Shining Resonance Refrain

For someone like me who lost interest in the Shining series long ago, Shining Resonance Refrain is an absolute delight. Although it doesn’t resemble anything like the strategy RPGs and dungeon crawlers I first fell in love with back in the 90s, Shining Resonance Refrain is a charmingly sweet JRPG with an engaging combat system that hides hundreds of tricks up its sleeves. With a cast of characters I won’t soon forget, Yuma’s personal story of dealing with the Shining Dragon is a tale I’m glad to have been apart of – even if there are some missteps along the way.

Shining Resonance Refrain is a triumphant return overseas for an iconic JRPG series. It has solid foundations in the usual JRPG business of fantasy kingdoms and amnesiac warrior boys, but it builds off of that foundation with charming characters and gorgeous art to create a pretty unique identity for itself. While some aspects of the game are a little unpolished, it’s still a standout JRPG worth standing alongside any of the other big players in that genre, and worth checking out by anyone who calls themselves a JRPG fan.

A great addition to the Shining franchise. Refrain is a fun title with good combat, interesting characters, and some great voice acting that accompany a great translation.

Although it follows the standard JRPG formula a little too closely, Shining Resonance Refrain makes for an enjoyable and lengthy experience filled with plenty of charm and satisfying combat.

Shining Resonance Refrain might be outclassed by modern JRPGs, but if you judge it on it's own merits, you'll quickly find that there is a lot to enjoy.

It’s been a long time since the Shining series has made its way out of Japan, with the last title being Shining Force EXA on the PS2 in 2007.  Since then, the series has changed dramatically, taking cues from other franchises like the Tales series and turning into a party-based action-RPG. Shining Resonance Refrain feels like a standard entry in the JRPG genre, not really failing at anything, but also not excelling at anything at either.

If you are looking for a JRPG that encapsulates the summer vacation experience, this one may very well be for you.

No summary available

Shining Resonance Refrain displays all the qualities one would expect in a JRPG game, albeit in a dated and unimaginative fashion. Fans of the genre will find plenty to sing about, but for those not sold on Japan's ideals of an RPG, there's little more here than a solid story and some good dungeon grinding.

What we have here is the video game equivalent of plain yogurt. There’s nothing really notable about it, but it’s perfectly edible and gets the job done if you’re hungry. If you’re really in the need to get your JRPG fix, there’s much worse you can play than Refrain. If you’re looking for something new and interesting, though, you’re not going to find it here.

Although Japanese gamers got to enjoy the latest Shining game back in 2014 for PlayStation 3, it's finally available in the west in an enhanced version. The question is: was Shining Resonance worth remaking?

A horribly generic Japanese role-player that has no glaring flaws but fails to offer a single interesting new idea or character of its own.