Shining Resonance: Refrain - REVIEW (Nintendo Switch) 

This game looks great. I love the art style. The Switch has me delving into more artistic Japanese games that i once would never play.

Not every game should be a 80 hours open world adventure,so I don't mind the linearity of this game,I look forward to try it,I'm getting this day one

It's sad when the Shining series is still thriving yet the original developers Camelot haven't made an RPG for eight years

I freakin love this game. Got the demo on Switch in like, August. I got the full game for Christmas and have been enjoying it. Can’t believe this game doesn’t get more attention than it does. Sure, the whole friendship theme going on in the group is a little clichè, and the low budget kinda shows at a few moments, but it’s nothing major.

The idea of running around in the same environments on repeat for around 30 hours reminds me of traumatic memories from Star Ocean 5

SEGA still at it with the Switch support

I’m excited to play this title on PS4 , one of my most anticipated games of the summer

I played the demo five times. I loved it so much. It plays almost like a Tales game which I love.

Switch needs all the RPGs it can get especially since NIS America is pretty much on full support

Reminds me VERY heavily of the Tales series. I'll be getting this while I wait for the new Tales game.

I played the demo & I fell in love with it. I can't wait to play the full game when I get it. Also would the refrain mode be considered the new game plus since they say you should save that for your second playthrough?

Sounds good! My Switch copy is arriving tomorrow via Amazon and I'm very excited to start playing

Wasn't impressed by the demo, but the trailer sold me. Also.......................DRAGONS!!!!!

I'm finally getting this due to the 50% off sale

I need to hurry up and finish YS VIII before it comes out, but I have to work today and feel like I'm only halfway.

I enjoyed the demo and went back for a second time it looks great on the Switch!

It's not shining Force so I'll pass. I recently finished Tears to Tiara II, and the experience reminded me once again how much I enjoy tactical RPGs. Of all the countless remasters and remakes, it's baffling to think how Sony doesn't bring the glorious Tactical RPG library of the PSP to the PS4/PS5. Jean D'ark with trophies and HDR anyone?

I just started playing this on xbox n i love it :D its like a miniature Final Fantasy in some way. Games like this we need more of on xbox.

I played the demo yesterday but couldn't find any reviews, thanks GameXplain

As a long time Shining Soul player, Shining Resonance looks to be a solid keeper.

Welp, thanx, I was planing on pickin this up 2morrow with some hesitation but now I can see its worth it

I've wanted this since I noticed it was coming out on switch, but it's sadly come out at a point where I have no monies. Will definitely pick it up once my poor bank balance recovers :P

I miss Camelot-made Shining games. :(

Sleeper hit for Switch

The steam version is part of the December Humble Bundle if anyone's interested. The bundle also includes a free month of ea play, I'm not going to use that so it's a holiday gift for one of my in-laws lol.

Definitely be picking this up...after I beat Ys 8 and Octopath.

I really loved the demo because the story intrigued me. now this video .....really sold me omg. I LOVEEEE rpg games with a good storyline

So they "refrained" from horrid business practice?

Looks great! One can only hope SEGA and Nintendo can hear us again and partner to give us a remaster/remake of Skies of Arcadia!!!

I'm playing it on the x1x, and I have to say how amazing this game turned out to be. I knew it was going to be good, but never knew it would be this good. Definitely an awesome game!

Very excited to get this. I’m going to try to beat Ys VIII today, so that I don’t have to worry about beating that, this and Octopath soon.

This game looks interesting, but I still have several Tales games I have yet to play that look like they'd be more fun.

That thumbnail is cleannnm

Why do the awesome games always come out when I’m unemployed and low on money? :(

I want my Force back... :( With Fire Emblem's popularity and acquisition of Atlus, SEGA needs to already be on a new installment!

Looks good. Love the art style and Tales-esque combat.

I might still get this game, but I think I will wait for a used copy.

Great review! Doesn't sound like my cup of tea as a game but the review seemed transparent and descriptive so thank you!!!

Atm Ive been playing without Yuma on my team. Using the shiny dragon almost feels like a cheap win compared to without.

I enjoyed the demo to this game, but I have to hold off on getting it. Octopath takes priority, and I've got my sights set on Mega Man X Legacy Collection and Code of Princess EX this month.

I wish they would go back and make another Shining Force game :'(

Anyone interested in this, get it NOW!!! U would get the Draconic launch edition with the metal slipcase plus u get to support good jrpgs like these coming to switch

This was a very fair review. It was biased, it stuck to the facts and you actually played the whole thing rather than just playing the demo and coming up with a biased answer based on a lack of info. I like this review.

I agree with most of your opinions I like it as well I kinda wish you could remap your controls instead of using the y button to block I would think the right trigger would be a more comfortable way to use a block and have the y button be a primary attack

I was looking for a review of this game this morning and I wondered why there weren't any. But I guess I can always count on GameExplain 😂

Played the demo and it was fun as hell. Hope to get it sometime soon

I really want them to stop degrading the Shining name and just give us Shining Force 4 or a remake of 3. So tired of them making random RPGs and slapping Shining on it.

It sounds like SEGA's got along way to go to bring the Shinning Series up to the same level of the Bandi Namco Tales Seires.

Thank you for remember the original Shining Force!

1. Camelot (formally sonic software planning) left after sega messed up big time with shining force 3. So any “shining” game afterwards are made by others groups (which is sad since I did enjoy the shining soul games and felt that if Camelot had worked on those, they would’ve turned out better). 2. Shining Resonance was Sega’s lowest selling game of last year with a metric score of 67 (which they’re lucky to even get). 3. From preordering this game and beating it, I can say it’s average overall (and not worth the $60 price, buy it used). It’s not bad, but it’s not that exciting. You’ve got 8 chapters in the game (though the first chapter can be finished in 5 mins). The pacing of the game is slow (things don’t pick up till around chapter 3) and by chapter 7, you would’ve gone through the same few areas over 50 times since there’s only one city (where your HQ is at) and can only teleport there. 3.Battles: this will either be fun or boring for the players. Because you always have to start at the city and run through the same areas to get to your destination, you’re gonna see the same enemies over and over (and barley gain any exp). Luckily you can run past most of the enemies. At least the boss battles are fun. 4. Characters: most of the heroes are boring/bland as hell. The main character is a whinny bitch for most of the game, Kirika is kinda boring (but not as bad as her brother), agnam is the typical hot head, Sonia was a typical princess, Marion was the most interesting of the heroes. The villains were awesome (except Zalbard, he was your typical evil knight). 5. Others: the music is ok, nothing on par with classics like chrono trigger, shining force, xenogears, etc.... but it works. There’s side quests and dates, but those will get repetitive. There is crafting (which works great) and plenty of room for customization of your characters ( from what attack’s are set, what orbs are equipped to them, the instruments that are equips, etc...)

I cant decide on if I want to get this for the PS4 or the Switch. We have both versions available still at work and I will likely be spending most of my upcoming Switch time on Octopath. I've been seeing mixed reviews on how this runs on the handheld version for the Switch but I'm seeing a lot of 30 fps reports with some dips while the ps4 version is 60 with some frame dips. It's really coming down to the convenience of the switch or the higher performance of of PS4. Aaahhh I cant decide on what to get!

Would you recommend this game when I have love xc2?

This is an absolutely excellent review, one of the best I've seen. You're a top reviewer, so I hope you're still doing them. I've subscribed, will follow regularly if you're still at it.

I need my animu fix!!!

The description is amazing.

Tony Taka's art style is lit. 👀👌

So I absolutely loved this game spent 100+ hours playing the game so far My favorite part of the story mode is when we go to save Sonia from Zest since Sonia is my favorite girl in the game And I love the Hot Spring event it makes me laugh and smile Not gonna lie I wish there was a little more fan service in the game but overall great game

It looks like the developers were heavily influenced by the Tales series.

You could say this game is Breath of Fire (because of transforming into a Dragon), mixed with an Action RPG combat system, Dating Sim and more :)

Gotta save a bit after a two week vacation, and I've already dedicated to getting Octopath on release. We'll see though, RPGs as a whole are my genre of choice, and a shorter one might actually see me finishing it.

The way I played this game and I feel like it is the difference between sword art online, which is the background on it and the combat abilities are almost the same thing.

I'm not even gonna lie. I downloaded the demo like three weeks ago and I haven't even booted it up.

4:51 them legs tho

I have this preordered for the switch. I'm not expecting much from the story, but the Tales of style combat seems fun. Really, I'm expecting it to just be relaxing and fun since I'm looking for a shorter/lighter jrpg before I get back into my backlog.

I actually have no idea whether I should get this or not. It reminds me of Tokyo mirage sessions and I really like that game

Got attached to this game. I just beat this game days ago. You really have to grind if you want the game to progress. :)

im still not convinced, the demo was horrible story wise. plot started with a jailbreak rescue mission which is alright (what can go wrong *wink wink* ), but i did felt some cringe reading the dialogue. yuma went from 0 to 100 in a matter of minutes... like what? i was expecting the 2 heroines to be powerful enough to escape with minimal hinderence including Excella's appearance and yuma having his surprise awakening scene later on like alot of animes/games does. i would have accepted that as standard and wouldn't complain. Yuma revealing to be the "Shining Dragon" so early as the prologue is rushed as fuq. and that "evil" princess excella did a questionable thing like summoning all her dragons very early into the game. Trishula is also a very weak dragon dying so easily during the prologue rofl. Trishula shouldn't have died, shouldn't have taken much damage in the 1st place; a cutscene should have followed after some of his health depleted. this would make Excella look stronger than she looks & wouldn't have to revive + summon her other 2 dragons; saving those surprises for later chapters. so, pacing was too fast for me that it felt rushed & it wasn't enjoyable to read; and this is just the prologue... i liked the gameplay tho except the camera angles; felt too constricting.

Tomorrow! Can not wait to play it 😍😍

Nice review, will be picking this up for my ps4.

those are some hot looking girls I'll tell you that

Can't wait to see it in 4k tomorrow I wonder if it will use HDR.

I liked the demo, but with Octopath Traveler (and Captain Toad) releasing in the same week.. No. Maybe later.

I enjoyed the demo so I think I'll like it.

I'm planning on getting this game once I have the money, but for the most part since I'm into Sega games I want to give it a shot. Especially since I should get interested into new things.

I picked this up for the PS4 as a palette cleanser after 50 hours of the emotional rollercoaster that was Tales of Berseria. I'm enjoying the bright, colorful simplicity of Shining Waifus so far.

A very thorough review! Thanks a lot.

Every one wants to be friend the switch

The trailers had me at playable dragons. This just sold it.

Is the framerate as unstable as in this video?

They added Captain Toadette as a 2 player

I'm sure the game is fine and I would love a good anime game... I cant help but think it looks like an generic anime premise with generic anime protag.

So I'm just wondering, do I have to have prior knowledge of the Shining series, or can I jump in blind?

Before I watch i already pre ordered so I don't care if it's a total flop i loved the demo don't care what anyone says wow it was very positive

Need to check this game out myself

I have this for the switch but I'm thinking on getting it for the ps4 as well, because I miss getting trophies. Should I get it for the ps4 as well or no?

The last Shining game I play was maybe 15 years ago, Shining Tears for the Playstation. I loved that game. Currently playing it and the battle system is unpolished of the style of the old tales of series, but imo more responsive than the newer Star Ocean game. Solid pick up for me, but the price may understandably turn consumers away. Blonde Elf Girl Waifu

I had high hopes when I saw a trailer , right now Im still not sure how much I will enjoy it but the playstyle looks nice enough , something to consider getting on sale perhaps.

it depressed me they turned the series into anime nonsense. shining force 2 is still the best game in that genre i've ever seen.

I think I'll check this one out after Octopath Traveler.

Ok but how is the music?

I played the demo and it was pretty good. Might pick this one up once I'm finished with Octopath

Do you have to play the other games to understand the plot?

You sold the game decently to the crowd, but still I am unsure what it is about and how many hours I would spend on it. Anything near Xc2? You mainly talk about how small it is, but I saw a world map, so kinda confused. Still thanks for this contribution.

All I can think of is how Sonia's armour has a big sign saying "attack here for massive damage". Such impractical armour. I tried the demo but it isn't for me.

Just bought it because the girl in the cover, reminded me of Rikka from Chunibyo. I hope I like the game? Lol

I want all the Tales of games on the Switch.

I'm liking it so far Atm I'm not noticing any kind of difficulty... then again I do try to dodge and run around as much as possible. but who knows, maybe a tad later ingame enemies make it harder to do so?

charged for continues? i dont recall that. i played and beat the game on ps3.

I just got it on Xbox on sale

I was excited to hear we were getting a Shining game, but this is not what I expected, sadly. I'll just stick to Tales to scratch my JARPG itch.