That Shining Resonance Refrain exists at all is kind of a
miracle, but the fact that SEGA went far above and beyond to add all sorts of
bells and whistles to this remaster of a previously Japan-only PS3 RPG is
absolutely incredible. Not only does it get the expected visual bump, but they
also added new playable characters, a (great) English audio track, and all of
the previously released DLC costumes are available right from the start. Oh,
and they actually bothered to release it on Xbox One (along with PS4 and Switch), which is easily the craziest
thing of all. Even if it is a little on the vanilla side when it comes to
story, presentation, and combat compared to some other recent action JRPGs, desperate Xbox One fans don't see games like this very often which ups the appeal
quite a bit. See all of the details in our full Shining Resonance Refrain Xbox
one review.
Game Details
- Publisher: SEGA
- Developer: SEGA
- ESRB Rating: "T" for Teen
- Genre: RPG
- Pros: Fun combat; solid voice cast; dragons; loads of costumes
- Cons: Ho-hum quests; lots of grinding
- MSRP: $50
Buy Shining Resonance Refrain at Amazon.com |
The story takes place in a medieval world of dragons and
specially trained humans called Dragoneers who commune with them through
magical musical instruments. The main character is a frail bishonen who holds
the soul of the great Shining Dragon (the dragon that rules all other dragons)
inside him. Naturally, with such a powerful force inside him he would be a
valuable asset to any of the warring nations of the world, but he settles on fighting
alongside a small nation under siege by a powerful Empire. He is joined by
an ensemble of mostly busty females and together they fight to stop the Empire
while keeping the power inside of him in check.
The story itself is solid enough - not spectacular but not
awful - but Shining Resonance Refrain throws another wrinkle at you since it is
actually a sort of dating sim underneath the serious RPG story. Your party's
ability in battle changes depending on your relationships with the other
characters - both male and female. By choosing traits (personality options that
grant different stats and abilities) for each character that compliment each
other as well as talking to characters (and going on dates) between missions,
you build relationships that greatly impact your combat abilities. I like this
system quite a lot, to be honest. I like the characters individually better
than the overall story, so going on dates and doing fun harem anime trope-y
stuff has a definite appeal to me.
Gameplay in Shining Resonance Refrain is fairly standard for
action RPGs. Enemies appear on the map with you and you initiate combat by
touching them. Combat feels very much like a Bandai Namco Tales game where you
can mash out attacks and use magic all in real time and it works well. Each
character has unique weapons and abilities and they all feel pretty different
to play as. There is some added depth, though, as each enemy type can be
staggered or their guard broken (for super extra massive damage for a brief
period) through different combinations of attacks and magic, so finding the
right sequence of moves to turn battles to your favor is the key to winning
battles. I also like that there is very little pomp and circumstance around
battles. Aside from a brief half-second pause when you enter and exit combat
mode, the game just flows along smoothly with the only results screens
appearing after major boss battles. The pacing when you're out in the world and
fighting enemies is very brisk, and I really like that.
One negative issue with Shining Resonance Refrain, however,
is that it can start to feel pretty repetitive. Side missions are almost always
just fetch quests and their rewards are usually just some generic item you can
find out in the world anyway so they don't typically feel worth doing. There
are also only a handful of enemy types and you just fight the same creatures - with different colors for different elements! - over and over again. The game
also requires a lot more grinding than most other RPGs I've played lately - not
just in the four years since Shining Resonance first released but for the last
10-15 years - which makes the feeling of repetition even worse. Not only does
the game have difficulty spikes you'll have to grind levels to overcome, but
you also have to level up everyone in your party equally (because the game
requires specific characters at certain points) which means swapping characters
out and grinding even more. I don't necessarily dislike grinding in RPGs,
especially when the combat is decently fun like it is here, but it does feel
pretty outdated compared to where most of the genre has gone over the last
couple of generations.
There are some other slight annoyances as well. There is no
fast-travel except for an item that instantly teleports you back to the main
city so there is a lot of running around through previously thoroughly explored
areas to get anywhere. I suppose since you have to grind so much you can get
some work done on the way, though. Also, in a weird quirk, your character skids
to a stop every time you let go of the run button rather than just slowing
down. This brief hitch in your movement gets really annoying, really fast.
The presentation in Shining Resonance Refrain is solid all
around. The characters look great but some of the environments have a bland and
distinctly last-gen look to them. As I mentioned, the game has a full English
dub and the cast of instantly recognizable voice actors does a lot to get you
engrossed in the game as they all do a great job. I know some folks prefer
Japanese voices (which are also available if you want) but I'm not one of those
folks. The music is also appropriate and well done, though not particularly
memorable.
For the most part, Shining Resonance Refrain is pretty
enjoyable. The combat is solid, there are lots and lots of dragons with cool
designs, and the characters are generally quite likeable and well done. The
little issues definitely do add up, though, which take it from being
potentially great to just good. Considering that there aren’t very many JRPGs
on Xbox One, however, makes the flaws easier to overlook. If you're in the mood
for an anime-inspired JRPG on Xbox One, Shining Resonance Refrain is definitely
worth a look.