Backlog #4 - Shining in the Darkness

     I actually had this game the year it came out, and had completed it back then.  A few years ago, in 2011, I had required another heart surgery, and was pretty scared at the time.  I picked a few games to go back to and finish again before I went under the knife, Wasteland, and this one.
     While I managed to finish Wasteland again, this one I did not.  I am picking up where I left off from that saved game.

The boxart, from Wikipedia.

     Shining in the Darkness came out in August of 1991 from Sega, for the Sega Genesis.  In Japan it was actually called Shining and the Darkness.  Don't know what's up with the change.  The game was pretty successful, and spawned a ton of other "Shining" titles over the years of varying genres.
     It's essentially a "dungeon crawl" RPG, a type of game that was pretty popular in the 80s on 8-bit computers, modeled after games like Wizardry, or The Bard's Tale.  The player sees a first-person view of a dungeon hallway and you get lost endlessly while trying to get from point A to B.  These games, back in the day, usually required that the player bust out graph paper to map out the dungeons.  This was before games started introducing automap features.

     This just so happens to be the last game that I ever played where I actually mapped it out with graph paper.

     The plot sees "the hero", which is you, on a quest to find the Princess and your dad, who have both gone to do who knows what in the "local dungeon".  While absolutely not playing "tiddly winks", a bad guy named "Dark Sol" comes and kidnaps them.

     There's 9 levels in all, 4 of them are underground and consist of 4 "trials", while the other 5 are ground-and-up.

     The game starts out in the Castle, where the King tells me how his daughter and my dad are gone.   They give me gold, I go equip myself, then go to the dungeon.  It's set up with these 3 locations being where you can go - the Castle, Town, or the Dungeon.

Part of the town.

     In town there are several different building that you can choose from by going left or right.  Places to buy armor, weapons, and herbs, as well as a tavern to rest up in, and a shrine where a priest will save your game.  (This is sort of a common thing with JRPGs I'm finding.  Dragon Quest 5 does the same thing.)
     I like how the music in the town increases and decreases in volume relative to how close you are to the Tavern, making it seem like that's where the fun is.

     In the game's beginning I'm going into the dungeon by myself, but once I find the princess' tiara somewhere on level 1 I'm joined by 2 more characters, which helps a ton.  After this point you're given a key that will allow you go through 4 "trials" which are located under the first level.

     So far I have done the 4 trials, which are Strength, Courage, Truth, and Wisdom.  Some involved fighting a boss, getting a key, an orb of truth is somewhere in there, and grinding to gain levels.  Lots of grinding.

Some of the bad guys early on.

     Along the way you'll get better stuff with which you'll be better able to kick more and more serious ass.

I kicked his ass.

     I forgot to mention that while in the 4 trial dungeons, you'll eventually come across 3 other adventurers who were also sent to do the same job, but have each failed in some way.  They each join up temporarily until you leave.  This makes one of the Kings lackeys, who was very skeptical of your ability to do jack shit, less skeptical with each one you rescue.

The bald douche with the crazy eyebrows.

     Once past the 4 trials, by task is to enter the "dungeon proper", which is the 4 upper levels, in search of not only the princess, but also the "Light" arms, which will help me beat Dark Sol.  So far I've found the Lighthelm and the Light Sword between levels 2 and 3.  Now I'm grinding through level 4 in search of more light stuff and the princess.  I think I'm pretty close to the end, IIRC.

HuckleCat