Shining Wisdom for the Sega Saturn Was a Little Dull - A Review | hungrygoriya 

Honest reviews like this are the best. Maybe if more reviewers were like this, the old video games market wouldn't be so ridiculous. This video saved a lot of us an average of $300 USD. Great editing style too!

Oh, Shining Wisdom! I had a magazine - a Game Pro or EGM - that featured this game. Little kid me was fascinated with it, because it looked like Zelda. Never did play it though, because I didn't have a Saturn, and I later forgot what the game was called. It's always a pleasure to see new game reviews from you. My cat gave birth today, so I've been sleep-deprived and frazzled while playing kitty midwife. A chill and light-hearted review like what you make is a perfect way to unwind after a long and stressful day.

Thanks for the entertaining video! Sadly, the best thing about this game seems to be that Camelot learned at least a few lessons about what NOT to do. You can really see the seeds of some ideas that wound up being implemented much better in the Golden Sun games.

I haven't started collecting for the Sega Saturn yet. I'm glad I saw this video first. Thank you for saving me some money!

I was waiting on this one and it did not disappoint. "If it wasn't already obvious, I didn't enjoy Shining Wisdom." Most savage review so far.

You have more patience than me. I would have turned it off, and sulked in the corner. Thanks again for another awesome video.❤

Congrats on finishing this review up filled with all your venom. I never really understood the tapping/speed up mechanic, but hearing it explained like this just makes me shake my head. Most wouldn't be able to put up with this for an hour, much less for the entirety of the game, so the fact that you finished this is very impressive. Enjoy never having to play this again.

This was one of the games "that got away" back when I had access to a friend's Saturn and his library of games. I spent too much time playing Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, and a bunch of other great games that I eventually lost the opportunity to play this one. Judging by your video title so far, maybe it was a blessing. :) However: I still like the cover art. But then again, I'm a sucker for anything even remotely anime-style (even the very 90s-esque semi-CG semi-chibi style of the other cover... apparently there are two?).

Playing through entire games and editing these videos must eat off so much time... Damn! Thats passion!

This was on my to play list since I love the Shining Force games, between this and catching your stream occasionally, I think your wisdom is shining thru here. Thanks for the review, what a headache!

You'd think a Zelda-style game, covered in that undeniable Camelot charm would be a fantastic game, really bummed to see that it falls short =/

Bored at work and I see this notification and I instantly grabbed my ear bud and hit play.

All I heard was “I NEED A TURBO CONTROLLER”… I played this on my HTPC Console, had the same reaction to the button mashing, so I opened the console menu, set the “run” button to act as a turbo controller, so all I need to do is hold it down. The PigMen with Spears didn’t stand a chance once I did.

very well spoken! I remember being so excited for this when I initially picked up my Saturn in 1995. I couldn't believe how boring this game was, and a pretty lackluster entry into the "Shining" series. Not every game from the Saturn's heyday can be remembered through rose-coloured glasses. and this is a prime example!

I actually enjoyed this when it came out, but realize I never once replayed it in the 27 years since. This came out really early in the North American Saturn market when there weren't many other options, but once a few more games came out I basically forgot this one existed. I honestly think my favorite thing about it was getting the Toydona USA power-up and driving around the map -- no it didn't make the game easier but it was kinda fun zipping around without having to charge up the run.

I had recently looked up the ending to this game, and I find it to be kinda humorous that the ending teased a sequel that obviously never happened, while the princess who narrated the ending had expressed desire to essentially consummate with Mars upon his eventual return from his journey to rescue the Fairy of Gudo Valley, lol.

Being completely unaware of this game's existence until Hungry Goriya's first livestream of it, I had high hopes as soon as she began to play, and I saw the type of game it was. With obvious similarities to one of my own favourite games - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - I thought we might be in for a treat. Those hopes soon began to fade... I'd estimate that I was present for at least half of the total time Hungry was streaming Shining Wisdom, and within the first few hours it was clear that the game was a disappointment; a muddled mess of unnecessarily irritating mechanics and poor design choices. And the longer it dragged on, the more apparent it also became that the storyline was nowhere near good enough to redeem Shining Wisdom from its other flaws. As always, Hungry gave it a fair shake and more, and as a viewer I agree with her summary entirely. What's saddest to me is that there potentially seems to be a very good game somewhere within all the ideas that came out of the brainstorming sessions for Shining Wisdom, but those ideas were executed in a horribly disappointing manner in nearly every case. With a few tweaks to the controls and mechanics alone, the product would have been far more gamer-friendly. That's the biggest shame. And I really don't know why I have just written a summary of my experiences watching Shining Wisdom, when Hungry Goriya has already done such an excellent and thorough job of reviewing it! A top-notch, fair and balanced review of a seriously underwhelming game. Only one thing I'd disagree with you about, HG. The whale song was the best tune... 😊

Egads, this game looks like the illegitimate offspring of A Link to the Past and one of the Ys titles after a weekend of binge drinking. Thank you for taking one for the team HG.

Really awesome video, full of great information and detailed commentary. I finally got an NTSC sega saturn a few years ago and picked this game up from a collector. I was intesrested in playing it but never got around to it. This review has showed me I'm not missing out on too much so thanks for that 😂

This is a fantastic video. I enjoyed your video on Milon as well. Also, I thought I was the only one who had Ranger X boxed. Made me so happy when I saw that ^^

My carpal tunnel is flaring up just watching this video holy Moly.

I remember fishing this game out of a bargain bin absolutely full of copies. But it's interesting Working Designs published it, Sega themselves published it here, so I wonder if it had a different English translation? Also have you got Virtual Hydlide for your Saturn collection? You must try it, it's, well... unique :D

6:05 well, you know. After Dorthy killed their witch employers, the flying monkeys were a bit desperate for a job.

Love this channel! Keep up the great work!!

The sad thumb made me laugh so hard, remember having arm cramps from button mashing back in the day haha

Been waiting all day to watch this. Finally, here I am!

You madam are a soldier. Even with my love of video games, I couldn't imagine completing that game like you did even with all of the agony.

I literaly just found out about this game and then you post a video on it :D

I recently finished Shining The Holy Ark and this game was on my radar for the next play through. I am glad I put that off for the time being. What a shame because I LOVE the Shining series art style. Thank you for the insight into this games world.

Shining Wisdom... The developers gave all their wisdom to the game, they never leave any for themselves when designing the game.

Good news, our new Shining game graduated its production to the Saturn, and it looks slick, and we have way more memory to use and space to save even more music and gameplay! All that’s left to do is make it fun to play, and that’s going to be so easy. Mistakes where made…

Thank you for this insightful review. If the developers didn't want so many thumbs down, they shouldn't have forced players to tap their thumbs into oblivion!

By the looks of things, it's like somebody forgot that a sword was supposed to stick out when swinging it. Also, this is a Camelot production, isn't it? I mean, yeah, the Shining series always had the team, but still, this one really has that Golden Sun aesthetic.

Hahah I can really relate to this whole review. The disappointment when I booted this up for the first time. So much of it's game design feels so baffling, like did no one in the team ever start questioning the decisions? I get that the gear mechanic (as bad as it is) was the core of the gameplay and probably couldn't be canned, but the constant pausing to switch weapons is so annoying and would be such an easy fix. I am a fan of it's soundtrack tho, even if most of the tracks as you said never fit the world of the game. My favorite is probably the castle theme with it's red herring intro to make you think it's a a dark and spooky dungeon, before surprising you with some kind of electric guitar/distorted trumpet riff or whtever it is before it turns all chill and comfy. Such a whiplash.

The fact I don't see a Mario RPG 7 Stars review on her channel is depressing.. One of my most loved action-rpg-esque childhood games

Did you just gain a bunch of subscribers? Awesome sauce!! 😁💛

Man, that sucks to hear about this one! I know 'Shining' isn't a very consistent series, like, _at all_ but still. The worst game in the series I've played is probably one of the GBA action-RPGs, and that's just because it was tedious as hell - I can't really comment that it's objectively 'bad' though. It's designed for co-op multiplayer and I never convinced any friend to buy a copy, lol. Thinking back to my time with Shining Soul while listening to you talk about this and watching it in action makes me think back on it in a more positive light though... Thanks for biting the bullet on this and getting a video out on it, though! A Hungry Goriya retro-RPG video is always a must-watch, and sometimes (A lot of times, really) it's important to get the perspective from the angle of, "Why you won't enjoy this" as much as just hearing people act as cheerleaders for beloved classics. Heck, I'm pretty sure you could've quit this one and still had enough "in the tank" to put out this review and 100% justify the reason why you (would have) dropped it... it's all the more impressive that you finished it! Hopefully the next game you tackle will be better!

This game makes it obvious that more content doesn't equate to more fun. It seems like such a sluggish grind but it's presentation is rather unique and enough to make me give it a try.

Great video and review! I like the way this game looks and I love the genre it's in, so I'd be interested if Sega made a bunch of improvements to it and released it on the Switch as part of their Sega Ages line.

I've been getting into the older Shining games, myself recently and am currently working on The Holy Ark. So far, it's pretty good but my biggest gripe is that you can only buy one item at a time. I've collected the Shining games on the Genesis and I'll probably pass on Wisdom because of what I've heard about it. I hate it when the townsfolk are useless and another game that comes to mind is Secret of Mana - awesome game but the townsfolk are just flat out dumb. Love your reviews and thank you for making great content! Always look forward to your videos!

Thank you for this. I have tried playing through this game a number of times as I love *MOST* Shining games...this one is just brutal. Hearing my inner-monologue out loud made me feel like less of a failure for never completing it. :)

It's shocking how the manual even calls out the shitty item management UI as a gap that should have been addressed in the translation. They also tell you to re-assign the controls from the default!

I remember looking at this game when Saturn titles were still "reasonably" priced. Can't say I regret passing on this one.

Ok the hgoBoil thumb had me giggling in my coffee this morning. You got me! As always I appreciate your in depth review of this game. I loved the look of this game, but the mechanics as you described seem unnecessary. If we were back in the 90s again, I imagine I'd rent this one, play it for the weekend, and return it back on Sunday night with no regrets.

Great channel I watch something each day and when you put up a video. This game sounds like a pain to play

I had this game as a kid and I still love it today!

Nice mention to whales, Vanilla (I think it was him) will be pleased haha. Very fair review. I was watching this and there were some seriously painful moments like the fire respawning which I really admire you facing with serenity and patience. Overall I think it was really useful for many of us to not play this ever, those who, like you, love anything resembling a 2d jrpg with 32-bit graphics and cd soundtrack. As we say in Spanish, not everything that shines is gold, and shining wisdom gave another type of "shine" haha. If you ever have the chance, and I mentioned it a few times to you in chat, Magic Knight Rayearth is what you were expecting of this, but for real ;)

Thank you, also your voice is really cute and this review is very well written ^^

I love your reviews, and LOL @ the sad face on your poor thumb. Your comments about the shoes reminded me about Link's Awakening and his Pegasus Boots. They were just permanently equipped once found, and running across multiple screens with your sword out, bashing into enemies was great fun. It's just wrong to lose your weapon because you put some shoes. Also, aside from the intention bump combat in the Y's games I have never understood why some developers seemed to believe a sword's reach should be so short. It's an annoying design choice.

This video made me glad I never managed to get a copy of this. Had one traded into the game store I work at and as the resident tester person and due to the price of the game, boss handed it over to me to give a test. Played it all of 30-45 min before being so bored I wanted to cry. Certainly not the best WD title to wander out of that studio, and certainly a blemish on what the "Shining" series was until that point. Thanks for the in-depth video about it!

"The king's actually a filthy liar." Made my day.

Your review is very spot on. I have this one on Saturn as well and like you I enjoy most of the Shining games. I didn't make it very far into the game til I gave up, I didn't enjoy what I played of it.

Having watched a lot of the streams, I'm not surprised on your thoughts! I didn't expect it to be a positive experience or review. Before I replayed it last month, I felt very similarly and remember it being a frustrating game ~26 years ago. I would easily have agreed along to the video or comments here. I will stick with the opinion there were mechanics not fully understood that would have vastly changed the opinion on the general gameplay, as they did mine. While the frustration of where to go next or trying to figure out the solution to enemies / puzzles is just something that happens (I had moments early on with my replay), I didn't find it as demanding as many other games - it follows a strict chronological progression for dungeons and using items from one to the next. But I won't hesitate to agree the biggest issue is the ambiguity. You might get a hint on one or the other yet never both and, what felt like, never when you needed it. Outside of the physical collecting and "real hardware only" views (since these cost a fair bit on a chance), it's a game I firmly believe should be checked out a little deeper then just one streamer/review. Nothing against you HG ❤ Also - the controls felt like they were meant for an arcade stick which is bonus points in my book.

For a game called Shining Wisdom, they certainly made some questionable choices. That controller mapping for one seems just so counter intuitive. At least that music sounds gave you a laugh! Tell your thumbs I hope they get better soon!

I'm a fan of working designs but this is one I've never played, as I never owned a saturn. I always appreciate your honest reviews, because I feel like certain corners of retro gaming Fandom overlook many classic games flaws due to nostalgia or loyalty to a brand. Thanks as always HG.

It sounds a lot like Link's Awakening on the GBC but completely insane because you're not locked to two buttons.

You have more patience than I do. I think this is the only Shining series game I gave up on within the first couple of hours because of the annoying controls. It was especially disappointing given the small number of action RPGs available in English for the Saturn. This one is the worst of the bunch. Even Dark Savior, despite its own shortcomings which are many, at least had some graphical wow factor at the time of its release. Great review!

I have a theory about the button mashing mechanic. Very likely a decision made by a superior and not one of the actual devs. Knowing what I do of Japan, and considering the time period this game would have been produced in; chances are high that the person(s) calling the shots would have been mentally stuck in the 80's arcade scene. They probably thought this would be an exciting way to make the game stand out among its competition. His subordinates would not have questioned the idea even knowing it would have been bad.

The last few seconds showing your attempts at learning the dash puzzle remind me of some of the Metroid puzzles that require careful timing with the Speed Booster. Oof.

The Deborah Cliff joke caught me so off guard haha I loved it. I’m making my way thru the Shining series now, thanks for taking this bullet for all of us 🫡

I'm going through Beyond the Beyond and Brave Fencer Musashi for the PS1 right now. I'd be interested in knowing your perspective on these two games after watching this video of another game I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

I remember reviewers being pretty underwhelmed at the time. Rightfully so it seems, I would have expected more. The "super short sword" is a common complaint about Lagoon for SNES too. I sort of like that game, although it´s very hard.

Have you played Lagoon for the SNES? Very similar in game play and graphic style with great music.

That’s the worst, when you already tried the correct solution but it didn’t work because the hero was standing in just slightly the wrong spot. Thanks for enduring this game, and hopefully you’ll have better experiences on the Saturn in the future!

Its so weird what our minds choose to remember...i remember seeing this games ad in an old 1996 issue of EGM and my 13 year old brain being HIGHLY turned on by the Anime Chicks very revealing dress LOL

"The long sword" still being a short sword "I've never been more disappointed in my life" haha

wow thank you for taking the time to deal with this sufferfest. It has been on my sega saturn list, but I will be happy to cross that off.

Great video! I feel smarter now.

Hey Goriya, have you had the chance to try out the pixel art PS2 Tales games?

I saw ads for this game in magazines and were always curious since I enjoyed the Shining-games I played on the Mega Drive and I did like Zelda-like games... but ooof, what a letdown this is to hear. Scanning the comments it would seem that Working Designs translation severely screwed the player over by removing helpful hints in the name of injecting extra "flavor", thus exacerbating the issues with unclear puzzles and game mechanics. What really struck me is seeing the seeds for several of the puzzles that happened in Golden Sun, or perhaps the "thinking" behind said puzzles that I could spot there, being shown here. The tools combining with magic orbs giving spells that you can then use in the dungeons to affect them, heavy use of environmental tricks like digging, stomping holes or stomping out flames, running fast across collapsing tiles... it reminds me of the thinking done in Golden Sun, so it feels clear Shining Wisdom was a big learning / teething moment for the devs... just a shame they couldn't make those moments actually _fun_ until way later. Hearing they went in with a "we only have three buttons available" mindset does explain some of the control-mapping choices... but man what a disaster that choice to not take the extra time to re-map them and have, say, one button dedicated solely to the sword, or quick-looping items / magic orbs with the shoulder button, or making the gear-shift happen by holding a button, would turn out to be. Even those frustratingly vague puzzles could've been made more tolerable with more intuitive controls.

for my SEGA trying to do Zelda I prefer Crusader of Centy. Jokes aside its interesting seeing this company's art style here as it is already starting to resemble what we would later see in their masterpiece: Golden Sun on the GBA (one of my fav RPGs)

I love the reference to Deborah Cliff. Thanks for an enjoyable review - sorry you had to suffer so much to create it.

Love these detailed reviews! The monkey song has semi-Groose song vibes ❤

There was a point from ‘95-‘97 where people jumped on the rendered sprites bandwagon, and I remember turning my nose up at the super deformed beady eyed look of the character art in magazine ads combined with the grainy low resolution sprites of the game. Why do all the sprites have a thick black border around them, though? It’s like an aliasing thing where the sprites kinda clash with the background - maybe? A lot of the later SNES RPGs pushed against looking like they were laid out with a tile editor. The need for tile layouts were an artifact of having to squeeze your 10 - 20 hour RPG down to 1-4 MB of ROM. CD system doesn’t have those limitations, so there’s tons of one-off graphics, so dungeons are full of lots of extra decoration like waterfalls and sloping walls. The castle and town areas look-okay but I can feel the disappointment sneaking in when you get to the dungeon or forest and see the limited art. This game had to have started out as a later Genesis title. You can see how the jungle at 16:10 is a lot more colorful and varied - THIS is what a 32 bit or showcase 16 bit game SHOULD look like. Besides, there’s a lot more imagination in this area than “Here’s what you get with RPG maker.”

Would a rapid fire compatible controller help?

I thought for sure this game would be a winner, being developed by Sonic Software Planning and published by Working Designs. I was terribly disappointed when I got it, especially since RPG/Adventure games were so scarce early in the 32-bit generation.

I kept seeing ads for this in comics and magazines way back when, but I didn't have a Saturn to try it out glad to see I wasn't missing much. Think I'll stick with Force for my Shining games

The "tap to go fast" thing sounds like it'd be thwarted by a turbo-fire controller.

Love the content

I was looking for this game, I'm pretty sure I played it back in the day. I don't remember anything about it other than it was a Zelda-like RPG. I'm still not sure if this is it... I don't think there are any other games like this so ... PROBABLY is. THanks a bunch, good review.

This is kind of a drag, I always kinda wanted to play this one, especially since I didn't have a Saturn at the time. One thing to note is that the EU version of this was *not* localized by Wrecking Designs. After reading up on the TCRF page, in a twist that shocks no one, a lot of dialogue was changed for the worse, and they removed a lot of callbacks to Shining in the Darkness and the Shining Force games (including replacing one with a dis aimed at Beyond the Beyond for... some reason?). I do wonder if the button mashing to run thing was a WD add-in, because that seems like the kind of asinine thing they'd do. I've been trying to find a PAL manual scan to check, but sadly all the scans I can find seem to be the US manual. If anyone who's played the PAL version sees this, I'd love to know! EDIT: Looks like the button mashing is in all version ;~;

I'm not sure if it's because it's a Saturn title, which are often overhyped and expensive, or if it's because the initial presentation leaves a good impression, but this game has gotten far too much credit online over the years. If it was on Playstation it would've been dragged through the mud. Congrats on Hungry Goriya for managing the finish this one. As usual: you've got far more patience than me.

your channel is a real treasure

It's a shame it wasn't more intriguing as it looks fantastic and is on my back log.

looks like a case of "so close, yet so far away"

Ah yes, the black sheep of the Shining series. It's like the Ys games got together with Takeshi's Challenge and this is the baby they left in the dumpster. It's even more sad because Shining of the Holy Ark is a phenomenal dungeon crawler and one of the best RPGs on the Saturn. Even when I tried to put up with Shining Wisdom's chicanery, I'd eventually give up and play either the aforementioned Holy Ark or play Alundra on my brother's PSX. EDIT: Spelling.

Fun fact ( on a snes controller ) 7th saga can be played with just the left hand

First time viewer but this video immediately got me to subscribe. 🙏

I have a copy of this, but I've never stuck with it for very long past the first visit to town. I think you've probably saved me a lot of pain & suffering here, now I feel free to just move on to Shining The Holy Ark. At least mine's only a Japanese copy, which can be found for under $10 there. I just checked, and complete English copies are averaging $300(!).

Didn't think I catch a fresh Goriya video. Only because I watched a rick roll game cube video......

I just noticed.. this game feels like it wanted to be it's own "Ys" by the looks and some designchoices of it but without understanding how that series evolved and became "easy to get into". Even the MC looks like Adol!

Getting some real Dragon Warrior vibes from the main character's backstory!

Goriya isn't a person but a pair of hands confirmed. Holy crap the lore in this video!

Never played this one myself as I never had a Saturn, despite living off my Genesis in the prior generation. Looks like I didn't miss out much with this game. Really makes its modern price tag even less acceptable.

Wow, I don't think I've ever heard you be this angry about a game before Goriya. It really must have struck a nerve with you!!! O.o

I want shining force. Loved that game as a kid

One of my child hood’s favorite game

I've never played any games from the various bits of hardware Sega put out after the Mega Drive (Mega CD, 32x, Saturn or Dreamcast) but I grew up with the Master System and Mega Drive - and my top 3 "adventure / action RPG's" on the Mega Drive are - Soleil (Crusader of Centy) - excellent game, interesting story that's nicely told, very good gameplay (but a bit on the easy side & short) Story of Thor (Defender of Oasis) - very action heavy, story light and not very long, but has some nice elemental puzzles / hidden area's to find (for level up purposes), good graphics, memoral bosses and a nice end to the story it does tell. Super Hydlide - interesting world, but heavy grind required to progress and some punishing mechanics, some memorable story points (although the story isn't something the game focuses on telling, at all - similar to Golvellius in that way). The 2 Shining Force games were also great RPG's (as good as Phantasy Star 4 for me, but in different ways). I was always curious about sequels to the Mega Drive RPG / adventure games I did enjoy that appeared on that later Sega hardware though (or at least games made by the same developers on that later hardware) - this game is amongst those I've often wondered about. Shame to hear your review, but also relieved I never went out of my way to spend money on trying it out myself.

For how expensive this game is a little dull isn't gonna cut it for me. Thanks for the review

Sounds like one to look at but not necessarily play through. Good review as always.