As a veteran game manufacturer, Sega, although it is no longer as brilliant as it was originally, it still has many classic game IP, such as the signature "Sonic", "Sakura Wars" and so on are the tears of many old players. Among them, the "Guangming" series of works is also quite representative, although it has been more than 30 years since the launch of its first work, it is still a work worthy of in-depth study.
When I was a child, I once bought some pirated game CDs from the street, one of which was a collection of Sega games, and one of them was the Light Series" Light Power: Legacy of the Gods, so it became my series. Yes, the first two games of "Light Force" are actually works on Sega MD, very old, and I played it by the time I played it, and other versions of the Game Gear and other Sega handheld platforms were even more untouched.
Later, I found a simulator on my computer and played Light Force II: Ancient Seals, but it was already a very early game, belonging to DRPG (Dungeon RPG), and some text adventure games from 10 years ago still had this system, and it is almost extinct in today's games. Although "Light Force 3" is the last work of Sega Saturn (discontinued in 2000), it has to be said that the charm of this work may make the fans at that time unforgettable, and until now the fans of the Light series are also looking forward to the miracle of remake.
The evolution of RPG games is like jean piaget's structuralism of the process, the overall structure is basically unchanged, but it will move from simple to complex as the time progresses. Early RPG games were simple but included almost all the core elements, while today's games are only slowly refined. If you look back at the past RPG games from the current perspective, such as the players who play "Fire Emblem: Wind and Snow Moon" now run back to play the "Light Force" generations, the players who originally played "Light and Dark" run back to play "Obitus", each will find that they are so simple and boring, after all, the previous game played the kernel, that is, the most basic essence of the game - gameplay.
Returning to the Light series, the early series includes almost all the material of RPG medieval fantasy literature, and incorporates some old-world science fiction elements, such as epic worldview, race, class, magic, treasure, ancient mythological monsters, background music, and so on. And these elements are becoming more and more detailed under the unchanged structure with the development of RPG works, so let's briefly talk about these elements.
The construction of an epic worldview
In simple terms, the Light series is roughly a fantasy epic that takes place on a world map, on the three continents of Rune, Grans Island, Aspinia/Aspia, Destonia and Saraband. The Light series is a typical fantasy JRPG, telling a limited-chapter epic, providing material that almost all epics will use, creating things like magic cities, nomadic plains, highland caves and pits, circuses and clowns, boats and islands, lost old worlds and black technology, and so on.
Ethnic diversity
In the Light series, you can see a variety of fictional humanoid races or humanoid races from various fantasy literary history works and spin-off games, such as mermaids, goblins, dwarves, birdmen, orcs, centaurs, flying centaurs, demons, etc., and mascots (magical creatures) that can communicate with language such as dragons, phoenixes, jellyfish, turtles, groundhogs, etc., as well as some science fiction steampunk and ancient robots. To this day, these elements are still popping up in various RPGs, although there are also self-created races like the Penoe in Blade of the Otherworld.
Careers and transfers
The Light series was my first RPG, and it was a wargame RPG, which is probably why I still find wargame RPGs fun: using a variety of character types on a battlefield, and conceiving strategies to surprise the enemy camp. Classes include warriors, magicians, wizards, archers, monks, cavalry, thieves, assassins, samurai, etc., combined with the differences between and within the characters' races to produce a very variety of gameplay. In addition, in the later stages, the characters can also be transferred to reach a stronger realm.
Magic in a fantasy world
To be honest, the magic of the Light series is very basic, and I will briefly mention it here, that is, fire, ice, thunder magic and other auxiliary and interference magic, but because of the wargame-style gameplay, the types and levels of magic that each character can learn are different, which has led to expertization and differentiation. Today's literature or games with fantasy elements have long derived countless kinds of magic based on the four elements or the five elements of yin and yang.
If you get the most precious fun
I have a habit of playing RPGs that I don't go to town shops to buy props, because in the wild, treasure chests usually open to get the same thing, and I enjoy the feeling of finding treasures. Each generation of the Light series has special treasures, such as ores, special weapons, collectible items, and special items related to special characters. Ore like the rare Mithril in Light Force 2, you can ask the dwarves to make some special weapons, including the protagonist's last god soldier (like Chaos Breaker in Light Force), while other characters can also get special weapons (Gisarme, the short knife that Slade can instantly kill).
Ancient myths and sci-fi monsters
In a typical RPG, monsters and monsters will be there. In addition to the common zombies, skeletons and other undead, ancient mythological monsters such as griffins, flying dragons, Chimeras, three-headed dragons, gargoyles, etc., science fiction monsters are like a variety of robots that make people feel that their technological abilities are very different and desperate.
The Belle Epoque of the Bright series has come to an end, and I think many fans of the Bright Series like me agree that the Light series has disappeared with the sega Saturn sunset, and I still hope that this series will be remade or ported one day.
Next, let's talk about the later evolution of the Light series, 2004-2007 was a transition period for the Light series, with the introduction of Neo, EXA and Light Wind in sequence. In these works, the Wind of Light stands out and then forms a series in the same style, which I call the Post-Light series here, and this series is already another series of games in the guise of light.
How do you distinguish between the Light series and the Post-Light series? Go and see the generations of the Light Fighting game! Such as the Wind of Light, tears of light, heart of light, blade of light, boat of light, etc., and the last game is the sound of light launched on the PS3 platform, this game later launched a modified version of the dragon echo version on PS4 and Switch.
Although the Sound of Light is relatively weak in the construction of the world view, and the plot is also the accustomed royal RPG plot, the story narrative is still quite complete, if you take the game script as a novel, it is probably a short story to a novella. The combat system is not bad, and the text adventure system has been added, which is a good thing overall! In addition, the most noteworthy and most amazing thing for me should be the setting of weapons and instruments, and you can still sing in a group halfway through the battle, which has won my heart. (Intimate reminder: The sound of light must not be because the female horn is good-looking on the field all three people to practice female characters, male characters must remember to practice, otherwise the back will be stuck to eat turtles!) ）
The post-light series focuses more on JRPG depicting characters than the light series, just as it shifted from European and American novels to Japanese novels, from a world storytelling with a large structure to a character description with a small structure. In fact, it can't be said to be bad, but it is just a change made in order to comply with the rules of the market.
Now think about the games you played as a child, but now you can easily play them through various emulators or portings, but you are too lazy to open them. Maybe playing these RPGs is like reading a novel, in the past we learned how to imagine, brain supplement, and transform the most core ingredients into the way we want them to be, so we enjoy it. And today's games, although more and more fragrant skin bags, but also more and more limited to our imagination, and even weakened into purely for the purpose of collecting skin bags and playing, which may be why old players lament the beauty of the old times, right?