I'm still playing Blazing Heroes, but it's been slow going. One thing I don't like the about the game is that you sometimes have to fight multiple long battles in a row without getting the chance to save in between, so I never know how long a session might last. The game is also kind of tough in that it seems there's an order it wants you to go about doing things, but also it doesn't really provide you with any guidance onto that order beyond "get into a battle and if you lose, maybe you should have gone somewhere else and/or leveled up first?" I've skimmed some GameFAQs walkthroughs and they all seem to agree that dedicating a lot of time to grinding XP/leveling up is the most important thing.
BUT even though I'm complaining, the heart of the game IS very good. The combat is fun and what helps this game stand out a bit is the technique system: characters learn different techniques by using other techniques in the same family, so your healer becomes better at healing by using healing magic, characters can learn how to counter-attack by defending, sword attacks unlock other sword attacks, etc. It reminds me a bit of Final Fantasy II but handled much better by it not being the ONLY determining factor in character growth, there's still a traditional XP/level system. It's definitely not a genre-defining game, but it is pretty solid.
The main goal of the game is to gather a party of 12 heroes to fight the big bad guy. I have 10 heroes in my party, so the end SHOULD be in sight; judging from How Long to Beat, I'm about halfway through the game; I expect a large portion of that's going to be grinding though...
June, 2020, Together Retro - Strategy RPGs!
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: June, 2020, Together Retro - Strategy RPGs!
I didn't originally think I'd finish it, let alone this month, but I finished Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem yesterday! I ended up having a lot of fun streaming it for my friends on Discord, so I started playing 2 or 3 missions a day instead of 1 at some point a week or so ago 
EVEN WITH SFC Mini save states and rewinds, it still took me 43.5 hours (and that's just the time on that save on the Mini). I'm a bit SRPG'd out at the moment, but I had fun and I'm glad I played through it. I very well may play through Shining Force 1 and 2 in a similar fashion sometime on my PS3 Genesis Collection
EVEN WITH SFC Mini save states and rewinds, it still took me 43.5 hours (and that's just the time on that save on the Mini). I'm a bit SRPG'd out at the moment, but I had fun and I'm glad I played through it. I very well may play through Shining Force 1 and 2 in a similar fashion sometime on my PS3 Genesis Collection
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
Re: June, 2020, Together Retro - Strategy RPGs!
A couple days late, but I finished Blazing Heroes!
It's a pretty fun SRPG, but it has some ROUGH aspects. First, the graphics are ugly. Playing on a CRT makes this a little more tolerable but while these graphics may have been acceptable in 1995, this is a great example of "hasn't aged well" - ugly 3D polygons with ugly pre-rendered CGI sprites. The game is just NEVER pleasant to look at. Second, the there's translation. I'm usually pretty forgiving for translated games having some typos or awkwardly phrased words, but this game is just CONSTANTLY awkward to read. It feels like every single sentence is phrased awkwardly with dialog along the lines of "Am. It is such a guy who is this 'Chaos' we are fighting" along with some bothersome inconsistencies (one key item is described as an "orb" but every character refers to it as the "orv" in dialog). I'm still not clear on the value of some weapons, like a sword that has a high attack value but the description says it shouldn't be used for regular combat: it's strong against insects but I'm not sure when I actually fought any insects... The credits list three text editors, but they must have been overworked and short on time.
At its core though, there are some solid SRPG mechanics so it could be worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre, are looking for something on the Saturn, and can get over how bad the presentation is. At least it was when it was inexpensive and someone might happen upon a copy for cheap; now that it's $50 disc-only, I'd say it's skippable.
I don't know how much this counts for, but if the sequel ever gets a fan translation, I would be curious to give it a try. If nothing else, I have faith in fan translators to be able to do a better job than Sega did for the first game.
It's a pretty fun SRPG, but it has some ROUGH aspects. First, the graphics are ugly. Playing on a CRT makes this a little more tolerable but while these graphics may have been acceptable in 1995, this is a great example of "hasn't aged well" - ugly 3D polygons with ugly pre-rendered CGI sprites. The game is just NEVER pleasant to look at. Second, the there's translation. I'm usually pretty forgiving for translated games having some typos or awkwardly phrased words, but this game is just CONSTANTLY awkward to read. It feels like every single sentence is phrased awkwardly with dialog along the lines of "Am. It is such a guy who is this 'Chaos' we are fighting" along with some bothersome inconsistencies (one key item is described as an "orb" but every character refers to it as the "orv" in dialog). I'm still not clear on the value of some weapons, like a sword that has a high attack value but the description says it shouldn't be used for regular combat: it's strong against insects but I'm not sure when I actually fought any insects... The credits list three text editors, but they must have been overworked and short on time.
At its core though, there are some solid SRPG mechanics so it could be worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre, are looking for something on the Saturn, and can get over how bad the presentation is. At least it was when it was inexpensive and someone might happen upon a copy for cheap; now that it's $50 disc-only, I'd say it's skippable.
I don't know how much this counts for, but if the sequel ever gets a fan translation, I would be curious to give it a try. If nothing else, I have faith in fan translators to be able to do a better job than Sega did for the first game.