Shining Forces
Strategy-RPGS have been seeing a bit of a renaissance in recent years. Valkyria Chronicles 4, Wargroove, Into the Breach, Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark and Fire Emblem: Three Houses are just a small handful of examples of excellent SRPGs that have released over the last couple of years.
Before Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Orge sent the genre into the mainstream, Shining Force (along with Fire Emblem) was laying down the foundation for future games to emulate.
However, Fire Emblem has continued to be nurtured by Nintendo over the years and they are now reaping what they sow. Fire Emblem has grown from a niche IP in Nintendo’s tool belt to arguably one of their most popular, not just in Japan, but worldwide.
Sega, with some effort, could do the same, but it starts with getting back to their roots and putting out a fabulous strategic, turn-based tactical RPG and we’d love to see it happen.
For some reason, Sega seems to underestimate the popularity of their IP, especially in the U.S. There’s a built-in base, and with the right development team on it, like we’ve seen with Sonic Mania and Streets of Rage 4, a lot of these older IPs can be quite successful both critically and commercially.
