Shinning force is different to FE in the ways RolStoppable has talked about but remember it's an older game. It is still strategic in my opinion, its different kind of strategy though you don't know who is going to move next so you have to be careful with leaving units out on there own, however the character that die can be revived for a small cost at the next chapel you come across so losing people is not the as heavily punished as in FE.
There is also some walking around towns and talking to people finding your way through the story. There are lots of hidden characters to find and Shining Force II has about 4 difficulty settings, number II is a bigger game than I but both take a good amount of time to finish.
As you might have guessed I am a fan of the games but like all games they will not be for everyone. But for 800 points I would suggest there a great buy.







