Various gaming websites and publications gave Shadow Hearts mediocre reviews, but since I'm naturally drawn to any type of role-playing game regardless of how crappy it is, I breezed into the video game store to pick up a copy and decide for myself. The player begins the game as Yuri, a "rude boy" who saves a girl upon hearing her screams and discovers her to be the object of a pursuit by a man named Roger Bacon. She introduces herself as Alice Elliot, the daughter of a priest - (daughter of a priest? That boggles the mind). Following the rescue, he begins to hear a mysterious voice in his head, urging him to protect her, which he is compelled to do. From there, the story unravels piece by piece as we learn that Alice is obviously a very important asset to the evildoers who wish for world domination or whatever wishes that may be. We meet another set of characters, do the required recruiting for our party and once again, set out to break the hearts of some bad guys.
The first thing I noticed during the first half hour of the game was how awful and juvenile the dialogue was. It was certainly no great introduction to the story or our two main characters, but improvement follows shortly. I'd definitely say it got a lot better as the game progresses. The dialogue was much more sophisticated and the conversations were better able to illustrate the characters' personalities. Yuri is something of a refreshing change from the usual heroes in various Final Fantasy titles (though I love 'em all). In other words, he wasn't sexless - there's some dirty humor here and there and sexual implications, but nothing out of bounds. The creators even include an erotic book, "Shanghai Angels." I'm not sure if the magazine exists, but it was quite a laugh to see an actual photo-realistic cover for it. Shadow Hearts also plays with macabre themes, evidently so, since the first village you visit houses a bunch of cannibalistic weirdoes.
One of the game's intrigue is the setting in which the story takes place. It shifts from Asia to Europe during the 19th century time period and finds its inspiration in Asian folklore and mysticism. Aside from the unusual environment,Shadow Hearts has its fair share of quirks. From time to time, real video footage is weaved into the game for a more authentic feel. Symbols appear over the characters' mini heads to represent common feelings, such as a spiral for frustration or anger, a drop of sweat when you realize the obvious or are in a state of embarrassment and "..." obviously, silence. This gives it the feel of a manga, or a Japanese comic, where they are commonly used. Similarly, some cut scenes feature manga-style panels of artwork. If at any time you decide to check out the specifics of an item or NPC, there are a few things that might crack a smile. You will also find in the menu, a library complete with info on all the enemies you've fought.
Shadow Hearts' battle system will not be alienating to RPG fans: you have the standard Attack, Item, Magick/Skillz, and Defend commands. However, to determine the success of these commands, you must refer to the almighty Judgment Ring. This reminds me of the timed hits in Legend of Dragoon, but the Judgment Rings plays a role beyond battles. The ring is a circular plate with an indicator similar to a clock hand and one or several areas are highlighted. Depending of the character and action, the colored areas will be placed variedly. To succeed at certain things like attacking or picking up items, you must stop the indicator at the colored area. I'm sure you already got the idea. Each character comes equipped with their own special skills, whether it is magic or additional combat skills. In the game, Yuri is a "Harmonixer," someone who wields the power of Fusion - that is, he can fuse with the souls of the monsters he killed and acquire their skills and power for the time he becomes one with them. Usually, you don't worry too much about fighting monsters and lowlifes, but in Shadows Hearts, you'd best be aware about your mental health. When your SP (Sanity Points) begin to decline and reach 0, you go berserk and lose control of your party member for the rest of the fight.
The sound during fights, for the most part, is an element that should be eliminated altogether (okay, improved). A snake-man type creature is not supposed to oink and Margarete should not suddenly switch from sounding grown to sounding like a Japanese schoolgirl. The fault is the fact that only some of the characters' in-battle lines were translated, while retaining some of the Japanese voice-acting at other times. The music, however, is a mixed bag. Sometimes it's darkly beautiful (and I quite like it), other times it is unmemorable and repetitive. Still, it's not the worst thing ever, and our tastes do differ, so it's really just a matter of opinion.
Although the game is mostly linear, there are mini-games and a very good number of side-quests scattered through out that can be an enjoyable and provide momentary distraction. (In fact, completing the essential side-quests will unlock an alternate ending to the game.) At times, you might find yourself needing to visit the graveyard to satisfy a feeling of growing malice. It's not that Yuri is a necrophiliac, but the enemies he bashed to death tend to harbor feelings of hate towards him. I guess you can't really expect anything else, but you must fight the entity that I assume to be an accumulation of scorned souls to quiet the malice before worst comes to worst and you literally confront your living nightmare.
The weaknesses in Shadows Hearts lie in its poor graphics. The FMVs are incredibly well done, (almost on par with Square, I might add) and the backgrounds are gorgeously rendered to fit the gothic mood of the story. My only complaint is that the characters and enemies beg for the same attention to detail, despite creative character designs. They simply do not fully utilize the power of the PlayStation 2 though its rating would fare better if it were released as a PSX title. The enemies are a mixture of strange colors, making them seem like a painting gone ugly. Some are too generic (frogs, snakes, insects, etc.) and are generally unimpressive to behold. Others are about the most disgusting and repulsive things you'll ever see in an RPG. Really, you'll have to see it to believe it, such as human/animal hybrids and the "wang" monsters you encounter in Dehuai Tower - any mental images forming there? You gotta give these guys credit for drawing a reaction when gamers hardly blink at the enemies presented in RPGs. To add a twist to the monsters, you can find little stories that explain their hideous forms in the "Library" option of the main menu. Some bosses are tweaked variations of another, an aspect that makes boss battles less enjoyable. The same doesn't hold true for the Fusion monsters; they're all creatively designed and are larger than life, with a sinister demeanor that makes it all more satisfying when you've acquired them. I think Midway/Sacnoth did a spectacular job on them, for they are the most visually pleasing bunch in the game.
The Final Word
Beneath the basic plot of guy saves his woman and the world; there are quite a few surprising twists in the story here. The plot is not thrusted in your face the first hour you start playing, instead, you follow along as the game progresses which is preferable it's not predictable. While I don't particularly like spoilers, I definitely like how the characters are not static. They do change and interact with one another nicely and are all endearing on some level. The villain actually have motive for being the badass that he is, and it's not the what you'd guess. In my humble opinion, this game wasn't so horrid as some would suggest, but role-playing is a niche reserved for those who truly like the genre and if you do, Shadow Hearts is worth at least a rent.
