Shining Resonance Refrain

 Switch
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 93 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 93
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 93
  3. Negative: 13 out of 93
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  1. CayesaDE
    Jul 10, 2018
    10
    Shining Resonance Refrain is pretty incredible on Switch: beautiful visuals in 720P / 30FPS, good characters, fun battles and nice soundtrack. It's a Tales Of game but without the name :)
    An excellent RPG to buy alongside Octopath Traveler.
  2. Kraehe
    Jul 12, 2018
    8
    Nice JRPG, beautiful graphics and really good music. Stereotypical and goofy characters. If you like the Tales of Series i think wou will have fun with this game. Runs smooth in Handheld and docked mode.
  3. Virefly
    Dec 30, 2020
    4
    The game is interesting but in my opinion the gameplay is bad, you can't cancel the animation to dodge from an attack and the boss fights you had no time to prepare because you ho from boss to another without preparing. The only good thing is the characters...Kirika is definitely waifu material.
  4. Enkindled
    Aug 24, 2018
    7
    Shining Resonance Refrain is a JRPG focused on a classic JRPG lore (Shy Nice Guy FIghts the Evil Empire) with great combat mechanics. However, I have some things to say about it. Please listen, because some things are awesome, others are annoying as hell.

    The Good: -Great Voice acting. The actors really put a lot of effort into their acting and look amazing. -The graphics are good.    Shining Resonance Refrain is a JRPG focused on a classic JRPG lore (Shy Nice Guy FIghts the Evil Empire) with great combat mechanics. However, I have some things to say about it. Please listen, because some things are awesome, others are annoying as hell.

    The Good:

    -Great Voice acting. The actors really put a lot of effort into their acting and look amazing.
    -The graphics are good.
    -The soundtrack is OK. At some points, it is awesome (When you use BAND), but in general, you will forget.
    -AMAZING combat. For me, this is the meat of the game and what really makes me keep going. The combat pacing is perfect, the moves and special attacks connect as you expect. Its fast as you want, but not too fast to be one of those crappy systems (I am looking to you FF XIII). You have a broad range of special moves and combinations.
    - Great party choices. That's another great layer of the game. You have a list of fine characters to chose, all of them good. Seriously, no one is bad and you will be feeling the need to leveling them all up.
    -Relationship quests. Some of you may not like this, but it is a classic layer of complexity for JRPGs. You can get to know your party better and advance in some sort of love subplot with the characters of your choice.
    -Grimoire Systems. You will know when you get it.
    -The characters have classic personalities (you know, from every anime), but this is common for JRPG. Nevertheless, they are all interesting, and you will not care about this. So, thumbs up for all of them. Talk to them, it is nice and pretty funny.
    -The core idea of the story is original, but only that.

    The Cons:

    -Some people like the story and I thought it would get better, but after 30+ hours I saw where it was taking me and... well, it is so standard, so generic that I don't see how some people can say "AMAZING STORY". It is so...so....so...standart.
    -Way too many dialogs, cutscenes and subplots that are not even close to interesting. And they stuffed the game with them. All I can say, I don`t even want to talk to NPCs (except for the party members), because whatever they say, it is not important or cool.
    -Downright lame sidequests. That's all, downright lame. And they packed the game with tons of them.
    -Yuma. Yeah, the protagonist is a Con, because he sucks so much. He is great in combat, and that's it. I prefer any other party member that Yuma in terms of character. He is the lamest character in the game, BY FAR.

    In summary, its a good game for the Switch and I would advise you to play it, seriously, it is a good game. But have some flaws that, for me, ruins the flow of the game and the fun I could be having. The story is nice, but they could have given a little more thought to make it better. If Yuma was a better protagonist that would have boosted the story more, but that's not the case. Thus... guys, buy the game, it is good, but you will see some bumps on the road.    … Expand
  5. Shade71
    Jul 11, 2018
    10
    Absolutely amazed by this game. Very deep and intuitive battle system and character relationships. Solid story with English voice localization. Visually it’s top shelf with a smooth frame rate. I also preordered Octopath Traveler but it will have to wait until I play this into the ground first. Highly recommend if your a fan of the genre. Instant classic.
  6. Davel33123
    Jul 17, 2018
    10
    Best game on the switch so far in 2018.
    Amazing graphics , Great characters , Great lore, amazing soundtrack and outstanding combat and gameplay.
    Dont listen to the moronic critics ! Play the game to when you get all 4 characters in a party and open up the Grimoire ! you will then start to see how good this game is. Its much better than the Tales series and has the charm of the    Best game on the switch so far in 2018.
    Amazing graphics , Great characters , Great lore, amazing soundtrack and outstanding combat and gameplay.
    Dont listen to the moronic critics !
    Play the game to when you get all 4 characters in a party and open up the Grimoire ! you will then start to see how good this game is.
    Its much better than the Tales series and has the charm of the original shining force games even though its a different style of game.
    Dont listen to the haters support these games.    … Expand
  7. sonicpulsar
    Jul 15, 2018
    10
    I love this game. Graphics and combat are great, and the characters and story captivating. It runs smoothly on Switch both on TV and handheld. If you like story/quest driven games and JRPGs go for it.
  8. ket
    Aug 19, 2023
    8
    Shining Resonance is a much smaller in scope RPG to a lot you might be used to such as Final Fantasy but the story is none the less interesting with solidly written characters. The one character you'll likely find disliking is Yuma himself for his constant self doubt whining which will become a real grating ballache and I truly believe the game would have been better taking his importantShining Resonance is a much smaller in scope RPG to a lot you might be used to such as Final Fantasy but the story is none the less interesting with solidly written characters. The one character you'll likely find disliking is Yuma himself for his constant self doubt whining which will become a real grating ballache and I truly believe the game would have been better taking his important story arch components and rolling it into any of the other much more appealing characters. Gameplay is fun but side quests are a chore, very dated fetch quest stuff which while dull, most are tolerable. The lack of a proper fast travel system does get grating however and feels like the semi fast travel system there is was designed that way deliberately to serve as padding. If you are an RPG fan there is a lot to like and enjoy here just don't be expecting a globe trotting adventure.… Expand
  9. Phuz
    May 4, 2021
    10
    I get a lot of Tales of Zesteria vibes from this game.

    Lets get it out of the way, the lead character is a big mincing donut puncher. He is a mardi little irritating cry baby. Now the rest of the game. Beautiful game world and graphics. The colours were good, the designs were nice, the town that acts as a hub just had me thinking if I could go on a city break anywhere, it would be here.    I get a lot of Tales of Zesteria vibes from this game.

    Lets get it out of the way, the lead character is a big mincing donut puncher. He is a mardi little irritating cry baby.

    Now the rest of the game. Beautiful game world and graphics. The colours were good, the designs were nice, the town that acts as a hub just had me thinking if I could go on a city break anywhere, it would be here. It was just really pleasant to look at.

    Now the story seems OK so far. Voice acting for a few of the characters is actually very good and I don't think I've ever said that about any game.


    The music was good. The character designs were really good, they had very likeable looks. Now I'm not far in to the game but it just works. The characters, sound, world, graphics, gameplay. It's all really enjoyable and works together as a sum of its parts, whereas some games feel like the parts were made with no communication and feel shallow, this feels like all departments were singing from the same hymn sheet. It has charm and character and it makes me want to play more each time. Great game.    … Expand
  10. VideofulJoe
    Dec 19, 2019
    7
    Pese a ser un JRPG que no destaca mucho del montón, Shining Resonance Refrain es una experiencia amena y entretenida gracias a un buen sistema de combate y a interacciones diversas entre los personajes que complementan una aventura que puedes llevar a tu propio ritmo.

    Lo Bueno: - Sonia - Se pueden hacer locuras con el sistema de afinidad. -El sistema de combate hace divertida la    Pese a ser un JRPG que no destaca mucho del montón, Shining Resonance Refrain es una experiencia amena y entretenida gracias a un buen sistema de combate y a interacciones diversas entre los personajes que complementan una aventura que puedes llevar a tu propio ritmo.

    Lo Bueno:

    - Sonia
    - Se pueden hacer locuras con el sistema de afinidad.
    -El sistema de combate hace divertida la experiencia.

    Lo Malo:

    - La historia no es nada del otro mundo.
    - Los personajes no ganen EXP si no están en la party. Lo que siempre le bajará puntos a un RPG desde mi punto de vista.
    - El capítulo 07 te obliga a usar personajes específicos, lo que se vuelve un verdadero problema para avanzar en la historia si los tienes a nivel bajo.    … Expand
  11. Starfree
    Dec 11, 2020
    7
    This is a really fun Action RPG with a decent story. The gameplay is a little bland and it’s really easy. A little too simp baity for my liking but if you into that kind of stuff you’ll like this.
  12. DoomItself
    Dec 9, 2019
    6
    Not a bad game but also not great.
    The in game dating sim had me embarrassed to be seen playing this game. The character designs for the most part were ridiculous and their cliche alternate outfits didn't help. The dialogue was equally terrible, no one, anywhere, ever talks so openly about their feelings. Locations are repeated passed through while enemies just get stronger and the use of    Not a bad game but also not great.
    The in game dating sim had me embarrassed to be seen playing this game. The character designs for the most part were ridiculous and their cliche alternate outfits didn't help. The dialogue was equally terrible, no one, anywhere, ever talks so openly about their feelings. Locations are repeated passed through while enemies just get stronger and the use of pretty awful unless you're a fan of the genre of what I guess would fall under Jpop.
    All those problems I have with it aside, the actual combat was fun. Transforming into a dragon and decimating your foes was great or just blasting and slashing away was equally satisfying.    … Expand
  13. IRON_SOUL
    Aug 5, 2022
    10
    Shining resonance refrain is a pleasant surprise! The game combines rpg elements with action well, the combat system is fluid and very fun. The plot of the game is very interesting, sometimes it can be tedious and cliche, but the characters are extremely charismatic, it is worth going through some tedious moments. Overall, Shining resonance is one of the best RPGs I've played in recent years!
  14. GavinRhodes
    Jul 28, 2022
    9
    this game is amazing the gameplay feels very good and while it does require grinding sometimes it never feels like too much . visually its pretty damn good and to be honest the only technical issue i had was a random crash just two times in my several hundred hours . the story is very captivating and i had a good time with this game . the dating sim mechanics were VERY apricated

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Oct 29, 2018
    70
    This is an OK RPG – it's just not a great one. [Issue #36 – November/December 2018, p. 85]
  2. Games Master UK
    Aug 9, 2018
    67
    A lesser JRPG revival for Sega, though hardcore players will find depths worth exploring here. [Issue#333, p.75]
  3. GameOver.gr
    Aug 2, 2018
    80
    Shining Resonance Refrain returns after a very long hiatus on the Western shores, in an amazing, shining package. A game with an enthralling story and captivating characters, beautiful visuals and a battle system that tries to function as intended, but suffers from technical issues related to its age. With all-new content and the promise of an improvement to the series, Shining Resonance Refrain is definitely an authentic JRPG adventure that should not be missed by gamers who craved the return of the series.
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