This review is written from the perspective of a mouse and keyboard player, those of you with a gamepad may find Shiness to be an entirely different experience.

I really wasn't impressed with this game. I'd almost go as far as to say they should have dropped mouse and keyboard support altogether rather than include the half-baked layout Shiness shipped with. This is a very pretty game with interesting characters and fairly good voice acting, but eventually you hit a point where constantly getting owned in fights due to hits not registering exceeds what patience you have left.

Aside from hit detection, there are bugs with precise platforming involving jumping animations, the character will lock up on you while he/she is airborne and inevitably slide off whatever you just landed on. The first of the large elevators unlocked just outside the enemy camp has a weird habit of letting whatever character I'm controlling slide off the edge while it's in motion too.

For you achievement hunters out there, all included work but one of them requires completing the game without getting knocked out once. Aside from save scumming there's no other way to get this one, so look forward to 40-ish hours to complete Shiness.

Take note if you're thinking of grabbing this for the story - there is no proper ending. The developers folded three months after the game came out, and with Focus now owning the IP you'll probably not see a sequel for years if ever. Strong not recommended, might be worth a peek for the world building if nabbed via a bundle though.