Shining Wisdom
Review by Chi Phan
Shining Wisdom is probably the very first true action rpg for
the Sega Saturn. It is also Working Designs first rpg translation for the Saturn
as well. While the game is presented to us as a 32 bit game, it really is a 16
bit action rpg from the gameplay to the graphics. If your're a Sega lover and
looking for a good beginner's rpg than Shining Wisdom is it.
STORY
The whole Shining Wisdom story is pretty much a simple kiddies
rpg story. Nothing in-depth or mind boggling that will have you glued to the storyline.
It's more of a small fun loving story for beginner rpgers and for kids. The story
starts off with Mars, the hero, heading off to Odegan Castle. You see, Mars is
the son of the legendary warrior Jiles, and has just come of age to become a service
as one of the King's guard. His first mission as the King's guard is to protect
the princess from the Black Elf Pazort. It appears that Pazort is trying to revive
the fearsome evil giant of the past known as the Dark Titan to destory the land
of Palacia and to capture the princess. Mars is then set on a mission to try and
seal Pazort four elementals powers. This is simply the plot and quest of Shining
Wisdom story. Protect the princess and stop Pazort by exploring the four elemental
dungeons. The overrall story isn't much as this is more of a driven action rpg
game where you spend most of your time exploring dungeons and fighting Pazorts
subordinates then anything else. Good for beginner rpgers but for those that are
used to the longer story quest of the other Shining games, it's a major let down.
Score: 5/10
CHARACTERS
Honestly, since this is an action rpg, the characters developement
and supporting cast is limited to just Mars, the hero. To simply put, there's
not much of a supporting cast at all. The game focuses more on the bad guys. With
a limited story, you get weak characters.
Score: 2/10
GRAPHICS
Graphics is very 16 bittish if not 16 bit. You're looking at
a 2-D drawn world with short rounded little sprites for characters. The colors
are very nice thanks to the Saturn engines. Artwork icons for the characters are
nice but again, something that you have seen in the Genesis Shining games. Overrall
a very good looking 16 bit graphics but disappointing for a Saturn kind of graphics.
Score: 6/10
MUSIC
Music is about maybe average to a little below average. There's
like maybe 2 or 3 tunes in the game overrall. The tunes are nice though but nothing
that stands out. This is too bad as the Shining series usually have great music.
Score: 4/10
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is pretty simple and straight forward. The game
requires you to go and explore a few dungeons and acquire the key items known
as magical orbs while progressing in the storyline. Of course these magical orbs
are your magic source and made up of elemental magic such as fire, ice, wind and
earth. Like with any Zelda like action rpg, you hack and slash your way through
these mazes and dungeons while stopping a few times to solve a small simple puzzle.
If you can't get access to certain part of the dungeon then you'll have to search
for the key equipment items that will help you gain access to those parts. Very
simple gameplay. The controls are pretty much an A, B, C button control. One is
for attack, two is for item use, and three is for speed/run use. That's pretty
much it. Very simplistic and great for beginners. Fights are very easy and most
of the time you can pretty much avoid getting into fights. Since you don't get
experience in the game, you really don't need to get into much fights. Instead
of hp numbers, you have bubble hp. During your journey you can find more bubbles
to help increase your maximum hp bubbles. The overrall gameplay will probably
last for about a maximum of 20 hours or so.
Score: 5/10
EXTRAS/REPLAY
Extras are confine to some hidden items here and there that you
can find by going back to areas of dungeons that you couldn't access before due
to not having the proper key equip item to gain access to. There is one extra
hidden dungeon but it's really not a big deal. This is really a one time game
so replay value is next to zero unless you absolutely love this game and want
to give it another shot.
Score: 3/10
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.
Final Score: 5/10
~Chi Phan
