With it launching in just over a week’s time on April 18, Enigami and Focus Home Interactive have released an action-packed trailer for Shiness: The Lighting Kingdom. Centred around the party members you’ll be travelling with during your adventure, the trailer feels like an advert for a forgotten Saturday morning anime, ripped straight from the mid 2000s.
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Designed by Enigami’s co-founder Samir Rebib, Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom’s main characters look like the typical cast of a shonen anime. You’ve got the plucky protagonist Chado with his red bandana and can-do attitude, you’ve got tubby engineer sidekick Poky complete with goggles and wrench, the fire mage and truth seeker Rosalya, master of wind and natural born leader Kayenne and world-renowned mercenary Askel who can never be seen without his trademark red rose. Throw in a warrior whose hair goes gold when he powers up and a female sailor with magic powers and you’ve filled out the anime bingo card.
While the characters may seem awfully familiar, the battle system in Shiness: The Lighting Kingdom is something that hasn’t really been seen before in traditional JRPGs. Mixing elements of action RPGs with a fighting game, Shiness has the party blocking, dodging and performing combos to damage their opponent. It even has a Marvel vs. Capcom-esque assist system, with players tagging in other party members to continue a string of attacks. There are even screen filling Hyper Combos which finish opponents with over-the-top combat animations.
The dodgy J-Rock song in the background just puts that authentic anime shine onto this trailer, making it a perfect nostalgia hit for anyone who watched shows like Dragon Ball Z back on Toonami. If you’re a fan of the Ultimate Ninja Storm series or other action RPGs like the Tales games, Shiness: The Lighting Kingdom should be right up your alley.
Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom launches on Steam April 18 for $29.99/£24.99. Those who pre-purchase will get the game for 15% off, alongside a copy of the game’s soundtrack and a digital copy of the Shiness manga.