The SHIRO! Community Challenge for September centered around Microcabin-developed and SEGA-published strategy role playing game “Blazing Heroes.” Organizers doled out awards and prizes to about a dozen participants.
Also known as “Mystaria: The Realms of Lore” and, in Japan, “Riglordsaga,” the 1995 title is a mixed bag with deep RPG mechanics, rough 3D graphics, hit-or-miss music and an atrocious localized script. But for the month of September, it was SHIRO!’s game.
Via the SHIRO! Discord server, dozens participated in the monthlong challenge requiring a full playthrough of the game that averages about 20 hours.
As opposed to previous challenges focused mostly on high scores and time attacks, September’s felt more like a book club.
“I hope the participants come away from this month with a greater feeling of belonging, regardless of your personal game genre preferences or playstyles,” challenge co-organizer Gregori Rasputin said. “We want to serve the whole community, the try-hards, the high score masters, the role players, those who just wanna kick back, etc.”
Though many began the arduous journey across the Realms of Lore, only a few defeated the evil Lord Bane. Each of the 13 shall henceforth be known across the kingdom as a Blazing SHIRO!
They also were awarded custom patches and reproductions of the game’s world map. SHIRO! co-founder SaturnDave designed the patches, which are being produced by community member Moosetrack. The maps were translated and are being printed by SaturnDave, too — the map originally was included only with Riglordsaga in Japan.
SHIRO! Discord server members Clix, Emerald Nova, Magic Knight Frederickson, privateye, Cpt. Hawdon, Sega Steve, Double Dime, cj_iwakura, Sega RPG Fan, Alex, hersey_dragon, Silent Warrior and Rasputin all completed the Blazing SHIRO! challenge.
As the first to complete the main storyline of the game, Clix earned the distinction Mystarian Pioneer.
When asked about his connection to the game prior to the challenge, Clix said he had “(n)ever even heard of it.”
“It was also never featured in any of my Saturn research, never being featured in anyone’s collectors’ guides or videos detailing hidden gems for the system,” Clix said in the interview. “This was quite a pleasant surprise.”
It is that kind of experience the group is hoping to foster.
“SHIRO! has always been an appealing looking effort,” Clix said. “Articles and curios about the Saturn and its rich history always tend to lead back to the site, and as a curiosity, I joined to see what it was all about. I never had a Saturn growing up, and this felt like an opportunity to experience nostalgia for a system I never owned by playing it through with others and sharing that experience. Not quite the same as a gossip on weekends after school, but I will take it!”
Though with some of the participants having spent plenty of time in Mystaria upon the game’s release, the community’s Discord server felt at times like an alternate reality schoolyard in which the Saturn was the preferred console.
“As soon as I saw the announcement for it, I was all-in on this challenge,” longtime community member Magic Knight Frederickson said. “I’ve loved this game for nearly three decades, and to see it be featured in the community like this, I feel like many others finally got to experience the full story and game play. Having been a longtime player and reader of the game guides, tips, tricks and cheat codes, I have a lot of knowledge to bring to others and to share with our community.”
He said getting the chance to help others discover how fun the game can be was “really rewarding.”
In a lot of ways, September’s challenge did transport participants back to an earlier time, one where their peers are the experts on the game, not an online encyclopedia. It created a new time that existed concurrently but separately from emulators, flash carts and a glut of ROMs.
“When I was a kid, video games came from chore money,” Frederickson said. “I also lived in a small town, so we didn’t have video game stores; had to drive to get to one. This meant any game I picked had to be good. I wouldn’t be coming back to exchange it. I think I passed this game up for a few others like ‘Nights’ and ‘Bug!’. When I finally did pick up ‘Blazing Heroes,’ I fell in love with the game. The story was decent (minus errors, which I didn’t really focus on). But for me the gameplay was amazing. I got so invested in the technique system I created my own version on paper that I shared with my friends.”
Clix said his participation in the Community Challenge “opened a can of worms for sure. In the best possible way, of course.”
“It has confirmed my initial thoughts about the SHIRO! community and certainly makes me want to stick around,” he said. “My feelings about the Saturn are complex, but I am discovering many great titles and enjoying them even more now I know there is such a vibrant community to enhance all of those experiences. This is the first gaming community I have ever joined actually!”
Other awards handed out in September were:
- Blazing Fast Hero for the lowest final completion time: Sega Steve
- King Aragon for the highest combined stats for the game’s protagonist: Silent Warrior
- Rich Hero “Pennybags” for the most gold: Clix
Challenge participants also have a shot at receiving one of the numerous community awards each go-round. September boasted five:
Chattiest Riglord went to Frederickson for posting the most in the Discord server channel during the challenge.
Late to the Party went to Emerald Nova as the last participant to respond to conversation prompts.
Last to Leave went to Frederickson as the last to post in the Discord channel.
First Screenshot went to Clix.
Show and Tell went to Emerald Nova for posting the most screenshots of their playthrough.
“We knew that this choice would likely have lower turnout and be overall more laid back than previous months, and that is okay,” Rasputin said. “We are ensuring that a different part of the community is getting its chance to participate and earn prizes (and we have received A LOT of positive feedback).
“Multiple people have said that they were motivated to try the game (and post for the first time in the Discord) thanks to this challenge, and that is awesome! The whole point of these things is to get people excited about the Saturn, while also fostering some positive community spaces. With that in mind, I think this month was a great success!”
Rasputin confirmed a SHIRO! Community Challenge for November, which will close out the year.
“It is a bit early for details, but I will say ‘keep an eye out,'” he said.
thanks for the contest, and congrats to all winners and participants. I thought for sure this was in the bag for myself, but sadly life as per usual takes precedence over gaming.