Shining Force III

About Shining Force III

Shining Force III (1997) is Camelot's Saturn tactical RPG, released in Japan as three scenario discs that tell one war from three sides and carry save data forward, of which only the first was translated.

Shining Force III in Depth

Battles are turn-based on square grids. Each unit moves a set number of squares and then takes one action, such as attacking, casting a spell, using an item or searching, and turn order comes from agility plus a random factor. Units gain experience from fighting and healing, and each character's class sets its spells and equipment; promotion to a new class is possible between levels 10 and 20 and resets the level to 1. Characters who fight side by side build friendships that raise their stats when they stand near each other. Objectives are simple, such as routing the enemy, killing its leader or reaching a landmark. There is no game over: if the player's leader falls, the Force keeps its experience and loses half its money.

Between battles the game becomes a traditional Japanese role-playing game without dungeons, in which the leader walks around towns, talks to people, finds treasure, shops and picks the army for the next fight. In Japan the story came on three discs, Scenarios 1 to 3, following Synbios of the Republic of Aspinia, Prince Medion of the Empire of Destonia and the mercenary Julian. A peace conference in the city of Saraband collapses into war through the manipulation of the Bulzome Sect, a religious cult. Saves could be carried into later scenarios to change events and earn rewards, which Sega marketed as the "Synchronicity system".

Making Shining Force III

Work began while Shining the Holy Ark (1996) was still being made and took nearly two years, with over thirty people in-house. Sega announced the game as a Saturn exclusive in August 1997 and released it in Japan in three separate parts across late 1997 and 1998. IGN reported rumours that all three had once been planned for English release, but as Saturn sales fell only Scenario 1 was localised, released in North America and Europe in mid-1998 as Shining Force III. Critics praised its fully polygonal graphics, rotating camera, soundtrack and translation, and its simple, fast play compared with more complicated tactical RPGs. Next Generation wrote that like the Saturn itself it was "underproduced, underrated, but fun as hell". Released late in the Saturn's life, it sold in limited numbers. It was Camelot's last Shining game, the series' last on Sega hardware, and the last Camelot game not made only for Nintendo hardware, and it has never been re-released.