Shining Force III: Difference between revisions

Part of the ''[[Shining Series (Franchise)|Shining Series]]'', Shining Force III was a turn based RPG for the Sega Saturn, released during the Saturn's twilight years, and one of the better games for the console. It is a game in three parts, each one following a different main character in a war between The Aspinian Republic and The Empire of Destonia, from which Aspinia declared independence some years ago. Unbeknownst to either side (but knownst to us!), the war is a cover for a demon-worshiping cult to revive Bulzome, an extremely powerful "Vandal" who ruled the entire continent 1,000 years ago before being sealed away. Only the first chapter was released outside of Japan, meaning the game ends with no resolution to any of the larger plot threads, but a Fan Translation project endeavors to fix that. The game is an indirect sequel to the first-person RPG ''[[Shining the Holy Ark (Video Game)|Shining the Holy Ark]]'' - going so far as to cast a background NPC from the game as the third hero of SFIII - much like the first Shining Force followed up on Shining In The Darkness. Added a number of new features to the series' combat system, including weapon proficiencies, special attacks for each weapon type, statistics for elemental defense, and a "friendship" system that rewards characters who heal each other or fight the same enemies by improving their stats when they're nearby. The US release features legendarily terrible voice acting.

[[One Game for Thethe Price of Two|The game was released in three parts]], [[No Export for You|only one of which was released outside of Japan]]. In each part, a different hero led his force through a separate side of the story, with all three joining together for the final charge against Bullzome.

* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: Spiriel, who snaps out of it if you don't kill her.

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* [[Heroic Mime]]: Taken this to ludicrous levels. It has three main characters, one for each [[One Game for Thethe Price of Two|scenario]], and the two that you're not controlling in any given installment will talk like normal characters. However, ''your'' character's lines will be replaced by "....", even though the others will respond to whatever it is he actually said. It's especially absurd when there's a conversation between two main characters - you have to watch it from two points of view just to hear what everybody's saying!

* [[One Game for Thethe Price of Two|One Game for the Price of Three]]

* [[Put Onon a Bus]]: Julian during Scenario 1 and 2.

* [[So Long and Thanks For All Thethe Gear]]: Subverted and played straight by Julian.

* [[Tiger Versus Dragon]]: Synbios and Medion.

* [["Wake -Up Call" Boss]]: The Vandal of Chapter 3, Scenario 1. In addition to having a magical barrier that must first be disabled, he heals 20 HP (out of 120 total) every turn, can make the most out of his [[Shock and Awe|Bolt spell]] [[Area of Effect|with the cramped space he prefers fighting in]], and has a morbidly high evasion rate, the only moment in this game (compared to earlier games in the series) where [[Scrappy Mechanic|evasion rates]] are a problem. [[Justified Trope]], as he is specifically identified as a member of one of the most powerful races in the game's universe. The Force [[Lampshade Hanging|even wonders how they managed to kill him]], and anticipate how they will stand up against stronger, healthier Vandals.