> Anyone familiar with the Shining Force games will know what to expect from the gameplay: turn-based battles fought across grids with an array of personable characters who must unite against a common foe, only now in truly 3D environments. Individual characters gain experience through combat and thereby gain levels that raise their statistics. As you travel, more characters will join your force until you amass a balanced team of the different classes typical to these games. The tactical gameplay is easy to learn, yet difficult to master, and is fun in and of itself. However, the gameplay is nothing without the story -- if you don't understand Japanese, the story behind the battles will be lost on you. Without an underlying story pushing you forwards, what motivates you to fight? The chances of Sega translating the complete Shining Force III now so many years after its initial release are still slim to none even as Sega is beginning to resurrect the series, so fans are left with no choice except to buy an import copy. The story of the Shining Force III trilogy itself is inextricably tied to Shining The Holy Ark, but because Sega didn't translate Shining Force III Scenarios 2 and 3, you can't bring the story of the game to a conclusion. You can't finish the story Shining The Holy Ark started unless you can overcome the huge language barrier. The combat is menu-driven and easy to understand, but if it wasn't for the fact English scripts are now available online, I wouldn't recommend buying this game in particular at the ludicrously high prices it is being sold for these days. I suspect die hard Shining fans will buy this game regardless of the cost, but playing a game without understanding a single word of it is more frustrating than not playing it at all IMHO. If only Sega had translated the complete Shining Force III and the sequel to Riglord Saga, then Strategy/RPG fans would've felt right at home with the Saturn. I personally recommend that Saturn RPG fans buy Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Saturn instead of, or before, Shining Force III Scenarios 2 and 3, because however expensive they may prove to be, at least copies are available in English.

     > It's worth noting the relative lack of characters to join your Force in this game and the following scenario, when compared to Shining Force 1 or Shining Force 2. This disappointed me because I loved customizing my team in the first two Genesis Shining Force games from the huge selection of characters available in each game. Each scenario of Shining Force III compensates for this by allowing individual characters to wield and master more than one particular weapon. By mastering a type of weapon, the wielder learns how to focus its wrath on an enemy whereby more powerful and spectacular critical strikes are unleashed the more often they use that type of weapon. The friendship system is another innovative idea woven into the fabric of the Shining Force series. If one character aids another by attacking the same foe, or by healing the other character, then they climb a friendship ladder, which showers an adjacent ally with extra bonuses, including attack/damage bonuses and an improved chance range to carry out critical strikes.

     > Shining Force III may be more story-driven than its predecessors with an abundance of dialogue, but the only voice acting to speak of belongs to attacking ally and enemy characters. How would I describe the Japanese voice acting in Shining Force III Scenario 2? Convincing is the right word. Even though they are Japanese, the voices sound as if they're acting their parts with real emotion unlike the atrocious voice acting in the translated version of Shining Force III Scenario 1. Sega should've spent its money translating all three scenarios instead of wasting it on unconvincing voice actors. The sound effects are clear and robust, which is what we've come to expect from games of this quality.

     > Each type of enemy (whether they are Imperials or Republicans or something far more sinister) have their own attack music helping to distinguish them from one another. In fact, whenever Medion's force members attack you'll hear a music track that you'll recognize from the first scenario as the track used for the Imperials. When a character is promoted to their second class their attack music changes along with them to reflect their ascension.

     > I found the return of the chapter system from the first Shining Force in Shining Force III inhibiting; it felt like an excuse to keep the game linear. Each chapter begins and ends after a few battles in new areas where the areas of any previous chapters remain in the wake of your passing. Shining Force 2 gave players the freedom to roam the game world, which meant they could revisit old locations to discover new things, but Shining Force III forces players in one direction from the moment you begin all the way to the end. However, the depth of the gameplay combined with the ability to change the outcome of key events in all three scenarios more than made up for this shortcoming. Fans should settle for nothing less than the complete Shining Force III (all three scenarios). The truth is Shining Force III Scenario 1 only scratched the surface of the complete story.