Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom

From Naruto to Ninja Gaiden: noughties nostalgia in a nutshell.

- Alex Dale

The action kicks off with two vaguely pirate-y cat-men piloting an airship – your first clue, perhaps, that this isn’t going to be the tonal kick-up-the backside the cliché-ridden RPG genre needs. Indeed, within moments of pressing the start button, our heroes crash-land in a kingdom plagued by magical imbalances. An RPG Cliché Event Horizon is triggered, dooming us all to a lifetime of fighting bats in caves and naming our firstborn things like ‘Kain’ or ‘Cid’.

But while Shiness’ plot might be about as original as the Klimt painting in your gran’s spare room, this indie effort still manages to push the genre forward in its own small way, blending game styles to provide a punchy, streamlined alternative to the bloat of 100-hour mainstream RPGs.