How has this fantastic game not had a review done for it? That is a pure travesty!

Being on a retro binge lately, I meandered back towards Genesis games of my youth. I fondly remember Shining in the Darkness as both a brutally difficulty and an unforgiving game.

The early-game difficulty tends to be reminiscent of Dragon Quest 1 for the NES in how you have to struggle just to survive your first few battles without getting killed.

Sell your starter Bronze Knife and grab a Short Sword? Or wait until you painstakingly earn 25 gold pieces to be able to sell that Knife and buy a Bronze Saber upgrade instead?

This game does NOT mess around even in the early game. The very first corridor will have you facing off against multiple tough enemies that will make short work of any unprepared adventurers!

The graphics and aesthetic hold a unique and lovely charm that holds up even today. The Pseudo-3D first-person dungeons are reminiscent of Phantasy Star 1 for the Sega Master System and work in much the same manner (and are just as frustrating).

Sound is a mixed bag. The nature of the game requires that you hear the same short loop of the labyrinth interior and battle music over and over ad nauseum. The Tavern and Shop music selections are well done and match the humor of the game quite well, but the overall soundtrack is dull and forgettable.

One highlight of this game is how well the Enemy AI adapts and reacts to the situation. They react to your spells and actions just as much as you react to them. Conditional battle actions litter the Bosses and newbies will be completely obliterated by early bosses at least once.

Unlike most other RPGs, status effects are not only useful but usually work on most enemies in the game (including many bosses!) so don't skimp out on them.

You should love dungeon crawling and first-person map-making or you will grow bored very quickly. Resist the temptation to check out user-made maps and make your own as you go along.

In the pre-GameFAQs days of my youth, I did just that (and have the spiral notebook of maps and notes to prove it). You can beat the game fairly easily around Level 50 or lower but awesome awards await those who hit Level 60 and beyond!

Give this game a go or watch it on YouTube. It is an interesting historical relic of the first game in the 'Shining' series!

The changes in this patch are aimed at reducing grinding in this game.
So that each dungeon can be completed immediately the first time, without grinding experience and gold for the necessary weapons or returning to restore magic.
Also, very useful weapons and armor, which in the original game are given too late, making them unnecessary, can now be bought in the store much earlier and will be very useful.
[list]
[li]Changed the cost of Depoison from 15 to 16.[/li]
[li]Changed the cost of Magic Ring from 12000 to 1200.[/li]
[li]Changed the cost of Miracle Herb from 8000 to 800.[/li]
[li]Hero items: Sword, Leather Armor, Angel Feather, Depoison, Herb, Herb, Herb.[/li]
[li]Milo items: Flail, Leather Armor, Magic Ring, Miracle Herb.[/li]
[li]Pyra items: Bull Whip, Hemp Robe, Magic Ring, Miracle Herb.[/li]
[li]Weapon shop: Bronze Knife, Sword, Wood Staff, Flail, Bull Whip, Long Sword, Great Flail, Steel Whip.[/li]
[li]Armorer shop: Woven Robe, Hemp Robe, Leather Armor, Chainmail, Leather Robe, Bronze Armor, Iron Armor, Magic Robe.[/li]
[li]Alkemist shop: Wisdom Seed, Herb, Depoison, Angel Feather, Healer Fruit, Miracle Herb.[/li]
[li]The Muddle 2 spell always causes the enemy to drop a special item.[/li]
[/list]
P.S. TODO: Special items should never break after use.

Eng
Database match: Shining in the Darkness (USA, Europe)
Database: No-Intro: Genesis (v. 20180824-045026)
File/ROM SHA-1: 4E10C90199D6EDD2030A4BA1C42C7C166BF309EC
File/ROM CRC32: 4D2785BC
Rus 0.3b Nick
Database match: not found
Database: No-Intro: Genesis (v. 20180824-045026)
File/ROM SHA-1: BEB3E665F18BAD53778208930F4ABA8D7D7C22D8
File/ROM CRC32: C53E6786

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