History VideoGame / ShiningTheHolyArk

* ShiningGoodness: Is a "Shining" game afterall. In this case is refering to the Spirit's space-ship being a omen of good.

** At the game's beginning, the initial party (Arthur, Forte and Melody) are mercenaries that were sent by Rilix to apprehend the fugitive Rodi and stop the plan for him and 2 others [[spoiler:(who Sabato planned on being Basso and Lisa, and Basso has a bit of a disappointed WhatIf moment when he works it out later)]] to become the vessels for the Spirits. Other than some banter among the Enrich soldiers outside the mine, you don't officially know that she's the big bad yet.

* LightningBruiser: Especially if you recruit him as early as possible, Doyle, a ninja berserker, has decent agility and HP and is an absolute beast once equipped with the Mithril Claw (either crafted from a Mithril Ingot or dropped by a monster in the final dungeon), easily outdamaging all of your other heavy hitters. He has very poor defence against magic and breath attacks though.

* DualBoss: The two Evil Spirits you fight near the climax of the game; it quickly gets [[DifficultySpike a lot tougher]] when Rilix joins in (who was previously observing the fight from the background).

* WakeUpCallBoss: The Time Warrior is only the 2nd boss you fight, but appears a very long time after the [[WarmUpBoss Wraith]] and is quite a [[DifficultySpike jump in difficulty]], not least because it has a powerful area-attack via the Spark spell (and is even worse if Basso got killed by a [[ChestMonster Chest Ghost]] earlier). It gives clues in who it will next attack, so knowing when to have a character defend, as well as proper use of Melody's Support spell, goes a long way.

* PantyShot: When Akane casts spells, the back of her skirt flaps up, exposing her red panties. Thankfully she wears trousers in her promoted form.

''Shining The Holy Ark'' was the ninth installment of the ''Franchise/ShiningSeries'' but the gameplay shares more in common with the original ''VideoGame/ShiningInTheDarkness'' than any other title in the franchise. It was a first person Dungeon Crawler rather than a strategy game. It’s also an indirect prequel to ''VideoGame/ShiningForceIII''; several characters reappear in that game, and the continuing conflict between Spirits and Vandals is central to its plot.

* {{Homage}}: The Kusanagi, the ultimate weapon for Rodi and Akane, is named after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi_no_Tsurugi Kusanagi no Tsurugi]], a legendary Japanese [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana STRAIGHT]] sword that actually exists, but which no known picture exists because of how sacred it is.

* Homage: The Kusanagi, the ultimate weapon for Rodi and Akane, is named after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi_no_Tsurugi Kusanagi no Tsurugi]], a legendary Japanese [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana STRAIGHT]] sword that actually exists, but which no known picture exists because of how sacred it is.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The Mountain Cave has outdoor sections on a glacier, where you move two squares are once unless you hit an obstruction. This makes navigation quite difficult and very easy to fall into one of the many crevices that take you to an earlier part of the cave tunnels.

* DoubleMeaning: The ancient site where the Holy Ark is located is known as Godspeak. It can be read as "God's Peak"/"Gods Peak", since it's an incredibly consecrated temple inside a mountain, or "God Speak", where one can commune with Spirits sent by the mysterious Creator.

* DoubleMeaning: The ancient site where the Holy Ark is located is known as Godspeak. It can be read as "Gods' Peak", since it's an incredibly consecrated temple inside a mountain, or "God Speak", where one can commune with Spirits sent by the mysterious Creator.

* JokeItem: The 'Squeaksandals' do [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what their name implies]], make a high-pitched squeaking sound whenever you walk. [[spoiler:They seem to increase the monster encounter rate too.]]

* DugTooDeep: According to the villagers in Desire Village, this is what happened to their mine that serves as the first and last dungeon. Miners, desiring wealth (it is in the name after all!) ended up breaching the walls of Godspeak, an ancient and holy temple where the titular Holy Ark is located, and the cave-ins and other natural (and supernatural) disasters that occurred afterwards (seen as punishment from the gods) forced the mine to be shut down and boarded up.