As a result of Camelot and SEGA’s initial business relationship, SEGA owned the rights to the Shining series despite Camelot having created and produced absolutely every aspect of the games. Shining Force 3 was the studio’s tenth title in the Shining franchise. Synbios exploring the cursed village of Quonus With a low print run and locked to a system that had just passed into the pages of history, it is not surprising it got lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, when vying for industry mindshare, Shining Force 3 was out-competed (crushed, really) by rival 1998 productions the likes of Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Spyro the Dragon and indeed, the 128-bit import Sonic Adventure. It was a gameplay showpiece that absolutely dripped classic SEGA. Those fortunate enough to grab copies at release experienced a storytelling magnum opus, taking them on an adventure unequaled in size and scope.
A technical tour-de-force, it showed those who played it that the Saturn could still pack a punch to proudly rival Sony and Nintendo’s machines.
Shining Force 3 is one of the last SEGA-published Saturn games to hit Europe and the very last first-party release in North America. Was anyone going to cover these great games? Was anyone going to talk about them were gamers going to play them? With so much attention on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64, expectations were very low as the Saturn faded into the twilight.īlessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. The marketing budget had nearly run dry – just enough money for a few print ads and nothing more. And yet, for the Saturn’s grand send-off, a group of determined staff at both SEGA of America and SEGA Europe fought for, slaved over, and pushed out a Very Special final batch of localized Saturn games. The once-proud gaming giant’s western divisions quietly wound the Saturn market down in the first half of the year, forcing their fans to turn elsewhere for their gaming fix. With SEGA’s release schedule diminishing to a terminal drip-drip of games compared to the healthy, vibrant lines of its competitors, most gamers had good reason to move on from the firm’s 32-bit warhorse. So, the more levels you gain, the stronger your characters.1998 would be remembered as one of the most fertile years for revolutionary gaming experiences… but not, at first glance, for western Saturn fans. The higher your stats, the stronger your characters. The more levels you gain, the higher your stats.
The same goes for the other stats of course. That’s an extra 40HP that you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t promoted later. If you got 2 HP per level-up, that’s 278HP for that character. If you promote at 40, and level up to 99, that’s 139 level-ups. If you got 2 HP per level-up, that’s 238HP for that character. Think of it this way, if you promote at 20, and then get a character up to level 99 after promotion, that’s 119 levels. Well, here’s why:īecause you’ve had 20 extra level-ups, you have 20 extra stat increases. Many people question why you’d want to level up to 40 before promotion. Since experience points are carried over from level to level (eg, you have 80 exp, gain 40 exp and go up a level… you’re then 1 level higher and have 20 exp – in Shining Force 1, the experience was reset to 0 when you gained a level), you should find levelling-up to be easier than in the original Shining Force.Ĭharacters can go up to a maximum of level 40 before promotion, and up to 99 afterwards. Characters need to be at least level 20 in order to be promoted.