> Like Shining Force, you can explore towns in between battles where you can buy/sell weapons/healing items and converse with the inhabitants (usually about the various evils plaguing the land). The character classes, with a few exceptions, are no different from those we've come to know and love from Shining Force, such as the native centaur knights and birdmen. Of course, the game wouldn't be a sequel without a few new character classes. The game introduces a few new unique classes such as Peter the Phoenix, a huge fiery golden bird who like the self-same bird of legend is reborn if killed, and best of all, pegasus knights. Obviously, characters with weaker defenses are more vulnerable to attack by the enemy, and need to be protected by ones made of sterner stuff. Guarding characters not meant for the frontlines whom can attack from a long range (archers and mages fall into this category) rewards you with the continued advantage of long range attacks. Shining Force 2 isn't called a Strategy/RPG for nothing. More and more individual characters, varying in class, join your force along your path to the end, so you can choose a team that best suits you. Vanquishing enemies will grant the victor gold to pay for expenses as well as experience points that in turn eventually boost levels, hit points (which determine how much punishment a character can receive before surrendering to death) and other and statistics, causing your characters to become more powerful each and every time.

     > Shining Force 2 sets a stage not completely unrelated to the original game: a thief named Slade has stolen two ancient jewels, the jewel of light and jewel of darkness, from their singular tomb and thus set loose an unimaginable evil. An ancient tower protected by the city of Granseal has opened up its centuries old locked doors, and nothing can stop this evil from spreading. You take control of Bowie, a young swordsman, and his friends Chester the knight and Sarah the priest, all inexperienced students of Sir Astral, the most powerful wizard in Granseal. Nonetheless, you are soon swept away by unfolding events when it is discovered that the king is possessed by an evil spirit. Chaos ensues; you are forced to deal with the calamitous consequences of a mere thief's reckless actions. Not long after, you learn that your home Granseal was formerly known as Ground Seal...

     > There's some debate among Shining community as to which game is better: Shining Force or Shining Force 2. I honestly cannot understand why many fans prefer the old chapter system; SF2 gives players more freedom. The characters gain more HP every level they gain than they do in SF1, which means they can become truly powerful. They are promoted at level 20 instead of level 10, conveying the fact that SF2 is a longer gaming experience. Still, both games have their own charms.

     > The game is played from a top down view. Your characters are seemingly out of proportion when wandering outdoor maps (i.e. they are huge), for effect (this is a Shining tradition in fact). If Bowie seems the same size as a small town, don't be surprised.

     > Whenever a character attacks an enemy on the battlefield or vice versa, the screen switches to a quasi-third person perspective, just like the original game. The animations don't capture every nuance of movement; however, they seem fluid when they are in action.

     > The spell animations have been updated and there are new spells to unleash upon your enemies. Sorcerers can summon Greek gods to dispatch their enemies (e.g. Zeus the sun god floats down and attacks a hapless enemy with a rapid array of flaming open palm punches). Many Shining fans preferred the original spell animations because they felt they were more dramatic.

     > Battles are turn based: you move your warriors across squares and attack enemies when at the appropriate distance (e.g. one square away for melee attacks). Statistics, bolstered by weapons and items, decide who fights in what order, how much damage your warriors inflict and take. You exhaust your turn once an order has been given to a combatant, and then if you have no more units to move, the enemy moves a hostile unit and so on. You can control up to twelve characters at once who if killed can be resurrected in churches. However, if your leader is killed (whose default name is Bowie, but can be changed to whatever you want) it's game over (you're not killed permanently, but you do lose money). If you quit the game in the middle of a battle, the game saves your progress for you, so you can continue from where you left off later. Bowie can also cast a spell called Egress which transports your party back to the nearest town if the outcome of a battle looks grim. You know the old saying: he who runs away lives to fight another day.

     > During battles you move your warriors around within the limits of their movement range (warriors with a poor movement rate will only be able to move a few squares each turn). Terrain affects movement as well: deserts or forests will often slow party members down, except flying warriors of course. You can attack close up or at range depending on your weaponry (knights for example can equip lances or spears). Mages can learn spells that can attack many enemies at once etc.

     > The actual sound effects are softer than their Shining Force counterparts. The weapon impact sounds aren't as loud when they perhaps should've been.

     > Certain items found (sometimes hidden from plain sight) within the game world allow you to promote certain characters to classes other than what they would normally become in the absence of these items. For example, a knight can be promoted to a pegasus knight instead of a paladin (a more heavily amored knight) when a pegasus wing is thrown into the mix. The result is a centaur knight who can now fly. A mage can be promoted to a sorcerer who can summon Greek gods rather than a normal wizard who bends the usual rains of fire and storms of ice mage spells to their will, if you so desire. The ability to choose what you want your favorite characters to become -- the ability to select their class -- adds a whole new slant to what is already a great Strategy/RPG.

     > Scattered throughout the game are pieces of mithril, an indestructible material that can later be forged into powerful weapons. These weapons also add customization to the game because so many unique weapons can be made. My favorite paladin weapon is the Holy Lance; it's very powerful and boosts the wielder's defense. Even more powerful yet cursed weapons exist as well, but are you prepared to pay the price for their unmatched power? Such a weapon can turn a mediocre character into a force to be reckoned with. While fighting, characters sometimes attack twice, counter attack when attacked, or do critical damage. Some weapons will augment the chances of those occurring.