Shining the Holy Ark Hard Mode Sega Xtreme 29th Saturn Homebrew Competition Part 1
11This is a Hardmode Hack for Shining the Holy Ark, RikaPSO's entry to this years Sega Xtreme Saturn Homebrew competition.
Recorded from real hardware. Burned to a CD-R and run by using a Pseudo Saturn Cart. Output via an RGB SCART cable, line doubled in an OSSC and recorded with a USB capture device.
This hack is a welcome one for me. I love Shining the Holy Ark, I have played through my PAL copy many times. It really is a timeless RPG. It blew my mind with its massive high res sprite and immersive 1st person gameplay when I first got it. It has also stood the test of time. It has a large world free for you to explore, plenty of secrets, towns, NPCs and it sets in motion an extended story within the shining universe about the Vandals and their attempts to restore the thousand year kingdom that only reaches its conclusion in Shining Force 3 Scenario 3.
Obviously, being an RPG, this is too long for me to have seen all the changes, but it also includes some unused items restored to the game, changes some treasure and shops, fixes bugs and unlocks as well as adds map shortcuts.
In terms of the difficulty, the extra challenge is welcome, but only recommended for experienced players. The base game's difficulty should be fine for new players. The changes and extra challenge serve as a nice incentive for me to replay this masterpiece, something I've been meaning to do for a while.
Not sure about the changes to items or shops as I haven't seen them yet, so cant assess, but switching it up a bit should make things interesting.
In terms of the extra/unlocked shortcuts, I haven't seen them myself in the game yet, but from reading the SFCentral notes, I would personally have left them as they were. I quite liked that you actually had to travel through the forest to get between Enrich and Desire, it created a sense of a journey, and it fit with the story of the game as they said the road was closed due to fugitives being on the run. Obviously, with the protagonists traveling with a Rodi, it should be closed. However, if the difficulty has been increased, some quality of life adjustments may be suitable, I will have to wait and see.
A very welcome hack, Thank you Rika PSO and Shining Force Central.
Check out Shining Force Central - https://www.shiningforcecentral.com/
They are the ones to thank for the translations of the Shining Force 3 games, and I remember back before they released the translation hack I used the online story translation to complete Scenario 2 and 3, so I owe them for making this triumph of an epic Story that starts with STHA accessible for me. Its a great little community and deserves your support.
Download it here
https://segaxtreme.net/threads/sega-saturn-29th-anniversary-game-competition.25411/
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