You can control your main character and press the X button to unleash strings of attacks. When running through the many caves, forests, and fields in the game you'll encounter mobs of enemies. The remaining characters stay back at the fortress while you go about your adventures. You can control either Toma or Cyrille, and can have up to two other characters in your party. Geo-fortress battles like this one can be ridiculously difficult if you aren't well prepared.ДЄt this point you have to split into two parties. Many of the systems need to be restarted, but in order to do that you have to collect special rare metals. Unfortunately since the fortress has been buried underground for so long, it's not exactly in working order. A strange dog creature named Zenus informs you that he is the caretaker of the fortress, and that as the heritor of the Shining Force, the fortress is now yours to do with what you please. When the sword is drawn a huge geo-fortress suddenly comes to life and rises out of the ground. We won't spoil the scene for you, even though it's immediately obvious which of the heroes will be the one to succeed in drawing the sword. It seems that the young mage knows something that the others donвЂ™t. Three of the heroes have a go at pulling the sword out of the stone, while Cyrille looks on with apprehension. After a short trip up a mountain you come across a cave, and in that cave is (surprise) the fabled sword. Amitaliri is a feisty girl who uses attack magic and bosses around her friend Faulklin, a boy who specializes in healing magic.Д®ventually you and your group of adventurers set out from town to search the surrounding area for the Shining Force. Later in our time with the game two young magic users joined our party. There were no birdmen or beast men as in previous Shining Force games, but we did only see a small handful of characters. We didn't see any familiar characters in the first few chapters of the game. It's a setup that you've seen a dozen times before, but the dialogue is entertaining and the characters seem likeable enough to at least partially excuse the seemingly generic plot. According to the legend, whoever is able to draw the sword from its resting place will become king of the world. After some brief introductions you learn that the four characters have banded together to search for a legendary sword known as the Shining Force. After heading back to a small village for dinner you are joined by another adventurer, a young magic-using girl named Cyrille and her little dragon-like pet named Zhirra. There's a noble centaur knight named Gadfort, and a gluttonous elf ranger named Maebelle. After a quick introduction to the combat you kill the boar and are joined by two other characters who are looking to get a share of the meat. Shining Force Exa opens with the hero of the story, a young boy named Toma, hunting a large boar. The bright, colorful visual style is easy on the eyes and it fits the lighthearted fantasy theme well. We played through the first four chapters, and based on our time with the game it looks like Exa is shaping up to be a charming, challenging adventure that fans of Neo should definitely keep an eye on. But before you get all up in arms about how Sega is ruining a classic franchise, you should finish reading this preview. The next game in the series, Shining Force Exa, is an action role-playing game just like 2005's Shining Force Neo. Shining Force fans waiting for a return to the series' strategy role-playing roots will just have to keep waiting.

Shining force exa level screenshots