Introduction
You can buy the game on Steam or Xbox Store or PlayStation Store for $29.99
GAMEPLAY
The game opens up with Chado soaring across the sky with one of his companions in a flying ship, when they suddenly start to face a storm like event. Unable to hold on, the ship ultimately crashes and Chado is by himself in a strange world. This is where you begin controlling his adventure. A short tutorial will teach you all the details but I'll give you some insight on how it operates. The normal traversing of the environments acts like a classic third-person platform title, where looking for the patch or vertical opportunities will allow progression. The game has a nice balance between tight corridor-like maps, but then other times allowing you to move across big open fields. The environments you'll find yourself in are very unique of each other but never display any full-blown cliche themes (I'll explain more in the graphics section).
The combat is where Shiness seeks to separate itself from the RPG games. Everything happens in real-time and in a defined combat circle. When you engage with an enemy, a forcefield like structure will raise around the scene. The cool part about this is that it's not simply a wall to trap you inside, but it displays different colors to represent which elements are boosted. For example, if it changes to blue, water-based attacks will have an increased amount of damage. This works for both you and the enemy so be aware of the wall at all times; it may make the difference between you playing aggressive offense or conservative defense. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "how does any of this separate the game from many other RPG titles?"
The combat itself has no physical weapons. You won't be looking to upgrade your sword or shield, or trying to strategize when to whip out the bow and arrow. Instead it acts like a brawler in the sense that you can either punch, kick, or dodge, block, or use your elemental abilities. The fights are one-on-one with the enemy, but you'll be able to swap out with one of the other party members. Running around you'll have two companions at your side ready for anything. The only complaint I have about the fighting is how miserable the camera can . It loves to hide behind trees and rocks when you get close to the edge of the elemental battle wall. At times I couldn't see my character or the enemy. Traversing the world wasn't bad, but the combat suffered a small amount because of it.
Sound and Graphics
Conclusion
Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is well worth the time and money, but you have to be aware of the couple flaws involved, as well as its overall structure as an RPG game. The combat aspires to be more of a 1-on-1 fighter, but nicely integrates the RPG elements with the use of abilities and an elemental wall that can be benefited from (or can help your opponent). Many will find the length of the game to be 20-30 hours (more or less depending on your pace) but features a good amount of side quests and off the beaten path adventuring. The camera can be a huge pain, and the voice acting will most likely not be loved, nor hated. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in this strange world with strange characters and am looking forward to replaying it sometime in the near future. It tries to do a lot and for the most part successfully delivers.
Pros | Cons |
+ Great price: $29.99 | – Camera will act bi-polar |
+ Some may like a more condensed RPG adventure | – Some may feel it lacks length for an RPG |
+ Fun combat mechanics |