Oddly enough, someone actually did recommend me Shining Force as a Genesis classic a long time ago, and it took me a long time to actually get to playing it. But then again, this is a game that I really don't want to look back on.
But thou must, okay, it's a strategy game, basically Final Fantasy Tactics for the Genesis, but without any of the fun. Promoting characters once they hit level 10? Sure, except they go back to level 1 which isn't as good as it seems, especially for mage or healer characters who learn spells at higher levels. Enemy defenses and evasiveness is also a concern, with many taking either one point of damage all the time, even after upgrading equipment for characters in a town before the battle. I like Balbaroy and Amon, they are swordfighters with perfect mobility due to being flying, but even when I give them a Doom Blade sword (honestly the best they can equip, although they can equip the Sword of Darkness you lose that weapon soon anyways, and the only Katana comes from another decent attacker in Musashi and should stay with him anyways) they still do like 1 point against most enemies. The whole Knight class is generally bad at everything except mobility and offense, and mobility-wise they suck when it comes to forests and mountains. Guntz is a bit different from the six knight characters (Ken, Mae, Arthur, Pelle, Vankar, Earnest) and has better defense. Kokichi is essentially a flying knight and far more useful, and Lyle is basically a combination of Knight and Archer, in the best parts overall. The mages are generally decent, Alef having the best spells and Domingo the best mobility. Zylo for some reason got worse when I promoted him. Some characters like Adam and of course Jogurt are completely useless.
But again, the big issue with this game is that if your character cannot offensively or can otherwise kill an enemy (usually one that is at 1 HP) they can barely ever profit. One thing I liked about Langrisser II was that upon winning an entire battle, everyone gets experience from it, something that Shining Force should've done so that weaker characters don't lose out. Sadly, it's difficult to get most characters to be as good as Max, Kokichi, Domingo, Amon, Balbaroy, Anri, Tao, Lyle, Alef, Guntz, or Musashi in terms of damage output*. And that really puts a damper on my fun in this game, along with the measly 1 experience from just doing 1 point of damage, or none at all if someone evades. How am I supposed to get the best spells in such cases? Yep, I was disappointed with this game overall, and the plot is basically "get recruits, hometown gets invaded, keep going, find prophecy, defeat enemies, find brainwashed dude who helps sometimes, finally defeat evil guy and the abomination he summoned, the end" so even it's not good. When the character with the most development is Kain, a villain who was just mind-controlled and helps out a few times before he dies, you know they should've added more to it. Would've helped if Max was a more talkative protagonist, I mean even Garrett from Warsong has him beat in terms of personality, and by the end of that game Garrett was the only person with personality in the party.
*Regarding Amon and Balbaroy, I like them again because of their mobility, and with Doom Blades they can take on weaker foes, but others will likely just get pinpricked instead, and that's bad. Luke and Gort become Gladiators and can reasonably do damage, as well as every knight if equipped with the one Valkyrie
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