July 2017 Playthrough - Shining Force II

[singlebanana]

First checkpoint is up for the start of July's playthrough tomorrow.

One thing I should mention is that there are times when you need to do a little grinding in this game. Unfortunately, the game is pretty linear in terms of battles and there are very few wandering monsters to level up on.  You can run into groups every once in a while, but spending your time running around and finding them could be taxing...  What you can do to level your characters is use your main character (Bowie's) spell Egress before finishing a battle.  This allows you to return to the last town you saved in, repopulates the enemies (if you have not killed them all), and allows you to take away any experience or rewards you gained in the previous battle.  There are some good places in the game to grind this way, so I think it's best to do this, especially before some of the larger boss battles.

Good luck to all!

[shaggy]

So I started this early because I will be on vacation the first 2 weeks of July.  A few observations, I found that moving is "too fast" for in the town.  I constantly have problems talking to the townsfolk because I shoot past them and than when I turn around, I shoot past them again.  So aggravating.  Also, is there a way in game to see what the items do?  I have several items and I can't figure out what they do from within the game.  Thanks.

Hmm.. I'm not having the movement problem.  Are you playing on the Genesis or the Sonic Collection?

To determine what items do, I would just Google them or ask about it here.  Unfortunately, the manual only has a limited amount of information, which is kind of cool, since they wanted players to figure it out. There are some rather quirky items that you pick up through out the game. Some are permanent stat boosters, which I've heard should not be used until after promotion. And there are even some items that help you get better weapons toward the end of the game. Be sure not to discard anything before looking it up. 

I'm playing on the Sonic collection on the Xbox 360 and a word to the wise, if someone else is playing the other save slot, don't have them use the emulation save.  It reset my game back to the beginning once it is loaded.  Total suckage.   As for what the items do, that sucks.  I was hoping to not have to sit next to a computer to play.

[douglie007]

How many are going to try and grind up to a higher level before getting promoted? I'm going to try this, I never have tried it yet.

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[Duke.Togo]

How many are going to try and grind up to a higher level before getting promoted? I'm going to try this, I never have tried it yet.

I did this with some of my characters. I took two of them to 40 before promotion. It took too long so I gave up on the others.

[Addicted]

I've been trying to set aside some time for this game but there has been so much to do lately that it has been hard. With that said I'm almost to the first checkpoint.

[singlebanana]

I've been trying to set aside some time for this game but there has been so much to do lately that it has been hard. With that said I'm almost to the first checkpoint.

Well, even so, you're still ahead.

[Addicted]

I'm through the first checkpoint. I'm working towards the second.

[Disposed Hero]

I started the game and have been playing it some over the last few days.  I just reached Polca, so I think I'm getting close to the first checkpoint.  I've been playing pretty recklessly, which means that sometimes my main character ends up biting the dust and I have to replay the battle, but instead of rage quitting I just say that I'm 'grinding.'  Thanks to the 'grinding' though, my team is pretty powerful, and I don't have much trouble mowing down enemies now even if I'm playing recklessly.

This game is such a blast from the past for me.  I never owned it, but I rented it several times from the local Blockbuster when I was a kid.  It's funny how I still remember some of the events of this game so clearly.  I think fleeing Grans Island and helping build New Granseal is one of my most memorable moments from any game.

[singlebanana]

I started the game and have been playing it some over the last few days.  I just reached Polca, so I think I'm getting close to the first checkpoint.  I've been playing pretty recklessly, which means that sometimes my main character ends up biting the dust and I have to replay the battle, but instead of rage quitting I just say that I'm 'grinding.'  Thanks to the 'grinding' though, my team is pretty powerful, and I don't have much trouble mowing down enemies now even if I'm playing recklessly.

Shawn and I were discussing the game the other day and one of the things he mentioned really liking about the game is that even if you die, you still retain all of the experience you earned from the battle.  Definitely a game where it doesn't hurt to fail.

[MaterialHandlerMike]

So its been a rocky start, but I am in there! After some unsuccessful starts on the Retron 5 (game would reboot every time it tried to load up the battle screen), I switched to OG hardware, which looks awful on my smart tv. Esthetics aside, I have also had to remind myself, that this is not Fire Emblem.

I found myself restarting the first few battles when my characters were dying. Then I realized this isnt Fire Emblem, and a priest can revive my dead team mates.

I am glad to be playing this game, although I really should have started last month, cause with my work schedule in July, I will be struggling to keep up.

[douglie007]

I'm loving this, I have my handhelds at the ready and 2 systems with a new pair if the hdretrovision cables god it looks good even with out the framemiester.  

I pasted the first checkpoint, and trying to get to the hidden village to grind.

Spoiler (hover to show)

 there is a hidden village of the elves and it has a battle ground that you can battle over and over to get some more xp.

I am going to try and get Pete and my hero up to 40 before promoting, more if I have time.

This has to be the 4th or 5th time I have played through this game, and it never gets old.  I'll be in trouble if Sega releases it on the phone.

[img width=700 height=525]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170706/8e858a21e000bdbe99fe68b4a3e1a107.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=525]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170706/e8f2b1d8729a9571677d1cb2e4bb9c40.jpg[/img]

[Addicted]

I've made it a little further.

Spoiler (hover to show)

 I've grabbed a certain sword and I'm on my way to battle a certain someone. The kraken fight was tough.

[singlebanana]

I lost that battle a few times Addicted.  Had to do some grinding and position my troops at just the right spots. It was quite fun.

[singlebanana]

Also, errybody playin' getting Karma this month.........even Duke. 

[Addicted]

@singlebanana:

Spoiler (hover to show)

 The battle would be easy if you could sit back and let your ranged attackers take care of everything. The head and hands attacking two squares across causes issues.