Reviewed: January 20, 2002
Reviewed by: Josh Lamb
Publisher
Midway
Developer
Sacnoth Digital Entertainment
Released: December 12, 2001
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
ESRB: Mature
8
6
5
8
6.6
Supported Features:
First of all, let’s make it clear that no one with bladder problems, heart conditions, or recurring nightmares should come within fifty feet of Shadow Hearts. That said, I thought it was pretty cool to see a dark themed RPG that earned itself a “Mature” rating. And by dark, I mean the kind of dark that makes Marines cry out for their mommies in their sleep. The pitch black, "my flashlight-batteries-just-went-dead-and-I-can’t-see-the-zombie-anymore" kind of dark
Within the first ten minutes of the game, the opening FMV sequence gives a graphic depiction of the main character punching a hole through an enemy’s face, only to watch him regenerate his ripped flesh and tissue back together in a crisp, clean-cut sequence. That’s when I decided the game was probably going to be worth playing, not because of the violence, but because that blood was so realistic looking I wondered if any animals were harmed during a motion capture session.
As if the extreme amounts of gore weren’t enough to set the overcast feel just right, your main character also just happens to be a schizophrenic guy who can morph into about twenty different monsters that look like they all got banned from Hell for playing rough.
To counter act all this dark themed action, there’s enough humor to keep you smiling even if you did just watch someone have their head forcibly separated from their body. Once again, the mature rating comes into play even on the humor, as your main character is none too shy about expressing his “feelings” towards his lady friends. Personally, I laughed every time a female character came on screen, knowing that I was about to put the moves on the scantily clad mage. Of course, your arch villain is named Roger Bacon. I couldn’t take the guy seriously, nor could I believe I’d just been killed by a guy who’s name is reminiscent of my breakfast.
Shadow Hearts isn’t exactly your traditional RPG. The developers threw some new, eh, ideas into the mix. Most noteworthy is the “Judgment Ring”. This neat little decision making device provides for hours of endless entertainment- and agony. Let’s go ahead and understand that most every action you do, whether you’re in combat determining just how well your attack is going to play out, or if you’re trying to do something as simple as pulling a lever, you get to play with the Judgment Ring. It’s actually pretty cool, it keeps things interesting, but I don’t see too much inherent difficulty in moving a gate.
This is how it works: We’ll say you’ve just decided you’re going to pull your basic attack on an enemy, and now, on your battle command screen, an ancient, relic-like object pops up, and it has three, or maybe two highlighted areas on it, along with a spinning bar, and you’ve got to hit your little X button at the precise moment that bar is inside those highlighted areas to determine whether or not you’re going to actually attack the enemy, and how well you’ll go about doing it. It doesn’t really get too monotonous until you have to use it to open a door for the eleventh time. Then it’s just aggravating.
Earlier I mentioned that you can morph into different creatures. This super-cool act would be called “Fusion”. Kill a certain demon/monster, you can fuse its soul to yours, and take on it’s physical form, as well as it’s attacks, magic abilities, and special skills. There’s a special area where you get these souls, called a Graveyard. I thought this was the coolest part of the game, especially since you can carry any three fusion souls with you at a time. It’s like having three extra special abilities.
They also tossed Sanity Points into the bowl, and they’re definitely something I could do without. Every time you get attacked or perform a big move or even fusion, you drop a Sanity Point or two, and when you lose them all, you get to go “berserk”, and temporarily lose control of that character until you use an item to bring their sanity back. I almost lost my sanity dealing with that.
Controls are basic for the most part, although playing with the Judgment Ring takes a while to get used to. Hand-eye coordination should be top-notch if you expect to get anywhere fast, especially when you have the altered versions of the Ring, like a set number of times you have to hit a certain area. It takes a little practice, but it’s not too difficult to master.
The game itself is absolutely huge, taking place in eighteen different locations with several revisited. The areas themselves are quite large, leaving you with plenty of exploring to do, and that means a lot more random battles to get into. The problem with this is that many times you will face the exact same combination of enemies as you did twenty seconds ago, and that gets irritating to where you end up fleeing battle like an four year old, simply because you're tired of beating the same mutant wolf over and over and over again.
The menu system is one of the best I’ve seen in an RPG on the PS2. There’s even an FAQ that updates itself as the game progresses so it doesn’t give anything away. Character bios are the same way, and they’re usually pretty informative, sometimes a little more in-depth than you’d like them to be, especially when it comes to a certain wanderer’s dating preferences.
I’m torn here. The FMV sequences are simply amazing. The facial textures are great, and the attention to detail is good, but the actual in game graphics have a Final Fantasy VIII feel to them. The graphics engine the PS2 brings to the table could have been put to better use, and I was surprised to see a game that boasts such high quality FMV sequences end up with graphics that seem to have been pushed out the door in a rush to meet deadline.
Then there are the pre-rendered backgrounds. Those always seemed kind of neglected to me. They’ve got good detail, but the texture leaves something to be desired. Most of the environments look good, but they have a “rushed” feel to them, and they could have been a lot better if they’d been given a little more attention.
I hate to make comparisons to Final Fantasy, but the character’s movements, gestures, and modeling are right there next to FFVIII. It’s as if all the focus on eye candy went into the battle scenes for the attack sequences. Sure, it’s nice to have some cool looking fire to watch as you ignite your enemies in burning fury, but I’d like to have some quality characters to watch since I have stare at them the whole time. They definitely could have done better in the visuals department, especially since they launched the title right along with Final Fantasy X. That’s hard to compete with, and I wasn’t particularly dazzled by the overall appearance of the graphics . The FMV sequences were good, but they’re too few and far between to make up for it.
Here’s what made me happy- the sound track is purely great. Hardcore RPG fans will notice a few of composers for Shadow Hearts worked on games like Xenogears and Chrono Cross. The soundtrack stays dark and shallow, creating a surreal atmosphere of terror when wandering around somewhere like the sewers. Come close to a town, and the music changes into a more upbeat tempo, but the transition in music is smooth and completely surpassed itself.
Voice acting, on the other hand, was the truly scary part of this game. During battle sequences, someone could drop a line preparing for an attack, something like “Hey, could I get a little help here?”, and it sounds like Jessica Alba did the voice, but when the attack takes place, they’ll talk with the voice of a Japanese high school girl. I theorize they used a tank of helium and an eight dollar tape recorder from Radio Shack to save money.
I spent just under sixty hours clearing it out the first time, but I had the help of an FAQ. I really see no point to playing it more than once, unless you're some kind of RPG maniac who feels the need to find every single item and secret possible. I’m still not sure what the actual game time is, but for my sake, I hope that it's more than sixty hours.
If you’re a huge RPG fan looking for a new experience, this game is something you might buy. It’s actually a pretty decent game, and worth playing - just not worth fifty dollars. I had a lot of fun playing it, and I was pretty entertained. However, if you’re the occasional RPG player like myself, I suggest renting it or borrowing it, but save your cash for Final Fantasy X. Just remember, if you do play Shadow Hearts, keep your resident elders away from it, or they might end up ruining a perfectly good pair of pants.