In an exclusive interview with RPGFan, Sega's Shining Force and Sakura Taisen project manager Tadashi Takezaki outlined his company's current and future plans regarding Shining Force.

When asked about the decision to turn Shining Force Neo into an action RPG, Takezaki explained that to play the remake of the original Shining Force, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon on the current generation of hardware, the Game Boy Advance capabilities were sufficient. However, if one wants to create a PlayStation 2 game, one has to make use of that console's capabilities. After the development team had done some trial-and-error tests to find out the genre most suitable for the hardware, it turned out to be a more action-oriented title like Shining Force Neo.

He however mentioned that it was also possible that Sega would create a new Shining Force strategy RPG at some point in the future. In this case, the battle system of previous installments would have to be enhanced.

For Shining Force Neo, the company projects sales of 200,000 copies in Japan. In the future, the company aims to turn Shining Force into a series capable of selling 500,000 copies per installment.

While noting he would like American and European fans to enjoy Shining Force Neo as well, Takezaki acknowledged that Sega had not decided on a release outside Japan so far.

Shining Force Neo will be available on March 24th in Japan.

Look forward to the full interview with Tadashi Takezaki later this month, as part of our Exclusive Interview feature.