trusted party members behind seems wise. As the game progresses and the fortress is successfully held, it will develop to become more powerful, larger in size, and better armed to stave off future invasions. It's Alright The story focuses mostly on two playable characters: Toma, a sword wielder who dreams of being 'King of the World,' and Cyrille, a mage of who keeps her intentions to herself. The rest of the party consist of AI characters that join the party during the course of the game. The world is divided into two main kingdoms at war with each other.
PS2 - Shining Force EXA. Year: 2007: File size: 1.74 GB: Publisher: Sega: Serial # SLUS-21567: Rating: None: Rate this game: Emulation Lair The Vault Manual Project Message Boards FFA Links. Nintendo Genesis Super. Shining Force EXA is a Action RPG/Adventure game published by Neverland, SEGA released on March 20, 2007 for the Sony PlayStation 2. Screenshots: Shining Force EXA Screenshot 1.
The Noswald Empire is home to the human race and the demons rule the southern territory, Fyrlandt. While the story is solid, the character development isn't anything spectacular. The real time battle system is enjoyable, except that when you get spammed by monsters, you get SPAMMED by monsters. You can have full health and be dead in seconds if your not prepared. While characters traditionally level up, characters stats can be improved for Toma and Cyri lle with the use of Mythrill often found in dungeons. Weapons and armor are a little strange, the same weapon can have a variety of different stats (which also can be improved with mythrill) but the stats are a little strange is this game, I don't know how to explain it other then its more complex then the basic JRPG. The main new feature of this game is the customizable robot castle Geo-Fortress.
Shining Force Exa 2007 Ps2 Slim
While adventuring, the party members left behind use the Geo-Fortress as a headquarters. They also protect and defend the castle in the event of an attack (this turned out to be much less exciting then I though it would be). In the beginning, the fortress is very basic and vulnerable. By collecting 'Rare Material' from the given quests, the player is able to transform the fortress into two other forms, with the third form as the most impressive of the three. The Geo-Fortress is used for more than a mode of transportation and a place for the non-included party members to wait while the rest of the party is on a mission. The game is alright all in all, the main thing got me is the lack of character background and development.
That battle system is fun but can get pretty difficult. Those who like Shining Force Neo should like EXA. Shining in real time! Action RPG fans Buy this Game! Shining Force is a good classic game franchise. The games changed format in 2005 with the release of Shining Force Neo, going from a turn based strategy Rpg franchise to a real time Action Rpg format.
Many old shining force fans didnt seem to accept the transition but i see it like this, where do you go with turn based strategy to improve on it after SF 3? I see SF 3 as the best strategy Rpg to date altho its often copied.(FF tactics was inspired by SF games) Shining Force EXA is a Nice game with very good real 3D graphics a compelling story line with a few twists & surprises thrown in. As far as the main characters go they are quirky modern personalities with a few anime cliches.
They play real different from each other, 1 being a warrior & the other a sorceress. The art in this game is p retty stunning at times for a ps2 game! The game itself is fairly long at 50-ish hours. (Thats a long action Rpg game.) They use an interesting 'arts' system to boost characters abilities both in stat & skill form. If you played SF Neo its the same Arts system. You can also fight in arenas & certain Strength test monsters to find secret arts scrolls, secret arts can be bound to a piece of equipment to add stats & certain added bonuses like attack speed, movement speed, element dmg added, more hp just to mention a few. And you can boost normal stats by have an iten Forged at the smith They do have a standard exp level system for the characters but most of your stats will come from the Arts by collecting mithril.
There are hundreds of equitable items in the game, from standard swords & shields to magic rings & armors. I gotta mention for the fighter the weapon you use determines what attacks you have & what combos are possible. Its nice you can sell weaker items or extract mithril from them. The pace of the game is good & moves along fairly quickly. If you wear an armor upgraded to the S class movement rating you run really quick & the games solid programming shows in the blazing 3-5 second load times so the mechanics of the game dont trip over itself as many good looking games do.(I love good graphics but not at the cost of long load times) You can take along up to two NPC characters choosing from a cleric, mage, archer, a wolf man warrior, robot, giant dragon & a few others. As with most real time npcs in action rpgs these characters can get in the way in 'rare' situations.
It is rare in this game. There is a new factor to the franchise with EXA it the ability & necessity to upgrade the Home base castle you have, there are several points you can upgrade including the energy generation(core power), barrier(shields), cannon (this can be used in certain battle situations & to blow up obsticals & walls blocking paths throughout the game, training ground(this sets up a dungeon to lvl up in if you want), Repair(this determines how fast your defences repair during & after an attack on the base there are other options as well. To sum things up, This game is a bargain at 50ish hours, nice graphics, great music, a compelling story & a fairly fast pace. If you like the Squaresoft Mana games, Y's4, SF Neo, or even the Baulders gate console games BUY This Game.
Shining Force Ps2
NUMERICAL RATINGS 1-10 higher is better. Story: 9 its an rpg. Game play 9 kinda easy, but the final boss is Tuff! Graphics 9.5 Nice for ps2 & Fast load times! Music 8.5 Some tracks are great the others are appropriate. Thanks & Have Fun. Not what it used to be.
I used to play the sega genesis titles from this video game series when I was a kid ( Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention + Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal ) and it was fun. Now they changed the strategical ellements and remplaced them with hack and slash action.
Proving once again that the saying 'If it's not broken, dont fix it.' Should be applied to everything. Maybe i'm complaining too much about trivial stuff because the game is good nonetheless but I keep having the feeling that it could have been a lot better.
Don't let all this 'next-gen' talk fool you; the PlayStation 2 still has some life left in It and hopes to prove it to you with. A continuation of the concepts and mechanics found in 2005's Shining Force NEO (it isn't a direct sequel), EXA is likely to be one of the last PS2 action-RPGs to come out of Japan - and it seems to be the bastard child of Suikoden and Baldur's Gate.
What does a mix of games like that mean for players? Well for fans of Suikoden's stronghold system, it means that you'll get a similar headquarters where you can do cool stuff and plan out your next move. Though it's nowhere near as big as Suikoden's gargantuan castles, the Geo-Fortress (as it's known here) is still pretty sizable and, as you continue to upgrade it, takes on multiple forms.
What separates this HQ from Suikoden's, however, is that upgrading the Geo-Fortress isn't just a necessity to make room for characters or item shops - you have to defend it from attackers too, and choosing the right force of characters to protect it is almost as important as choosing your party of adventurers. The only way to upgrade the stronghold, of course, is by collecting the materials necessary to do so. When successful in gathering the proper metals, users will be able to find new and interesting ways to use their Geo-Fortress to do things such a search for treasure, assign supplemental protector robots, or even regenerate health. Eventually your Geo-Fortress becomes so bad-ass that it actually launches off of its base and begins floating in the sky for just enough of ye old anime-fantasy touch. But how you actually earn the right to get the Geo-Fortress is part of Shining Force's early hook and it helps to explain how your group joined forces.
Paying homage to the legend of King Arthur, the early storyline follows a handful of heroes as they set out in search of a legendary sword known as Shining Force. The hitch is, that only one of them is worthy enough to pull it from the hidden stone, and there's definitely a personal competition to see who's going to get it first.
Sadly, the person who does eventually get it is predictable - but once they do, it opens up the very cool Geo-Fortress options mentioned above. In battle, players can expect to hack and slash their way through anything that moves.
There are two playable characters in total (Toma the swordsman and Cyrille the magician), and you'll have two AI-powered buddies to help you along the way. Played out entirely in real-time, the combat system has an action-heavy feel uses the familiar icon-based interface first made famous in the Genesis SRPG so many years ago. I can tell you right now that level grinders will love seeking out new enemies to build their strength with, and having access to multiple weapon and attack types keeps things colorful as you go along. If there's one concern that immediately sticks out when playing through Shining Force, though, is that despite having a charming artistic style and a cool Geo-Fortress system, it's a little repetitious. I'm hopeful that more attacks and different enemies will mix things up later on in the game, but right now, its encounters don't stick out like a more recent action-RPG, Rogue Galaxy. Luckily, there's still plenty of time left for us to play before Shining Force hits stores in March, and we'll leave our final observations for then.
In the meantime, check out the screenshot explosion located on our media page below.