Shining Tears

"Tears of Boredom!"

I cannot begin to tell you how boring this game turned out to be. Don't make the same mistake I did in buying this crappy, boring game. Here is how I rate Shining Tears and why:

Graphics (7)
The only thing good in this game is the fact that it looks somewhat hand-drawn. I like old school graphics, so, this game stays true to that path.
Too bad the other elements of this game fell way short of good.

Story (4)
The story is silly, uninteresting, slow, and poofy (full of fluff and air). Nothing about the story or the main characters really grabbed my attention for much longer than the first 5 minutes of the game opener (the best part of the game).
If you don't believe me...play it for yourself and you'll see (rent if you must play).

Characters (5)
The main characters are cute and bubbly, and they all team up with the story's hero to fight hordes (gobs and gobs of them) of meanies.
There is nothing even remotely special or memorable about the main characters. In fact, I found their backgrounds and stories to be quite cheesy and unimportant.

Music/Sound (4)
Nothing memorable here...total yawnsville. There are hardly any voice overs, but there is tons and tons to read and that would be fine if the story wasn't so boring and repetitive. You'll want to scream after reading about the freakin rings every time you get ready to go into battle! Just put the damn rings on and fight already!!!

Game Play (4)
Boring, boring, boring. The circle button is enough to beat the game. If you know where the circle button is on your PS2 controller...you may quite possibly have the power to complete this weird game. There are "special" moves you can execute for fancier attacks, but why even bother going through the hassle when the average circle button attack can get the job done and with less risk of screwing up? This game had the potential to be fun and challenging, but instead it became bothersome and boring. I couldn't wait to complete it so I could sell it back and buy something fun and different. If you could get cabin fever from a video game, it would be called Shining Tears. Sorry to say that the only tears I shed from this game were the many tears of boredom. You will get tired of brainlessly hacking through tons and tons of boring bad guys in impossible numbers. Your fingers will fall asleep and your eyes will shut before you realize it. If the game play doesn't put you to sleep, the loading times will.

Should I rent or buy???
RENT...nothing more to say.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/06