Shining Tears

Short description: 2004 video game

Shining Tears

Developer(s)| Nextech / Amusement Vision
Publisher(s)| Sega
Director(s)| Daisuke Tajima
Producer(s)| Katsuji Aoyama
Yoshitaka Maki
Designer(s)| Fumio Shimoyama
Artist(s)| Tony Taka
Series| Shining
Platform(s)| PlayStation 2
Release|

* JP: November 3, 2004
* NA: March 22, 2005

Genre(s)| Action RPG
Mode(s)| Single-player, multiplayer

Shining Tears (シャイニング・ティアーズ, Shainingu Tiāzu) is an action role-playing game co-developed by Nextech and Amusement Vision and published by Sega in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 as a part of the Shining video game series. It tells the story of a mysterious boy named Xion.

An anime adaptation for the game was announced by Sega, entitled Shining Tears X Wind. It was produced by Studio Deen and began airing in early April 2007. A sequel, Shining Wind, was released in 2007, with return appearances by all the main characters of Shining Tears.

## Contents

* 1 Gameplay
* 2 Plot
* 3 Characters
* 4 Music
* 5 Reception
* 6 References
* 7 External links
* 8 Features
* 9 History
* 10 See also
* 11 References
* 12 External links

## Gameplay

Shining Tears is an action role-playing game. In each stage, the player advances by killing all the enemies before advancing to the next area. The enemy side wins if they kill the player character, Xion, or if the player chooses to escape. As with other Shining games, players can grind for levels and items by repeatedly escaping from a mission and restarting it, killing enemies and collecting items each time.

Xion is supported by a partner character. The partner character is largely AI-controlled, but at any time the player can take control of the partner character's movement using the second analog stick, lock them into place, or execute certain simple commands such as link skills. Shining Tears also allows a second player to control the partner character for cooperative multiplayer, but only when replaying previously completed stages.

As traditional for role-playing video games, experience points are awarded after an enemy is defeated, ultimately increasing the character's abilities with a level up. With each level up a character gains Status Points and Skill Points. Status Points increase a character's attributes. Skill Points can unlock new skills or level up previously obtained skills. Rather than obtaining new weapons, each character's starting weapon is modified and improved using materials that are awarded at the end of missions, found in chests, hidden around maps, and randomly dropped from monsters.

Monster cards are randomly dropped from defeated monsters. These cards, if brought to Pios in the Heroes' Hearth, can be catalogued and viewed. The monster cards provide statistical information on the monsters portrayed.

The game features multiple endings that are dependent on which female character is used as the partner character the most.

## Plot

In the beginning of the story, an elven girl named Elwyn finds Xion washed up on the shore of a river. She checks if he is still alive and as she looks, a ring falls by the water. As Elwyn tries to take it, she sees that Xion is on the verge of death so she takes him quickly to the village doctor, Pios. When Xion wakes up, he finds himself in The Heroes' Hearth, the tavern of the town Heroes' Way.

He is then confronted by Pios and Elwyn, questioning him on what happened. He says he cannot remember and only vaguely remembers his name. The two introduce themselves to him and he finds both his hands have two strange rings. They will not come off his hands as Pios tries to investigate the rings. The two then explain that the rings could possibly be the Twin Dragon Rings, the legendary rings of power. Discarding the thought, Pios investigates more on the rings as Xion falls asleep.

A feature of this game is that there is a unique ending involving each of the eight characters that Xion can team up with, making up a total of eight endings. The ending is determined by the character that Xion has developed the highest relationship with.

## Characters

The game's characters were designed by the Japanese artist Tony Taka.

* Xion: He is an amnesiac boy who carries the Twin Dragon Rings, which he received from his Mother, Zenovia, to use for his training. Xion was washed up on a shore near the inn Heroes Hearth. He is found by the elven girl Elwyn and introduced to Doctor Pios, who nurses him back to health. Xion becomes involved in a series of battles to defend the nation Shildia from aggressors. Xion has three personalities within him: A somewhat insecure, good hearted young boy (when no one is wearing the other Twin Dragon Ring), a serene, noble hero (when the other bearer of a Ring has a dark soul), and a battle-crazy, insult-flinging fighter (when the other bearer of a Ring has a light soul) though he retains his kind traits even in this form.
* Lazarus: He is the Dragonian guardian of the priestess Ryuna. As is the rule for Dragonians, Lazarus was raised from the day he hatched to protect the current priestess of the Etwarl Temple, the house of worship for the Dragon God, at all costs. Lazarus's enormous strength and defense are his most noteworthy traits, as well as his protective nature that extends to all his allies. Lazarus is also slightly jealous of Xion. At one point in the game, Lazarus sacrifices his life to protect the party from a devastating magic attack. If the player has developed enough of a friendship with Ryuna, Xion will journey with her to the Tower of Heaven to revive him, though Lazarus will return from the dead at the same point in any case. Upon his revival, Lazarus's soul changes from Light to Dark and this alters the qualities of some of his moves.
* Neige: Often referred to as the Ice Witch due to her specialization in ice magic, Neige was first identified as a member of Volg's Weissritter group. It is later revealed that she is crown princess of Runevale Kingdom (one of the opposing forces). She was targeted for a murder by her younger brother Galahad, but was rescued by Cupido and taken to Shildia where she joined Weissritter. She is cold, sarcastic and antisocial, but intelligent. She first doubts Xion's potential, but changes her mind once she is fought alongside him. As time passes, her cold personality fades and she is revealed to be a nice and honorable girl. In the war against Runegeist (the new name of Runevale), Galahad is killed, much to her dismay.

## Music

Opening Theme

* "Shining Tears"

Lyrics by: Natsuko Kondo
Composition and arrangement by: Gou Takahashi
Performed by: Souichiro Hoshi

Ending Theme

* "The Light's Silhouette" (光のシルエット, Hikari no Shiruetto)

Lyrics by: Yurie Kokubu
Composition and arrangement by: Masaki Iwamoto
Performed by: Souichiro Hoshi

These theme songs were also used in the anime version, Shining Tears X Wind.

## Reception

Reception

| Aggregate score

Aggregator| Score
Metacritic| 61/100[1]
Review scores
Publication| Score
EGM| 6.17/10[2]
Famitsu| 31/40[3]
Game Informer| 7.75/10[4]
GameSpot| 6.4/10[5]
GameSpy| [6]
GameZone| 6/10[7]
IGN| 6.1/10[8]
OPM (US)| [9]
PSM| 6/10[10]
X-Play| [11]

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[1] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one eight, one seven, and two eights for a total of 31 out of 40.[3]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Shining Tears for PlayStation 2 Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/shining-tears/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2.
2. ↑ EGM staff (March 2005). "Shining Tears". Electronic Gaming Monthly (189): 124.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "New Famitsu scores (Minish Cap did not get 38)". NeoGAF. October 27, 2004. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20792.
4. ↑ "Shining Tears". Game Informer (143): 130. March 2005.
5. ↑ Massimilla, Bethany (March 28, 2005). "Shining Tears Review". http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/shining-tears-review/1900-6121192/.
6. ↑ Padilla, Raymond M. (March 18, 2005). "GameSpy: Shining Tears". GameSpy. http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/shining-tears/597427p1.html.
7. ↑ Aceinet (April 7, 2005). "Shining Tears - PS2 - Review". GameZone. http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/shining_tears_ps2_review.
8. ↑ Dunham, Jeremy (March 23, 2005). "Shining Tears". http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/03/23/shining-tears.
9. ↑ "Shining Tears". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 101. March 2005.
10. ↑ "Review: Shining Tears". PSM: 73. March 2005.
11. ↑ Leeper, Justin (February 15, 2005). "Shining Tears Review". X-Play. http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/features/51067/Shining_Tears_Review.html.

## External links

* MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

## Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

## History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

## See also

* IGDB - game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/.
2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/.
3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1.
4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521.
8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media.
9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned.
10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner.
11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames.
12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games.
13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/.
14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/.
15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/.
16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/.
17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames.
18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628.

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Related articles|

* Project X Zone
* Tony Taka

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