

You can have full health and be dead in seconds if your not prepared. The real time battle system is enjoyable, except that when you get spammed by monsters, you get SPAMMED by monsters. While the story is solid, the character development isn't anything spectacular.

The Noswald Empire is home to the human race and the demons rule the southern territory, Fyrlandt.

The world is divided into two main kingdoms at war with each other. The rest of the party consist of AI characters that join the party during the course of the game. The story focuses mostly on two playable characters: Toma, a sword wielder who dreams of being "King of the World," and Cyrille, a mage of who keeps her intentions to herself. As the game progresses and the fortress is successfully held, it will develop to become more powerful, larger in size, and better armed to stave off future invasions. The fortress may come under attack at any time, even when the main heroes are busy questing far from home, so leaving a few trusted party members behind seems wise. When monsters attack this base, players will have a chance to defend it through tactical combat. Yet even as they travel the realms, gaining allies and defeating evil, they must also see to the protection their greatest asset of all: their home base fortress. The heroes embark on an epic journey, to reach their destinies and return peace to the land. The game's main story follows two young heroes, Toma the warrior and Cyrille the sorceress, who live in a land marred by decades of unending war. The most distinguishing feature of the "EXA" edition in Sega's long-running Shining Force series may be its Fortress System, included to add tension and new aspects of strategy to the classic, console-style role-playing.
