Shining Soul
North American box art
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Akira Ueda
Producer(s)Junichiro Takahashi
Designer(s)
  • Akira Ueda
  • Masashi Niwano
Programmer(s)
  • Tetsuya Nakazawa
  • Tooru Yoshio
Artist(s)
  • Akira Ueda
  • Rika Kurokawa
Writer(s)Akira Ueda
Composer(s)Shingo Yasumoto
SeriesShining
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
  • JP: March 28, 2002[4]
  • EU: March 7, 2003
  • NA: September 16, 2003[3]
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Shining Soul[lower-alpha 1] is an action role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance. It is part of the Shining series. Shining Soul is a reboot of the Shining series.[5] The game was followed by a sequel, Shining Soul II, in 2003. Both games were re-released in Japan in early 2006 as part of the Game Boy Advance "Value Selection."[6]

Plot

The game takes place in the land of Rune, where a creature named Dark Dragon has gathered an army of Darkness in an attempt to bring about the destruction of the world. Your character is a hero of the Shining Fleet, which has trapped Dark Dragon and its five generals in the region of Runefaust and is now preparing to make a final assault on the enemy forces.[7]

Gameplay

The game contains four main classes (Warrior, Archer, Dragonute, or Wizard) and several dungeons that involve hack and slash style fighting. The player can cycle between magic and weapons based attacks. As you progress through the game and gain levels, you're able to allocate points for your main stats, like strength and dexterity, as well as distribute skill points. Skill points allow you to raise weapon and magic proficiency levels and to raise the levels of other abilities that are class-specific, such as defense for the warrior, critical hits for the archer, and so on.[8]

Release

The game saw a European release in March 2003, with Infogrames handling distribution and Sega Europe handling publication. In December 2002, THQ, who held a deal with Sega at the time to publish their games on the Game Boy Advance in the market, announced they had no intentions on releasing the title in the region.[9]

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[10] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 30 out of 40.[13]

Craig Harris of IGN lamented, "As it stands, Shining Soul just feels like a shell of a design, good ideas and intentions spattered throughout boring action sequences."[21]

Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer said: "It says "RPG" in the genre box, but it's really not. Role-playing games are renowned for their engaging (or at least expansive) plot lines, diverse characters and locations, progressive combat and intricacy. Shining Soul is notable because it singularly fails to live up to anything that's come before it."[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: シャイニング・ソウル, Hepburn: Shainingu Sōru

References

  1. ↑ 株式会社ネクスエンタテインメント (in Japanese). Nex Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 15, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  2. ↑ IGN staff (December 16, 2002). "Shining Soul (Preview)". IGN. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  3. 1 2 IGN staff (September 16, 2003). "Shining Soul Ships". IGN. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ "[シャイニング・ソウル] 公式サイト" (in Japanese). Shining World. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  5. ↑ Serrels, Mark (May 3, 2011). "New 'Shining' Game In The Works". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  6. ↑ Maragos, Nich (January 5, 2006). "Round-Up: GBA Value, In The Groove Loss, Xbox 360 AV". Gamasutra. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  7. ↑ Massimilla, Bethany (September 29, 2003). "Shining Soul Review". GameSpot. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  8. ↑ Massimilla, Bethany (September 29, 2003). "Shining Soul Review". GameSpot. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Shining Soul". 16 December 2002.
  10. 1 2 "Shining Soul for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  11. ↑ EGM staff (October 2003). "Shining Soul". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 171. p. 168. Archived from the original on April 1, 2004. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (April 24, 2003). "Shining Soul". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "ゲームボーイアドバンス - シャイニング・ソウル". Famitsu (in Japanese). Vol. 915. June 30, 2006. p. 122.
  14. ↑ Reiner, Andrew (September 2003). "Shining Soul". Game Informer. No. 125. p. 125. Archived from the original on February 27, 2005. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  15. ↑ Star Dingo (September 24, 2003). "Shining Soul Review for Game Boy Advance on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on March 10, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  16. ↑ Massimilla, Bethany (September 29, 2003). "Shining Soul Review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  17. ↑ Meston, Zach (September 11, 2003). "GameSpy: Shining Soul". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 16, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Shining Soul". GamesTM. March 2003.
  19. ↑ Harris, Craig (September 22, 2003). "Shining Soul". IGN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Shining Soul". Nintendo Power. Vol. 173. November 2003. p. 156.
  21. ↑ Harris, Craig (September 22, 2003). "Shining Soul". IGN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  22. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (April 24, 2003). "Shining Soul". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
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