is an

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

developed by Nextech and published by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

, and the 19th game in the '' Shining'' video game series. It was released on May 17, 2007 in Japan. The game is the sequel to ''

Shining Tears is an action role-playing game co-developed by Nextech and Amusement Vision and published by Sega in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 as a part of the '' Shining'' video game series. It tells the story of a mysterious boy named Xion. An anime adap ...

''. The main characters from ''Shining Tears'' appear in ''Shining Wind'' as well. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation of the two games, called ''

Shining Tears X Wind is a Japanese anime based on the PlayStation 2 games ''Shining Tears'' and ''Shining Wind''. ''Shining Tears X Wind'' presents an adapted version of ''Shining Winds story, seen from the perspective of the character Souma. It is directed by H ...

'', began airing in early April 2007. Like ''Shining Tears'', the game is illustrated by artist

Tony Taka , also referred to as just , is a Japanese manga artist, video game artist and character designer. Biography Upon graduating from art design college, he first began working on advertisement designs, but in 1998 subsequently changed careers to ...

Characters

Real World

; :* - Touka is a grade 12 student and also the student council secretary of her school. Representing beauty and wisdom, she is considered the "idol" in her school. She is a gentle and polite girl; she always shows kindness to everyone, but when she meets something unreasonable she rejects it resolutely; in fact she is terrible when she is angry. She is a

miko A , or shrine maiden,Groemer, 28. is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. were once likely seen as shamans,Picken, 140. but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform ...

and was born into a

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

family ; she is good at the art of

kyūdō ''Kyūdō'' ( ja, 弓道) is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyūdō is based on '' kyūjutsu'' ("art of archery"), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. In 1919, the name of kyūjutsu was officially changed to kyūdō, a ...

and spells, but cooking is not her strong point. The school in which she studies was built by her grandfather, and her mother is the director general of this school. ; :* - A student who belongs to the Student Council. ; :* - A seemingly innocent and quiet girl who is devoted to Saionji.

Soul Bladers

; :* - An athletic student who, along with Kureha, was transported to the dream continent, End Earth. ; :* - A quiet and shy student. ;/ :* - An heir to a rich family and Student Council President.

End Earth

Liberia

=Demonic Alchemy Empire Baelgard (Elven Kingdom Astraea)

= ; :* - One of Baelgard's four guardians. ; :* - One of Baelgard's four guardians. Originally a normal and kind elf, until he was infected by the darkness. ; :* - One of Baelgard's four guardians.

=Holy Kingdom Philias

= ; :* - Princess and Priestess of Philias' Tower of the Sun. ; :* - Prince of Philias, thus the future king, and Clalaclan's younger brother. ; :* - A mysterious birdman. ; :* - Priest of Philias.

=United Trading Nation Seiran

= ; :* - The King of Seiran. Before becoming king, he was the captain of a pirate crew, but his great conviction and good heart made him win the trust of the beastmen. ; :* - The Priestess of Seiran's Tower of Rain Water. ; :* - Chancellor of Seiran. ; :* - One of Seiran's five generals. A quiet centaurian warrior. He acts as King Rouen's scout. ; :* - One of Seiran's five generals. A bird-like warrior. ; :* - One of Seiran's five generals. He was ordered to watch over Houmei. ; :* - One of Seiran's five generals. A bow-wielding turtle-like warrior. When sober, he is very understanding, however, when he is drunk, he fights others for no apparent reason. ; :* - One of Seiran's five generals. A tiger-like warrior, who is a good friend of Hyouun. He is very proud of his skills as a warrior.

Valeria

=Mercenary Knighthood Weissritter

= ;Zero (Formerly Xion) :* - Zero is Xion, or what is left of his soul. His angelic wings represent the two entities inside his body, the black one resembles Zeroboros, the white one resembles what is left of Xion, but for all causes, Xion no longer exists. ; :* - A quarter-beast; she has a pair of cat-like ears. She is also the Princess of Bestia. ; :* - An old friend of Zero from the Elf race, and is also the princess of Fontina. ; :* - An old friend of Zero and an Ice Sorceress, who lives in an ice house and showers with ice. She is also the princess of Runevale. She is considered a beauty, but is often cold toward others. ; :* - A priestess of Etwarl Shrine. ; :* - A Dragonian tribesman who is also a close friend to Ryuna, who acknowledged Zero's intentions.

Others

;/ :* ; :*

Music

*"Heart-shaped chant" *:Lyrics by: Nana Mizuki *:Composition and arrangement by:

Noriyasu Agematsu is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer, as well as founding member of the musical group Elements Garden. He composed and arranged tracks on Nana Mizuki's singles ''Massive Wonders'' and '' Eternal Blaze'', ''"Brave Phoenix"'' on ...

(

Elements Garden Elements Garden is a Japanese group of music composers, or a "music production brand" as they call themselves. They generally produce music for video games, anime and recording artists. They are attached to Aria Entertainment. The group was form ...

) *:Song by:

Nana Mizuki is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator from Niihama, Ehime. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name, Nana Kondō, in 1993 and made her debut as a voice ...

(published in the single " SECRET AMBITION")

Reception

The game was released on Japan on May 17, 2007, and sold over 78,000 units in four days, becoming the top selling game in the country in that week. According to the 2006 hands-on preview from

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, the game runs at constant 60 frames per second.

Other media

A game OST was released on May 31, 2007. It features the theme song, Heart-Shaped Chant, by

References

External links

{{Shining Force Role-playing video games Amusement Vision games Nex Entertainment games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Japan-exclusive video games Action role-playing video games Shining (series) 2007 video games Video games developed in Japan