During Black Friday, I grabbed a copy of Shining Resonance Refrain. EB games was selling the steelbook edition for cheaper than a used copy! Felt like a real bargain and I was looking for a good action RPG.
Is it an action RPG? Yes, yes it is. However, the reviews do not call this a waifu simulator without reason. And, as I found out, the dating portion of the game is significant. Can I ignore it? Yes, I could. But then I would miss out on a lot of power-ups. Or whatever they call it in-game.
The other redeeming feature of the PS4 remake is that all the DLC from the older console is included. Which means if you want, you can have all the females of your party in bikinis (even in cut-scenes). It was nice to look at ... initially. Beyond a point, the novelty wore off. Perhaps, it's because it _is_ an action RPG, so unless you are controlling a female character, you don't really look at them all the time. But, if you don't control the main lead, he'll never transform in to dragon mode. Speaking of which, the dragon mode is nice. Really helps to finish off a hard boss battle.
Looking at the box art for the game, Shining Resonance Refrain advertises that growing relationships with teammates is a part of the game. I can vouch that it is a significant part of the game.
Another significant part of the game is back-tracking. This really wouldn't be too much of an issue, if I really enjoyed the battle system, but as things stand ... it feels vanilla to me. And after about part way through chapter 3 ... the motivation to continue is lost.
I think it's probably because I was hoping for a fun story. There is a story in here, but the side dating mechanic is soo distracting that I can't focus on it (I keep a web browser open with dialog options and outcomes open on the side when I play this game).
So what am I playing now? When I went to EB games a week-ish ago, they had a used copy of Just Cause 4, selling for about ~15 CAD cheaper than a new copy. I was in a mood for mindless destruction and JC4 delivers. The game is simply _fun_. Will write more about it later, but my biggest gripe so far, is that enemies spawn as soon as you move about and change camera - it's an interesting challenge on it's own. Don't just kill the enemies - be smart about what you take out.
-chronodekar