Shining Force Neo

PlayStation exclusive

Max completes his Force military training and returns to his village to meet his family and to find news of his missing brother. Later, the village is attacked by monsters later suspected as remnants of the Legion as well as the appearance of a mysterious figure that seems to know of his brother. This reasons compel Max to seek out the Legion threat, hoping in the process to also find his missing brother.

Released: 24 March 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Genres: Adventure Beat 'em up Role-playing
Developers: Neverland
Publishers: —
Series: Shining
Modes: Single-player
Themes: Action
Country: Japan
Age ratings: CERO A ESRB T

About

Shining Force Neo (シャイニング・フォースネオ, Shainingu Fōsu Neo) is an action role-playing game co-developed by Neverland and published by Sega in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 as a part of the Shining series.

It is not a turn-based strategy game as the other games of the Shining Force sub-series are. Instead, it uses real time action, similar in nature to the popular game Diablo or Record of Lodoss War (the latter also by Neverland). The game features a variety of weaponry inspired by the medieval era, magic, and a collection of skills that can be improved upon for the main character. Like other games in the series, it features anthropomorphic characters and a battle between forces of Light and Darkness. The story is loosely adapted from the original Shining Force.

›Story

Thirteen years before the game begins, the world was locked in a war against the Clan of the Moon. Foul monsters known as "Legions" were unleashed by the Clan against their enemies in their bid for domination. However, powerful heroes called Forces soon rose up to lead the charge against them. Aided by Force Frames, ordinary warriors became gifted with a variety of powerful advantages that made them more than what they would have been otherwise.

With this, the war against the Clan of the Moon began to turn. The Clan's Dark Castle and the Legions were banished in the end. Victory was achieved, but only at a great cost. Several nations were utterly destroyed and most of the Forces that participated in the final battle had perished.

When the story starts, a young warrior named Max has nearly completed the training that will make him a Force. Journeying home, he hopes to achieve his dream, not realizing that it is only the beginning of an adventure that will take him and his friends across the world to stop the return of evil.

Keywords

robots
leveling up
loot gathering
party system
sequel is in a different genre
non-player character
centaurs
melee
punctuation mark above head
reptilian humanoid
mana

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of three eights and one nine for a total of 33 out of 40.