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I just finished the game and here are my thoughts on the game : From Sonic Team and Camelot comes the most unexpected RPG of the year. Word of this game only came out months before its release.

The Shining Force series was considered one of the best RPG's of the 16-bit era. It was Sega's RPG gem besides the Phantasy Star series. The Saturn has an impressive library of strategy RPGs including Riglord Saga 1&2, Terra Phantastica, Super Robot Wars and Langrisser 3&4 . Shining the Holy Ark was a sequel of sorts but with a 'Lands of Lore' type gameplay. Now, 4 years after Shining Force 2, part 3 is finally here, the first of three scenarios.

Upon turning on the game, you are treated to a full screen fmv inro showing your three main characters and a big robot. The fmv's very clear but not to the PSX's standard.

Graphically, Shining Force 3 is the most impressive of Saturn RPGs (I have yet to receive my copy of Grandia). Everything is constructed of polygons. Just imagine Riglord Saga 2 with cleaner graphics and smooth scrolling. There are hardly any 2d objects in this game. The characters look like rip-offs of Shining the Holy Ark, not that it is a bad thing. Its just that the artists should have come up with something more original. However most of the houses and buildings look the same and so do the townspeople. You can also rotate the screen, even during battles to look for hidden doors and chests. There are some hidden characters in the game too. (I just found out from a friend that there is a hidden ninja near the big tower)

However, the trees look kind of bland with little variety. Terrain does not influence the game much, unlike Riglord Saga 2. The fighting scenes are the same as the prequels : your character is in the foreground and the opponent in the background. The only difference is that they are made of polygons. Its is quite impressive but not as detailed as DOA or VF2.

The gameplay is still the same as SF2, only this time your character sometimes does an impressive variation of his normal attack which does big damage and is a sight to behold. The magic moves are very impressive, using a lot of lighting effects but lacks the grandeur of FF7's. This time, the movement of your men depends on his speed. It is not like in SF2 where your party moved first, then the CPU, then your party...... . The AI is much smarter. Your enemies wait for you to get in range before attacking and not waltz into your trap like in SF2. The last stage is very challenging and requires good planning. Unfortunately, you can only have a maximum of 12 characters in battle and you have to leave someone out.

At the start of the game you get to choose the names of three main characters only. Why not all the characters?

Your characters' basic attack stays the same throughout the game and you have no decision over what attacks you want to do (besides magic). The game should adopt Riglord Saga's system where you can choose what normal attacks you want to use. For example, if you are using an axe-weilding character, you can choose the spin around, jump up and slash, throw your axe or cause an earthquake. But nevertheless, why fix something taht's not broken?

The items are the same as in STHA so there should be no problem knowing what does what. The game resembles STHA a lot, especially the music. Most of the tunes are from STHA which isn't a bad thing. It give you a sense of familiarity with the game. The bad thing is that there are very few tunes. Most of the time you keep hearing the same tunes all over again. The characters do not make that chipmunk-like sound when they talk like in STHA.

The fighting sounds are very nice. However, there are hardly any sounds of life ie: talking, laughing, birds chirping etc, etc.

I get stuck in the game about 4 times but I managed the figure it out by the next day. Knowledge of Chinese of Kanji can really help a lot!

Graphics 9/10

+ very detailed, clean and smooth
+ no slowdown and fast loading
+ very cool lighting effects
+ fantastic fighting moves ( check out the hero's 10 hit combo!)
- the flames that the dragons breath out suck

Sound 6.0/10

+ realistic sound effects
+ Shining the Holy Ark music
- lack of diversity
- no digitized speech
- no orchestra type music except for the intro
- not exciting fighting music especially the bosses
- no 'decorative' sound effects

Gameplay 7/10

+ ability to use analog
+ solid and time proven gameplay
+ smart AI ( but the bosses are very, very stupid )
+ able to choose name of 3 characters
- cannot choose name for rest of characters
- only lasts around 35 hours
- no puzzles
- analog control too sensitive
- NO ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( what is SEGA thinking? )

Replay 6/10

+ secret characters
+ train characters for SF3 scenario 2
- no ending to show people

Overall 8/10

+ good, above average game
+ there's part 2 and 3
- too short!!!!!!!!
- NO ENDING !!!!!!!!?????????????? I felt like I wasted 38 hours just to see who made the game

Of course, the ultimate question is, is this game a must buy? To tell you the truth, the lame boss, boring boss music and the fact that there is NO ENDING made me fell like I've been ripped-off by Sega. But then, there's the 2nd CD coming out in a couple of months.

I would recommend the Riglord Saga series and Terra Phantastica or any of the RPGs mentioned above if you want a strategy RPG. Better yet, get Grandia. Wait for the 3rd CD to come out and then buy the whole set. That way, they game wouldn't be too short and at least there would be an ending. Or wait for the English version so you'll at least understand the game. But to those who have most of Saturn's RPG, prepare to be disappointed.