Shining Soul

THE BAD:
Repetative and samey after a short amount of time, non-existant storyline, suspect sound and music, a little plain in one-player mode.

SUMMARY:
As they go, this game was reletivly unnoticed, its a large shame, as its a more than competant GBA title. It comes from Sega, a stable that created many fantastic 'Shining' games and also bred the team that made the phenominal Golden Sun. This is the first original Shining Game in years, so does it live up to the legacy?

Not really, no. This isn't because its a bad game, on the contrary, its very good fun, however, it deviates from the series so much that its a Shining game in name alone. I wasn't a massive fan of the previous games, so in my book, this is a good thing.

I suppose the nearest comparison I can make is to the PC action game Diablo - in essance, Shining Soul. Much like Diablo, Shining Soul is a linear real-time RPG, based around killing everyone, whilst collecting items, weapons and armour, before killing even more people, gaining a few levels and skills in the process, culminating in a large boss battle. Its in the classic no-brainer RPG mold, one that is, sadly, quite rare.

Also, like Diablo, it can be played in multiplayer. A co-operative versian of the single-player quest, this is where the game really shines (pun unintended), team up with friends and you'll soon find yourself making strategies of sorts, swapping items and feverishly ganging up on bosses. The action barely lets up, especially in multiplayer mode, and, as a result, that game reaches its peak.

Graphics arn't anything special, but they're just plain nice, so no worries there, the music and sound, whilst both a clear, are a bit hit-and-miss in both quality and choice, and don't help the atmosphere. Not perfect technically, but competant.

As much as I'd love to explain the storyline, I just can't, it pretty much isn't there, something about a Dragon taking over the world, but nothing story-driven, no cut scenes, and a short intro and end sequence, neither of which fit together at all. Its a shame, but there you go.

There are four different classes to choose from, the quick and strong fighter, the nimble archer, the intellegent wizard, and the slow yet devastating dragunote. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, each have their own special abilities, and each can use specialised euipment, no complaints there.

Sadly, the game falls down in single-player mode, which no friends to play it with at the time, the repetativness of the game sinks in and it can soon become extremily bland and quite dull, so only really get this game if you have willing friends.

Just as well I have three willing friends who all own the game then. If you like RPG's, and can play it in multiplayer, then by all means, purchase this, its a choice you won't be regretting for at least 10 hours of gaming time.