Shining Wisdom [Sega Saturn, 1996] – Review, Gameplay
90s Video Games, Episode 134
Shining Wisdom takes place on the continent of Parmecia just a few years after Shining Force II, and some of its plot points follow from that game.
The story unfolds in the land of Odegan, when orphaned young nobleman named Mars is employed at Odegan Castle on the strength of his father’s great reputation.
A series of lies and deceptions on his part unexpectedly places him as the foremost obstacle to the schemes of the dark elf wizard, Pazort. Pazort and his followers intend to destroy the world by summoning the Giant, called Seeega or the Dark Titan in the North American translation.
To do so, the dark forces first must use Princess Satera to get at an orb held by King Odegan. It is up to Mars to redeem his lies and failures by thwarting the mighty wizard’s plans.
Unlike its predecessors in the Shining series, Shining Wisdom employed an action-adventure style of gameplay. So instead turn-based strategy style with all the time to plan and decide, players control one character whose attacks rely on speed and skill.
Some would compare it with Legend of Zelda series.
So what to think about this innovative and different game in the series?
To be honest, it’s pretty much a Sega Genesis game on the Saturn – So don’t expect mind blowing 32-bit graphics. The game looks and sound pretty okay if you take it as it is, appreciate that it was even released (because they might have canceled it) and try not to expect PlayStation or Sega Saturn graphics.
On top of that, they decided to use more childish approach.
Story however is very unoriginal and uninspiring – I would even say it’s boring. I have heard that once you get further into the game, it gets better but the beginning is so boring that I have never made it past to the interesting parts of the game.
Game mechanics I didn’t like. First of all, it doesn’t suit the Shining series, where you should have time to plan your strategy, and attack enemies in turn-based style. Here you just run around, attack random enemies and they will re spawn immediately after wiping them out. So what’s the point?
You do not have any experience system of any kind, which is a shame and makes random encounters even more meaningless. And then we have this button smashing charging system which seems innovative at first. However, it is a dull replacement for any other possible attack systems it could have had. Odd choice.
Overall this game is for die hard Shining Fans only – and even I (used to be a huge fan) decided to skip this game. But it’s really up to you!
Computer and Video Games (CVG) wrote that The levels are varied, and get progressively harder as the game moves along, and you’re always finding secrets and new items to test out. Graphically, it could be better, but when a game plays like this, looks aren’t of paramount importance. RPG fans definitely won’t be disappointed.
And RPG Dreamers added – If you look at all the Shining games from Sega, you have to say that Shining Wisdom is the most disappointing of them all. Any Shining fans hoping to get the same kind of game value from playing the Shining Force series is going to be disappointed. This is a game that they can missed out on unlike say Shining Force 3 scenarios 2 & 3. If you’re a beginning rpger then you might want to check out this game as it’s perfect for beginners.
Enjoy the Gameplay, Review
