Shining Resonance Refrain
Skip · RPG · 2018
Steam Deck VerifiedThe verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 24, under the fair line, at $29.99.
- Length
- 30.1h
- Value
- $1.00/hr
- Reviews
- 69% positive
Watch this gameOne alert when it is worth buying.
Minimum on the Steam store: 4 GB of memory, Video card with 1 GB VRAM (Nvidia GeForce 460 or AMD Radeon 5670). Windows only.
Play as Yuma Ilvern and stop the Empire from exploiting the power of the ancient dragons, including the soul of the Shining Dragon within you. With the help of your friends, realize your destiny, save Astoria, and unleash the strength you’ve always had locked away.
What drives the score
How to read this
Grades run S to D, read from the buyer's side. ▲ marks a lift, ▼ a drag or a dock, ? an input we do not have, • a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
The value story
It has never been cheaper than $5.99. That was March 2024. Its cuts run 75 percent off as a rule. There have been 56 in the 8 years tracked, about 7 weeks apart.
It is pricier than 95 percent of its genre, and less well reviewed than 73 percent. Among the games that feel like it, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ($29.99, scores 76) beats it on value, while it beats Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty ($39.99, scores 1).
Steam's global achievement data puts about 5 percent of players at this game's ending achievement. On a 30.1-hour game, the hours short of it still count in its price per hour. 1 of the 405 Steam-purchase reviews sampled here comes from a buyer who refunded the game, sampled from reviews written March 2020 to August 2026. Inside the two-hour refund window, 58 percent of the 128 reviews written there were positive, against 69 percent overall, and those are 14 percent of everything written about it.
Finishing takes 30.1 hours; clearing it takes 64, which is 2.1 times the campaign.
It carries Valve's Deck Verified rating, which is the one that means it just works.
The drop-off
75% start to 5% finishSteam counts fewer than one in ten of its players at the ending achievement. On a 30.1-hour game, that's a lot you pay for and may never use. Steam global achievements
Players
2 players online when we last checked, on Sep 29, 06:50 UTC.
Player counts from the Steam Web API.
What players say
I just don't think it holds up to modern RPG and JRPG standards. It really doesn't feel smooth to play, and I feel this makes the game feel needlessly difficult, unless it's just meant that way and supposed to be compensated with grind, can't really tell. (You also sometimes get forced out of playing your standard cast which is a massive nerf unless you planned for it.) Voicing is fine, music is fine, characters so...
I'd only recommend this if you are a huge jrpg fan and have exhausted the list of studio jrpgs on Steam; even then, only buy it at a steep discount. Combat becomes repeating one combo over and over again. Boss battles become buff yourself with music, turn into a dragon, and spam attack. If you don't kill the boss during the dragon phase you go back to spamming the same original combo. The story and the characters...
Originally released in 2014, Shining Resonance is a unique JRPG with greatly enjoyable lore, an innovative combat system, and interesting mechanics. Refrain adds bonus content and additional playable characters. Had a great time through multiple playthroughs. Worth a look, especially for JRPG fans.
Steam reviews, mixed to match its Steam ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
Cite this score
Shining Resonance Refrain scores 24/100 on the BANG Score (a skip) as of Oct 2, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/809890/shining-resonance-refrainReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Sep 27, price as of Oct 1.
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