I've been playing through Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya on my modded Game Gear lately and been having a blast, and this series doesn't get talked about enough imo especially considering there's quite a few Fire Emblem fans around here, and the Shining series is sort of Fire Emblem-lite. I've always loved it - Shining Force II was my first RPG, and a random mage character from that is where I get my handle (Kazin wasn't even my favorite character in that game, I just always liked his name lol).
Anyway, anything pre-2000 is excellent as far as this series goes (with the possible exception of Wisdom, I was never able to get into that one, but it's not terrible or anything). I have not beaten Shining in the Darkness, Shining the Holy Ark, or the three scenarios of Shining Force III, but they're all good. I'll be playing Final Conflict for the first time after I beat Hajya this time, I'm really looking forward to that as it apparently ties heavily into Shining Force II, my favorite in the series (I've played the first battle of it, it takes place just outside Hassan where you get the Caravan in SFII!).
Regarding Hajya - it is a bite sized version of the Genesis games because there's no exploration between battles, it's just battles, which bugged me a bit as a kid but now I really enjoy it, as you can't get lost or confused and since it's portable and the battles themselves aren't too long (until later in the game), I usually play a few battles per day/sitting and have a blast doing it. Wow, though, are the master mages with Blaze 3 jerks, because pre-promoted, that thing one shots anybody it hits lol. I got the whole Force to level 12 before promoting them and am just about to the point where the party splits (am at the battle before you get the boat right now), which is higher than I usually was able to raise the characters when I was a kid (I also used the stat boosting items after promotion, which I didn't realize you had to do as a kid so as not to waste them). Got lucky with them, too, as all but one boosted the stats by 4 (and the last one was a 3). I wish Quick lasted longer, considering how much MP it takes to cast.
Anyway, talk about the Shining series here! Should I play the Soul games? I've never really given them a fair shot. Is the GBA version of the first game better than the Genesis one? I can never remember! Will someone ever make it so we can play the first Gaiden game on Game Gear rather than rely on the Sega CD version? Probably not, sadly!
Anyway, anything pre-2000 is excellent as far as this series goes (with the possible exception of Wisdom, I was never able to get into that one, but it's not terrible or anything). I have not beaten Shining in the Darkness, Shining the Holy Ark, or the three scenarios of Shining Force III, but they're all good. I'll be playing Final Conflict for the first time after I beat Hajya this time, I'm really looking forward to that as it apparently ties heavily into Shining Force II, my favorite in the series (I've played the first battle of it, it takes place just outside Hassan where you get the Caravan in SFII!).
Regarding Hajya - it is a bite sized version of the Genesis games because there's no exploration between battles, it's just battles, which bugged me a bit as a kid but now I really enjoy it, as you can't get lost or confused and since it's portable and the battles themselves aren't too long (until later in the game), I usually play a few battles per day/sitting and have a blast doing it. Wow, though, are the master mages with Blaze 3 jerks, because pre-promoted, that thing one shots anybody it hits lol. I got the whole Force to level 12 before promoting them and am just about to the point where the party splits (am at the battle before you get the boat right now), which is higher than I usually was able to raise the characters when I was a kid (I also used the stat boosting items after promotion, which I didn't realize you had to do as a kid so as not to waste them). Got lucky with them, too, as all but one boosted the stats by 4 (and the last one was a 3). I wish Quick lasted longer, considering how much MP it takes to cast.
Anyway, talk about the Shining series here! Should I play the Soul games? I've never really given them a fair shot. Is the GBA version of the first game better than the Genesis one? I can never remember! Will someone ever make it so we can play the first Gaiden game on Game Gear rather than rely on the Sega CD version? Probably not, sadly!