Series That Have Lost All Identity

Bob Mackey — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:05:00 GMT

Grandia was one of my favorite JRPGs on the original Playstation; despite the game's wonky translation and status as a crummy Saturn port, it had a certain air of infectious, Dragon Quest-y, aw-shucks adventuring that made it very refreshing. A few years later, though, I was unexpectedly disappointed by Grandia 2, which featured the evil church-iest of "evil church" plotlines along with a distinct attitude that didn't mesh well with the previous game--it wasn't too fun to play, either. So, I dropped the series in the early days of this decade and never looked back; and since then, both Grandia Xtreme (argh) and Grandia 3 have come into being, each with their own confused take on what Grandia is supposed to be (whatever that is).

The latest news for the series deals with Grandia Online, an MMORPG announced back in 2005 that'll be seeing the light of day--in Japan, anyway--this May. In a way, Grandia's relatively lukewarm popularity makes this game's continued existence a bit baffling, but one thing makes sense: Grandia is a faceless, shapeless concept that's been synonymous with RPGs for over a decade now. Not the most popular name, sure, but branding is still branding.

There's another franchise out there that's a lot like Grandia today, though it's had many more games and a chance to define itself in its early years: Shining Force. The early Shining games were fantastic--though simple--strategy RPGs, and even the spinoffs had a "feel" that kept them tied to the main series, despite their differing takes on the RPG genre. But when Camelot left the series after Shining Force III--which I'll probably never play thanks to the circumstances of the Saturn--the Shining series went in some weird directions that aren't entirely entertaining. And while someone out there is looking to get the series back on track with Shining Force Feather (argh), which takes the franchise back to its traditional SRPG roots on the DS, there's also Shining Force Cross, a four-player arcade brawler that's--um--you should probably just watch this video.

Just like with Grandia, the Shining Force title is nothing more than a generic RPG signifier now. Any other examples of this depressing trend in action? It'd be interesting to see if any other franchises out there have completely lost their identities.

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Roundtable Discussion: The Relevance of Japanese RPGs
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Reminder: Shining Force is Awesome

Bob Mackey — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:00:00 GMT

It may be relatively unknown, but Sega's Shining series has been pretty prolific since its 1991 debut; the little research I've done tells me that there have been 16 games in the franchise--though it's important to note that anything Shining started to suck around 1997 or so. The loss of developer Camelot Software Planning, combined with Sega's general financial failure, caused the Shining name to be repeatedly exploited in games that had absolutely nothing to do with the series' S-RPG roots. To be fair, Camelot didn't always have the Midas touch when it came to the Shining series--see aberrations like Shining Wisdom--but Sega and its development teams seem committed to slapping the Shining name on everything but strategy RPGs. And that's a damn shame.

Now that Camelot has been exclusively pumping out Nintendo sports games, all we are left with are memories, and the weeks Nintendo decides to release good things on Virtual Console Mondays. This happens to be one of those weeks, what with Shining Force II hitting the Virtual Console today. Now we can rest assured that our memories haven't lied to us; Shining Force is awesome! Now let's just be glad that Camelot decided to let the interminable Golden Sun series die, lest their reputation be damaged.

The main reason today's release of Shining Force II excites me--aside from the fact that I love the first two Shining games--is that I once assumed SFII would eventually be re-released. The first Shining Force saw a nice enhanced GBA port in 2004, and me, being the schmuck that I am, expected to get a GBA version of SFII not long after that. But it never came; which is a minor tragedy, seeing as the second game offers many improvements over the first one. Getting a chance to play it again--and pay much, much less than I would for a GBA game--is a consolation for me, as it should be for you. And if you've never played the series, here's the best description I can give: it's just like Fire Emblem, except that it doesn't make you want to murder the world.

Playing SFII does fill me with a bit of regret over the third game in the series; I never got a chance to play it, and with the combined factors of how much the game costs on eBay along with how impossible Saturn emulation is, it's very unlikely that I'll play the game in this lifetime. Add in the fact that America never saw the final two parts of the episodic SFIII, and you've got one major case of blogger's remorse. 61FPS readers who've played the Saturn Shining Force: are my bitter tears justified?

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What'd I Miss? Panzer Dragoon
Me VS. Blue Hedgehog

61 Frames Per Second : shining force

Series That Have Lost All Identity

Reminder: Shining Force is Awesome