Shadow Hearts | Not soon forgotten...

Shadow Hearts | Shadow Hearts

pc & video games:

Shadow Hearts

	Shadow Hearts PlayStation2 \| Midway Entertainment average customer review:based on 82 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A young girl holding the key to world domination. A villain who will stop at nothing to unlock the path to unlimited power. Prepare to experience an RPG unlike any other. Dark, unique story and good character development. Excellent dialog breathes life into the characters.

Not soon forgotten...

I feel like the game is only 50% complete, as if only half the game was finished...

And yet, it is the best RPG I've played in a long time. The game is quirky, dark, stylish... It's not as good as I hoped, but the 40 - 50 hours I spent on it, was well worth the ride I recieved.

First off, the music is unique. Not all RPG music is created equal, and this is one of those interesting soundtracks [Same person who did Xenogears contributed]. Unlike a radiant Final Fantasy soundtrack, this one is dark, but brilliant at times.

Second, the artwork in the game is wonderful. Yes, it is.
However, it is low resolution and suffers from that, making the 2d background art pixelated/blurry. Thus the comments about the graphics being poor or something...

But no, the art itself is really interesting and memorable. The attention to unnecessary details in this game made it very enjoyable for me. Areas that are just for transition had some incredible artwork for backgrounds...

Character designs are great. Although it bothers me that all the characters look the same from beginning to end. No costume changes ;(

Character development is good. Sidequests are a must! Do those and you'll get some scenes that'll make you appreciate the characters that much more. The game doesn't feel as complete without them...
How many games make you dislike a character/want to get rid of him, and before you realize it you've suddenly become attached saying don't go!

Battles and the judgement ring stuff are pretty straight forward. It keeps you interested from beginning to end, but it's not revolutionary.

Like I said in the beginning, the game feels like it's only 50% complete. If it had been fleshed out however, you'd walk away from this game saying it should be a Final Fantasy or maybe better in terms of quality...

But even if it isn't complete, I loved the adventure, and those moments of brilliance. Downside is I'm left craving more... [gimme an expansion! arghhhhh!]

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Shadow Hearts

As recommended(by some-one else) I played Shadow Hearts 2 first. Shadow hearts would have been a lot tougher without knowledge obtained from the second game. Using the rings for battle was a little tough at first, but i caught on and had a lot of fun with the game. I liked the story line and the characters are bekievanle. Some of the puzzels are tough. Over-all, idin't want to put the game down. Its like a good book, that you just couldn't put down.( at the young age of 69, I find most good RPG'S are like that). I would reccomend The Shadow Hearts series to anyone who plays RPG's. RPG GRAMPS. I'm just starting Shadow Hearts 3.

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Solid, and well done!

Shadow Hearts - The best RPG you've never played. That's right. This largely unplayed (and possibly unheard of) game is extremely good.

The characters are really likable, each one has depth, and it's easy to feel like you know them all.

The story is extremely compelling and deep. Full of twists and turns, always keeps you on your toes and not knowing what to expect.

The gameplay itself, while short on hours, is nonetheless great. The Judgement Ring system seems kind of rough at first, but easily becomes second nature within an hour or so in. There's everything you'd expect in a good RPG, towns with shops and vendors, hidden items everywhere, weapon/armor upgrades, random battles, turn based combat, etc. There is however no summoning, instead the main character Yuri can actually fuse with demons he's killed and become them. It works well, and it's pretty cool.

The graphics are where the game falls short, having been made for the PS1 originally, looks very much like FF7, at least to me. The cut-scenes and CGI however are still fairly good, and the spell animations are bright, and colorful.

The music is nothing short of awesome, and really helps to set the mood of the dark story.

I highly recommend this game to any lover of old-school type RPG's, namely the FF7/Dragon Quest series - but remember, Shadow Hearts is unique at the same time, and it doesn't try to be a FF clone.

With that said - Enjoy!

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Decent, for what it is

This is a fairly good game. It is not a great game, nor a terrible game, but simply a decent game. It fails where so many do, in the gameplay. The story is interesting enough, the characters fairly deep, but the combat is, as is all turn-based combat, a crime against gaming. If you like Final Fantasy games, and are looking for something a bit darker, then you will love this game. If you liked Morrowind, Oblivion, or Kingdom Hearts, you may find this game acceptable, as I did. Worth a try, but don't expect a life-changing experience.

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