Shining Resonance Refrain

Genre: Action-RPG / JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Shining Resonance Refrain is an upscaled re-release of an Action-RPG with JRPG elements that was released on the PlayStation 3 in Japan in 2014, with this version of the game not only improving the graphics, but also adding in all of the original game’s DLC content, as well as a new Refrain mode that has two of the game’s antagonists joining the player’s party. Technically speaking, this game is a part Sega’s long-running Shining series that started all the way back on the Sega Genesis, although both the continuity and the gameplay of this game are wildly different from where the series started, and players new to these games need not know anything about prior entries to enjoy this one.

The presentation here is very good, and while this version of the game may not be quite up to par with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, it still touts good framerates and a decent resolution, though I will note that the game does have issues with aliasing. However, that’s a minor footnote here compared to the absolutely wonderful anime-style 3D character models, which are both imaginative and intricately-detailed. Both human characters and monsters in this game look absolutely gorgeous, although I’ll say the animation here isn’t quite as impressive.

The rest of the game’s presentation is also very strong. One of the game’s big themes is music (characters’ weapons in the game double as musical instruments), and as one would expect for such a game, the music here is all top-notch, with songs that combine J-Pop as well as some lovely orchestral melodies. Along with this, we’ve gotten some really good voice acting and a story with some excellent localization work, though the story itself is mostly pretty typical fantasy fare – empires at war, a peace-loving boy who happens to be able to transform into a legendary dragon, and the various well-endowed girls that join him (yeah, this game has some light “dating” elements too).

While the presentation here is very strong, the gameplay is more typical Action-RPG fare comparable to what you might see in a Tales game, with players taking the role of one of their party in battle while issuing commands to the others. The combat here is decent but a bit repetitive, though thankfully players can switch up who they control to get some more variety, as different characters have unique fighting styles and their different abilities give different nuances to how you’ll play them. Unfortunately, this switching isn’t as easy as one would like – players have to go into the game’s pause menus to swap characters, when it would have been nice to have a button devoted to this.

There are some other interesting game systems to toy around with here, such as a B.A.N.D. system (ha) that adds an interesting team dynamic in battle, as well as the ability to manage character relationship dynamics in menus to change how characters behave with each other in battle, done by swapping out various character traits you unlock as you complete tasks or learn more about the characters in the story.

My main complaints here are that many of the game’s systems aren’t adequately explained, such as the aforementioned relationship dynamic system. It’s clear that this system provides benefits, but it’s not always clear what those benefits are. Likewise, I found myself frustrated at protagonist Yuma’s unique dragon transformation ability, which players are warned can lead to him going berserk and attacking other party members when he gets low on MP… but mine ended up doing so when his MP was at about half. It would have been nice if there was some indication how likely this was to occur as MP depletes.

In addition to this, I wish players had more control over their characters’ builds. Players simply gain new abilities through level-ups, assigning four to quick-command slots. Between this and the game’s repetitive combat, it felt like this game’s more mundane elements often took the forefront, while the unique elements remained inscrutable in the background.

Overall, the combination of all these factors results in an experience that makes Shining Resonance Refrain play like a mostly pretty typical Tales-style Action-RPG with a very good presentation. Fans of the genre should definitely give this one a look, as it’s a really enjoyable entry in the genre, even if it’s not a truly spectacular one.

tl;dr – Shining Resonance Refrain is an Action-RPG with JRPG elements. It features a beautiful presentation and gameplay similar to the Tales series. Its more interesting game systems aren’t well-explained, and the gameplay can get a bit basic and repetitive, but overall this is an enjoyable experience and a strong entry in the genre

Grade: B

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