As
the first game in the Shining Series, you are the son of a brave knight.
You're asked by the king to find the princess, who is hidden somewhere
in the Labyrinth by the evil Dark Sol. Fortunately, you're not alone for
long, as your friends Milo and Pyra join pretty soon. You'll have to complete
four tests before you'll even get close to Dark Sol. After every slaughtering
in the Labyrinth, you can rest in a cosy village, where you can find everything
you'll need (except for cheats, that is!). There's an inn, some shops and,
very important, a church. You cannot cast any spells, but your friends
can, as Pyra displays just after she joins you. Their spells are powerful,
but their amount of magic points is limited, so don't waste them! The names
of the spells are
quite
representative, in opposition to Phantasy Star, so you don't need a good
memory to understand the spells. The game looks surprisingly well for its
age, and the sound is okay. Shining in the Darkness has two major flaws,
however. The first is the lack of variation. I just don't like dungeon-crawling
the entire day, and the dungeons remain quite the same. The second is,
quite simply, the lack of characters. Shining in the Darkness just doesn't
have this Shining Magic because you only get two co's. Still, it might
be fun to play sometimes.
Graphics:
6 of 10 Sound:
6 of 10
Story:
5 of 10 Interactivity:
7 of 10
Hooking
Factor: 7 of 10
