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Biggest surprise of the year

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 75 / 80
Date: December 31, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Midway is publishing an RPG? Surprisingly enough, yes, and it happens to be a well-translated adaptation of a fine Japanese RPG. Featuring a dark, macabre story and premise, memorable characters, as well as some of the finest music compositions yet heard on the PS2, it is not an RPG to be missed by any fan of the genre.

This game was created by ex-Squaresoft members who left Squaare and created a development company called Sacnoth. Much like Monolithsoft, developers of the upcoming prequel to Xenogears, Xenosaga, Sacnoth members were sick of creating yet more Final Fantasy related games and wanted to do something different. And something different Shadow Hearts certainly is.

The game features a Square-esque polish, so it is solid in its presentation and has excellent character and plot development. Unlike Square's recent Final Fantasy games, however, you end up playing more than watching.

Pros:
Dark, unique story and good character development
Excellent dialog breathes life into the characters
Beautiful and haunting musical score.

Cons:
Graphics are dated (true gamers realize the unimportance of pretty graphics)
Battle system a little too simple.

So please, put down Final Fantasy X and pick this game up. FFX will be there tomorrow, however, this game may not. This is because it will most likely be overlooked due to FFX's early release date. Don't let that happen, you'll be missing out on one of the best RPG's to come our way in quite a while.

Ignore the bad reviews, a true game will love this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 31
Date: February 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because I saw a friend (A true RPGer to the core) playing it and I liked what I saw. I personally like RPGs but I was really more of a mainstream gamer (FFs, PE, WA, and other RPGs you will recognize by acronyms). When I got home and played it I loved it just as much as I had anticipated. To save time and space and make everything easier for everyone, I will finish this review in the Pros vs Cons format.

Pros:
Solid story involving dark scenes, cool characters, and plot twists.
Timed hits!!!
Non-ATB battle system
Cool environments
Good graphics
The game just causes you to have a fun time

Cons:
Story forces you to use characters against your will
Battles can get boring with basic 2 attackers and a healer as a required strategy
... Japanese music and names

Now a section for the RPG players with a basic outline of the game:
Turn based battle similar to CTB from FFX and FFT but you can't see the upcoming turns
Just about everything is timed hits
3 character party
Characters have specific special attacks placing them in either attacker or healer class with no customizability
Gain a level, gain a spell system
Lower scale where 999 HP, MP, Damaage, so on is the max but everything has a perfect balance including money
Extra stat called SP, lose 1 point every turn. If it gets to 0 character berserks and may attack own party. Continues to drop into negatives unless items are used.

That's about it. A must have for any RPG fan and a GREAT game all things being considered

Grows on You

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 22
Date: July 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Shadow Hearts is the story of Yuri Hyuga, a young man with the mysterious ability to fuse with the spirits of monsters he defeats. He has been commanded by a mysterious voice to protect the life of Alice Elliot, who saw her father torn apart in Rouen, France and is now fleeing for her life across mainland China. The world hangs in the balance as the great magicians of Earth vie for their powers. Spies and magicians, young boys and vampires will fight at their side as this unexpectedly complex story unfolds for the player. Set early in the Japanese invasion of China, just before World War I, the scene shifts from the mainland countryside to Shanghai, Prague, Rouen, and England.

My initial reaction to the game was unenthusiastic. While not disappointing, Shadow Hearts animation falls a bit short of what is currently state of the art for RPG's on the PS2. It is a bit of a shock to switch from Xenosaga or Darkness Hearts to a more typical standard for mainstream RPG's. In addition, the story and characters get off to a slow start, without the benefit if voiceover and cut-scene continuity. The fighting system, which uses an object called a Judgment Ring to determine the success of a strike, takes a while to grow familiar. But if the player stays with the game and waits out the initial reaction gameplay becomes increasingly pleasurable.

Although gameplay is linear, the story itself is interesting, with settings as varied as vampire castles and space ships. Each player has an array of special powers, from Feng Shui magic to bomb dropping planes as well as physical attacks. Puzzles and mazes abound, which keeps leveling up entertaining for most of the game. And gradually, animation and the use of cut scenes and voice picks up, so that the flow of the action becomes more and more engaging.

One of the reasons I like this game is its appeal to both sides of the player. The combat half of the game is fairly straightforward once you master what you can use and conquer the dreaded Judgment Ring. The addition of a set of puzzles to be worked out is a great plus. While these aren't up to FFX's level, they can keep your attention. Finally, this isn't the kind of game that tries to destroy the ego of the play. All the problems are surmountable with the application of persistence. I have hear rumors of a possible sequel, and am looking forward to it.

Shadow Hearts just plain RULES!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: June 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

... For me, Shadow Hearts is right up there with Final Fantasy 10, and even higher. Great graphics, excellent storyline, and especially great battle system. The new "Judgement Ring" gives a new twist to the game, and all out I'd say that any true RPG fan would love this game. It's got everything. Don't let the beginning fool you; once you really get into the plot, you'll get my point. The story can be different depending on which path you take, so choose wisely. And as for the characters... Yuri's the star of the game, and I would say he's the ultimate RPG character, unlike Tidus from FFX. Yuri can fuse with souls from certain monsters from the Graveyard, which makes his special attacks amazing. His partner, Alice's offense is pretty weak, but she makes up for that with her magic moves. And the Malice (rhymes with Alice) is pretty cool too, just don't get it red. So, in all that, Shadow Hearts is the best RPG game ever; I can't wait to see what the company comes up with next! So, if you want a great game with twists and all that, you've found it.

A mixed bag

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 19 / 21
Date: March 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As the title says, my opinions of this game are a mixed bag. I liked this game, but I wanted to love it. The developers of this game clearly invested a lot of time, energy and emotion into the graphics and the story - but it didn't quite satisfy me. I've been racking my brain to figure out why, and I think I've come up with the answer.

They didn't go far enough. There were many times that the game would show a brilliant shine of intelligence, only to fall back on tried-and-true RPG cliches. I'm not going to talk about the graphics, since its the story and characters that make-or-break a game for me. "Shadow Hearts" succeeded brilliantly in creating both - though they didn't exactly follow through with what they created.

An interesting and fascinating character would be introduced, developed for a while, and then be reverted to just another warm body to use in battle. A prime example is "Keith," an enigmatic vampire living in an abandoned castle. When you first meet him, he is a genuniely interesting character. He has a history, a motive for joining the party, and has some cool things to say. But soon after this "castle" section is over, Keith just kind of tags along, not really doing much or saying anything. The majority of the party characters are introduced this way, and it's saddening to see that none of them are developed very well.

The story starts out brilliantly: battling nations, political intrigue, and an interesting villian all made what promised to be a darn fascinating ride. But this soon degenerated into a save-the-world-from-the-giant-macguffin plot that we've all seen a hundred times before. As the game progresses, important plot points that were brought up earlier are forgotten. For example, during the intro movie, our angsty hero gets his arm sliced off. Nonpulssed, he picks it up and sticks it back into its socket, where it melds together good as new. When I saw this, I was pretty darn impressed and wondered how and why Yuri obtained this ability, but this important detail was never brought up again. Many plot points are forgotten like this, and its a shame.

Another small point is that you are given the option to rename your characters, which is always a nifty feature. However, during cut-scenes the characters are always referred to by the default name, which can get kind of confusing.

In a nutshell, when I bought the game I was expecting an intelligent game with a cool plot and interesting characters. And that's just what I got - for a while, anyway. The game definitely shows promise, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the developers will come up with next.

A "dark" RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 22
Date: December 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Exorcist Alice Elliot is the focal point of the game Shadow Hearts. She is the young woman you see being held by Yuri Hyuga, a "harmonixer", in the cover photograph. In this dark RPG, many characters are encountered and quite a few pass through your party. The reason I call is dark is due to the fact that I never ventured into a cannibal town in any Final Fantasy game. (There's quite a lot of blood, language, and sexual innuendos that earned it the "M" rating.) Shadow Hearts introduces the use of the judgment ring, which determines the outcome of your actions. It requires practice, but using it successfully greatly increases the effectiveness of attacks, spells, and item usage. Also, in addition to HP and MP, there is a SP or sanity point gauge. Each action in battle costs one SP and when all points are depleted, the character goes "berserk" and can potentially kill fellow party members. Also, each action a berserked character takes sends the gauge into NEGATIVE numbers, which is obviously bad.
As mentioned previously, Yuri is a harmonixer, meaning that he can fuse with specific monsters. (Think self-contained Guardian Forces/Aeons.) These monsters must be defeated and attained in The Graveyard, a place full of sorrowful souls in Yuri's mind. The Graveyard is also where Yuri must quiet the malice accumulated from defeated enemies. Each character has a unique second skill that relates to their innate element and personality. In conclusion, the graphics are beautiful...the story is brilliant...and the game play is innovative and fun. Shadow Hearts will make a great addition to any RPG collection, even for a die-hard Final Fantasy fan.

Most excellent!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: July 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I really loved this game. I'm a big fan of RPGs and this reminded me forcefully of a RPG (Not computer/game console based) I used to play with a number of college friends. The dark fantasy story line appealed to me greatly, and there was even a romance sub-plot (better & better). I liked the Judgement Ring, which helped pull you into the game, since you actually had to concentrate on the controls in order to get it right; in the beginning, it's just as if you're learning the skill along with the characters, and the level of difficulty in making the hits can get harder (but not impossible). Lots of monsters and villians for you to kill, too. Characters are good, and I'm glad they finally added Sanity Point system to a dark fantasy RPG. My only peeves: 1. The main female protagonist has a very low pointage (on almost all counts except magic) in the beginning, but if you're patient enough to level her up, she has a final spell that will knock just about everyone's socks off. 2: Some of the secrets are very hard to find out about; even though I've beaten the game a couple of times, I still haven't gotten through all the side-quests (Hee, hee). But still and all, this a great game. Check it out if you want something just a little bit different.

Shadow Final Fantasy after my Heart

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: March 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

To start off with I believe that it is important that people realize that the company that made this game, Sacnoth, was orginally a part of Squaresoft and thus the game WILL seem like a Final Fantasy clone. I will admit right away that it seems like Final Fantasy but bear in mind I am relating it to the good Final Fantasy's. That is before the movie replaced the game (which happened shortly after 7). You are a half Russian-half Japanese, hence anglo features, named Yuri (japanese name). You can morph into monsters and can pretty much kick anythings rear-end. The heroine is named Alice, she exorcises demons (White mage) and is very very good at it. Yuri has to protect Alice, yadda yadda yadda, you have an RPG. A new feature called the Judgement Ring has been introduced. Basically you see the ring whenever you do anything in battle other then defend or run. The goal, hit all the colored areas to score hits. Interesting to say the least and kinda fun, the challenge lies in hitting a thin blue strip in the colored areas to get more powerful hits (not criticals the game decides those) you get three and you get a perfect. The ring is also used when buying things (yea discounts) and certain story events. Also introduced is SP, or sanity points. Just like real-life getting into a battle can grate on someones nerves. Every action a character takes in battle lowers their SP one point. When they get to 0 you go berserk until a party member can raise your SP for you. I find this to be very realistic as those characters who are not accustomed to fighting monsters (who is) will go berserk faster because of that fact while those who have been doing it all their lives couldn't really give a rats tail. Also the more monsters you kill you kill the more the 'shadow world' starts to dislike you. This is called Malice, and every once in a while you need to go to the Spirit Graveyard (you get more monsters to morph into here) to cleanse the Malice or the Reaper will come after you. And he is not fun to tangle with trust me. The story could have been better, it is there but not great but at least it isn't because the game is 3/4 movie scenes that the story lacks. The story lacks because the characters really aren't brought to maturation. They are introduced and then never really are finished, with the exception of Yuri and Alice. However it does take many unexpected (and some very expected) plot turns that keeps the player on his/her toes. Now to address some problems that seem to be popping up. First, the game is based in China for the first third of the game so of course the people would have Chinese or Japanese names. I don't think that Yuri is going to walk down the streets of Shanghai and meet a Chinese native worlock (wizard) named Tim. He will be named Dehaui. A female in the Japanese army seems extreme in the early 1900's yet note that her father is the General and not only that she is not well liked by some of the men. So that does kinda cover that problem. The game is rated M, for violence, gore, language, and heavy sexual induendo (that should be on the box I don't know why it isn't). So don't be surprised when you see the gory beginning. Face it 'black magic' is not all posies and butterflies. It is dark and evil and destructive and it doesn't kill 'nicely.' Don't whine about it when you are warned before hand on the box. I like this game flat out. I like this company. It is proving to understand the PS2 software better than SquareSoft is at this moment and until Squaresoft gets it's act together and starts making games instead of movies, Shadow Hearts will always beat out FFX for which RPG I am going to play. Thanks for reading.

A great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 24
Date: December 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I just got my PS2 and I needed a game.I was looking for an RPG but not one of the traditional ones. And that's how I came across Shadow Hearts. I started the game and in the beginning of the game the CG graphics were pretty good. The Judgement Ring system made the fight scences more interesting. The game is a mix of Horror and RPG and with a Mature rating is really made for people who don't mind an occasional blood and gore scene. I found the story to be very deep and it made you want to play the game to the end just to find out more about the character's past. The music is one of the highlights with music that blends in with the scenario. With over 100 monsters you fight and an intriguing plot line, this is a must have.

Great fun, but a bit easy.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: May 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was looking forward to playing Shadow Hearts , and I would have to say that I am 80% satisfied with it. It's a hell of a lot better than most other PS2 RPGs, (like Summoner for example)
and it has plenty to recommend it. Firstly, the story is pretty good, and the characters are enjoyable to play with. Even though the main two (Yuri and Alice) couldn't possibly be more cliched, they have distinct personalities, and Yuri's mysterious past and self-doubts are given a new twist with the Graveyard and Malice elements of the game...so there is some originality here after all. The support characters are also interesting and funny, especially Margarete, who seems to be a favourite of many reviewers, she's a great sidekick, sexy and sassy, with some hilarious special attack moves.
Secondly, the graphics are very impressive. OK, so its back to pre-rendered backdrops, but the battle sequences are impressively staged in 3D, with some really bizarre monsters, plus some impressive special attacks from your characters. All of the characters have special signature moves, with great animations, and Yuri can actually change into various monsters and use many special spells during battles. And then there's Judgement Ring...ah, yes, this is a great addition, as you feel like you are at least called upon to use some skill in landing hits on the enemy. It provides just the right amount of extra challenge, in my view. Add to this the implementation of Sanity Points-which means that any battle that lasts for too long can send your weaker characters mad (!), and you have a battle system that stands up on it's own in terms of innovative ideas
On the downside, the game never gets particularly difficult. You always have plenty of curative power and preventative accessories, which mean that a lot of the boss attacks can be easily thwarted. With a bit of dedicated levelling up, there's not much chance of losing out in even the toughest battles.
But thats not to say that there are no challenges...I would have to rank Yuri's lone battle against the Seraphic Radiance as one pretty hard encounter. However, if you never got to that part, I don't blame you, as the other flaw in the game is that there are a large number of side quests and secret missions that are nigh-on impossible to uncover by accident. These are often hugely enjoyable and challenging, such as the Dollhouse and the Cave Ruins maze. To uncover Yuri's deepest darkest secrets and save him and Alice from ultimate damnation requires some serious luck and detective work, and it seems unfair to me that a casual gamer may miss out on a pretty large chunk of the story. That includes me by the way, as I needed a walkthrough to work most of that out, and I pride myself as being pretty thorough!
Still, on the whole this was a highly enjoyable game, well though out, with good graphics and a great soundtrack. I don't care about the historical innacuracies, that's just nit-picking. I think it's fun that Margarete has a mobile phone!
So if you're through with Final Fantasy X, make this your next purchase. Its shorter, but still sweet.

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