Shining Soul 2
Encyclopedia
is an action role-playing game
for the Game Boy Advance
. It was developed by Nextech and Grasshopper Manufacture
and published by Sega
in 2003 (Japan), THQ
(2004, Europe) and Atlus
(2004, America), as the sequel
to Shining Soul
and part of the Shining series.
The game is a dungeon crawling hack and slash, and plays similarly to other notable titles Diablo
, and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
. It features eight playable characters, ten dungeon
s tied into a storyline, and eight hidden dungeons to explore. The game supports multiplayer via link cable as well as single player.
s, spells
, support abilities, and attributes
. Different classes who can use the same weapons attack differently with them. For example, the Warrior's spear attack is a thrust, while the Archer throws his spear over a distance. Each usable spell in the game has its own spellbook, and only classes with that spell on their skills list can use the spellbook to cast the spell.
Each character is able to equip up to three weapons and three items for use, and switch between them at any time. You can get 3 extra slots for either by equipping the Backpack or Knapsack. Attacks are performed by tapping the attack button, or holding to charge a more powerful attack. Beyond regular equipment, a "Soul" item can also be equipped; it is charged by defeating enemies, and unleashed to inflict massive damage on nearby enemies. They come in various elemental types and levels of effectiveness. They are graded on the roman numerals I, II, III, IV and V, with V being the strongest and taking the longest to charge up.
Characters also have resistances to a number of elements: Fire, Ice, Thunder, Light, Dark and Poison. These can be raised by equipment, but also through endurance: by taking damage of a particular elemental kind, they can increase their resistance to it, but being killed by an attack of that type will decrease the resistance level by a point.
, light had become too strong, opening the way to a resurgence of darkness. A crystal in the possession of King Marcel and Queen Yvonne of Klantol, which throughout the story reflects the current balance of light and darkness, turns from shining to cloudy.
An alchemist named Gillespie, a member of a dark order, the Chaos Knights, worms his way into the friendship of King Marcel's most trusted knight, Deatharte. Gillespie then disappears, leaving something called "the forbidden fruit" with Deatharte. Driven by curiosity, Deatharte eventually eats the fruit and is corrupted by darkness.
Later, a tournament at the Klantol Colosseum is interrupted by news that Princess Camille has been abducted. King Marcel orders Deatharte to search for her. Deatharte pretends to obey, but instead goes to join the Chaos Knights. Since Marcel is also concerned about an army of goblins mustering near the castle, he sends a promising young participant in the tournament(the player character) to investigate.
Penetrating the goblin fort, the young hero not only confirms that the goblins were planning an attack on the castle, but learns that they abducted Camille and delivered her to the witch Wizari, who plans to sacrifice her to increase her power. The hero defeats the goblins and recovers the key to Camille's prison. Since Deatharte has naturally still not returned, Marcel relies upon the young hero to journey to Wizari's palace and save Camille. He succeeds in doing this and slaying Wizari.
The celebration is short-lived, as normally peaceful beings are driven mad by darkness. The hero's investigations of these incidents takes him to the mainland of Klantol, where he uncovers a plot by the Chaos Knights to conquer the world. Meanwhile, Princess Camille sneaks away to find Gillespie and manages to learn the password to the Chaos Knights' hidden stronghold. She is later trapped in Koldazhek Cave, but is rescued by the hero and tells him the password. Infiltrating the Chaos Knights' stronghold, the hero slays both Gillespie and Deatharte, who had become leader of the Chaos Knights.
The defeat of the Chaos Knights, however, causes a violent shift in balance from darkness to light, awakening a destructive power called Chaos, which even the forces of darkness fear. Marcel, Yvonne, Camille, and the court wizard are spirited away by Chaos.
A former knight guides the hero to a passage to Chaos's realm. The hero goes there and defeats Chaos, rescuing the four prisoners and restoring balance to the world.
version of Boken from Shining Force I
appears as a major NPC
, traditional Shining mascot Yogurt is hidden in one of the stages, and a number of dungeons from the original Shining Soul appear as short hidden dungeons.
. The player characters navigate the dungeon and attack monsters. Players can give items to each other by throwing or dropping them. The party can only move to the next area when every player character has either passed the exit point of the current area or died. Opening the inventory window doesn't pause the game (in singleplayer or multiplayer), so some players can reorganize their inventory while others engage in combat. Some classes are more useful in multiplayer, such as the priestess or archer.
's Craig Harris calling it "a significant improvement over the original, but still not without its faults", and Yahoo! Games
's Mike Smith saying the multiplayer is where it "shines".
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. It was developed by Nextech and Grasshopper Manufacture
Grasshopper Manufacture
Grasshopper Manufacture, Inc. is a Japanese video game development house founded on March 30, 1998 in Suginami, Japan. Grasshopper gained mainstream attention in 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 game Killer7...
and published by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
in 2003 (Japan), THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
(2004, Europe) and Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
(2004, America), as the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Shining Soul
Shining Soul
is an action role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance. It is part of the Shining series. The game was followed by a sequel, Shining Soul II, in 2003...
and part of the Shining series.
The game is a dungeon crawling hack and slash, and plays similarly to other notable titles Diablo
Diablo (video game)
Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on December 31, 1996....
, and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is an action role-playing game developed by Snowblind Studios for the PlayStation 2; later released for the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. It was re-released on the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits title...
. It features eight playable characters, ten dungeon
Dungeon
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...
s tied into a storyline, and eight hidden dungeons to explore. The game supports multiplayer via link cable as well as single player.
Gameplay
The game features eight character classes which can be improved up to level 200. Each is customisable with a variety of weaponWeapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s, spells
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
, support abilities, and attributes
Attribute (role-playing games)
An attribute is a piece of data that describes to what extent a fictional character in a role-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-born characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a set of dice...
. Different classes who can use the same weapons attack differently with them. For example, the Warrior's spear attack is a thrust, while the Archer throws his spear over a distance. Each usable spell in the game has its own spellbook, and only classes with that spell on their skills list can use the spellbook to cast the spell.
- Warrior - A well balanced melee class. Default name: Eric (Alex in Japanese)
- Archer - Attacks from afar using bows and spears, and summons forest creatures. Default name: Rwinn (Luin in Japanese)
- Sorceress - Uses a variety of offensive elemental spells from a distance. Default name: Premiera (Pamela in Japanese)
- Dragonute - The slowest but toughest melee class. Default name: Tyroth (Tiros in Japanese)
- Priestess - Specializes in healing and support spells. Default name: Prim
- Dark Wizard - Uses Dark elemental spells. Default name: Armand (Bloodstar in Japanese)
- Brawler - The most powerful and quick offensive melee class, but suffers from low defense. Default name: Zachs (Sachs in Japanese)
- Ninja - A swift medium-ranged class using a mix of spells and physical attacks. Default name: Raizen
- ??? - A Dark Wizard similar to Armand; secret character who becomes available after beating the game once. Has no default name.
Each character is able to equip up to three weapons and three items for use, and switch between them at any time. You can get 3 extra slots for either by equipping the Backpack or Knapsack. Attacks are performed by tapping the attack button, or holding to charge a more powerful attack. Beyond regular equipment, a "Soul" item can also be equipped; it is charged by defeating enemies, and unleashed to inflict massive damage on nearby enemies. They come in various elemental types and levels of effectiveness. They are graded on the roman numerals I, II, III, IV and V, with V being the strongest and taking the longest to charge up.
Characters also have resistances to a number of elements: Fire, Ice, Thunder, Light, Dark and Poison. These can be raised by equipment, but also through endurance: by taking damage of a particular elemental kind, they can increase their resistance to it, but being killed by an attack of that type will decrease the resistance level by a point.
Story
Centuries after the defeat of Dark Dragon in Shining Soul IShining Soul
is an action role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance. It is part of the Shining series. The game was followed by a sequel, Shining Soul II, in 2003...
, light had become too strong, opening the way to a resurgence of darkness. A crystal in the possession of King Marcel and Queen Yvonne of Klantol, which throughout the story reflects the current balance of light and darkness, turns from shining to cloudy.
An alchemist named Gillespie, a member of a dark order, the Chaos Knights, worms his way into the friendship of King Marcel's most trusted knight, Deatharte. Gillespie then disappears, leaving something called "the forbidden fruit" with Deatharte. Driven by curiosity, Deatharte eventually eats the fruit and is corrupted by darkness.
Later, a tournament at the Klantol Colosseum is interrupted by news that Princess Camille has been abducted. King Marcel orders Deatharte to search for her. Deatharte pretends to obey, but instead goes to join the Chaos Knights. Since Marcel is also concerned about an army of goblins mustering near the castle, he sends a promising young participant in the tournament(the player character) to investigate.
Penetrating the goblin fort, the young hero not only confirms that the goblins were planning an attack on the castle, but learns that they abducted Camille and delivered her to the witch Wizari, who plans to sacrifice her to increase her power. The hero defeats the goblins and recovers the key to Camille's prison. Since Deatharte has naturally still not returned, Marcel relies upon the young hero to journey to Wizari's palace and save Camille. He succeeds in doing this and slaying Wizari.
The celebration is short-lived, as normally peaceful beings are driven mad by darkness. The hero's investigations of these incidents takes him to the mainland of Klantol, where he uncovers a plot by the Chaos Knights to conquer the world. Meanwhile, Princess Camille sneaks away to find Gillespie and manages to learn the password to the Chaos Knights' hidden stronghold. She is later trapped in Koldazhek Cave, but is rescued by the hero and tells him the password. Infiltrating the Chaos Knights' stronghold, the hero slays both Gillespie and Deatharte, who had become leader of the Chaos Knights.
The defeat of the Chaos Knights, however, causes a violent shift in balance from darkness to light, awakening a destructive power called Chaos, which even the forces of darkness fear. Marcel, Yvonne, Camille, and the court wizard are spirited away by Chaos.
A former knight guides the hero to a passage to Chaos's realm. The hero goes there and defeats Chaos, rescuing the four prisoners and restoring balance to the world.
Shining Series Continuity
Shining Soul II has little connection to the storyline of the rest of the series aside from a reference to the events of Shining Soul I in the introduction. However, an alternate universeParallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
version of Boken from Shining Force I
Shining Force
Shining Force, known as in Japan, and otherwise known as Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention, is a 1992 turn-based strategy role-playing video game for the Mega Drive/Genesis console...
appears as a major NPC
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
, traditional Shining mascot Yogurt is hidden in one of the stages, and a number of dungeons from the original Shining Soul appear as short hidden dungeons.
Multiplayer mode
The multiplayer is very similar to that of DiabloDiablo (video game)
Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on December 31, 1996....
. The player characters navigate the dungeon and attack monsters. Players can give items to each other by throwing or dropping them. The party can only move to the next area when every player character has either passed the exit point of the current area or died. Opening the inventory window doesn't pause the game (in singleplayer or multiplayer), so some players can reorganize their inventory while others engage in combat. Some classes are more useful in multiplayer, such as the priestess or archer.
Reception
Shining Soul II received a generally positive reception, with IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Craig Harris calling it "a significant improvement over the original, but still not without its faults", and Yahoo! Games
Yahoo! Games
Yahoo! Games is the section of the Yahoo! website in which Yahoo! users can play games either with other users or by themselves. The games on the website are typically Java applets or quick Flash games, but there are others which require a download. Many of the games that require a download...
's Mike Smith saying the multiplayer is where it "shines".
External links
- Official site
- GameFAQ's Shining Soul 2 page - Release data, FAQ's, reviews and message board
- RPGClassic's Walkthrough