Shining in the Darkness
| Shining in the Darkness | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Climax Entertainment Sonic! Software Planning |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console |
| Release | Mega Drive Virtual Console |
| Genre(s) | Role-Playing Game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Shining in the Darkness (Shining and the Darkness in Japan) is a 1991 RPG for the Mega Drive/Genesis video game console. It was one of the first RPGs released for the system, and began the Shining RPG series that would span four Sega video game consoles as well as the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2.
Shining in the Darkness was a "dungeon-crawler" RPG. The game put the player in control of the main character as he and two friends (Pyra and Milo) explored 3-dimensionally rendered dungeon mazes in search of the "Arms of Light". The villain of the game, Dark Sol (called Mephisto in the Japanese version), is the son of the villain of the same name in the Shining Force game which appeared in 1992.
Shining in the Darkness is a fantasy video game, set in the kingdom of Thornwood. The king's daughter and the father of the main character have vanished, while the evil sorcerer Dark Sol has appeared to threaten the kingdom. The main character is charged to find the Arms of Light, rescue the princess and his father, and stop Dark Sol.
The game consists of story line interaction, dungeon exploration, random monster fights, and predetermined 'boss' fights. The combat in this game operates similarly to certain RPG games of the same era (e.g. Dragon Quest). Monster encounters happen randomly during dungeon exploration at which point turn-based combat proceeds.
The second game in the Shining series to come out, Shining Force: Legacy of Great Intention, diverged greatly in game-play mechanic; however, many stylistic parts are reminiscent of Shining in the Darkness, including music and art. The sequel, Shining: The Holy Ark, gave the Shining series a short return to the dungeon crawler game-play mechanic.
In the handheld entry to the Shining series, Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict, it is revealed that the main villain of this game, Dark Sol, is the son of one of the three Devil Kings, also named Darksol (note the alternative spelling) and his second-in-command, the sorceress Mishaela. The child was whisked away shortly after the final defeat of his diabolic father by Oddeye, chief Greater Devil of Zeon, another Devil King, to be raised as a human. In this game it is revealed that Dark Sol was taken in by a human mage named Xern, but what turned him to the Darkness is unknown. This seems to support the inclusion of this game in the Shining series, and places its entry in the timeline sometime following the events of Shining Force II.
On August 13, 2007, the game was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in North America and on September 7, 2007 the game was re-released in Europe.
The game appears in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.