What separates Shadow Hearts from the competition is its unique combat system. While turn based, the game throws a little monkey wrench into the mechanism. Whenever the player executes a command, whether it is an attack or a spell, a wheel pops up on the screen. On that wheel are sweet spots which need to be hit in order to properly execute the command. As a line passes it players need to stop it in the proper area. Hitting it in the sweet spot will yield a more powerful attack while missing completely will cancel the attack. This is a nice system because it adds some more pressure to the gamer, especially in high tension situations. Combos add a new dimension to the battle as they allow multiple players to chain together hits in one sequence. When used correctly you can devastate an opponent and take him out of the battle before he can attack. Even healing spells need to utilize the wheel so missing the hit zone entirely in a critical situation could mean the end of your party. Players can customize the wheel to their liking and additional objects can be used to add more hit zones or increase the size of the sweet spot. Furthermore, players can opt to disband the wheel entirely and go for the traditional turn-based mechanism. This isn’t recommended though because it takes most of the fun and suspense out of the game.
Most games take themselves too seriously nowadays, pitting you in life or death situations and ones filled with consequence and sacrifice. We face those kinds of situations in our everyday lives, who wants to see that in their video game? If you’re like me you play video games as an escape from life, not as a mirror of it. It’s the reason that you see more games like
Burnout 3 and
Grand Theft Auto and less games like
Ronald McDonald’s Super Happy Fun Drive Thru Simulator. This is what makes Shadow Hearts so charming, the fact that it refuses to take itself too seriously. Sure the storyline has some heavy elements and the plot can be pretty deep, but the game never goes more than 15 minutes without providing you with some sort of comic relief. The best part about this is that the comedy doesn’t bring the game to a screeching halt either; it actually enhances the action on the screen. There are some situations where you can honestly go “hey, that’s happened to me before!” My favorite is the time when the main character is so entranced by a female fortune teller that he can’t find the nerve to ask her for a favor. It takes a little elbow to the breadbasket from the female lead to bring him back to his senses. These little touches add a nice little spackle of humor without derailing the entire game.
For a Japanese-made RPG the dialogue is downright superb. There are plenty of instances where the meanings and emotions get lost in the translation from English to Japanese, that’s not the case here. You feel and experience every single emotion that the protagonists feel thanks to the writer’s ability to convey the proper message exactly when it’s needed. All of this comes across clearly thanks to the inclusion of
Dolby Pro Logic II encoding for the in-game audio. Accompanying the sound effects is one of the best orchestral scores ever created for an RPG. I haven’t heard music this good since, well, actually I can’t even remember when I’ve been this enamored with a soundtrack. I wouldn’t be surprised if Midway decides to release an OST later on down the line. And it gets better too; all of the cutscenes feature Dolby Digital encoding for the true surround sound experience. Make no mistake; games like
Shadow Hearts are the reason that you decided to upgrade your sound system.
Initially Shadow Hearts won’t impress you with its visuals, but give it time and it’ll happen. As you progress you’ll see plenty of nice little touches that you haven’t seen in any other RPG before. Things like real-time lighting and shadows cast by the main character’s lantern. This is something that we’re accustomed to seeing in survival horror games, not an RPG game that’s supposed to focus more on story than visuals. When the special effects aren’t dazzling you the clean texture work and beefy player models will. From the opening frames of the game the animation dazzles and fails to relinquish its grip. It’s smooth and realistic with a sense of fluidity that’s lacking in most RPGs. Just look at the characters faces and see the emotion as they speak their lines. Brows move, eye lids flutter and characters gesticulate properly to accommodate the situation. It’s all really pretty to see, especially when it all comes together.
If Shadow Hearts has any faults I’d say that it’s a bit too easy, but I’m reaching here. There's an extremely annoying amount of puzzles in the game but they're not too hard, just tedious. It’s hard to find anything wrong with this game, mainly because it manages to sidestep all of the problems that plagued the competition. Even the camera system is ingenious; instead of forcing you to constantly rotate and baby-sit it, the designers went for a survival-horror-esque system where the camera pans and follows your character. Little things like this that really put the game over the top of the heap and onto the podium.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t played an RPG this good since
Dark Cloud 2. It’s so polished and ingenious that it’s a wonder that Midway hasn’t put more marketing muscle behind it. Make no mistake, this is the best RPG to come out this year and may very well be the best RPG to come out for quite some time. If you love RPGs you simply must own
Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
A
It's been a stellar year for Midway Games as they seek to reclaim the gaming throne. With games like Shadow Hearts: Covenant in their lineup, we won't have to worry about the future of the company. If you're an RPG fan buy this game now, it'll be the best purchase you make all year.
Page 2 of 2
