Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is a game about light. It wants you to feel the warmth of a sunbeam, the sparkle of a gem, the glow of a distant city. It wants you to care about its four protagonists, each one a different animal with a different skill, and it wants you to enjoy solving its puzzles with a touch of style. Mostly, it wants you to forgive its rough edges, because the ambition behind it is real. That ambition is also the problem.
The game launched in 2017 for PS4, PC and Xbox One. It came from Blue Tea Games, a studio built around a single vision: a world where combat feels like a dance, where exploration rewards curiosity, and where every character gets a moment to shine. It mostly delivers on that vision, but the shine is dimmed by technical trouble, a broken economy, and a story that doesn’t quite know when to stop talking.
Trailer, via Focus Entertainment.
Four Friends, One Kingdom
The cast is the game’s strongest asset. There is Flora, the plant girl who can grow vines and summon leaves. There is Lino, the bird boy who flies and strikes from above. There is Zane, the wolf man who charges and tears through enemies. And there is Teo, the bear boy who can dig and break apart the ground beneath him. Each one controls differently, and each one brings a new way to solve a puzzle or take down a boss.
The puzzles themselves are clever. They often require you to switch between characters, using Flora’s vines to reach a high platform, then switching to Lino to glide across a windy path, then switching to Zane to break through a wall. The game calls this “lightning moves,” and it’s a fitting name. The best moments feel electric, a chain reaction of ideas snapping together.
But the puzzles also show the cracks in the design. Some clues are too subtle, buried in a corner of a room that looks exactly like every other corner. Others rely on a button press you’ve never seen before, and the game doesn’t bother explaining it. The frustration builds slowly, until a ten-minute dungeon feels less like a test of wit and more like a wall of trial and error.
Combat as Dance
Combat is where Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom comes closest to greatness. You fight with a sword, a bow, and a staff, but the real weapon is timing. Enemies telegraph their attacks, and you can counter them, dodge them, or parry them. The game rewards reading the screen and acting fast, and when everything clicks, a fight against a boss can feel like a choreographed ballet.
The problem is that the combat system is inconsistent. Some enemies require patience and careful positioning, while others demand frantic button presses that the controller can barely keep up with. The difference is rarely explained, and the difficulty spikes feel arbitrary. A fight that took ten minutes to win might take five seconds the next time, depending on which enemy type shows up.
The lighting effects during combat don’t help. Sparks fly, blades glow, and the screen flashes whenever you land a hit. It’s flashy, but it can also make it hard to see where an enemy is about to attack. In a game that prides itself on readability, this is a strange choice.
A Kingdom Worth Seeing
The world of Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is large and varied. There are grassy plains, snowy mountains, and glowing forests, each rendered with a painterly quality that sets it apart from most action games. The lighting is the star of the show, with sunsets that turn the sky orange and gold, and cities that shimmer at night. The music matches the visuals, with a score that shifts from gentle piano to soaring strings depending on where you are.
The problem is that the world isn’t always welcoming. Some areas are thin on content, filled with empty rooms and corridors that lead nowhere. The map is dense, but the density is often a mask for repetition. The game asks you to explore, but it doesn’t always reward you for doing so.
The towns are better. Each one has a distinct look and a distinct cast of characters, and the dialogue is often funny and warm. The game knows how to write a joke, even when it struggles with plot. But the pacing suffers here too. Side quests pile up, and the main story gets buried under a mountain of optional tasks.
The Story Behind the Shine
The plot follows the four friends as they search for a way to save their kingdom from a shadow that threatens to consume it. It’s a simple setup, and the game leans into simplicity rather than complexity. The characters talk openly about their feelings, their fears, and their hopes, and the dialogue is often moving.
But the story drags in the middle. Long stretches are devoted to filler content, side quests that add little to the overall arc. The game seems unsure of how much plot it needs to tell, and it ends up telling too much of the wrong kind. A late-game twist tries to shake things up, but it arrives after the player has already lost interest.
The ending itself is a mixed bag. It wraps up the main thread cleanly, but it leaves several threads dangling. The game promises a sequel, and it delivers a cliffhanger, but the cliffhanger feels more like a placeholder than a genuine cliff. The story is ambitious, but it doesn’t always know where it’s going.
Economy of Worry
The economy is the game’s weakest link. You collect gems, coins, and crafting materials, but the game doesn’t explain what any of it is for. Shops are sparse, and the items they sell are often overpriced. The crafting system exists, but it’s rarely useful, and the game never tells you why you should bother with it.
The grind is real. To upgrade your gear, you need to farm enemies for materials you didn’t want in the first place. The game encourages you to spend hours grinding for a few extra stats, and it offers no clear path to avoid it. The result is a sense of tedium that overshadows the fun of exploring.
There’s also a problem with balance. Some enemies hit far harder than they should, and some bosses feel impossible unless you know their exact pattern. The game doesn’t hold your hand, but it also doesn’t respect your time. A fight that should take five minutes can easily take twenty, and the game never explains why it’s taking so long.
Technical Troubles
The game’s technical problems are widespread. The frame rate dips during busy fights, and the game stutters when too many enemies appear on screen. The camera sometimes locks onto a wall instead of your character, forcing you to walk into a dead end. These issues aren’t rare, and they’re rarely fixed.
The loading times are long, especially on PS4. The game takes forever to load a new area, and the loading screens are uninspired. The game also has a habit of freezing for a few seconds during cutscenes, which breaks the immersion. None of these problems are fatal, but they add up quickly.
The game’s presentation is strong, but it’s let down by a lack of polish. The menus are functional, but they’re not pretty. The text is small, and the fonts are hard to read. The game is a beautiful mess, and it’s hard to ignore the mess when the beauty is so close.
What Works, What Doesn’t
The good points are easy to list. The combat is fun, the puzzles are clever, and the world is beautiful. The bad points are harder to ignore. The economy is broken, the story is bloated, and the technical issues are frequent. The game is a mixed bag, and it’s hard to say whether the mix is more sweet or sour.
The game is at its best when you’re moving. When you’re running through a forest, climbing a cliff, or solving a puzzle with your friends, Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom shines. When you’re grinding for materials, waiting for a loading screen, or staring at a frozen menu, it dims. The highs are high, and the lows are low, and the game never finds a middle ground.
The game’s strengths are clear from the start. The combat is immediate, the puzzles are engaging, and the world is full of wonder. The weaknesses become apparent only after hours of play. The game is a journey with a destination, but the road is bumpy.
Final Word
Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is a game with a clear vision and a shaky execution. It’s a game that wants you to love it, and it mostly succeeds. The combat is a highlight, the world is a joy to explore, and the characters are memorable. But the economy, the story, and the technical issues drag it down. It’s a game worth playing, but not a game worth buying at full price.
The game is a product of ambition, and ambition deserves credit. The team at Blue Tea Games clearly cared about making something special, and the final product shows that care. It’s a game with a heart, even when its head isn’t fully in the game.
The game is a flawed masterpiece. It’s a game that will frustrate you, bore you, and amaze you within the same hour. It’s a game that you’ll put down and pick back up, wondering why you keep coming back. It’s a game that you’ll remember fondly, even when you’re complaining about it.
The game is worth playing, but it’s not worth owning. It’s a game that belongs in a rental queue, a game that deserves a second chance. It’s a game that will leave you wanting more, even when you’re glad it’s over.
The game is a mixed bag, and the mix is mostly sweet. It’s a game that you’ll love and hate in equal measure, and that’s the honest truth. It’s a game that deserves your time, but it doesn’t deserve your patience. It’s a game that will leave you thinking about it long after you’ve put it down.
The game is a reminder that ambition is not enough. Ambition needs direction, ambition needs focus, and ambition needs polish. Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom has ambition in spades, but it lacks the direction to carry it through. It’s a game that’s easy to recommend, hard to defend, and impossible to forget. It’s a game that deserves your attention, but it doesn’t deserve your praise.
The game is a story of light and shadow, of hope and failure, of four friends who try to save a kingdom. It’s a story that starts brightly and ends in a haze. It’s a story that’s worth telling, but it’s not a story that’s told well.
“It’s a game that will leave you thinking about it long after you’ve put it down.”
Key Facts Box
– Platforms: PS4, PC, Xbox One
– Release Year: 2017
– Developer: Blue Tea Games
– Four Protagonists: Flora, Lino, Zane, Teo
The game is a mixed bag, and the mix is mostly sweet. It’s a game that you’ll love and hate in equal measure, and that’s the honest truth. It’s a game that deserves your time, but it doesn’t deserve your patience. It’s a game that will leave you thinking about it long after you’ve put it down.
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