Shining in the Darkness Review by: janus - 8.2/10
Shining in the Darkness: the (Very) Long Dungeon WalkIn this epic RPG, you play the son of Mortred, the best knight in the kingdom of Thornwood. You have volunteered to find Princess Jessa, who has been missing along with your father, who was taking care of her. Being deemed as the best knight, second only to your father, you agree to search for the princess. After a quick tour of the village in order to arm yourself better (with 200 gold), you go back to the castle where a monster called Dark Sol appears. He claims to have come to take over the kingdom. In exchange for the throne, he will give Princess Jessa back. After that scene, King Drake gives you permission to enter the Labyrinth of the Ancients, where 99% of your adventure will take place. At first, you must look for any sign of Princess Jessa. When you find the said sign, return to the king, who will order you to find team mates (Milo and Pyra) in order to pass the Trial of the Ancients, where you will prove your strength, courage, truth and wisdom. Once it's done - if ever you pass the trials, which no knight has ever been able to - then you can access the upper levels of the labyrinth, where Princess Jessa is likely to be.
Graphics : 8/10
For a 1991 game, the graphics are pretty decent. There are numerous enemies and their drawing is pretty good. However, most of them are just pallet swaps, and do nothing more than moving left to right to attack. Also, although you move in a 3D labyrinth as in Phantasy Star I, the environment isn't very detailed. The walls are monochromatic (except for level 5, which has a king of hieroglyphic drawing) with nothing more than torch lights to serve as guides. Nevertheless, when you reach very high levels (50+), you can buy special objects that are used in battle and which add nice graphic element
Sound : 8/10
The music is interesting, albeit not very varied. The regular dungeon music (level 1 and below) sound military and epic; the village music sounds joyous and entertaining, and the upper level music sounds very intriguing. Interesting note : a monster's of NPC's voice tone is proportional to its size. For example: Dark Sol is very evil and has a very deep voice, whereas the alchemist, a woman, has a higher pitch voice. The same thing goes for monsters; the slimes have almost a cute shout.
Addictiveness: 9/10
Considering the length of the game, if you like dungeon crawlers, then you will play for hours and hours. The labyrinth has so much to offer and so many surprises that you will want to get to the end of it.
Story: 9/10
Although there is no character development whatsoever (except for Milo and Pyra's parents, which appear at one point in the game), the story goes in very deep, especially with the trials. And I'm not even talking about the upper levels; they are even bigger than the Trials
Depth: 9/10
Depth simply follows the two previous points. Trying to look for clues of Princess Jessa at first can take quite a long time. And once you find that clue, getting passed the Trials take a very, very long time.
Difficulty: 9/10
This could be the factor that discourages many gamers. At first, you are on your own in the labyrinth. Hitting groups of three monsters can prove to be tough. And even once Milo and Pyra joins you, the game doesn't get any easier. Monsters are very quick and vicious, and there are even trappped chests. Nevertheless, if you level up properly, the game should be a breeze.
In conclusion, I recommend this game. Despite its difficulty level, it has a logical story, decent graphic and music and plenty to discover.
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