Shining Force Nation!

[HoneyBadger]

Shining in the Darkness was a lot of fun...but it had way too many uber-difficult, repetitious battles at the end of the game. This was saved partially by some really interesting monsters, but it was still more of a trial to get through than it could have been.

Shining Force outdid that by making the battles turn-based tactical, and by giving you that little eggshell wizard creature, who you could quickly and endlessly level up (a nice incentive at the end of all those difficult battles that might have otherwise become repetitious).

Plus, you only got 3 characters with Shining in the Darkness, and while each had their appeal, they can't compare to upwards of 20 pretty cool characters (including a ninja, robots, a werewolf, a halfgiant monk, some kind of magical hermit crab, and a samurai I couldn't ever locate.).

I did like the ability to forge my own stuff, in Shining in the Darkness, and Shining Force could have done with that, but then I don't remember any 3 headed dragons in Shining in the Darkness, either.

The original Shining Force is also available for free, online, along with some sequels, which is pretty hard to beat.