Shining Wisdom

Because of this, it is more typical of the Genesis library than the Saturn library in its basic approach, rendering characters and backgrounds exclusively in 2D (albeit at a higher resolution than would be possible on the Genesis) and utilizing mechanics which mostly follow the rules of a two-dimensional world. This approach was seen as dated by critics, and it was met with mixed reviews, with some seeing it as a decent holdover title due to its massive length. While the Shining series has flitted across numerous sub-genres, Shining Wisdom remains the only game in the series to abandon the multi-character RPG format entirely. Players instead can control just one character, whose abilities cannot be increased, and gameplay focuses on solving puzzles and navigating the large game world. Though it stands apart from the rest of the series in terms of gameplay, Shining Wisdom is strongly tied into the story continuity of the previous entries and is the last game in the series to follow the saga of the Devil Kings. In North America the game was localized and published by Working Designs.

• Title — Shining Wisdom • Developer — Sonic! Software Planning Camelot Software Planning • Director — Yasuhiro Taguchi • Producer — Hiroyuki Takahashi • Designer — Ayumu Shindo Shuji Shimizu Tatsuya Niikura • Programmer — Akiko Sato P. E. Jareth Hein Takeshi Nohara • Artist — Ayumu Shindo Fumihide Aoki Hiroto Nakashima • Writer — Hiroyuki Takahashi • Composer — Motoaki Takenouchi • Series — Shining • Platforms — Sega Saturn • Genre — Action-adventure • Modes — Single-player

• Illustration — Gameplay screenshot. Shining Wisdom differs from its predecessors in the Shining series in that it was the first to employ an action-adventure style of gameplay. Players control one character whose attacks rely on speed and skill, rather than controlling a group of characters who engage in turn-based combat sequences and increase their stats as the game progresses. The gameplay is similar to that of The Legend of Zelda series. Shining Wisdom has a unique system of attacks based on a combination of acquired items and "orbs." The graphics employ CGI-rendered sprites, and a top-down camera angle.

In the land of Odegan, orphaned squire Mars is employed at Odegan Castle on the strength of his father's great reputation. A series of lies and deceptions on his part unexpectedly places him as the foremost obstacle to the schemes of the dark elf wizard, Pazort. Pazort and his followers intend to destroy the world by summoning the Giant, Seeega (referred to as "the Dark Titan" in the North American translation), and to do so they first must use Princess Satera to get at an orb held by King Odegan. It is up to Mars to redeem his lies and failures by thwarting the mighty wizard's plans. Shining Wisdom takes place on the continent of Parmecia just a few years after Shining Force II, and some of its plot points follow from that game. Sarah and Kazin, who were playable characters in Shining Force II, are roaming the continent in a hunt for Zeon's remaining henchmen. Pazort, the main villain of Shining Wisdom, is a former follower of Zeon, and Sarah and Kazin aid in the fight against him. There are also several references to the hero of Shining Force II, Bowie, though he does not actually appear anywhere in the game. A book refers to the setting of Shining in the Darkness, Stormsong (referred to in English versions as "Thornwood"). Due to the various name changes and omissions of the North American translation, none of the above connections to the Shining series are apparent in the USA version of the game and they can only be seen in the Japanese and European versions.

Shining Wisdom was originally designed for the Mega Drive, and adapted for the Sega Saturn at the last minute, presumably in order to bolster the new system's library of games. All the characters in the game were modeled using Softimage 3D. It was the last of Sega's Shining series of video games to be scored by Motoaki Takenouchi, the series's longest-running composer. Working Designs' North American version of the game took numerous creative liberties with the story. Kazin, Sarah, Bowie, and Zeon are respectively referred to as "Parn", "Salah", "Puck", and "Zhaion", while the land of Parmecia is referred to as "Palacia". Sega Japan owned the copyrights to the original names and would not release them.Copyrighted Character Names? Working Designs also made considerable changes to the characters' personalities and how they relate to each other. For example, the original script made explicit that Sarah does not return the romantic feelings of her companion, Kazin; Working Designs not only deleted these parts of the script, but added in numerous comments from Sarah and other NPCs indicating that she and Kazin are romantically involved. The European release of Shining Wisdom was translated by Sega Europe. This translation contains some grammatical errors and typos, but none of the contemporary pop-culture jokes and altered characterizations of the Working Designs translation. It also keeps intact the storyline connections between Shining Wisdom and the other games of the Shining series.