Shining Force EXA
Encyclopedia
is an action role-playing game
developed by Neverland
and published by Sega
for the Sony
PlayStation 2
video game console
as a part of the Shining series. It tells the story of a world divided by a war between humans and demons.
Like Shining Force Neo
, the gameplay is in the vein of the popular game Diablo
or Record of Lodoss War
for the Dreamcast (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 characters.
A human boy born and raised in the wild, and one of the two main characters of the game. He doesn't appear to be very intelligent, but has a cheerful disposition and a bit of a quick temper. He possesses a strong sense of justice, and the one thing he wants in life is "great power", which leads him on his quest for the holy sword known as the Shining Force. He is often advised by Zenus, an ebony-skinned jackal-like creature who is a product of ancient methods.
A human girl brought up in the Noswald Empire, one of the two main warring factions in the world of Shining Force EXA. She is the second of the two main characters of the game. She is the opposite of Toma, highly intelligent and a skilled user and researcher of magic. Like Toma, she is also in search of the holy Shining Force sword. She has a cool disposition and tends to be cold towards people, but despite her outward appearance, she is truly a gentle person. Sweets and candy are said to be a secret indulgence of hers. She is often accompanied by her familiar, a ferret-like creature called Zhirra.
An elf maiden searching for the Holy Sword in the hopes of saving her dying race. Calm but merciless in battle. Superb archery skills. According to Maebelle, she is what the elves refer to as the "Last Child", meaning she was the last newborn elf since the incident with her people unable to bear children. Maebelle is quite mature and has a motherly complex toward Cyrille at times. Her unique trait is that she seems to eat more than anyone else in the party (much to Duga's surprise) and frequently snacks when she gets a chance.
Former Noswald knight. Parted ways with the Emperor due to differing ideals. Met Toma and the others on his quest for the Holy Sword. Uses a lance as a weapon. Gadfort has a habit of lecturing Toma on his sword style, calling it unpredictable and without form, but in actuality he is simply being a teacher to him. Gadfort idolizes the legendary hero Avalon, and has just about every book written on him in his personal collection. He also follows a lot of Avalon's examples, such as keeping the weapons and armor in his room spotless.
A girl from an elite Magnus family from which many La Vaes were born. Reckless and truant. Neglects her training but is skilled at magic. Toma nicknames her Ami Girl, which she hates, and is generally called Ami by everyone else. She has a school girl crush on Duga, who can't stand her approaches, but she eventually gives up on trying to get his interest. Her self-centered attitude causes a lot of grief for Faulklin, who unfortunately has to do everything for her, from cleaning their room to doing her school assignments (along with his own).
A peace-loving Quintol boy. He learned the art of healing and light magic to assist his good friend, Amitaliri. He is generally shy and very quiet, except when it comes to dealing with Ami. He may have some feelings for her, but can't seem to tell her outright. Faulklin is easily taken advantage of and is stuck doing a lot of the work for the two of them. His healing talents and holy attack spells are quite noteworthy on missions.
A former Noswald Army officer. Gadfort's best friend and a friendly rival, claiming to be stronger than him. Duga is a talented fighter among Wolflings, and is always keeping himself trained and rested for battle. He seems to have a thing for Maebelle and openly asks her out on dates in the Geo-Fortress. He actually has a habit of telling dirty jokes and is quite the womanizer. Much like Volg from Shining Tears
, he is strong and fast, but lacks the defense necessary to withstand much damage at any one time.
A robot soldier from an ancient mobile fortress. It is highly intelligent but lacks emotions and empathy. Adam can be referred to as a "he" since his voice actor and name are male. He originally served alongside the previous Heritor in an ancient war. His systems shut down after fighting too many enemies and straining his power reserves. His memory banks can immediately recall records and analysis from the war. According to him, the description of his capabilities was taken out of a sales manual.
The current Emperor of the human Noswald Empire. He is known to his people as "The Lion". At first, he tries to talk to Toma and finds him too immature to deal with. Soon after he sets his sights on Cyrille, and holds informed conversations with her. Because Cyrille is quite familiar with world history, Ragna tries to convince her to choose sides.
The current La Vaes, also known as the Queen of Fyrlandt, the southern territory belonging to the magnus. She is quite manipulative and tries to lure Toma to her side with her feminine wiles many times throughout the story. However, despite her calm appearance, she is quite deadly in battle and wields devastating magic spells. Reimsianne is a responsible leader to her people and strictly follows an age-old taboo of not trying to incite a war with the humans.
A mysterious dragon whose name is known only from a signboard. He is clearly very intelligent and can understand human speech. Garyu interacts little with the party, and is only affectionate toward Toma and Cyrille. He is immensely strong and able to take on and defeat great numbers of enemies all on his own.
He is gained after defeating him in his cave.
An undead man with the same name as a legendary knight. Gadfort is convinced of his identity because of his skills and weapon. Avalon is quite open with regards to his past, having fought with a powerful dark mage when he was a reckless overconfident knight, and lost his life for it and was cursed. Toma and Cyrille were shocked with his need to drink human blood to sustain himself. However, Avalon is greatly opposed to the thought of actually murdering another human. He occasionally cracks a joke about drinking the blood of beautiful young girls.
He is gained through collecting his bones scattered throughout the game.
and inherited that game's battle and action RPG mechanics.
One new feature of EXA is the customizable robot castle Geo-Fortress. While adventuring, the party members left behind use the Geo-Fortress as a headquarters. They also protect and defend the castle in the event of an attack. In the beginning, the fortress is very basic and vulnerable. By collecting "Rare Material" from the given quests, the player is able to transform the fortress into two other forms. Once the fortress reaches the third form, it is capable of travel. The player is able to add more rooms for vendors and shops. In addition to a traveling store, the player is also able to train party members. The growth, layout, and defense of the fortress is managed completely by the player, thus allowing the Geo-Fortress to evolve to fit the style and tactics of the player.
The player upgrades characters through experience points and an assortment of items and weapons. In addition, using specific battle tactics of the party will grant it more power and range. As well as advancing the main character, the player progresses to master a variety of Power Arts to unleash special and magic attacks.
IGN
gave the game a 7 out of 10, giving praise to the length and overall design of the game, but criticising the lag often experienced by having so many enemies on the screen at once, and warning "The voice acting, however, is HORRIBLE. Just about ever single spoken line will make you wince."
Similarly, GameSpy
gave EXA three out of five stars, calling the Geo-Fortress system "innovative".
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
developed by Neverland
Neverland Co.
Neverland Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer founded on May 7, 1993. It has developed games for Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Dreamcast, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS, PSP and the Wii...
and published by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
for the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
as a part of the Shining series. It tells the story of a world divided by a war between humans and demons.
Like Shining Force Neo
Shining Force Neo
is an action role-playing game co-developed by Neverland and Amusement Vision and published by Sega in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 as a part of the Shining Force series....
, the gameplay is in the vein of the popular game Diablo
Diablo (video game)
Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on December 31, 1996....
or Record of Lodoss War
Record of Lodoss War
is a franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based around the work he originally created for a world called Forcelia for role-playing games . There have since been multiple manga, anime and computer game adaptations, several of which have been translated into English...
for the Dreamcast (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 characters.
Story
The story focuses mainly on two characters that the player will have the opportunity to control: Toma, a brash sword wielder who dreams of being "King of the World," and Cyrille, a mage of sorts whose reasons for searching for the Shining Force are a well kept mystery. Joining the party almost immediately will be the other half of its members, Gadfort, who wants the blade to become the greatest knight in existence, and Maebelle, an elfin archer seeking the blade to save her people. Their story will unfold in a world that is shared by humans, demons, and beasts that is constantly devastated by war. The world is divided into two main kingdoms. The Noswald Empire is home to the human race and the demons rule the southern territory, Fyrlandt.Toma
- Class: Swordsman
- Allegiance: Independent
A human boy born and raised in the wild, and one of the two main characters of the game. He doesn't appear to be very intelligent, but has a cheerful disposition and a bit of a quick temper. He possesses a strong sense of justice, and the one thing he wants in life is "great power", which leads him on his quest for the holy sword known as the Shining Force. He is often advised by Zenus, an ebony-skinned jackal-like creature who is a product of ancient methods.
Cyrille
- Class: Mage / Magic UserWizard (character class)The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...
- Allegiance: Noswald Empire / Independent
A human girl brought up in the Noswald Empire, one of the two main warring factions in the world of Shining Force EXA. She is the second of the two main characters of the game. She is the opposite of Toma, highly intelligent and a skilled user and researcher of magic. Like Toma, she is also in search of the holy Shining Force sword. She has a cool disposition and tends to be cold towards people, but despite her outward appearance, she is truly a gentle person. Sweets and candy are said to be a secret indulgence of hers. She is often accompanied by her familiar, a ferret-like creature called Zhirra.
Maebelle
- Class: ArcherRanger (character class)A Ranger is a type of warrior appearing in fantasy fiction and role-playing games....
- Allegiance: Elves / Independent
An elf maiden searching for the Holy Sword in the hopes of saving her dying race. Calm but merciless in battle. Superb archery skills. According to Maebelle, she is what the elves refer to as the "Last Child", meaning she was the last newborn elf since the incident with her people unable to bear children. Maebelle is quite mature and has a motherly complex toward Cyrille at times. Her unique trait is that she seems to eat more than anyone else in the party (much to Duga's surprise) and frequently snacks when she gets a chance.
Gadfort
- Class: KnightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
- Allegiance: Noswald Empire / Independent
Former Noswald knight. Parted ways with the Emperor due to differing ideals. Met Toma and the others on his quest for the Holy Sword. Uses a lance as a weapon. Gadfort has a habit of lecturing Toma on his sword style, calling it unpredictable and without form, but in actuality he is simply being a teacher to him. Gadfort idolizes the legendary hero Avalon, and has just about every book written on him in his personal collection. He also follows a lot of Avalon's examples, such as keeping the weapons and armor in his room spotless.
Amitaliri
- Class: MageWizard (character class)The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...
- Allegiance: Fyrlandt / Independent
A girl from an elite Magnus family from which many La Vaes were born. Reckless and truant. Neglects her training but is skilled at magic. Toma nicknames her Ami Girl, which she hates, and is generally called Ami by everyone else. She has a school girl crush on Duga, who can't stand her approaches, but she eventually gives up on trying to get his interest. Her self-centered attitude causes a lot of grief for Faulklin, who unfortunately has to do everything for her, from cleaning their room to doing her school assignments (along with his own).
Faulklin
- Class: Priest
- Allegiance: Fyrlandt / Independent
A peace-loving Quintol boy. He learned the art of healing and light magic to assist his good friend, Amitaliri. He is generally shy and very quiet, except when it comes to dealing with Ami. He may have some feelings for her, but can't seem to tell her outright. Faulklin is easily taken advantage of and is stuck doing a lot of the work for the two of them. His healing talents and holy attack spells are quite noteworthy on missions.
Duga
- Class: WerewolfWerewolfA werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
- Allegiance: Noswald Empire / Independent
A former Noswald Army officer. Gadfort's best friend and a friendly rival, claiming to be stronger than him. Duga is a talented fighter among Wolflings, and is always keeping himself trained and rested for battle. He seems to have a thing for Maebelle and openly asks her out on dates in the Geo-Fortress. He actually has a habit of telling dirty jokes and is quite the womanizer. Much like Volg from Shining Tears
Shining Tears
is an action role-playing game co-developed by Nextech and Amusement Vision and published by Sega in 2004 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console as a part of the Shining Force video game series. It tells the story of a mysterious boy named Xion. An anime adaptation for the game was announced...
, he is strong and fast, but lacks the defense necessary to withstand much damage at any one time.
Adam
- Class: Robo-Soldier
- Allegiance: Shining Force
A robot soldier from an ancient mobile fortress. It is highly intelligent but lacks emotions and empathy. Adam can be referred to as a "he" since his voice actor and name are male. He originally served alongside the previous Heritor in an ancient war. His systems shut down after fighting too many enemies and straining his power reserves. His memory banks can immediately recall records and analysis from the war. According to him, the description of his capabilities was taken out of a sales manual.
Ragnadaam III
- Class: Heavy Swordsman
- Allegiance: Noswald Empire
The current Emperor of the human Noswald Empire. He is known to his people as "The Lion". At first, he tries to talk to Toma and finds him too immature to deal with. Soon after he sets his sights on Cyrille, and holds informed conversations with her. Because Cyrille is quite familiar with world history, Ragna tries to convince her to choose sides.
Riemsianne
- Class: Unknown
- Allegiance: Fyrlandt
The current La Vaes, also known as the Queen of Fyrlandt, the southern territory belonging to the magnus. She is quite manipulative and tries to lure Toma to her side with her feminine wiles many times throughout the story. However, despite her calm appearance, she is quite deadly in battle and wields devastating magic spells. Reimsianne is a responsible leader to her people and strictly follows an age-old taboo of not trying to incite a war with the humans.
Garyu
- Class: DragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
- Allegiance: Independent
A mysterious dragon whose name is known only from a signboard. He is clearly very intelligent and can understand human speech. Garyu interacts little with the party, and is only affectionate toward Toma and Cyrille. He is immensely strong and able to take on and defeat great numbers of enemies all on his own.
He is gained after defeating him in his cave.
Avalon
- Class: UndeadUndeadUndead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
KnightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior.... - Allegiance: Independent
An undead man with the same name as a legendary knight. Gadfort is convinced of his identity because of his skills and weapon. Avalon is quite open with regards to his past, having fought with a powerful dark mage when he was a reckless overconfident knight, and lost his life for it and was cursed. Toma and Cyrille were shocked with his need to drink human blood to sustain himself. However, Avalon is greatly opposed to the thought of actually murdering another human. He occasionally cracks a joke about drinking the blood of beautiful young girls.
He is gained through collecting his bones scattered throughout the game.
Game mechanics and presentation
Shining Force EXA is the successor to Shining Force NEOShining Force Neo
is an action role-playing game co-developed by Neverland and Amusement Vision and published by Sega in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 as a part of the Shining Force series....
and inherited that game's battle and action RPG mechanics.
One new feature of EXA is the customizable robot castle Geo-Fortress. While adventuring, the party members left behind use the Geo-Fortress as a headquarters. They also protect and defend the castle in the event of an attack. In the beginning, the fortress is very basic and vulnerable. By collecting "Rare Material" from the given quests, the player is able to transform the fortress into two other forms. Once the fortress reaches the third form, it is capable of travel. The player is able to add more rooms for vendors and shops. In addition to a traveling store, the player is also able to train party members. The growth, layout, and defense of the fortress is managed completely by the player, thus allowing the Geo-Fortress to evolve to fit the style and tactics of the player.
The player upgrades characters through experience points and an assortment of items and weapons. In addition, using specific battle tactics of the party will grant it more power and range. As well as advancing the main character, the player progresses to master a variety of Power Arts to unleash special and magic attacks.
Reception
The game got modestly positive reviews from critics.IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game a 7 out of 10, giving praise to the length and overall design of the game, but criticising the lag often experienced by having so many enemies on the screen at once, and warning "The voice acting, however, is HORRIBLE. Just about ever single spoken line will make you wince."
Similarly, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
gave EXA three out of five stars, calling the Geo-Fortress system "innovative".
Japanese version
- Romi Park: Toma
- Houko KuwashimaHouko Kuwashimais a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is capable of playing a variety of roles, ranging from young boys to feminine women. Kuwashima is currently affiliated with Aoni Production. Her given name, , is sometimes misread as Noriko, even in Japan...
: Cyrille - Ryou Horikawa: Ragnadaam III
- Megumi ToyoguchiMegumi Toyoguchiis a voice actress, born on January 2, 1978 in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. She is employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce.-Trivia:* Toyoguchi is the only seiyū to have the distinction of appearing in every anime in the Saturday 6 p.m...
: Riemsianne - Kazuhiko InoueKazuhiko Inoueis a veteran voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.-Biography:Since his debut in 1973, Kazuhiko Inoue has become one of Japan's most well established voice actors. His early roles from the 1970s include Anthony in Candy Candy, and later as Joe in the 1979 remake of Cyborg 009...
: Gadfort - Aya HisakawaAya Hisakawais a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer born in Kaizuka, Osaka. In addition to releasing various solo CDs, she is well known for her anime voice roles, and has also done some work in video games. She is best known for her role of Sailor Mercury of the Sailor Moon fame and also Cerberus from...
: Maebelle - Nana MizukiNana Mizukiis a popular Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress. She was born and raised in Niihama, Ehime, Japan, Mizuki was trained as an enka singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1998; however, she released her debut single "Omoi", under the King Records label on December 6, 2000...
: Amitaliri - Yukari TamuraYukari Tamura, is a popular Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress, affiliated with the talent agency I'm Enterprise. Affectionately called Yukarin by her fans, she is also known for her high-pitched voice and interest in Lolita fashion...
: Faulklin - Toshio FurukawaToshio Furukawais a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production and is married to fellow voice actress Shino Kakinuma. His height is 164cm. Hobbies are Fishing, diorama, reading and movies.In July 2011, Furukawa appeared at Anime Expo as a guest.-Career/Personal:...
: Adam - Kazuya NakaiKazuya Nakaiis a Japanese voice actor who was born in Hyōgo-ku, Kobe. He is currently attached to Aoni Production.-Overview:Kazuya Nakai debuted in After War Gundam X as Witz Sou....
: Duga
English version
- Nick Tagas: Toma
- Erin M. Cahill: Cyrille
- Roger L. JacksonRoger L. JacksonRoger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the killer Ghostface in the Scream films, leaving him to keep an unknown identity to withhold the mystery of Ghostface...
: Ragnadaam III, Garyu, Bornay, Gantetsu - Amy Provenzano: Riemsianne La Vaes, Gilnay
- Michael C. Fox: Gadfort
- Melissa Hutchison: Maebelle, Amitaliri
- Kai Steel Smith: Faulklin
- Jeff Kramer: Duga, Zenus
- Brandy Collazo: Catheana
- Deborah Eliezer: Lurnaezel
- Gary Martinez: Avalon, Adam, Narrator, Yoseph
- Evelyn Huynh: Hikanay
- Abigayle Ashby: Zhirra