Shining Force Online: unofficial beta release launching this week

Shining Force Online is entirely unofficial, but is launching this week as a free browser beta.

The RPG is currently hosted on game portal Arcade Country, and will go live Thursday, November 28.

In a statement, post lead developer at unFun Games, named simply 'R. Mulvany' said of the project, "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next. I thought about doing a remake. I heard about the Sonic 2 fan remake being shut down and that was a shame - it looked fantastic. I was googling about and found a Shining Force fansite where - years ago, they tried to make a Shining Force MMO. This wasn't the only attempt. Searching, I found 6 other tries that also never happened. Maybe it was cursed, I don't know, but I wanted to take a crack at it."

Shining Force Online will function like a single-player game, but in MMO fashion, you will see other players roaming around. You can interact with them if you so choose. The beta phase is said to contain over 100 maps and many quests.

Mulvany added, "This is a very story-driven game. You will play through a story complete with cutscenes, characters that die, and twists along the way. We won't have the entire game ready at launch. We'll be in beta for a few months. The way the engine works - we'll open up new worlds and content literally on a daily basis. Even if you don't patch, it doesn't mean we didn't add tons of content while you were away."

Intrigued? Hit up the Shining Force Online homepage for more information and screens.

How long will it be before Sega gives them a call? Let us know what you think below.