Shining Resonance Refrain
Shining Resonance Refrain is the first game in the long-running Shining series to make it out of Japan in a very long time. For a lot of people outside in Japan, their last experience with the Shining series might have been with the Shining Force strategy games for the Genesis that have been re-released through various Genesis collections over the years.
Shining Resonance Refrain is nothing like those games. It has evolved into an action-RPG developed by the folks behind Wild Arms. Still, regardless on where the series now versus what it was, based on what we played at E3, you’re looking at a solid ARPG. Combat is fast-paced, but still retains some of the tactical nature of the older games as some characters are clearly more efficient with very different roles in combat such as healing, casting, tanking, or ranged damage attacks.
The game follows the story of a human Yuma Irvan, who also happens to be an ancient and powerful dragon. This catches the attention of many in the world of Shining Resonance Refrain, as there are plenty of people that seek to either manipulate, befriend, and/or slay dragons. As you might imagine, this complicates things for poor Yuma who aside from the whole transforming into a fearsome dragon thing, is actually quite passive and reserved. Shining Resonance Refrain features romance elements though, so you’ll be able to get him out of his shell eventually, don’t worry about that.
Bottom line, if you’re into ARPGs, JRPGs, and dating sims, Shining Resonance Refrain is going to roll all of that into one nice package that you can play on any modern platform you want.
