Introduction
Click here for the full English cover, or here for the Japanese version.
Shining in the Darkness is a dungeon crawler RPG for the Sega Mega Drive, developed (or so I'm told) by Sonic Co. and Climax Co. It was first released in Japan (as "Shining and the Darkness") almost exactly 20 years ago, on 29 March 1991, and saw American and European releases later the same year.
These days, it's probably best known for the sequels it spawned, the Shining Force games. Shining in the Darkness differs greatly from the sequels, however, featuring a first person view and traditional turnbased combat rather than the tactical "chessboard" style of the sequels. It's a very simple game, but packed with nostalgia and a nice, cartoony art style that doesn't quite look like any other game.
According to the master list, there has only been one attempt at LPing this game, and that ended early due to a hard drive failure. The recent anniversary really put me in the mood to replay this old classic, so if you like, sit down and share some nostalgia with me.
Let's play: Shining in the Darkness.