Back in 2019 I got this game and Sonic Jam at a game store that sadly shut down due to the pandemic. They were both $107 and were complete in the box. In my opinion it was worth the money. It has a huge Shin Megami Tensei and Phantasy Star feel to it that clicks with me. Definitely a true gem for the Sega Saturn.

One of my top Saturn games as well, but easily the best Saturn game that doesn't get the respect/acknowledgment that it deserves.

I can't believe how much of a hidden gem rpg this is. It's one of the best rpg's ever made to this day and nobody seems to know it.

Also my favorite game on the Sega Saturn and my favorite traditional rpg of all time. When I hear you speak on this game and the passion you use I was thinking yes, finally someone who loves this game as much as I do, its really a shame how this amazing rpg got overshadowed by the other games that came after its release. The soundtrack is easily one of the best ive ever heard, the gameplay is rock solid and story is enough to keep you immersed but to me the atmosphere of the game and music that goes along with it makes this a game worthy of your time. Go play it.

That's the one game I know by heart. First turn based rpg I've ever played... well first, I watched my dad play it. As I watched him playing Landstalker and shining force before. Then I grew up, playing and replaying that magnificent fucker every once in a while. 20 years later I still do one run a year or so. Going back to its dungeon crawler roots, this is the absolute true shining experience and the exact definition of a hidden gem. Thanks for sharing some love about my favorite game man

This game is so great. I'm playing it now, unlimited money turned on via an Action Replay cart but the challenge still remains, just helps cut down on the grinding. This game has such a unique look to it. A total showcase for the Saturn.

Everytime i watch your videos it takes me down memory lane and why i love the Saturn, I'm probably going to play this game this weekend along with some other great titles.

I just got a Saturn for Christmas thanks to my best friends. One of which gave me his old collection of games and this was among them. I'm extremely excited to give this one a try!

I love this game, its second only to Panzer Dragoon Saga. I don't understand how Camelot went from rpgs to Mario sports titles, it doesn't make any sense. It's like buying Mcdonalds so you can make pizza.

Hey nice video. I am currently playing the game for the first time, and just finished the west shrine. One thing I might add to your review is my favorite thing about the game .. everything in this game is presented in first person view including the story, save for the few pre rendered scenes

STHA is a crown jewel in the Sega Saturn library. It’s up there with Radiant Silvergun and Princess crown for some of the most underrated games ever. It’s sad that by 1997-‘98 when these games released, the Saturn was nearly dead and the gaming public aside from import gamers dismissed it. Saturn is one of my favorite consoles of all time, and I like much more than n64. It’s great to see that SS emulation has come a long way to preserve these games. As the chances of seeing a Sega Saturn mini console from Sega is slim.

Wow definitely a hidden gem, for s first person RPG back then this looks great and it looks like it aged well too

I REALLY would love to play this gem again

This is an excellent love-letter to my 2nd favourite Sega Saturn game (Panzer Dragoon Saga beats it clean, sorry to say) and one of the very best JRPGs of it's generation, imo only Xenogears, PDS and FF7 beat it out for the N64/Saturn/PlayStation era. The battle music is still the greatest regular battle theme of all time, and never fails to pump me up. I am SO glad I gave into a whim and bought a used Saturn at a flea market around 1997-ish, then went to work at Electronic Arts Canada which ported a great many Saturn titles from other developers and I was able to get copies at cost. The Saturn and Dreamcast both have by far my largest collection of games for them. The Saturn was such a misunderstood and hard to code for masterpiece that when you see games like this, PDS and especially NiGHTS into Dreams that you really see just how much amazing potential was left behind in this console generation. There will never be a game console quite like the Saturn, and there will never be an RPG series quite like the Shining one, both Force (not counting the lame ps2 offshoots) and core Shining (Shining in the Darkness, Holy Ark) Thank you for this excellent review!

I'm playing Holy Ark just now and am really glad to see other see the light as well. Pixies, high difficulty, puzzles, atmosphere. It just works!

This is definitely my favorite rpg on the Sega Saturn, followed by Shining Force 3 and Albert Odyssey. I like the fact that Shining the Holy Ark has more depth to it than Shining Force 3. Fortunately I purchased all 40 of my Saturn games back when they were on the store shelves for their original retail price. I had no idea the prices would be so high for them now. The same with my Dreamcast games, except for 5 that I bought used. One of the reasons that the company that made all the great Shining Force & other "Shining" games might not be making those types of great role-playing games anymore is possibly because a lot of the fantastic programmers and game designers that created all those fantastic rpg's years ago might not even be with the company anymore. They could have all new people that don't have a clue how to make a good game. The one Shining game for a Sega console that I didn't get a chance to play was Shining Wisdom for the Saturn. I had purchased that game but when I finally got around to play it I took the game cd out of the case and it broke in half when I was taking it out. So someday I may purchase that game used somewhere if I see it or off Ebay or something.

I bought this game because of your review , i don’t regret one bit , I played it non stop until i beat it thanks for that

They should have more games in this perspective with you in first person and your team mates in action

I had this game back in the day and played it to death and beyond one of the best parts to it was if you found all the pixies you would get an item that you could use in battle that let you summon EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE PIXIES FOR AN ATTACK THAT DID MASSIVE DAMAGE!! This attack looked awesome too!

I just got this game my game store just got in a ton of saturn games like 10 to 15. But could only buy two. I got shinning the holy ark and daytona championship edition. The manuals were in rough shape. Daytona was like 15 complete and I got shining the holy ark for 67 but it had no manual but I thought that still a great deal. Love saturn just got into it too late about 2 to 3 years ago. Great content. Love your channel.

I love Shining The Holy Ark, I love Shining Force 3, I love Camelot Software Planning doing those games for SEGA, and I love you for this awesome review of what this game is and means.

Great review! This is the only Sega Saturn game I have played through to completion but its one of my favorites of all time. This is from when Camelot had the gall to make their games hard. If Golden Sun had the same level of difficulty it would have been perfect.

One of the coolest looking games of the era.

I still remember when I first played this game...my favorite rpg I had so much fun with this game I've always wanted a sequel...this just took me way back. Man I wanna play this now....A CLASSIC GAME

Can you please review the Wachenroder for the Sega Saturn, it looks like a really great JRPG and got a english translation not long ago. Alot no one has covered it and only one review is on KZfaq, I'd love to see you review of it. Also it would be great to see you do a thorough review of Valholian since it also has been translated and is an obscure JRPG on the Saturn only one other person on KZfaq has reviewed. BTW, I recently picked up Albert Oddessy, Shining Holy Ark and Dragon Force after watching your reviews, thanks for all your content.

2 weeks in a row of my 2 favorite Saturn games!!! Magic Knight Rayearth last week and now my absolute favorite Sega Saturn game Shining The Holy Ark!!! This is still my all time favorite RPG and favorite game of all time. When people ask me what my favorite game is I have no problem telling them that is this one. They usually have never heard of it, now I got a video that I can point them to. Great job on this video. I throughly enjoyed every second of it.

I recently acquired a Saturn and have been considering this. I liked the cover. Can’t wait to hear about the game

Great review I will try and get this one! I have no clue why Sega didn't fire Bernie Stolar the second he said that! I would have thrown him out the door!

I think the Saturn's library really would have stood a chance againt FF7 and Goldeneye if they released a Sonic Adventure caliber Sonic title for the system when Super Mario 64 launched. But imagine the ripple effect if they LAUNCHED with a Sonic Adventure-esque title in '95. The Dreamcast would have been on much more equal footing with the PS2 on that good faith alone.

Playing this now on your recommendation and I am loving it.

My favorite Shining game is Shining Force 2. I didnt know this game exist ! I really want to play it ! Thanks for sharing !

I bought this game in summer 1997, truly a classic. Shining in the Darkness was a great RPG for the Genesis, this is the spiritual sequel. Interesting level design, I remember that one part in the game you play in a Mansion, the Mansion looks awfully alot like the Resident Evil Mansion, let me know if you noticed that too.

Project coe, great review it was so awsome that i went on ebay and won me a copy last night, I decided awhile back that regardless of price I am gonna collect all Saturn games and so far I've enjoyed Albert Odyssey, Dragon Force, and the First Rayman(that game is off the charts amazing)and a few others.This system is my all time favorite now .

(sniff) The Shining games still bring a tear to my eye. My fave series ever...

So there is a review About it just like I talked about it in the other Day. Man Camelot I missed thier Role playing games

I can hear the passion in your voice for this game, nothing better than talking about your favourite title. Great video bud. This game has great memories for me too although I did prefer Shining Force 3, Shining the Holy Ark felt more traditional turnbased like Dungeons and Dragons or something. Great stuff, keep up the good work, Saturn for life.

So glad I took your advice years ago and this was the first title I picked up when I began Saturn collecting and playing. I love it and wished I could have played it when it came out. (Really, just the Saturn in general also, lol. I had an N64 in the ‘90s. I still regret getting that and not a Playstation or Saturn. Although, based on the NES and SNES successes and so many other platforms like the 3DO, Jaguar, 32X, TurboGrafx-16, NeoGeo, etc. failing to catch on, you can see why Nintendo seemed the smart choice.). I really enjoy dungeon crawlers (like the “Shin Megami Tensei” or “Etrian Odyssey” series) and “Shining the Holy Ark” has a cool story and characters. Some of the graphics are a little dated, but I love the connections to another favorite Saturn series, “Shining Force III”. (Although sometimes the pupil-less eyes, especially in the children, is kind if disturbing!). And there is virtually no loading! Compared to a lot of PS1 JRPG’s, especially some like “Legacy of Kain”, were horrendous! And I will say, while I love “Final Fantasy VII”, I find it easier to replay “Shining the Holy Ark” rather than “FF7”.

Excellent Review, I bought this game when it came out, now you are looking at $300 Canadian to purchase it. I agree, this game made me feel like Sega will make a comeback. Bernie Stolar really burnt the Saturn and it's a shame because it held its own vs the Playstation and N64. It's probably one of the most underappreciated Console. So many awesome games on it, Iron Storm, The Horde and many more...

Loved that game on my Saturn ! I had close to 20 games on that console, and probably 15 or so were RPGs, and this one was my second favorit of all my games, affter the wonderfull "Panzer Dragoon Saga".

Great RPG that every Saturn owner must have in their collection.

Thank you for this review! I just got back into saturn gaming. I missed this one when it came out! I just picked it up. It was very expensive. I just got it today. And I'm so glad you gave it high reviews! So far... I love it! It's amazing! Totally worth the price! I wish I wasn't so stupid to sell off my saturn system from back in the day! If I had my old games I'd still have panzer dragoon saga😁

Playing it and loving it Hope it eventually gets easier to emulate. Heck, they are already selling rom catridges for saturn but you need the console

Never went for Saturn as a a teen. Sega CD was such a drag, I couldn't do another.

I’m not much into RPGs anymore but I enjoyed this one. If I would have gotten it as a kid I would have loved it. I adored Shining in the Darkness on the genesis. I just got to this title too late in my life.

Goddammit, watched this and subsequently blew 100 some bucks on the game. Curse your temptation! That said, I've played the first quarter or so of this game in the past and I realize I never appreciated it for its full worth. Looking forward to going through it again. Thanks for the review!

For me it was DRAGON FORCE for saturn. But I never knew this game existed!! Is it the sequal to Shining in the darkness? Because I loved that one.

Its a shame Hudson's Far East of Eden IV never got localized for Saturn because that game also was a great rpg in first person battles (had 3rd sprite based person exploration)

Been in a shining mood lately since I started playing through Shining Force on gamegear. Really need to finally get to my copy of this on Saturn soon! Wish Camelot would return to this and the force series. It's been too long!

I tried to get into this game a few times, but never got hooked fast enough. I do really like teh Shining Force games, so I think it should appeal to me. I kinda liked Shining in the Darkness too. After your warm recommendation, I think I will give it another chance.

I liked the graphics better on the original shining in the darkness. They arent as high quality but I prefer them

Awesome review man! Love your channel. Definitely gonna have to get this at some point. lol I just won an auction for Guardian Heroes so that's gonna set me back just a little bit. But this ones definitely on the list! 😜

I remember a friend of mine gave me this game because he wasnt that much into it, i passed this like 3 times, good memories.

With the recent popularity of the “Fire Emblem” series, I would love to see Sega bring back “Shining Force” and since dungeon crawlers are still pretty popular, another game like “Shining the Holy Ark”.

Fantastic RPG! Finished it (for the first time) a few days ago and loved it so much! Because of it, I tryed the Sword of Stranger City on the vita (kinda like this one) and I'm loving it too, already spent 60+ hours in the game and already have the platinum trophy guaranteed, just have to finish the game, what ill not do now because I want to grab some itens, just as I did with this Shining The Holy Ark. Man! that ninja sword that can one hit kill most enemies costed me A LOT of time kkkkk.

I've only played Shining force III. It was a bit hard to get into it at the begining but it was all worth it. I really would like to have all the Shining titles for the Saturn and Mega Drive in the future.

I love this game, as usual you have great tastes. I remember receiving this as a young teenager, couldn't wait to play the next game in the Shining series. So sad Camelot almost only makes sports games now. Nintendo ought to stop throwing those projects at them and have them take a look at the sales of the latest Fire Emblem series. Camelot could make a killing with a new Tactical RPG series like Shining Force. Shining Force was, after all, the biggest rival Fire Emblem had throughout most of the 90's.

Did you ever play Beyond the Beyond?

I absolutely hate first person rpgs, so I was hesitant to play this game. However, I found a great deal on it and took the plunge. Wow, was I wrong. This is a wonderful RPG, and turned out to be one of my favorites on the system.

found it for 80€, instantly bought it. Now i need a saturn :'D

I have been meaning to get this game but I was too busy buying the other more expensive games. I have easily spent over $4,000 dollars in Sega Saturn games.

I have a complete version of this game. The battle theme is so bad ass

Why hasn't Sega ever re released this fantastic game? Did they lose the source code like they did with Panzer Dragoon Saga? I would totally pay for a 1080p versions of Saturn games, without the need of graphics improvements.

Sonic is flipping us off at the beginning.

I remember at the time having mixed feelings about the "donkey kong country" graphics for the characters... but it does give a lot of charm to the game! although, i do love shining force 3 full 3d battle animation too...

I had to speed up the video to 1.25 cause of the voice speed, especially near the beginning

Thanks for the informative & passionate review. I have a young daughter so most 50+ hour games are extremely daunting to dive into these days. About how many hours could I expect to get out of one playthrough?

Play video at 1.25 and it sounds ok.

don't like rpgs much but i might give this one a try especially seeing as the japanese version looks to be cheaper.

You've convinced me to go and buy this now over dragon force!

As of today more like $250 -$350

hi there, that's an awesome review of shining, I'm not really into rpgs, but thanks to this review I might try to get a copy. it looks amazing and I love all things saturn. 😀 👍 👍 👍

Watching this video say "It's expensive at $120, try to buy it for $80." COVID really brought used game prices up!

Ha ha, I thought it was related to Golden Sun.

this game was so amazing! still one pixy i cant find.

Just curious, have you played much of the Etrian Odyssey series? I feel they scratch that first person dungeon crawler itch just as well as this game.

I found the dungeon crawling part of this game very ElderScrolls-ish

Funny how different parts of the world are. In the usa people were talking about n64. In europe nobody cared for the n64.

Good game? Yeah. Ridiculous title? Yes. Lets shine that dang ark.

The only,saturn rpg that i don't have.It used to be dirt cheap to and now it commands a high price.It is indeed a shame camelot software broke off from sega and went to nintendo.

This game is absolutely amazing and beautiful nuff said

As ms bring rare down, Nintendo did the same with Camelot SEGA should handle this series to Level 5

it`s a masterpiece, just as its predecessor is!

I have a Japanese version I have an a good time with this game

Saturn is soooo expensive! But I love it!

I just bought it for $230 in 2020. Don’t tell my wife 🤫

Wow... I never heard of this game before ( let say that back in the 90's i did not play many RPG due my language limitations, i was not able to speak one word of English, so i was really not paying much attention to the RPG panorama)... But man, from the gameplay you show in this video, even if i did not try the game, i cannot disagree with any single words you said about this game... I dont even think there is one product on PsX that can even be compared with this one... The location are really astonishing, and when i say really, i mean that there is no way somebody could denied this quality... I dont really understand how can be possible that one game like this one did not become popular and in place of it became popular Panzer Dragoon Saga, which honestly i find a bit overrated as RPG... The first person view in real time exploration it seem to me like a miracle for a console like the SS, and the atmosphere all around is incredible.

The gameplay looks solid, but man the artstyle and characters looks so outdated to the point it's almost a turnoff for me by itself. Nothing like 16 bit sprites which are absolutely timeless. Does it have a good story?

If history has taught us anything it's that game consoles never make a miraculous comeback. You start poorly and end with a wimper. Turbografx, Master System and the Sega Saturn are all classic examples, but we only need to look back at the Wii U to see that a poor launch period can still spell doom even the best intentions.

I'm having trouble with this game! It's become a love hate thing! 😁I have a bunch of pixies. But how do I use them!

The sad thing is, Shining the holy ark had sequels but only in Japanese and cut out the story for USA release, it continued only in Japanese thats a sad.

IDK about this game. After watching your review, this one seems way too easy. I liked the original because of the challenge and it was a charming old nostalgic game which i plan to play again. Hopefully will get to try this one day but it just seems too easy which ultimately for me, makes games boring when they have no challenge. You know you're just going to breeze through everything and that isnt satisfying either.

perfect game for the perfect vídeo ☺😉👌

Saw it today for $100 but just couldn't do it.

I too loved this game!! played it for the first time last year, and it was a blast!! :-D got pretty damned far and then.............. FUCKING CORRUPT SAVE FILE!!!!!!!! :-( :-( i died a little on the inside that day, as i was too far to wanting to start over... anyone know if this is a common problem with the game? or am just extremely unlucky in this case? (PAL version if that matters)

I Dont understand. This game looks a bit boring, with very basic graphics that look very simple and dark with no texture. The fight scenes also look monotone.... Im not really convinced..!

Great video but had to watch it at 1.25 speed, otherwise the commentary is faaar...tooo...slooow.

This game is $150 used