Our Tears Are Shiny

The Girl and I booted up Shining Tears last night, hoping for a solid bout of wacky cute two player action JRPG goodness.

Sadly, that trend I mentioned is prevalent in the game. Since we had rented it from Gamefly, we didn't have the manual and therefore had no idea that the appropriate way to start a cooperative game was to play through some of the single player.

OK folks, let's step back here.

Do reviews of the game say it's a two player title? Yes
Does the box say it's a 1-2 player game? Yes
Does it make any sense to hide a coop game under single player play? No

Cooperative play isn't a gimmick or a bonus. It's something people factor in when they buy a game. Sometimes (particularly for myself) it's the reason I buy or rent a game. A game like Shining Tears, which really took an effort to play around with how two different characters interact, is really missing the boat by short changing what could be one of the better features.

Developers should learn from Snowblind and Raven Soft. Look, couples that game together stay together. Don't mess with a good thing.