Shrine’s Legacy Review - An Indie RPG That Channels Secret of Mana!?

Ole Gamer Joe
Oct 6
7 min read

Shrine’s Legacyhttp://indie.io

Steam/PC

10/7/25

Positive Concept Games

I’m assuming if you’ve clicked on, or are reading this review, there’s a good chance that you grew up loving 16-bit RPGs. It was an amazing time to be a fan of the genre, whether it were classics like Final Fantasy 4 and 6, Chrono Trigger, or the beloved Secret of Mana. It sounds a little nerdy—because, well, it is—but these games opened up so much creativity inside of me when I was a wee youth. Heck, I could read really damn well for a 10 year old due in part to playing so many text heavy RPGs, and then, yeah, everyone caught up eventually, but still! The point being, this time in gaming was special, and it will live on in our hearts and minds forever.

With all of that reminiscing out of the way, it's good to see that the RPG genre still resonates with gamers both old and new today. Shrine’s Legacy, coming to us from Positive Concept Games and publisher Indie.io, is clearly inspired by classics such as Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma, and the aforementioned Secret of Mana, which makes it an intriguing prospect, as it feels like more often in the indie scene we’ve been getting turn-based games. But does Shrine’s Legacy SHRINE a bright light forward? (Sorry, I had to.) Or are some things better left in the past?

Shrine’s Legacy is a co-op action-RPG released as of October 7th, 2025, for the PC platform, and is set in the world of Ardemia, where two unlikely heroes are brought together through a shared passion of wanting to kill an evil dude. Ok, that’s not exactly how this plays out, so let me give you a little more background. Many years ago, a dark overlord invaded the world of Ardemia. He came to be known as Aklor! Whoa, that wasn’t all that intimidating of a name, now, was it? This all-powerful foe seemed destined to take over the lands—until Kailee Shrine (What is with these names?) comes to the rescue! With her Sword of Shrine, made up of eight different gemstones, she strikes down Aklor. But you know what comes next! That’s right—after a period of rest, Aklor, much like a giant turd that won’t flush, is fresh out of the septic system and back on the scene. Fast forward, and we meet Rio, owner of the Sword of Shrine who now must reunite the eight gemstones with the sword and kill that son of a bitch Aklor for real this time!

Rio won’t have to go it alone, thankfully, as he is joined by Reina, a young girl that for her own reasons is drawn to the powers of the sword. What ensues from here are all of the usual RPG tropes. There are love interests, there are quirky characters, twists you’ll see coming a mile away (literally, I called a bunch of them out loud to my co-op partner before they happened), and um, fishing—without fishing poles. It’s a tale as old as time, not helped by some rather mediocre writing. Rio himself isn’t all that likeable of a character, and while there is some degree of charm here or there throughout the narrative, for the most part the story feels like a missed opportunity. I’m not even against a game playing it pretty close to the script for what a 16-bit RPG is; the problem is more in the execution. I think more well-written dialogue between these characters and a further fleshed-out world would have gone a long way in making the entire experience of Shrine’s Legacy a better one.

But that said, as a gameplay experience, Shrine’s Legacy fares much better. For one, it has a local 2-player co-op option, and that alone should be celebrated. This is a genre that can be so much fun with a friend by your side, and that’s very much the case here, warts and all. While one might scoff at the game not having online capabilities—one, this is a pretty small indie game, let’s be honest, and two, not everything has to be played online! Still, I get the appeal, especially if you are distant from a loved one or friend, so this omission could certainly be a con for some players. Whether solo or enjoying the game co-op, you can switch between Rio and Reina, who feel quite similar to one another, even down to the spells that they collect, with a few small differences statistically and in which gems they can equip themselves with. It could be argued that these characters could have been designed more radically different from one another, but it didn’t bother me all that much—especially as I was playing in co-op anyways.

Most of the game is quite linear, with a clear objective given to players, though the lack of a proper quest log can lead to some frustration if you happen to not be paying attention to the last few lines of dialogue that were given to you. You’ll explore a variety of rather open areas ranging from your usual forests to deserts, taking down foes with an assortment of sword and staff swings and spell casting! Combat and movement don’t feel particularly great, but are simple and serviceable. Spells range from ice to fire, and even healing, with MP being earned back by dishing out damage to foes. The game has just a few badges that can be equipped to either Rio or Reina, which will give you statistical boosts. Outside of that, there are empty bottles to be gathered—much like a classic Zelda game—that can be filled with restorative potions. Players can also dash around areas freely, and even utilize a rather useless dodge button if they wish. There are a few other little bells and whistles here or there, but for the most part, Shrine’s Legacy is very accessible and does not burden players with a massive amount of intricate systems. Characters level up as you take down foes, each new area has a boss with a fun pattern to snuff out, and then there are quite a few puzzles to solve as well.

The puzzle design is decent in Shrine’s Legacy, usually involving bouncing rays of light to hit switches, finding specific locations to open new areas, and yes, the usual block pushing. Nothing that is rocket science here, mind you, but it was a decent time piecing things together with a friend—two heads are better than one, after all! Having played Secrets of Grindea recently (a fun little indie, by the way, somewhat similar in style to this game that HAS online play), the puzzle design here felt somewhere in line with that, though perhaps a bit more simplified. Overall, while the story and characters of Shrine’s Legacy were a bit of a letdown despite having some potential, the game is ultimately enjoyable to play.

The game’s visual and audio presentation, much like the story compared to the gameplay, is rather mixed. On one hand, I greatly enjoyed the pixel art, which calls back to an SNES art style that is instantly recognizable. Some of the enemy designs were a bit weird, like the four mice I came across in a mine shaft, but others had some charm to them, such as a funky hopping toad. I don’t think the portrait art is particularly strong in the game, and neither the menus nor the map really shine either, but it's a decent-looking product overall that does a good job of harkening back to the era of games it is inspired by. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is a bit odd. Some of the melodies to songs are quite good, but they loop too frequently and can quickly become grating. The sound of text across the screen was also a bit irritating at times, as were other sound effects that register in frequencies not all that pleasing. It felt to me like the music was a bit halfhearted in general, which is a shame, as so many RPGs have unforgettable scores that really draw you into the experience.

Performance-wise, I did manage to break the environment of the game a few times, though we did receive notes stating that the game would have a few small issues before launch that should hopefully be patched out. I never ran into anything that impeded my progress entirely, which is reassuring, and the game performed well on Steam Deck too, if you wanted to play it that way. While I don’t recall any specific difficulty options, the default settings weren’t too taxing, as the game is full of plenty of save points. You do need to save manually, but it was rarely a big deal. Even better, your health is restored at each save, and you can also equip new items and even fast travel around the world for easier access to locations you may want to revisit on sidequests. You can play the game with a keyboard, though a controller is recommended. That said, it's worth noting that I didn’t care for the default layout of buttons, but thankfully this can be changed quite easily at any time.

So in the end, Shrine’s Legacy is a flawed yet fun little RPG that is worth a go if you love the genre. While its combat isn’t amazing, the game’s map could have been better, and its story is predictable and not all that well written, it still has its charms, and I had a good deal of fun playing it with a partner by my side. If you grew up loving games like Secret of Mana, give this one a look, and I think you’ll have a few fun game sessions ahead of you.

BRONZE - GOOD

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