Shining Wisdom for the Sega Saturn Was a Little Dull - A Review | hungrygoriya
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.พ. 2023
- Shining Wisdom for the Sega Saturn was a letdown with some of the most unintuitive progression arcs and item use I've ever personally experienced in a game like this. In the already very small pile of CD-based games that bring on strong 16-bit aesthetics and old-school RPG features, this one fell very short of a grand adventure. 🍖
The introductory animation and outro text were created and designed by Saad Azim.
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#retrogaming #shiningwisdom #segasaturn - เกม
Honest reviews like this are the best. Maybe if more reviewers were like this, the old video games market wouldn't be so ridiculous. This video saved a lot of us an average of $300 USD. Great editing style too!
Honesty is my policy, even if it ruffles a few feathers. I'm just one person of course, but I'd like to think I give games a fair run before writing my reviews. And thanks about the editing! I've been trying to work in new stuff with every new video and it's good to know it looks okay on your end.
It’s a Shining Game - for the Saturn, but one that’s an also-ran that Sega of America isn’t going to pick up - Working Designs did the localization, so it likely sold maybe five copies - it’s practically 2010’s collector-bait, irrespective of quality.
The game was never popular. It disappointed when it was new. The PAL version isn't very expensive I believe.
I bought this when it came out. It sucked then, too.
@@robertrada4783 :(
Oh, Shining Wisdom! I had a magazine - a Game Pro or EGM - that featured this game. Little kid me was fascinated with it, because it looked like Zelda. Never did play it though, because I didn't have a Saturn, and I later forgot what the game was called.
It's always a pleasure to see new game reviews from you. My cat gave birth today, so I've been sleep-deprived and frazzled while playing kitty midwife. A chill and light-hearted review like what you make is a perfect way to unwind after a long and stressful day.
I'm a Zelda fan too, which is what drew me in. I love top-down adventure games, especially stuff on later consoles. Action RPGs seem to be either really hit or miss, and this one swung and missed pretty hard.
Congratulations on the birth! I hope everything went smoothly and that mama and the babies are doing well. I also hope there's some rest in store for you today.
Maybe Diehard Gamefan? I remember they did a spread and reviewed the game to high heavens. They made every game look awesome with their screenshots and ridiculous praise for everything Japanese.
@@gaylordfocker7990 I didn't find too much in the magazines about this game. I mostly perused the Sega Retro site, which tends to keep fairly good records of where games get advertised etc. but only found a couple of ads/mentions. I'd be curious to see this praise-fest!
Playing through entire games and editing these videos must eat off so much time... Damn! Thats passion!
It does take a long time to play through some of these longer games I review, but thankfully I get to do that with company on my livestreams over on Twitch. It makes the process a lot more enjoyable in many ways!
Thanks for the entertaining video!
Sadly, the best thing about this game seems to be that Camelot learned at least a few lessons about what NOT to do.
You can really see the seeds of some ideas that wound up being implemented much better in the Golden Sun games.
I've yet to play anything they did after this, but I'm looking forward to playing the Golden Sun games one of these days. I did love the expanding characters when they were speaking. I thought that was really cute!
Golden Sun 1/2 & Shining Force 3 are IMO the best 32 era JRPG's.
@@hungrygoriya You really really have to play Golden Sun... You are missing out big time! Camelot had that game perfected, and then they just made Sports games from there lol
@@hungrygoriya GBA Camelot was golden. Also check out Mario Tennis: Power Tour(?).
Bored at work and I see this notification and I instantly grabbed my ear bud and hit play.
I hope you enjoyed it!
@@hungrygoriya much more than you enjoyed that game.
I was waiting on this one and it did not disappoint. "If it wasn't already obvious, I didn't enjoy Shining Wisdom." Most savage review so far.
Was this savage? I tried very hard to be civil. I didn't even use the word hate! Thanks for hanging out with me here, there, and everywhere on the internet. Your fellow disdain for Shining Wisdom while I was playing it actually made me feel sane!
@@hungrygoriya It was savage in your own way and it is not hard to feel disdain for a game that can't even manage to make a running mechanic simple and intuitive.
@@robd4700 I feel like we need the RobD's Grumpy Reviews channel asap.
"The king's actually a filthy liar."
Made my day.
I'm glad that brought you some happiness, haha
You have more patience than me. I would have turned it off, and sulked in the corner. Thanks again for another awesome video.❤
I had a few evenings where I was just shocked at how much the game seemed to work against me. Not enough to quit though! I'm glad I saw it through. And thanks to you for taking the time to stop in!
I haven't started collecting for the Sega Saturn yet. I'm glad I saw this video first. Thank you for saving me some money!
You're welcome!
Congrats on finishing this review up filled with all your venom. I never really understood the tapping/speed up mechanic, but hearing it explained like this just makes me shake my head. Most wouldn't be able to put up with this for an hour, much less for the entirety of the game, so the fact that you finished this is very impressive. Enjoy never having to play this again.
I shook my head so often during this game, and rolled my eyes too! And I've been enjoying my vacation away from Shining Wisdom for the past month. Thanks for stopping in, as always!
@@hungrygoriya Hopefully your eyes have recalibrated by now >:)
The tap to run mechanic was a bad idea, hold to run would have worked just as well.
However the added abilities when running really add to the game mechanics.
P.s. Freeze Orb and run, kills everything on contact. It's like Mario with the super star.
This was on my to play list since I love the Shining Force games, between this and catching your stream occasionally, I think your wisdom is shining thru here. Thanks for the review, what a headache!
If you do give it a try someday, I hope you like it more than me!
I had recently looked up the ending to this game, and I find it to be kinda humorous that the ending teased a sequel that obviously never happened, while the princess who narrated the ending had expressed desire to essentially consummate with Mars upon his eventual return from his journey to rescue the Fairy of Gudo Valley, lol.
Yepppppp. It's very, very weird. The whole buildup prior to that cutscene is so weird and wacky too. It took a very dark turn and definitely didn't suit the tone of the rest of the game. I was shocked.
You'd think a Zelda-style game, covered in that undeniable Camelot charm would be a fantastic game, really bummed to see that it falls short =/
Yeah, it was a pretty big letdown for me.
@@hungrygoriya That reminds me, have you considered taking a look at Beyond Oasis or its sequel Legend of Oasis? Beyond Oasis is really good, but i never played the sequel, they might be up your alley.
This was one of the games "that got away" back when I had access to a friend's Saturn and his library of games. I spent too much time playing Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, and a bunch of other great games that I eventually lost the opportunity to play this one. Judging by your video title so far, maybe it was a blessing. :)
However: I still like the cover art. But then again, I'm a sucker for anything even remotely anime-style (even the very 90s-esque semi-CG semi-chibi style of the other cover... apparently there are two?).
I'd consider it a bit of a blessing that you missed this one, but I'm a little mad at this game still! The cover art's great. It's weird that it's a bit blurry though... in my searching around for differen't visuals to put in this game, I found a really neat spot on the internet that removes assets like logos and catchphrases from posters/artwork, and the one for Shining Wisdom's beautiful when it's nice and crisped up! There's a whole guy behind the game title! www.steamgriddb.com/grid/173697
Being completely unaware of this game's existence until Hungry Goriya's first livestream of it, I had high hopes as soon as she began to play, and I saw the type of game it was. With obvious similarities to one of my own favourite games - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - I thought we might be in for a treat. Those hopes soon began to fade...
I'd estimate that I was present for at least half of the total time Hungry was streaming Shining Wisdom, and within the first few hours it was clear that the game was a disappointment; a muddled mess of unnecessarily irritating mechanics and poor design choices. And the longer it dragged on, the more apparent it also became that the storyline was nowhere near good enough to redeem Shining Wisdom from its other flaws. As always, Hungry gave it a fair shake and more, and as a viewer I agree with her summary entirely.
What's saddest to me is that there potentially seems to be a very good game somewhere within all the ideas that came out of the brainstorming sessions for Shining Wisdom, but those ideas were executed in a horribly disappointing manner in nearly every case. With a few tweaks to the controls and mechanics alone, the product would have been far more gamer-friendly. That's the biggest shame.
And I really don't know why I have just written a summary of my experiences watching Shining Wisdom, when Hungry Goriya has already done such an excellent and thorough job of reviewing it! A top-notch, fair and balanced review of a seriously underwhelming game. Only one thing I'd disagree with you about, HG. The whale song was the best tune... 😊
Looks like you need to make your own video on the topic. Proxy Reviews by VanillaCuckoo! Sounds pretty catchy to me!
And I hope you and the whale song get married and live happily ever after.
My carpal tunnel is flaring up just watching this video holy Moly.
I actually have a bad wrist that gets sore/tingly, but it's my left one. I don't think I could've played Shining Wisdom if my right wrist was that affected!
I actually enjoyed this when it came out, but realize I never once replayed it in the 27 years since. This came out really early in the North American Saturn market when there weren't many other options, but once a few more games came out I basically forgot this one existed. I honestly think my favorite thing about it was getting the Toydona USA power-up and driving around the map -- no it didn't make the game easier but it was kinda fun zipping around without having to charge up the run.
You know, there was a person who dropped by my streams who didn't play it again for about that long until recently, and they actually really enjoyed replaying. Maybe you'll have a similar experience if you played it again nowadays!
And that car was a menace, haha... I have a clip of me from the streams trying to drive along a skinny bit of a level with pits on either side, and getting stuck in a death loop until I nearly died. It was fun when I wasn't getting clobbered in it!
All I heard was “I NEED A TURBO CONTROLLER”… I played this on my HTPC Console, had the same reaction to the button mashing, so I opened the console menu, set the “run” button to act as a turbo controller, so all I need to do is hold it down.
The PigMen with Spears didn’t stand a chance once I did.
A turbo controller would've made all the difference.
The sad thumb made me laugh so hard, remember having arm cramps from button mashing back in the day haha
That's what I kept imagining my thumb looking like after playing for a session. And you poor thing! Arm cramps sound terrible!
You madam are a soldier. Even with my love of video games, I couldn't imagine completing that game like you did even with all of the agony.
It was a trial of passion and accountability for all those who were watching the livestreams. I had to see it through for them!
Egads, this game looks like the illegitimate offspring of A Link to the Past and one of the Ys titles after a weekend of binge drinking. Thank you for taking one for the team HG.
My pleasure! I can't really recommend this game.
And now you made me think of Zelda and Adol having a drunken mistake one night, and poor Mars is the end-result trying to impress his parents by training in both swordsmanship and magic... and utterly failing in both, losing even more dignity than I thought was possible and embarrassing himself at every turn.
Man, now I ALMOST feel pity for the game...
very well spoken! I remember being so excited for this when I initially picked up my Saturn in 1995. I couldn't believe how boring this game was, and a pretty lackluster entry into the "Shining" series. Not every game from the Saturn's heyday can be remembered through rose-coloured glasses. and this is a prime example!
Sorry it was such a disappointment to you back then. It hasn't gotten any better with age, sadly.
Shining Wisdom... The developers gave all their wisdom to the game, they never leave any for themselves when designing the game.
Really awesome video, full of great information and detailed commentary. I finally got an NTSC sega saturn a few years ago and picked this game up from a collector. I was intesrested in playing it but never got around to it. This review has showed me I'm not missing out on too much so thanks for that 😂
Hey thanks very much for saying so! I'd still say take it out for a spin and see if you like it more than I did, but I can't recommend it.
This is a fantastic video. I enjoyed your video on Milon as well. Also, I thought I was the only one who had Ranger X boxed. Made me so happy when I saw that ^^
Awww thank you very much! I just got Ranger X a week or two ago from a friend who was parting ways with some of his collection. No manual, but I'm excited to play that one. It looks great!
By the looks of things, it's like somebody forgot that a sword was supposed to stick out when swinging it.
Also, this is a Camelot production, isn't it? I mean, yeah, the Shining series always had the team, but still, this one really has that Golden Sun aesthetic.
Yeah, it doesn't really extend too far :( And yep, same folks that worked on Golden Sun eventually. Complete with puffing sprites to designate speaking, haha
This game makes it obvious that more content doesn't equate to more fun. It seems like such a sluggish grind but it's presentation is rather unique and enough to make me give it a try.
Definitely try it out and see what it's all about. I couldn't really get into it.
6:05 well, you know. After Dorthy killed their witch employers, the flying monkeys were a bit desperate for a job.
That... is a great postulate!
Been waiting all day to watch this. Finally, here I am!
Love this channel! Keep up the great work!!
Hey thanks so much! I appreciate you stopping by to say something nice here.
I literaly just found out about this game and then you post a video on it :D
What did you hear about it? Was it good stuff?
@@hungrygoriya It was piece Sprite art that was said to be done in the style of this game
I recently finished Shining The Holy Ark and this game was on my radar for the next play through. I am glad I put that off for the time being. What a shame because I LOVE the Shining series art style. Thank you for the insight into this games world.
I'd say at least take this one out for a spin and see if it speaks to you. I personally couldn't get into it. I hope I'll be able to track down Shining the Holy Ark one of these days. It looks great!
That’s the worst, when you already tried the correct solution but it didn’t work because the hero was standing in just slightly the wrong spot. Thanks for enduring this game, and hopefully you’ll have better experiences on the Saturn in the future!
It was incredibly frustrating! And the whole game, I had no idea if it was just my thought process that was broken or what...
That clip with the three switches and the door that magically pops open followed hours of scratching my head, trying a bunch of different things, and feeling really, really lost about what I needed to do. I can hear my reaction in my head. I'm pretty sure someone made a clip of it.
This was my first Saturn game, so anything other than this has to be better. I hope...
Thanks for stopping in!
Did you just gain a bunch of subscribers? Awesome sauce!! 😁💛
I suppose you could call this recent growth pretty substantial, yes! I'm happy for all the new faces around my comment section here.
For a game called Shining Wisdom, they certainly made some questionable choices. That controller mapping for one seems just so counter intuitive. At least that music sounds gave you a laugh! Tell your thumbs I hope they get better soon!
I've passed the message along to my thumbs! Thanks so much, haha
I remember fishing this game out of a bargain bin absolutely full of copies. But it's interesting Working Designs published it, Sega themselves published it here, so I wonder if it had a different English translation?
Also have you got Virtual Hydlide for your Saturn collection? You must try it, it's, well... unique :D
A bargain bin!!! What a time that must have been! Apparently, based on what I've heard from folks here, the translation's totally different. I wonder what else WD changed...
I do not have Virtual Hydlide. I'm not sure that I want it, haha... I suppose I should play the NES game first and see if I like the series. ... :)
@@hungrygoriya
tbh you will probably not enjoy Hydlide. But if you really want to try it anyway, some advice: hold A to enter attack mode. Otherwise you're stuck in defend mode which is why you're just taking damage and can't kill anything
seems like basic stuff but lack of this knowledge is the source of the most vicious reviews of the game
@@ChibiKami Good to know! Thanks for the info!
@@hungrygoriya I'd imagine all those '90s pop culture refrences WD loved to include were taken out. Don't have a cow, man! :D
The Saturn version is a bit of a reboot of the series, it's just a totally unique experience, but it's one of those "so bad it's good" games, plus you can pick it up for pennies as no one wants it :P
Oh, if you watch retrospective channels on TH-cam, I highly reccomend Pandamoneium. Amazing pieces on Saturn games!
I played through this just recently with a PAL version and the UK’s English translation is completely different. The names match the Japanese game much more closely, whereas a spat between Sega of Japan and Sega of America resulted in Working Designs not being permitted to use many of the names for the North American release.
Additionally, all those “Working Designs” npc comments? Yeah, in the UK version those were often hints instead. I don’t know if the NA release is any different, but you get directed to a library/guild early on in the UK version which has readable books and npcs explaining the background plot BUT ALSO the mechanics of the game. Oh, and the King definitely tells you the correct order of the dungeons in the European release.
I have a theory about the button mashing mechanic. Very likely a decision made by a superior and not one of the actual devs. Knowing what I do of Japan, and considering the time period this game would have been produced in; chances are high that the person(s) calling the shots would have been mentally stuck in the 80's arcade scene. They probably thought this would be an exciting way to make the game stand out among its competition. His subordinates would not have questioned the idea even knowing it would have been bad.
Oh to be a fly on the wall in that dev office... I wonder if there's any documentation out there to be unearthed on Shining Wisdom's production.
Great video and review! I like the way this game looks and I love the genre it's in, so I'd be interested if Sega made a bunch of improvements to it and released it on the Switch as part of their Sega Ages line.
I'd be curious to see how people might like this game with a couple of changes made to it. Fingers crossed!
Good news, our new Shining game graduated its production to the Saturn, and it looks slick, and we have way more memory to use and space to save even more music and gameplay!
All that’s left to do is make it fun to play, and that’s going to be so easy.
Mistakes where made…
There were some very strange decisions made for this game that I can't fathom the reasoning behind.
Great channel I watch something each day and when you put up a video. This game sounds like a pain to play
Awww I'm honoured! Thanks for the interest!
Having watched a lot of the streams, I'm not surprised on your thoughts! I didn't expect it to be a positive experience or review. Before I replayed it last month, I felt very similarly and remember it being a frustrating game ~26 years ago. I would easily have agreed along to the video or comments here.
I will stick with the opinion there were mechanics not fully understood that would have vastly changed the opinion on the general gameplay, as they did mine. While the frustration of where to go next or trying to figure out the solution to enemies / puzzles is just something that happens (I had moments early on with my replay), I didn't find it as demanding as many other games - it follows a strict chronological progression for dungeons and using items from one to the next. But I won't hesitate to agree the biggest issue is the ambiguity. You might get a hint on one or the other yet never both and, what felt like, never when you needed it.
Outside of the physical collecting and "real hardware only" views (since these cost a fair bit on a chance), it's a game I firmly believe should be checked out a little deeper then just one streamer/review. Nothing against you HG ❤
Also - the controls felt like they were meant for an arcade stick which is bonus points in my book.
I take no offense to your very thoughtful comment. We won't always agree and that's okay! I'm still curious to know what you thought I missed in terms of mechanics. For me anyway, it felt like a lot of hints were revealed in an untimely way, but I'm curious to hear more from you if you're willing to share. I'd love to know why your second playthrough was such a different one from your first.
And I do hope some folks will take a chance on the game for themselves and see what it's all about.
Did the Saturn come with any form of an arcade stick? Maybe replaying with that sometime might be fun!
It's shocking how the manual even calls out the shitty item management UI as a gap that should have been addressed in the translation. They also tell you to re-assign the controls from the default!
...they also do this really horrible thing where they put a sword in your inventory, but also tell you that running into enemies at high speed is effective as combat. I had no idea I had a sword for a little while into the game. They give that hint as well and boy did I ever feel stupid.
Thank you, also your voice is really cute and this review is very well written ^^
That's really kind! Thanks for taking the time to watch!
Thank you for this insightful review. If the developers didn't want so many thumbs down, they shouldn't have forced players to tap their thumbs into oblivion!
Haha yep, can't hold a thumb high when it's in another realm!
I've been getting into the older Shining games, myself recently and am currently working on The Holy Ark. So far, it's pretty good but my biggest gripe is that you can only buy one item at a time. I've collected the Shining games on the Genesis and I'll probably pass on Wisdom because of what I've heard about it. I hate it when the townsfolk are useless and another game that comes to mind is Secret of Mana - awesome game but the townsfolk are just flat out dumb.
Love your reviews and thank you for making great content! Always look forward to your videos!
Thank you very much! I've been wanting to try out Shining the Holy Ark but haven't been able to find a copy of it yet. I've been keeping an eye out! Maybe someday!
I honestly can't recommend this one but I do know of a few folks that really enjoyed it. I just didn't! I haven't heard much good about it around the internet either and it's really too bad.
Its so weird what our minds choose to remember...i remember seeing this games ad in an old 1996 issue of EGM and my 13 year old brain being HIGHLY turned on by the Anime Chicks very revealing dress LOL
Ok the hgoBoil thumb had me giggling in my coffee this morning. You got me! As always I appreciate your in depth review of this game. I loved the look of this game, but the mechanics as you described seem unnecessary. If we were back in the 90s again, I imagine I'd rent this one, play it for the weekend, and return it back on Sunday night with no regrets.
The thumb made me laugh a lot too. It was the best way I could express its tired feelings.
And I can see this being a one weekend rental for me too back then. Too bad really. There was so much potential here that just missed the mark :(
I remember reviewers being pretty underwhelmed at the time. Rightfully so it seems, I would have expected more. The "super short sword" is a common complaint about Lagoon for SNES too. I sort of like that game, although it´s very hard.
I'm really curious to try Lagoon. It looks like it has some other redeeming qualities, and if I don't have to tap a button to move, then it's already better than this experience.
@@hungrygoriya Fun fact about Lagoon: its original version was on the Sharp X68000, where the game used an Ys-style bump combat system. For some reason, the toothpick sword attack was added to it for its SNES port. So if you ever do play Lagoon, try to imagine what it would be like if it were a bump combat game, as I've heard that version of the game is actually quite good! Real shame some boneheaded developer thought to change it when later releasing it on a platform people actually owned. ;)
...Also, great video! I've never owned a Saturn, and didn't even know this game existed, so I have no personal connection with it, but I really enjoyed watching your review, as always. Sorry the game didn't live up to its lineage!
Yeah, at least that annoyance isn’t part of the Lagoon experience! Many dislike Lagoon, but I think the great music redeems most of it’s flaws.
I had this game as a kid and I still love it today!
I'm glad you enjoy this one so much! I wish I'd liked it more.
@hungrygoriya At the time I played it, there weren't very many options on the Saturn, and I may have forced myself to enjoy more than I might now lol.
I remember looking at this game when Saturn titles were still "reasonably" priced. Can't say I regret passing on this one.
Hindsight is 20/20! I wonder what else I could've bought instead of this that I would've enjoyed more?
Thank you for this. I have tried playing through this game a number of times as I love *MOST* Shining games...this one is just brutal. Hearing my inner-monologue out loud made me feel like less of a failure for never completing it. :)
I only finished it because of how much time I put into it before realizing it wasn't going to get any better... I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way!
@@hungrygoriya You are definitely NOT alone. :)
Your review is very spot on. I have this one on Saturn as well and like you I enjoy most of the Shining games. I didn't make it very far into the game til I gave up, I didn't enjoy what I played of it.
I'm glad I'm not the only one, but I'm also sad you didn't have a good experience with it either.
Man, that sucks to hear about this one! I know 'Shining' isn't a very consistent series, like, _at all_ but still. The worst game in the series I've played is probably one of the GBA action-RPGs, and that's just because it was tedious as hell - I can't really comment that it's objectively 'bad' though. It's designed for co-op multiplayer and I never convinced any friend to buy a copy, lol. Thinking back to my time with Shining Soul while listening to you talk about this and watching it in action makes me think back on it in a more positive light though...
Thanks for biting the bullet on this and getting a video out on it, though! A Hungry Goriya retro-RPG video is always a must-watch, and sometimes (A lot of times, really) it's important to get the perspective from the angle of, "Why you won't enjoy this" as much as just hearing people act as cheerleaders for beloved classics. Heck, I'm pretty sure you could've quit this one and still had enough "in the tank" to put out this review and 100% justify the reason why you (would have) dropped it... it's all the more impressive that you finished it!
Hopefully the next game you tackle will be better!
Sometimes I'll have a search here on TH-cam to see if a game I'm playing has much coverage, and if it doesn't, the desire to make a video on it intensifies in me. I needed to talk about this game too since it hurt my feelings of course, but it's also nice to add to a smaller collection of videos on a topic.
I try to finish what I start most of the time, for better or worse. In this case, I finished it because I kept hoping it'd get better, but also because I was accountable to my streaming audience to see it through. It did test my patience more than most games I've played. I was similarly frustrated with Elemental Gimmick Gear on the Dreamcast because of the terrible attack in that game. I waded through that one too. Apparently I'm just a sucker for punishment!
And thanks for the well-wishes on the next adventure. I'm definitely looking forward to what's coming up for me! I just started Knights of the Old Republic and am also going to jump into Shadowgate on NES this afternoon. Lots to look forward to!
Hahah I can really relate to this whole review. The disappointment when I booted this up for the first time. So much of it's game design feels so baffling, like did no one in the team ever start questioning the decisions? I get that the gear mechanic (as bad as it is) was the core of the gameplay and probably couldn't be canned, but the constant pausing to switch weapons is so annoying and would be such an easy fix.
I am a fan of it's soundtrack tho, even if most of the tracks as you said never fit the world of the game. My favorite is probably the castle theme with it's red herring intro to make you think it's a a dark and spooky dungeon, before surprising you with some kind of electric guitar/distorted trumpet riff or whtever it is before it turns all chill and comfy. Such a whiplash.
I'm very surprised that they chose a few of the main gameplay features, but heck... the game's different if you can muddle through it all. Nothing else plays quite like it, whether that's good or bad!
And listening back to some of the music here while I was editing, I liked a little more than I remembered playing the game. Whiplash is a great way to describe a lot of the music. The "whale song" that plays in the fire dungeon is a great example of a song doing something totally different after a while. I really liked the castle theme too. I heard it a lot while trying to find the king in the first hour of the game since everyone was in the way...
Nice mention to whales, Vanilla (I think it was him) will be pleased haha. Very fair review. I was watching this and there were some seriously painful moments like the fire respawning which I really admire you facing with serenity and patience. Overall I think it was really useful for many of us to not play this ever, those who, like you, love anything resembling a 2d jrpg with 32-bit graphics and cd soundtrack. As we say in Spanish, not everything that shines is gold, and shining wisdom gave another type of "shine" haha. If you ever have the chance, and I mentioned it a few times to you in chat, Magic Knight Rayearth is what you were expecting of this, but for real ;)
I was thinking about Vanilla when I wrote that bit about the whales. Sometimes he turns out to watch my stuff so we'll see if he notices, haha
Magic Knight Rayearth seems like it'd be a really fun time, but I've also thought that about a lot of other games that I didn't end up liking. I have to proceed with caution so my little grumpy thumb doesn't explode! Hopefully one day I'll find it at a yard sale or something.
Hahaha! An irrepressible beaming smile appeared on my face as soon as the whale song cropped up in this video!
@@VanillaCuckoo 😄(I'm nostartia btw on Twitch)
The fact I don't see a Mario RPG 7 Stars review on her channel is depressing.. One of my most loved action-rpg-esque childhood games
It's because I haven't finished it! I borrowed a copy a long time ago and had to give it back partway through my playthrough :(
"The long sword" still being a short sword "I've never been more disappointed in my life" haha
I was so excited :(
I'm a fan of working designs but this is one I've never played, as I never owned a saturn. I always appreciate your honest reviews, because I feel like certain corners of retro gaming Fandom overlook many classic games flaws due to nostalgia or loyalty to a brand. Thanks as always HG.
I try to keep it real the best I can! Thanks for your kindness!
It sounds a lot like Link's Awakening on the GBC but completely insane because you're not locked to two buttons.
It's worse than Link's Awakening though. In that one, you could jump and use your sword at the same time. This one, your sword and all of your other actions are tied to a single button :(
This video made me glad I never managed to get a copy of this. Had one traded into the game store I work at and as the resident tester person and due to the price of the game, boss handed it over to me to give a test. Played it all of 30-45 min before being so bored I wanted to cry. Certainly not the best WD title to wander out of that studio, and certainly a blemish on what the "Shining" series was until that point. Thanks for the in-depth video about it!
My pleasure! I was so excited for this game and it just fell so flat :( I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your time with it either.
I love your reviews, and LOL @ the sad face on your poor thumb. Your comments about the shoes reminded me about Link's Awakening and his Pegasus Boots. They were just permanently equipped once found, and running across multiple screens with your sword out, bashing into enemies was great fun. It's just wrong to lose your weapon because you put some shoes.
Also, aside from the intention bump combat in the Y's games I have never understood why some developers seemed to believe a sword's reach should be so short. It's an annoying design choice.
I'm glad you liked the angry thumb, haha... I was chuckling while filming that part too!
The Pegasus Boots were definitely on my mind when I was writing about the running option. Or even Terranigma, or other action games where the run was easy with a double-tap... so many options, but they went for the constant tapping. It boggles my mind!
I personally love bump combat in Ys, but I agree: give me a little reach with a weapon!
Love these detailed reviews! The monkey song has semi-Groose song vibes ❤
Thanks so much! Groose from Skyward Sword? I loved that game.
@@hungrygoriyaYeah Skyward Groose, the real star of the game! I recommend the GBA Shining Games, they're a real return to form for the series.
@@rollinjay8214 Good to know! I will keep an eye out for them.
Great video! I feel smarter now.
I love the reference to Deborah Cliff. Thanks for an enjoyable review - sorry you had to suffer so much to create it.
I'm just glad I could at least get the word out about this one. I really didn't enjoy my time with it.
A rainy day on my California vacation brightened by a lone hungry goriya 🦍
Glad to be a bright point on your rainy day!
First time viewer but this video immediately got me to subscribe. 🙏
Thanks very much for subscribing! I appreciate it!
I was looking for this game, I'm pretty sure I played it back in the day. I don't remember anything about it other than it was a Zelda-like RPG. I'm still not sure if this is it... I don't think there are any other games like this so ... PROBABLY is. THanks a bunch, good review.
Hmmmm other games like this on the Saturn specifically, or just in general? And thank you!
wow thank you for taking the time to deal with this sufferfest. It has been on my sega saturn list, but I will be happy to cross that off.
I'd say at least give it a whirl and see if you like it, but I can't give this one a good recommendation. There's just too much frustration with it.
Sounds like one to look at but not necessarily play through.
Good review as always.
I would definitely watch someone play this. I don't think I'd play it again myself.
for my SEGA trying to do Zelda I prefer Crusader of Centy. Jokes aside its interesting seeing this company's art style here as it is already starting to resemble what we would later see in their masterpiece: Golden Sun on the GBA (one of my fav RPGs)
Crusader of Centy was actually a fun little game. It got a little weird towards the end with where the story went, but I liked it overall! I still need to play Golden Sun too.
You have more patience than I do. I think this is the only Shining series game I gave up on within the first couple of hours because of the annoying controls. It was especially disappointing given the small number of action RPGs available in English for the Saturn. This one is the worst of the bunch. Even Dark Savior, despite its own shortcomings which are many, at least had some graphical wow factor at the time of its release. Great review!
Ohhhh Dark Saviour's not so great? Someone recommended it to me recently since I really liked Landstalker on the Genesis. I was planning to look for it and give it a go. And I keep hoping that some of these cute RPG/adventure games for later consoles will be fun, but it seems to be a really mixed bag. I'm glad to know this one's the bottom of the barrel and that it'll only get better from here.
@@hungrygoriya I'll say this: I felt compelled to finish it, unlike with Shining Wisdom. If you've played Landstalker then you're at least primed for the worst aspect of Dark Savior, which is frustrating isometric platforming!
I think Dark Saviour is fantastic! Especially if you like Landstalker.
@@CasperEgas It would be interesting to hear Hungry's take on the game. I'm probably being too harsh on it.
The Deborah Cliff joke caught me so off guard haha I loved it.
I’m making my way thru the Shining series now, thanks for taking this bullet for all of us 🫡
I was fascinated that the manual actually said that people would lie to you. It made allowances for all the poorly translated hints, though I didn't really have too much trouble finding my way through Simon's Quest.
And you're welcome! I'd still say try it out for yourself, but I definitely can't recommend it based on my experience.
Goriya isn't a person but a pair of hands confirmed. Holy crap the lore in this video!
The last few seconds showing your attempts at learning the dash puzzle remind me of some of the Metroid puzzles that require careful timing with the Speed Booster. Oof.
It seemed to be pretty pixel-perfect. And I remember some of those parts in Super Metroid... they came a little easier to me than these stupid jumps did!
It's a shame it wasn't more intriguing as it looks fantastic and is on my back log.
Yeah, I was disappointed too. I had high hopes for this one.
I'm going through Beyond the Beyond and Brave Fencer Musashi for the PS1 right now. I'd be interested in knowing your perspective on these two games after watching this video of another game I haven't gotten around to playing yet.
Hopefully I'll get around to them both some day. Thanks for the suggestions!
Love the content
Thank you so much for stopping in!
Love the review. Its accurate and fair I think. I tell you what though, Shining Soul (especially Shining Soul 2) is probably exactly what you want. I'm sure someday you will get to it, and it will be glorious. Keep it up :)
I think those are on the GBA, yes? I'll keep an eye out! I passed up a copy of Shining Soul years ago at a thrift store and have regrets. I think I'd done a quick online search at the time, and folks said it wasn't worth playing, so I didn't get it.
@@hungrygoriya Yep! GBA. You don't have to play them in order. Its actually easier to think of the second one as a better version of the first one. So if you had to play just one, play that. Also, I can see why some people didnt like it, but you should love it. Given your track record of liked games on here. KBash did a review of the series not too long ago, and I think you will find his review enlightening.
The 2 things I will say: If you can play co-op using netplay or some other internet magic, do it because its magical. The other thing is give every character class a good 10 minutes off-stream or sneak peek preview on YT so you can kind of know what you are getting into because all the character classes play a LOT differently. Like completely can make or break the game for you if you dislike the playstyle. You have legitimate MMORPG style builds. If you are familiar with these, its like someone merged Ragnarok Online + Diablo 2 and threw Shining's world on top of it.
Thanks for the videos as usual!
I second this, I played through Shining Soul 1&2 this year for the first time, and I thought they were a blast. They're kinda feel like a Shining Diablo game. The second one was really great.
looks like a case of "so close, yet so far away"
I couldn't have said it better myself! Yes!
Didn't think I catch a fresh Goriya video. Only because I watched a rick roll game cube video......
Being up late has its advantages I guess!
I saw ads for this game in magazines and were always curious since I enjoyed the Shining-games I played on the Mega Drive and I did like Zelda-like games... but ooof, what a letdown this is to hear. Scanning the comments it would seem that Working Designs translation severely screwed the player over by removing helpful hints in the name of injecting extra "flavor", thus exacerbating the issues with unclear puzzles and game mechanics.
What really struck me is seeing the seeds for several of the puzzles that happened in Golden Sun, or perhaps the "thinking" behind said puzzles that I could spot there, being shown here. The tools combining with magic orbs giving spells that you can then use in the dungeons to affect them, heavy use of environmental tricks like digging, stomping holes or stomping out flames, running fast across collapsing tiles... it reminds me of the thinking done in Golden Sun, so it feels clear Shining Wisdom was a big learning / teething moment for the devs... just a shame they couldn't make those moments actually _fun_ until way later.
Hearing they went in with a "we only have three buttons available" mindset does explain some of the control-mapping choices... but man what a disaster that choice to not take the extra time to re-map them and have, say, one button dedicated solely to the sword, or quick-looping items / magic orbs with the shoulder button, or making the gear-shift happen by holding a button, would turn out to be. Even those frustratingly vague puzzles could've been made more tolerable with more intuitive controls.
I haven't gotten around to the Golden Sun games, but I've heard good things. I hope, very much, that they're better than this early primordial version and that I get some enjoyment out of them.
The controls were absolutely abysmal and it's hard to imagine someone thinking that the decision to map the controller that way was okay. It was incredibly frustrating and annoying to have to shuffle through items every few seconds. I think it had some wonderful ideas that were just totally derailed by the control problems. It's too bad :(
Thank you so much for another great review! Specially for the dedication towards analyzing every aspect of the game.
Just by looking at it, I would be very interested in playing! The artistic style really caught my eye. But after knowing how cumbersome the controls and gameplay mechanics are... well, I have to admit that this is a game I would rather pass.
The visuals ensnared me too! It's not a hard game but one that's tough to master because of how disadvantaged you are most of the time. I'd say try it out and see if you like it, but I won't be playing it again.
I thought for sure this game would be a winner, being developed by Sonic Software Planning and published by Working Designs. I was terribly disappointed when I got it, especially since RPG/Adventure games were so scarce early in the 32-bit generation.
:( I'm sorry you were disappointed too. I was really excited to play this one and it was incredibly frustrating that it wasn't much fun.
Getting some real Dragon Warrior vibes from the main character's backstory!
Yeah! So many orphaned heroes eh?
Fun fact ( on a snes controller ) 7th saga can be played with just the left hand
Oh yeah? One of those RPG controllers sounds just about right then! Have you seen those?
@@hungrygoriya i have not :O
Unless you mean something like the dragon quest controllers that look like blue slimes
@@procow2274 No, they're just like a one-handed controller with a D-pad and all the buttons on one thing so you don't have to use your other hand at all. They're pretty neat!
I played this game 25 years ago and the only thing I remember about it was the cool car you can drive around.
Day-tooo-naaaaaa ... I honked my horn a lot.
What a shame. But hey, something good came from this game, you made this wonderful review for us to enjoy
Awww thank you!
Ah yes, the black sheep of the Shining series. It's like the Ys games got together with Takeshi's Challenge and this is the baby they left in the dumpster.
It's even more sad because Shining of the Holy Ark is a phenomenal dungeon crawler and one of the best RPGs on the Saturn. Even when I tried to put up with Shining Wisdom's chicanery, I'd eventually give up and play either the aforementioned Holy Ark or play Alundra on my brother's PSX.
EDIT: Spelling.
I'd like to try Alundra and Shining the Holy Ark one of these days. I have Alundra, but am still on the hunt for Holy Ark.
@@hungrygoriya . It's crazy that even copies of that game that are even adequate condition can go for a minimum of $100-$150. It makes me feel fortunate that I still have my Sega Saturn and my copy of Holy Ark.
Now, Alundra, THAT game is a blast. I'd love to see you do a video for mit one of these days.
Edit: Spahelling
One of my child hood’s favorite game
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wish I did!
your channel is a real treasure
That's very nice of you to say! Thanks very much!
Great review. That's the most distracting life meter I've ever seen. And I was just watching the review not playing it lol.
It was very, very distracting! Neat to look at while I was thinking of course... but yes.
I want shining force. Loved that game as a kid
I hope you can get your hands on it again someday.
There was a point from ‘95-‘97 where people jumped on the rendered sprites bandwagon, and I remember turning my nose up at the super deformed beady eyed look of the character art in magazine ads combined with the grainy low resolution sprites of the game. Why do all the sprites have a thick black border around them, though? It’s like an aliasing thing where the sprites kinda clash with the background - maybe?
A lot of the later SNES RPGs pushed against looking like they were laid out with a tile editor. The need for tile layouts were an artifact of having to squeeze your 10 - 20 hour RPG down to 1-4 MB of ROM. CD system doesn’t have those limitations, so there’s tons of one-off graphics, so dungeons are full of lots of extra decoration like waterfalls and sloping walls. The castle and town areas look-okay but I can feel the disappointment sneaking in when you get to the dungeon or forest and see the limited art. This game had to have started out as a later Genesis title. You can see how the jungle at 16:10 is a lot more colorful and varied - THIS is what a 32 bit or showcase 16 bit game SHOULD look like. Besides, there’s a lot more imagination in this area than “Here’s what you get with RPG maker.”
17:38 Hooooly crap that shop is dire. “Behold my store of wares from the far corners to the world.” Extremely bland character design in a box with no decoration at all - five minutes with RPGmaker. Town layout is a step behind Shining Force, even. It’s a real shame, Camelot productions usually have a certain charm.
Your comment made me laugh so much, haha ... that shop guy was the worst!
I just noticed.. this game feels like it wanted to be it's own "Ys" by the looks and some designchoices of it but without understanding how that series evolved and became "easy to get into". Even the MC looks like Adol!
The little cape and red hair definitely make you think it's a real possibility, for sure!
I kept seeing ads for this in comics and magazines way back when, but I didn't have a Saturn to try it out
glad to see I wasn't missing much. Think I'll stick with Force for my Shining games
I've heard great things about the Shining Force games. I'd like to get around to the first one sooner than later just to see what they're all about!
@@hungrygoriya imagine Fire Emblem but very forgiving, with a fantastic world aesthetic (stuff like centaurs mostly being knights with lances)
for the first one, both the genesis and GBA versions are equally great, with the GBA having more content and extra characters
Shining Force 2 is considered a high mark in gaming by some, the Sega CD game is high quality remake of the first two SF spinoff gamegear games, and Shining Force 3 is a special case (we only got the first scenario in the west. Translation/retranslation of all three SF3 scenario discs in the works)
The "tap to go fast" thing sounds like it'd be thwarted by a turbo-fire controller.
Well, yes and no... you'd have no control over how fast the tapping would be happening, which may or may not be beneficial!
I'm not sure if it's because it's a Saturn title, which are often overhyped and expensive, or if it's because the initial presentation leaves a good impression, but this game has gotten far too much credit online over the years. If it was on Playstation it would've been dragged through the mud.
Congrats on Hungry Goriya for managing the finish this one. As usual: you've got far more patience than me.
I only saw a lot of negativity around this game though, even when it was new.
I wonder if a lot of folks were expecting something more akin to Zelda and then got a tap-fest instead... I'd like to meet a few people that really enjoy this game and pick their brains!
And thanks! I'm glad I made it through too.
I've never played any games from the various bits of hardware Sega put out after the Mega Drive (Mega CD, 32x, Saturn or Dreamcast) but I grew up with the Master System and Mega Drive - and my top 3 "adventure / action RPG's" on the Mega Drive are -
Soleil (Crusader of Centy) - excellent game, interesting story that's nicely told, very good gameplay (but a bit on the easy side & short)
Story of Thor (Defender of Oasis) - very action heavy, story light and not very long, but has some nice elemental puzzles / hidden area's to find (for level up purposes), good graphics, memoral bosses and a nice end to the story it does tell.
Super Hydlide - interesting world, but heavy grind required to progress and some punishing mechanics, some memorable story points (although the story isn't something the game focuses on telling, at all - similar to Golvellius in that way).
The 2 Shining Force games were also great RPG's (as good as Phantasy Star 4 for me, but in different ways).
I was always curious about sequels to the Mega Drive RPG / adventure games I did enjoy that appeared on that later Sega hardware though (or at least games made by the same developers on that later hardware) - this game is amongst those I've often wondered about.
Shame to hear your review, but also relieved I never went out of my way to spend money on trying it out myself.
There are some really good recommendations here! I still need to play more than half of the games you mentioned here, but I did really enjoy Crusader of Centy. I've heard a few folks here say that Shining Wisdom's their least favourite game in the Shining series, so I'm glad to know that there are other good games to look forward to. If you ever do feel like giving this one a try, I hope you like it more than me!
Have you played Lagoon for the SNES? Very similar in game play and graphic style with great music.
Not yet, but I'm very curious about it!
@@hungrygoriya Check it out for sure. It's a slow start (gotta grind a little) and the sword reach is awful, but once you get pass the pitfalls, it is actually a super fun little JRPG. Cheers!
This game would really benefit from a fan hack to use the extra buttons. Maybe one day.
I hope someone takes that on. This game would've been a lot more fun if it hadn't been for all the mashing. I still think a few other aspects are only mediocre, but no button tapping just to move would've been a huge improvement.