Title: Shining Resonance Refrain
Platform: Switch
Genre: Action RPG
Language: Japanese
Company: SEGA
Summary: I had low, LOW expectations on this from my general expectations of the Shining series in general, and I’m glad to see those expectations surpassed XD;
Story: 5… Super typical and predictable, and cutscenes take kind of long to go through… Auto-scrolling would have been really appreciated. You don’t play this game for the story anyway.
Characters: The seiyuu cast is the top motivation for me to play this, aside from the decent gameplay experience in general. I do have a special guilty pleasure space for Tony Taka art tohoho.
Sound: 10. WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME ELEMENTSGARDEN DID THE MUSIC… I mean, once in a while I get tired of the anime pop sound that ElementsGarden is typically known for, but in the grand scheme of things, I LOVE IT.
Gameplay: 8. I don’t think it’s fair to compare EVERY ACTION RPG to the Tales series as some people do, because Tales is on another league of its own (which I worship). Also, later Tales games have actual I-frame/dps meta to deal with…
This one’s just a neat take on the genre.

The game certainly comes with flaws–my biggest gripes would be the lack of hotkeys for items (but then Tales doesn’t really do this well either), and then also having to go into the pause menu to change characters in battle.
Fun thing about dodge button–you can dodge cancel the end of attack strings to go into another attack string faster, and then execute a skill once the action bar is depleted.
Marion is pretty unbalanced on the broken end because of this, but I am fine with this because of Sawashiro. Dodge canceling and spamming her special at the end of her string = broken

There are apparently some other sets of super broken stuff that can be done if you put some effort into it, but it’s not even needed?? I dunno, haven’t gotten to the optional mega boss, though we’ll see if I make the time for it.
Replay Value:
Overall: 8. I think some others would rate this lower, but for some additional context, this is a solid 8 given a DISCOUNTED PRICE. xD If I had to get this game at full price, I wouldn’t give it anything higher than a 7, and maybe even just a 6. But since I only paid about $15 for it, and this sale price should come up at certain intervals now, it’s a fine enough 8 at that price.

Tweets: https://twitter.com/SplashTOMATO/status/1349582155484065792

Nobunaga Shimazaki dragon is literally just action rpg version of FE Fates MCorrin www #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/y51GTedZWq

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) January 14, 2021

Takes a few hours to get out of the typical harem feel but all of a sudden back to back kamiyan and mamo #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/nvclgiqhnc

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) January 14, 2021

and then hoshi cuz he needs to be in every tony taka shining game apparently.. sad he's not playable this time? (just a baddie) pic.twitter.com/wjugpdwe1l

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) January 14, 2021

I do like me some hoshi badassery though even if it's twisted w #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/bZRIjByXPx

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) January 14, 2021

should i get his ending first? ufufufufufu kamiyan #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/cYrphaPgRJ

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) March 18, 2021

brofist feels hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/wPI7anLjD5

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) March 18, 2021

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