Reviewed: November 26, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Developer
Nautilus
Released: September 27, 2004
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
9
9
9
9
9.4
Supported Features:
One ring to bind them…one ring to rule them all. No, there are no hobbits here, but the innovative Judgment Ring combat and spell system is back and better than ever in Midway’s surprisingly stunning sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
The original Shadow Hearts was good, but nothing could prepare me for the adventure I was about to undertake when I popped in that first disc of Covenant. The opening movie alone ranks in the top five all-time greatest cutscenes in gaming history, but the exquisite game design, adventure-style exploration, rich RPG system, and the enhanced Judgment Ring combat system puts this title in a league all its own.
Covenant picks up the storyline established in the first game but doesn’t require you to have played the game or know the details of those events. We join a group of WWI German soldiers as they storm a church in a small town in Northern France. In a cutscene that left me breathless, the entire squad is decimated by a winged demon who just so happens to be a certain character from the first game for those in the know…cough…cough…Yuri.
Karin Koenig, a sexy female lieutenant is spared for some unknown reason, again, unless you happen to know the storyline in which case you’ll know Karin resembles someone from Yuri’s (the demon’s) past. With the movie behind us we join Karin as she is debriefed by her superiors back at HQ. She is teamed with a young exorcist named Nicholai to return to the village of Domremy, exorcise the demon, and take control of the village once and for all.
Covenant weaves an intricate and compelling story with plenty of plot twists, not to mention rich character development, all combined with some of the best gameplay of the year. You are literally sucked into the story thanks mainly in part to the characters, who not only look great but have unprecedented depth for a videogame cast. I can’t think of a single character (and there are plenty) that I didn’t find fascinating.
The game follows the basic rules of RPG gameplay. You explore levels collecting items and engaging in combat, sometimes in predetermined locations and other times when you trip the random encounter. This is where the action really takes off in some of the best turn-based strategic combat going.
For those who are a stranger to the Judgment Ring, allow me to explain how this works. When you engage in combat you choose your target and your style of attack, either weapon or magic, or you might choose to defend, reposition, or use an inventory item. After you have made your selections you activate the Judgment Ring, which can best be described as a system very similar to the old-style golf swing meters. You have a ring tilted on edge with various shaded areas. Your goal is to tap the button to start the meter moving then tap again in each of the areas. The closer to the end of each area, the more damage you do and if you can hit the red section you score a critical hit for maximum damage.
The Judgment Ring is configurable and can be upgraded over time so the number of shaded areas can be different for various weapons, spells and even characters. The speed of the ring and the placement of hit zones also vary from character to character and each action you might take that uses the ring, so you constantly have to adjust your timing.
It sounds easy but it become surprisingly challenging, and if you miss the first zone you totally flub the entire attack for that round. Conversely, you are rewarded with hitting multiple hit zones that translates into elaborate combos, sometimes you can even combo with another character’s attack for mega-damage.
Throughout the game you will have opportunity to customize your ring, either by adding new hit zones or possibly expanding the area of an existing one. Of course, it is possible to actually upgrade your ring too much making it nearly impossible to control. A bit of caution is required. If it all gets too overwhelming you can adjust the ring to several different styles or simply have the game handle the ring aspects of combat for you.
There are also interesting character-specific upgrades, Gepetto collect photos of naked bodybuilders (which made for some humorous fodder over at Penny Arcade), and Karin collects sheet music to upgrade her attack styles. Yuri collects the souls of fallen foes and uses them to charge any of six elemental attacks.
There is also an excellent reward system in place for players who excel at combat and master the Judgment Ring. If you can complete a battle without taking damage or hit every hit zone on the ring you will earn great rewards like bonus cash, experience, and soul add-ons.
The movies in Covenant could easily be mistaken for a Square production – they are “that” good. Other cutscenes are handled with game engine graphics and blend perfectly with the gameplay visuals. All of the movies have excellent camera work and expert direction and the lip-synching is flawless, and I don’t get to say that often.
When you get into the gameplay the visuals do exhibit a bit of shimmering and jaggies. This is one game where progressive scan would have saved the day, but even so the environments and characters look surprisingly good. When combat ensues things get a bit simpler as we focus on the detailed character and combat animations that are loaded with flash special effects like lighting and particle effects.
Despite the real world setting of a 1915 war torn Europe, the game blends a heavy dose of reality with some colorful art design including some contrasting costume designs, some of which are, how should I say this, “provocative” to say the very least.
The HUD and in-game menus system is perfect, with stylish, yet easy-to-read text and a simple navigation structure. The Judgment Ring looks fantastic with stunning detail and transparent color-coded hit zones. Even the priority icons are intuitive. Overall, an outstanding interface.
Covenant delivers a strong score worthy of a feature film. Yoshitaka Hirota and Yasunori Mitsuda are back to create some of the most enchanting and emotionally compelling background music of any RPG this year. Part of the charm is the music doesn’t stick to any prescribed format. You get an eclectic mix of creepy church music then the next minute you are hearing techno beats during combat or some industrial tracks. The music always fits with the current style of gameplay.
Sound effects are all in place with great weapons and spellcasting audio effects that match the visuals perfectly. There are plenty of environmental sounds that bring the game world to life, and the movies feature Dolby Digital for incredible depth.
Kudos to the stellar performances by everyone who had a part in voicing this huge assorted cast of characters. Despite the 1915 setting, there is a bit of modern slang that I can easily overlook, and probably even appreciate. The conversations all play off one another and there is perfect emotion and real acting going on here, just not a script reading. While you do have to read a majority of the dialogue in the game, there is more speech packed onto this double-disc game than many other RPG’s currently competing for your dollar.
Covenant is a substantial RPG that clocks in around 40 hours if you follow the story and engage in the ample amount of side-quests and dungeon crawls. That puts it comfortably in the middle of games that are too long (Final Fantasy, Star Ocean) and games that aren’t long enough (Lord of the Rings: The Third Age). Most of these bonus excursions don’t become available until you are about halfway through the game, and the first half keeps you on the linear path of the story.
There are two different endings and even though these can be explored without replaying the game entirely, I’m guessing with all of the bonus dungeons and hidden secrets that you are likely to miss on your first pass, you’ll be playing this game at least twice.
With so many RPG’s releasing for the PS2 these days it’s easy for anything that doesn’t have a Square-Enix logo to get casually overlooked, but if you don’t run out and buy your copy of Shadow Hearts: Covenant right this instant you are going to miss one of the best RPG’s the PS2 has to offer this year. An outstanding effort by all involved and I can’t recommend this game highly enough. Now I just have to sit back and hope and wait for a sequel.