RGT Nostalgia Society #4 - Shining in the Darkness

[diapered]

Argh! I was so close to getting done with wisdom on third trip last night, exit was just down the hall, but party was out of gas

Four trips for this one, time to get to it... Haven't forgotten an angel feather for this one :P

 

[throughdarkness]

Even after Pyra learn the Spell Egress around level 12 it's still a good idea to keep an angel wing handy just in case she gets KOd

This is hilarious, I had Egress the whole time. Spell descriptions would be too convenient *shrugs*

Post automatically merged: Sep 14, 2025

I am halfway through Cave of Wisdom now. I tried to tackle this one without a guide but no, I don't have the patience anymore. How the heck did everyone blast through this so quick lol

 

[Ryderdog1332]

This is hilarious, I had Egress the whole time. Spell descriptions would be too convenient *shrugs*

Post automatically merged: Sep 14, 2025

I am halfway through Cave of Wisdom now. I tried to tackle this one without a guide but no, I don't have the patience anymore. How the heck did everyone blast through this so quick lol

I admit, I used a map for that cave

 

[diapered]

I am halfway through Cave of Wisdom now. I tried to tackle this one without a guide but no, I don't have the patience anymore. How the heck did everyone blast through this so quick lol

Even with a map I would fall in holes >_< that cave is ridiculous. But I have poor sense of direction, and it doesn't help I've been playing this game after I have had drinks

Yay, have medallion now, so teleportation should save time ^_^

Initially, Level2 was kicking my ass, but Pyra being able to one shot some groups with hex whip has been helping a ton.

 

[DanCalibur]

The trials are the worst part, it's all smooth sailing from now on. Well, untill that floor full of enemies with desoul

 

[diapered]

The trials are the worst part, it's all smooth sailing from now on. Well, untill that floor full of enemies with desoul

I don't know if I have gotten to floor you are talking about, but desoul has kicked my ass. Luckily, it didn't hit Milo. I want to keep at least 1 miracle herb like I do smelling salts if milo gets hit, but can't afford it for this next trip

Spent all my gold on mythril armor >_< With the three ore so far (one deal from alkemist) I have made two shields and 1 armor for milo and pyra. That seemed like most optimal choice...

 

[diapered]

Paralyze hit entire party in one turn

 

[Kamako]

I had a party wipe less than 2 steps away from the fountain.

Silver linings though - Congratulations for making it to the final floor! The end is in sight!

 

[Ryderdog1332]

Paralyze hit entire party in one turn
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Yea. I learned it the hard way that getting the entire team paralyzed means death

 

[diapered]

I had a party wipe less than 2 steps away from the fountain.

Silver linings though - Congratulations for making it to the final floor! The end is in sight!

Yup, experienced that too. This game can get brutal. Just starting lvl 5 for real, that was from just getting the mythril ore on lvl 5, I JUST got the cell key.

Yea. I learned it the hard way that getting the entire team paralyzed means death

Was it a single turn paralysis wipe? I keep a few smelling salts to heal milo if paralysis should happen and otherwise heal it immediately. A single glare paralyzed everyone, so I couldn't do anything. Guess I just got really unlucky Or is this common?

 

[Ryderdog1332]

Yup, experienced that too. This game can get brutal. Just starting lvl 5 for real, that was from just getting the mythril ore on lvl 5, I JUST got the cell key.

Was it a single turn paralysis wipe? I keep a few smelling salts to heal milo if paralysis should happen and otherwise heal it immediately. A single glare paralyzed everyone, so I couldn't do anything. Guess I just got really unlucky Or is this common?

Yep. I had no idea paralysis could do that. I don't think it's that common though. Just keep Milo safe.

 

[DanCalibur]

Paralyze hit entire party in one turn
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You should get a lottery ticket or ask a girl out just to test your luck

 

[diapered]

Today I completed my set of light gear. Dark sol just might concede in shame when I flex how stylin I am in this complete set

And I got my princess tears (lol wut?)

Alright, I'm ready to kick some ass!

 

[Ryderdog1332]

Today I completed my set of light gear. Dark sol just might concede in shame when I flex how stylin I am in this complete set
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And I got my princess tears (lol wut?)
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Alright, I'm ready to kick some ass!

Good luck!

 

[diapered]

I beat it.

Pyra had to take a hit for the team

This wasn't as brutal as Vagrant Story, but damn did this game piss me off.

Fuck off old man. I hope I never see you again for the rest of my life

 

[Ryderdog1332]

Congrats on beating the game!

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

Phew. My illness has really kicked my ass. I'm so far behind I'm not sure if I'm gonna finish in time this month! But that doesn't mean I won't try.

Also glad to hear from you @dem6n I was worried when you didn't turn up last month. Glad your back and hope life treats you more kindly from now on.

Will check where I am in the game today and see how much catching up I can do.

 

[DanCalibur]

I beat it.
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Pyra had to take a hit for the team
View attachment 111982
This wasn't as brutal as Vagrant Story, but damn did this game piss me off.
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Fuck off old man. I hope I never see you again for the rest of my life

Now that you mentioned it, that that old man didn't return in any of the other games of the series. Congratulations man, you survived another month

 

[diapered]

Phew. My illness has really kicked my ass. I'm so far behind I'm not sure if I'm gonna finish in time this month! But that doesn't mean I won't try.

Also glad to hear from you @dem6n I was worried when you didn't turn up last month. Glad your back and hope life treats you more kindly from now on.

Will check where I am in the game today and see how much catching up I can do.

you're back. Saw your pfp today . I think ya still got time to finish. But if you are doing it "legit" paper/pencil mapping without guides and you are as terrible/slow as I am at this game, you may be in trouble

I used gamefaqs maps/guides, savestates and it still took me 33 hours (that's just raw playtime from retroarch, doesn't include some time reading guides, planning routes etc.). I wiped (I still think my one turn party glare paralysis wipe was bullshit!) and fucked up a few times (realized last night I forgot to put a medallion back, so had to track through entire labyrinth again ), but was still trying to be as efficient as possible. I can only imagine how long this damn game takes without a guide

Google AI says it takes 28-35 hours... With no guide? Maybe I was doing something wrong or just really suck How long did it take everyone else? I think this is easily 50+ hours without maps/guides...

 

[throughdarkness]

FINALLY. Man, I'm really glad to have played this but not as glad as I am to be done with it lol. Actually a fun game. I'm sure as a kid I would have been absolutely obsessed with drawing out my maps like a true dungeon delver. But yikes this game can be devious. Now I can not think about this and finally play Silksong and hate myself with a clear mind.

Also it's kinda funny, the first thing I thought of when playing this for the first time is how much the animated icons reminded me of Golden Sun. So much so that I looked it up and apparently this was the first game by the Camelot devs. Really cool.

 

[Kamako]

Congratulations @throughdarkness ! It's one heck of an undertaking. Destroying Dark Sol is no mean feat.
Good luck with Silksong

 

[DanCalibur]

FINALLY. Man, I'm really glad to have played this but not as glad as I am to be done with it lol. Actually a fun game. I'm sure as a kid I would have been absolutely obsessed with drawing out my maps like a true dungeon delver. But yikes this game can be devious. Now I can not think about this and finally play Silksong and hate myself with a clear mind.

Also it's kinda funny, the first thing I thought of when playing this for the first time is how much the animated icons reminded me of Golden Sun. So much so that I looked it up and apparently this was the first game by the Camelot devs. Really cool.


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Congratulations man, I think this is the less accessible game in the whole shining series, most of the others are strategy games like fire emblem.

 

[PhaseJump]

Congratulations man, I think this is the less accessible game in the whole shining series, most of the others are strategy games like fire emblem.

The Shining Force games were strategy.

Shining Wisdom was action rpg like a top down Zelda clone, Sega continued in a similar was with the Shining Soul games which has more typical dungeon crawling mechanics.

Shining the Holy Ark was the followup to this game and even has the same dungeon music as an easter egg in one of it's locations. It's one of the best RPGs of that generation, and some of it's ideas and mechanics were carried over in Golden Sun. Everyone who grew up playing PS1 JRPGs and never touched Sega Saturn owe it to yourselves to play Shining the Holy Ark. It's still a first person dungeon crawler JRPG, but it is still the best one of them, even accounting for the Etrian Odyssey franchise.

 

[DanCalibur]

Sometimes I forget there is more games after shining force 3. I'm playing all the series since the other two discs got translated. Shining the Holy Ark is the only one left

 

[throughdarkness]

I have always wanted to get more into the shining series because I liked the early Fire Emblem games so much, just never had a Sega. I did however play the Shining Souls series on GBA and dabbled with them on PS2 since I'm kind of a whore for arpg dungeon crawlers.