Fans expecting Shining Force 4 will have to hold their breath quite a bit longer, because Shining Force EXA is more like its predecessors NEO than the original series it is ever-so-loosely based on. In fact, Shining Force EXA is very derivative of the NEO game in a number of ways but it does allow you to control an additional group of heroes at your mighty mobile fortress (more on that shortly). Much like NEO and Shining Tears, EXA is a real-time action role-playing game where players take control of two lead characters - Toma, a young and energetic swordsman and Cyrille, a mysterious magician of an undefined race. Players can also add a number of other heroes for support including a centaur knight named Gadfort, and an elf archer named Maebelle - with more characters revealed as the plot unfurls. Whoever you choose, you'll end up with two parties consisting of three characters each that will all have to play their part in your adventure..

The story begins with this group of adventurers, who are on the hunt for a fabled sword ("Shining Force") that grants the wielder the power to become king of the world. Prophecies like this always seem to be vague, and this one, known throughout all the world's civilizations, is no exception. The search for this fabled sword of legend takes our heroes Toma and Cyrille to a cave where they find more than they ever could have bargained for. That's because whoever can remove the sword from its ancient tomb also gets to control a powerful fortress populated with amazing beings, powerfully deadly weapons and teleporters that can be connected all over the world. This amazing vehicle will ultimately turn the tide one way or the other in a war that has ravaged the land because -- once it is made operational -- it will prove to be nearly unstoppable.

Before we delve into the functions of the fortress, it's important to explain how the most important part of the game - combat - works in Shining Force EXA, because you'll spend 90 percent of your time engaged in some sort of fight. Combat is pretty straightforward no matter what character you use. For Toma you'll use melee and combination moves to take down your enemies, while Cyrille's prowess lies in magic. Magic and traditional combat function in the same way for the most part. You'll use a series of timed button presses to pull off combination moves to chain them together. Following a successful combination chain with a "special combination" will give you a powerful attack that can do loads of extra damage on your enemies. When you start out, Toma is the superior main character to use, mainly because he is easier to control and level, But as business picks up and you have made your way through a chunk of the story driven plot, Cyrille manages to come into her own.

EXA is all about killing hundreds upon hundreds of monsters and leveling up your character, while at the same time collecting tons of loot for a variety of uses. One of the more interesting aspects of this loot that you can collect is that you can break it down for a special metal called mythril (a metal with magic properties) or you n can sell it all to the merchants of the world for cash. While cash is always good, converting it back to this magical metal means that you can apply special skills or powers to your character or a weapon using a special device within your fortress. You'll also collect special metals that can only be used to upgrade your fortress, which you'll need to be diligent about if you want to survive the never-ending attacks against it later on in the game.

Beyond those activities you'll be doing a lot of exploring, activating portals and taking on a number of challenges that aren't part of the main plot. All of this activity will grow your party members and prepare them for an inevitable clash with the world's most powerful combatants.

While combat is at the heart of EXA's gameplay, one of the secondary key elements of the game is getting your fortress operational and keeping it safe from would-be invaders. These attacks are an integral part of the game's challenge, and depending on who you've left behind they can prove to be very difficult. When you hit a certain level of progress in areas tied to the plot, you'll encounter these defense missions where your second team comes in to play - they will have to defend the fortress from invading armies who are hell-bent on taking it out of service using a myriad of tactics, monster generators and powerful bosses to get the job done. Depending on how much you've neglected that second team and the growth of the fortress, these battles can prove to be very challenging. The goal is pretty straightforward in these missions - don't let the bad guys destroy your engine, destroy the monster generators and take out the boss. If you fail it's game over and back to a previous save. That is why it is important to spend time growing ALL of your characters and using the special metals you find to upgrade your fortress and repair it when needed.