Shadows Hearts is a game that many gamers(myself included) overlooked when it was released back in December of 2001, possibly because it was released at about the same time as Final Fantasy X. If I recall the two games were released within a week of each other. Also, the game received very little, if any, advertising. As for Final Fantasy X, advertising was pretty much crammed down our throats for a title that didn’t really need it. These things happen, though.

Well anyway, flash forward seven years, and I finally pick up and play Shadow Hearts after a friend shows me the third game last year. I eventually tracked down and bought all three games. I’m glad that I did.

For the ten or so people who played Koudelka on the Playstation, Shadow Hearts is a sort of spin off of that game. There are references and cameos of people and events of Koudelka, but by no means do you have to play it to enjoy Shadow Hearts; It’s just a little bonus of sorts.
Shadow Hearts has a fair share of weirdness in it. The characters themselves include a transient with shape shifting ability, a girl with a mysterious power, a Daoist magic user, a female secret agent and a vampire.  On top of all this, they are chasing after a man in a top hat and tux with crazy demon powers who can fly. You can’t make this stuff up. It does tell an interesting story, though.

What really sets this game apart from other RPGs is the battle system. It’s rather unique. When you give a command to a character, a ring pops up called the Judgment Ring. There are colored sections on it and a needle that spins around once. You have to hit the X button on the colored spots to land your attacks. The colored sections also have a small differently colored part on them. If you have good timing, and hit those sections, your attacks will do more damage. This makes battles more interesting, as it involves a bit more luck and skill than just hitting Fight/Magic/Item and letting the numbers decide what you do.

The only real downside to the game is that it hasn’t aged all that well. I can’t really fault it for that, though. Back in 2001, it probably looked good compared to other games at the time. Also, the translation and voice-overs are not all that good. There are some lines of dialogue that just don’t make sense. The voice-overs really aren’t that big of a deal, since there are so few. Again, this could just be due to the game not aging all that well. Also, I am puzzled as to why the cutscenes are in English but battle dialogue is in Japanese.

I would say to pick this game up and give it a try. Due to the game’s age, it’s not gonna be easy for one to just walk into a store and pick it up. If you can find it for a decent price used, by all means give it a shot. It’s not very long, but it’s entertaining and there are two endings. Incidentally, if you are planning on playing Shadow Hearts Covenant, the “bad” ending is actually canon ending, Which I find interesting.

	System:	Playstation 2
	Genre:	RPG
	Experience:	Finished the game

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