Developer: Climax Publisher: Sega Released: 1991 Genre: RPG
Shining in the Darkness was one of the first dungeon crawlers I ever experienced. While the genre was ubiquitous on the PC they were rare on consoles. Phantasy Star gave me my first taste but its dungeons were a small part of a larger whole. I’ve never been able to explain why the genre struck a chord with me; as someone who grew up on a steady diet of platformers exploring a musty dungeon should have been the antithesis of what I like about video games. Yet Shining in the Darkness, with its charming menus and art style, made the experience more welcoming. I am happy to say this is still a great game after all these years.
The Kingdom of Thornwood’s princess has been kidnapped by the evil Dark Sol and taken to the labyrinth. The king sends your father Mortred to rescue her but he has also disappeared. As the last remaining knight it is your duty to brave the many floors of the labyrinth to save the princess and hopefully find your father as well.
Shining in the Darkness is the first game in the shining series. Even though the majority of the games have been tactical RPGs SiTD is a first person dungeon crawler. The only other title that follows in its footsteps is the beyond excellent Shining the Holy Ark. Many of the series staples debut here, the most prominent being the animated menu system. It sounds simple but the animated icons are incredibly practical and make even the most complex facets of character management simple. This system is used for both character management and in the shops and would be wisely carried over in almost every future installment in the series.
As a dungeon crawler you will spend the majority of your time exploring the game’s sole labyrinth. The game’s scope is pretty small. There are only three locations on the map: the town that houses the shops and tavern, the labyrinth and the castle where you will further progress the story between dungeon trips. If there is one major criticism I have it is that the game does not do a good job of signaling when you need to return to the castle in order for the game to progress. To be fair you will leave the dungeon so frequently it is inevitable that you will stumble on it sooner or later. But late in the game it is imperative to visit the king at set points. It is disheartening to spend hours advancing only to hit a dead end and end up having to later retrace your steps.
Like most dungeon crawlers Shining in the Darkness is brutally difficult. From the onset you start alone and have to endure heavy grinding to manage the first story point. Once you assemble your party of three the burden lifts slightly. But by the fourth trial there is a significant spike and it only grows from there. Part of what makes the difficulty so rough is the need for excessive grinding. Levels come slowly and new equipment is exorbitantly expensive. It creates quite the feedback loop. You need the stronger gear to fight more powerful enemies to buy the equipment and earn the levels needed to fight said enemies.
I wish I could say that it gets easier at some point but it does not. There is no auto-map so you have to draw your own. There is an item and spell that will show you a map but it is not permanent. Shining in the Darkness has all of the earmarks of the best dungeon crawlers to make your life a living hell. There are trap floors, one way doors, and limited inventory space. The quality of life items that make your frequent trips easier do not come until closer to the end sadly. If they gave you the teleporting medallion and the MP restoring magic ring earlier the high challenge would not be so off-putting.
That being said I think it is completely worth it. There is a tangible feeling of accomplishment as you progress and complete each of the game’s milestones. While it may take some time the feeling of growing more powerful is evident as each excursion into the labyrinth lasts longer and longer. Despite the fact this is a single dungeon there is some diversity in its floors so it doesn’t get stale. The game’s entire visual design is charming as hell and it has a great soundtrack to boot. It took me a long time to finish this one and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with it.
In Closing
I really like Shining in the Darkness. It is absolutely relentless in its difficulty but those that persevere will find a rewarding quest. Sega crafted a winner in this one and I think everyone should give it a shot.
