The rest of the Shining series: Give me a rundown

[Jeckidy]

So I have been really enjoying the first Shining Force lately, since I never got the opportunity to really dig into the series. However, how were the other games in the series, the ones dubbed "Shining in name only"? Stuff like Shining Tears, Wind, Hearts, etc. even Shining the Holy Ark and the others. Were any of them still enjoyable in their own right? Which were the best and which were the worst?

[Daria]

So I have been really enjoying the first Shining Force lately, since I never got the opportunity to really dig into the series. However, how were the other games in the series, the ones dubbed "Shining in name only"? Stuff like Shining Tears, Wind, Hearts, etc. even Shining the Holy Ark and the others. Were any of them still enjoyable in their own right? Which were the best and which were the worst?

Shining in the Holy Ark is like a follow up Shining in the Darkness, they're both traditional dungeon crawlers and are 100% part of the original series.

That brings us to the *new* Shining series:
Shining Force Neo is god awful
Shining Force Exa is, like Neo, a Diablo type action RPG but improved.
Shining Force the GBA remake is decent, if a little too easy. I didn't like the change to the character portraits, but I enjoyed playing it.
Shining Soul is awful, another action RPG.
Shining Soul 2 is pretty good.
Shining Tears is decent and also an action RPG.

Shining Wind, Heart, Feather etc are all in Japanese.

[bultje112]

So I have been really enjoying the first Shining Force lately, since I never got the opportunity to really dig into the series. However, how were the other games in the series, the ones dubbed "Shining in name only"? Stuff like Shining Tears, Wind, Hearts, etc. even Shining the Holy Ark and the others. Were any of them still enjoyable in their own right? Which were the best and which were the worst?

shining force 3 scenarios are arguably the greatest rpg's ever made imo. if you even remotely like shining force 1 then definitely get 2 and above all get all 3 scenarios for shining force 3. absolute perfect!

for other shining games, shining the holy ark is a really great rpg and the other ones I don't have much experience with

[midnightrider]

Shining Soul is awful, another action RPG.
Shining Soul 2 is pretty good.

I played 1 for a while, until I couldn't take it's tedium anymore. What makes 2 good?

[Wesker]

Shining in the Holy Ark is like a follow up Shining in the Darkness, they're both traditional dungeon crawlers and are 100% part of the original series.

That brings us to the *new* Shining series:
Shining Force Neo is god awful
Shining Force Exa is, like Neo, a Diablo type action RPG but improved.
Shining Force the GBA remake is decent, if a little too easy. I didn't like the change to the character portraits, but I enjoyed playing it.
Shining Soul is awful, another action RPG.
Shining Soul 2 is pretty good.
Shining Tears is decent and also an action RPG.

Shining Wind, Heart, Feather etc are all in Japanese.

I have always read good things about Shining Force Feather nevertheless.

[zetastrike]

I enjoyed Shining Wisdom quite a bit. I never finished it due to me getting a new Saturn and not being able to transfer the save over, but I got to the last 3rd of the game. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the acceleration meter. Tapping the B button to rev up can get uncomfortable, but a turbo controller can remedy it. I liked the music a lot, the different attacks were fun to use, and the mid 90s pre-rendered look isn't overly offensive. There's some nice gimmicks in the different levels, like the mirror temple for example. It's also not dependent on text, so a Japanese version is playable. I'd recommend it.