Shine

Title: Shine
Author: Neshiro
Play Time: (1hour 25mins+ Finished)


SHINE


Hoooo boy, what to say about Shine. It's a visual novel with little player interaction, one of the first games of its type that I have ever played and more importantly, finished.
It was quite the experience, I'll tell ya. A roller coaster that really shows the ugly side of humanity. So I'll just dive in...

STORY/WRITING:
So, obviously this being a visual novel the story/writing department is the flagship here and I have to say it's very well written and very well thought out.
I won't take too much about the story itself because I'm not sure I even could. It's literally something you have to experience to get the full picture. Sure, I could give you a synopsis but really, if you have the time just play it.

I have to admit, I really didn't go into this game expecting much. From how it started and the description of the game it kinda sounded silly or might possibility be very poorly received on my part. I was wrong, this game blew those thoughts away as it delved deeper into the story and absolutely proved me wrong.
It felt like a plot to a psychological thriller movie, pulls you in and keeps you thinking. So well done in this department. These games rely on their stories and writing and I don't think this game will disappoint you if you're into visual novels. So A+ here

The end leaves a bit to be desired...and I like that. Really fucks with ya.

"Shine" shines in its writing and creepy story.

(To note: I found no typos/grammatical errors from what I saw, very nice.)

GRAPHICS:
It's all VX ACE RTP. So, standard game graphics. This is the part that if anything hurts the game. The story is so dark and vivid these graphics don't do it justice. But I understand. That's my only real gripe about this game.


The mapping isn't great. Very large and bland, though other maps aren't as bad


My complaint here is where did the chairs go? I'd suggest having them pushed haphazardly to the sides at least because yeah, they gone.

The mapping could use some work. It's definitely not the best but it does its job as it isn't a big part of the game. But it can be improved and would help a lot visually as you're looking at the same maps for extended periods of time.
The character sprites and facesets are decent, though you get some truly weird looking people and styles, I get it. There's something like 20 or so different students to create and keep track of so the effort is commendable.
Again, all RTP so nothing to write home about. If you ever have a chance of expanding/improving this game I would definitely start with the visuals as that is just as a key component to a Visual Novel as is the writing.
I don't mean to sound harsh, but it's ugly to look at for so long. :(

Still, the story and writing are the meat here and this is only a complaint to try and even this review out on what I like and think is good and what I don't like.

MUSIC:
This will cover sound effects too, obviously. As oh boy does this game really abuse sound effects and music. I hear a lot of RTP which makes sense but I also heard tracks I didn't recognize. I liked all the music that was chosen. What I enjoyed better than that if how often is changed to the mood and happenings in the game.
It was really quite a feat for the developer I would imagine having so many tracks and SEs flying around for each little que in emotion or scene.
Good work timing it correctly and for setting the mood perfectly. Well done all around here.

GAMEPLAY: Well, it's a visual novel. So there really isn't any gameplay so to speak. Not much to say here You walk around like twice I think and smash the enter/spacebar key a whole bunch. Finger work outs, that's for sure.
But it doesn't need it. The story is so gripping you forget you're playing a game and hopefully like I did, get sucked into what's happening.


ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, LIZARD, SPOCK!


For those of you who like Mafia, this game has an entire played out game of it! For someone who has never played but lurk every now and then it was pretty neat to learn some things about it.


Overall, it was quite the journey into the psyche of human nature. At least that's what came off strongly to me. It's just kind of a fucked up game if I can be crass.
Keeping you guessing, keeps you thinking. Especially thinking about the other people involved with this drug called "Shine"

It's a cool visual novel, and I recommend it to anyone who likes VNs and a good thriller/suspenseful mystery story!
You won't need to be under the influences of Shine to notice the depth and work effort put into this game...

You'll walk away and be like "Whaaaat?"

Which I have found it a good thing, in my opinion.

luceat lux vestra