Shining Resonance Refrain

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 58 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 58
  3. Negative: 12 out of 58
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  1. Tarks_Gauntlet
    Jul 19, 2018
    6
    An "Okay at best" rpg with a generic world, slow story, bland characters, good music, and a great battle system tragically marred by performance issues. There's not much else to say here besides this, Shining resonance refrain, refrains from resonating shiningly.
  2. karmic_devil
    Mar 18, 2021
    5
    This game is...fine.
    It's got an incredibly shallow relationship system (aka dating sim) built it.
    The bonds you can form are stereotypical, boring, and frankly often just an excuse to show a camera angle perfectly framed on some anime girl's chest. The combat is fun for a while but eventually gets repetitive. The story moves very slowly. You spend a lot of time running errands. I    This game is...fine.
    It's got an incredibly shallow relationship system (aka dating sim) built it.
    The bonds you can form are stereotypical, boring, and frankly often just an excuse to show a camera angle perfectly framed on some anime girl's chest.
    The combat is fun for a while but eventually gets repetitive.
    The story moves very slowly.
    You spend a lot of time running errands.

    I didn't hate the time I spent with this game but I would certainly not do it again.    … Expand
  3. vahn
    Dec 25, 2019
    7
    Shining Resonance Refrain is an HD port of a ps3 game that was japan only, adding all the DLC in it as well as a new mode called Refrain which allows you to play 2 extra characters from the start rather than postgame. Despite being an HD port it does have some issues due to the Ps3 limitations of the time and other details that could've used some QoL changes

    The game is an action JRPG    Shining Resonance Refrain is an HD port of a ps3 game that was japan only, adding all the DLC in it as well as a new mode called Refrain which allows you to play 2 extra characters from the start rather than postgame. Despite being an HD port it does have some issues due to the Ps3 limitations of the time and other details that could've used some QoL changes

    The game is an action JRPG so your usual "button spamming" and "skill usages" are your main thing, including a stamina bar to avoid spamming your basic attacks and a heavy attack that can break defenses. The combat itself is a mixed bag: it's very satisfying and very fun, especially how the characters differ and have different playstyles but, on the other hand, combat is also rather slow and whenever you enter or win a battle you have to wait a few seconds.
    Combat animations are also rather slow and the skills feel lackluster and not powerless, including the sound effects used for your attacks. It could've been made better for sure.

    Combat customization is pretty interesting though: characters don't have armors or weapons to equip but instead you buy aspects, which are your stats upgrade and perks: the system is highly reminiscent of FF7 materia system and each "materia" grants specific buffs or even perks to specific characters and considering they don't become obsolete all that much they're quite useful to keep.

    There's also tuning customization which is like a specc-kind of upgrade: each character can change the tuning of their weapon and which allows them to have different effects, such as elemental attack or stronger heals or faster attacks. Together with the Aspects you can create some interesting builds!

    And last and least the story is...well there, it's detailed enough but it does take some time to get better, however, the main issue is that the game is very anime, and by anime I mean "super-duper innocent boy has harem of super duper sexy girls who want to get laid by him and believe me when I say that it does get distracting.

    One reason why I never got into anime is for this reason: fanservice can be enjoyable but in a lot of anime I've seen it's just distracting and serves no purpose but to arouse boys (and I guess girls too) into having fantasies with their favorite waifus and husbands.
    Don't get me wrong here I LOVE some of the girls too but the fanservice is really distracting here and you'll notice all the generic clichès right away: Yuma is a silent innocent boy who strangely enough attracts all the girls like a magnet and said girls, from potentially interesting and well-rounded characters, become so relentlessly dumber it feels like it's a joke.
    For example, Kirika is a very composed woman but practically starts ventilating when she's around Yuma; Rinna teases him all the time for no real reason but because he's innocent, and Marion is pretty much so direct she hugs him and tells how nice he is. If anything Sonia and Excella seem the most normal girls of the bunch...they got other interests beyond sucking Yuma's D.
    And the fun fact is I don't hate Yuma! He's actually kinda nice, I like his determination near the middle of the game, he does become better and sure of himself but it's like he's got an aura that renders all young women of the game dumber. I assume it's some clichè but I can't tell.

    Do I recommend it? Yes, it's honestly a good game, nothing too amazing but it does its job well, the characters are likable until they enter "dumb" mode and the voice acting is pretty good too - there's also JP too.

    The only problems are that it's a port of a ps3 game and it shows - textures are still meh and the areas are very incredibly small - and despite having a new mode there's no reason to play in Original since Refrain is "complete". In addition, the game is insanely greedy and it will ask you to farm mats to create the best aspects in order to be effective, including an aspect that allows your characters to get exp while not in combat - yep, it's that kind of RPG where you gotta keep everyone leveled and YES you need to keep everyone leveled!
    Add the issue that some fights can be broken and easily wipe your party, overly expensive items that force you to either farm money or farm mats to save money, or that there's no fast travel AT ALL in the entire game, meaning that you will ALWAYS have to run to your destination every time you must proceed with the story (there is a teleport back to the home city, THANK GOD), it's gets really hard to give a good score since a lot of the issues could've been patched or modified, as they could easily be small QoL changes. Heck the game suffers from annoying frame rate too! How can you NOT fix that?!

    Overall I do recommend it, even better if discounted: it's a nice and enjoyable jrpg to relax while you wait to play a much bigger game. Just a shame that there's so many little flaws that only stack up and create a bigger issue that can't be ignored. But overall it's fine!    … Expand
  4. Kinokee
    Jan 16, 2020
    5
    I had a lot of terrible frame rate drops despite this being a HD remake of the ps3 version. Game still has some incredible difficulty spikes without mundane grinding but is made better with the grimoire. The game is best played with a guide so that you know where to find the materials you need for things you didn't know you wanted. Playing through blindly is such a hassle and detriment itI had a lot of terrible frame rate drops despite this being a HD remake of the ps3 version. Game still has some incredible difficulty spikes without mundane grinding but is made better with the grimoire. The game is best played with a guide so that you know where to find the materials you need for things you didn't know you wanted. Playing through blindly is such a hassle and detriment it left a foul taste afterwards. The item lists, where to find them, quests given and how/when/ for what purpose all need more work. The game would have been a lot better if they communicating all their systems and item management properly. Pointlessly attaching quest items to rare spawns at low drop rates is a dick move by the devs to increase player playtime. It's a waste of time. If this had a bunch of QoL improvements it could have been a decent game.… Expand
  5. Persona5GOAT
    Jun 4, 2020
    5
    Was good until mid game and everything started to get bad. No fast travel, bad AI, Grimoire doesn't seem worth it, enemy drops NON-EXISTENT (seriously i can't get anything i need anywhere ever), the grind is real and it sucks very very very badly, sometimes just way way way too much effing useless dialogue. A bunch of combat mechanics that still don't make a lot of sense to me or when theyWas good until mid game and everything started to get bad. No fast travel, bad AI, Grimoire doesn't seem worth it, enemy drops NON-EXISTENT (seriously i can't get anything i need anywhere ever), the grind is real and it sucks very very very badly, sometimes just way way way too much effing useless dialogue. A bunch of combat mechanics that still don't make a lot of sense to me or when they do make sense i still rarely use or need them.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Worth Playing
    Oct 24, 2018
    60
    The European aspects with gallant warriors fighting off the impending doom of dragons is incredibly fun in this game. It's the perfect amount of challenge, and it almost presents the player with a JRPG-Musou hybrid that's rewarding to play. However, music and story are largely lacking in the game, either being convoluted or unimaginative, if not both. Given the overly complex customization and sexist tones, the whole project drops from above average to lackluster. Shining Resonance: Refrain is a learning opportunity in recognizing when parts of a game are overextended or outdated.
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  2. Gamers Heroes
    Aug 26, 2018
    60
    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.
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  3. DarkStation
    Aug 9, 2018
    70
    In the end, Shining Resonance Refrain is a solid addition to any JRPG fan's lineup, but honestly, I'd recommend it to hardcore JRPG fans looking for something new. For as many things as Shining Resonance gets right, it stumbles with as well which leads to a very generic RPG in the end (retreading areas and reusing enemies over and over really make this title seem like it was made on a budget). If you can live with all of that and can't wait another minute to dig into another adventure, you're definitely in luck with this localization!
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