Short version: This is a fun little RPG that is highly recommended to those who like turn-based combat and Working Designs-style scripts.
Details: The game does have some major weak points, one of them the lack of an instruction manual or tutorial. While I didn't find the controls too hard to figure out, I see that some of the negative reviews for the game were written by people who clearly did not know about the run button or thought the mouse is the only control option. In actuality, Shining Plume supports mouse, keyboard, or USB controller, with USB controller being the best option and mouse by far the worst.
Another major weak point is the balance. It's not just a matter of the game being way too easy; it's a matter of all the fearsomeness the story builds up in the bosses going down the drain because their strongest magic attacks do single-digit damage to characters with triple-digit HP. Even the final boss can barely scratch your party. You might think I over-leveled, but in fact I avoided a majority of non-boss enemies, completing the game with no one above level 14. Defensively the enemies are uninteresting as well; elemental weaknesses have little effect, so just use regular attacks on non-boss enemies, use your character's strongest special attacks on bosses, rinse and repeat.
Finally, the dungeons are lacking in mazes, puzzles, and traps to give them character. Mostly you run around enemies (encounters are touch-based), grab items from chests, and that's it.
But all that feels forgivable because of the excellent story content. Shining Plume is set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan, and ironically is steeped in more Japanese tradition and folklore than any Japanese-made RPG I've yet played. The setting is consistent and immersive.
The plot starts out conventionally enough, as you take control of a samurai tasked with protecting a beautiful and good-hearted princess. But the game plays with nearly every convention it introduces, while still treating all of them respectfully. I'll say no more to avoid spoilers.
Finally, the script evokes the Working Designs translations of the mid-1990s in its use of pop culture references, anachronisms, and breaking the fourth wall in the name of humor. However, unlike most Working Designs scripts (perhaps a better comparison would be to the TV series Moonlighting) it pulls the remarkable trick of doing these sorts of jokes without taking away from the story's dramatic potency. The humor is at times uproarious, but it doesn't stop you from feeling the somberness of the protagonist's fatalism, the menace of the assassin Naga, or the warmth of Akira's compassion. The cast all have distinctive, compelling characterizations which are never broken.
The game also benefits from some beautiful character art, atmospheric music, and fast pacing (my first playthrough took just 6 hours). Plus, in spite of the balance issues, the gameplay is just plain fun.
I advise against getting Shining Plume as a standalone purchase. Shining Plume 2 is in essence not a sequel, but the conclusion to this game. So unless you like the idea of being left with a cliffhanger, take advantage of the Shining Plume bundle.
