Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon: 2004
Developer: Climax Entertainment
Genre: Role-Playing

Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is a remake of the first Shining Force game. The story still revolves around the Runefaust army trying to resurrect the Dark Dragon, but it features some new additions like new characters and additional story sequences in-between battles. Furthermore, dialogues have been expanded and the main hero has a background story now and is able to talk. Graphics have also received a complete overhaul, and the sound quality has been improved, although the compositions are the same as in the original.

The heart of the game are of course the tactical turn-based battles. You can take up to twelve different members of your Shining Force into battle. There are many different classes ranging from fighters and magicians to healers, knights, monks, ninjas and many more. In-between battles you can explore various towns to buy new weapons and items or chat with the townsfolk. There are also a number of secret characters and items to be discovered.

Shining Force’s gameplay has also seen some changes. The interface has been slightly simplified and you can now organize your units before battles. During battles, it is now possible to view upcoming turns, which makes it much easier to plan your next steps. To make the battles more interesting, even for fans of the original, you receive certain bonuses (usually money or a weapon) for completing battles in a set number of turns. Finally, a card-collecting side-quest has been added. Cards can have various effects in battle and one character is able to transform into the cards that you have found.