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The best stratagey game ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This was an awsome game. I have never really liked stratagey games before but this on is acctually one of my favorite games!

The battles are very hard and they really make you think. Being able to munniplulate how your charaters fight, by choosing what class they advance too, is way cool. The spells also look great. All in all on a scail of 1-10 I'd give it an 11!

A great strategy/RPG game !!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is one of my favorite games ever! The charcters are great, the job system is wonderful, and the story, music, and graphics, everything is great! Everyone who is a fan of any strategy game especially Final Fantsy Tatics would love this game. Also, it is very easy to learn the battle system and the job system. I don't think it should have gotten the mature rating, the only reason for this is because when you kill somebody on the battle field all these red squares burst out. Buy this game, you won't regret it!

Not really an RPG but a helluva lot of fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Vandal Hearts is definitely one of the sleeper hits of the year. No one expected it to be a great game, as it wasn't hyped up before its release. But Konami put something into the game that usually helps: fun and addictive gameplay. Vandal Hearts claims to be an RPG, but it really isn't. Actually, it's a strategy game with RPG elements and a story intertwined. Unlike Command and Conquer, where you can have hundreds of "units" at a time, in Vandal Hearts you usually have around 7. But rather than having units with identical abilities, each of your characters have different skills, spells, and strengths that set them apart. They advance in levels, again making Vandal Hearts look like an RPG, but all it really does is add more spells and raise endurance.
For every ten levels you advance, you can choose a path of study for your character. For example, when your archer reaches level 10, you can either have him become a Bowman (a more skilled archer) or a Hawknight (a flying, spear-wielding character). Since your characters can be different every time you play, Vandal Hearts has some unprecedented replay value.
During the actual strategic part of the game, you navigate bitmapped characters throughout a polygon map. The maps range anywhere from really small to quite big - it can take up to 20 minutes to get from one side to another. The landscapes are varied with mountains and valleys. The textures that are slathered on the polygons look great, and the bitmapped characters and enemies fit in like a charm. The spells don't look quite as good as Final Fantasy 7, but they are still really cool. Vandal Hearts did receive a rating of Mature, and there is really only one reason for it. When you kill an enemy, even if you just poke it with your finger, an artery-busting spray of blood is released. Although it may be a little gratuitous, it sure does look neat. The game is turn-based and you navigate each character individually. Because of the vastly different maps and buildings that would block your view of the action, you can rotate the camera around 360 degrees, as well as switch from a blimp view to a side view (and everything in-between). The camera is really intuitive, not hindering the game at all. Before you decide to start moving your characters and spewing some blood, you might want to observe the landscape and plan out your attack. Because you can see the whole map from the beginning, having an actual plan can be extremely helpful. I can attest that blindly running around attempting to kill things doesn't work as well as you'd think. The music is an orchestral score that will definitely get you pumped up into killing the baddies. The sound is equally as good; squishy blood sounds and the clashes of metal upon metal are all superbly done. The sounds that accompany the spells also follow suit, and you won't be disappointed by leaving the sound turned up LOUD.
This game is so ridiculously addictive, you'll soon find yourself taking time off from work to play it. Its combination of a good story, great control, and strategic play set it apart from all the other games on the market today.

This game is the BOMB

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is tight! I just bought it and could barely put it down just to write this review!!! I thought the other games I own were pretty good, like Final Fantasy 7 and Valkyrie and Final Fantasy Tactics and San Andreas were pretty sweet... but they come no where close to this game! MY ALL TIME FAVORITE!

One of the better Tactics Games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Published before Final Fantasy Tactics, I didn't even know this tactics game existed until last month. An epic story, interesting combat, and enough content for one replay (hidden items on the maps). The story doesn't suffer from random encounters, the boards are challenging, often with twists unique to any tactics game, and the characters are diverse.

While short, it is high quality. I dropped a star for length (it could easily have had a few bonus boards), but otherwise this is one of the better tactics games I've played. The blood gusher from a defeated enemy earns the mature rating, and is sometimes very satisfying. While I wouldn't pay more than $30 for it (length is 20 hours tops), I do recommend it.

Good RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: April 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I just got this game today and its in my top 3 favorite Video Games. This game is like FF Tacticts.It has different game play than most RPG's.This and FF7 are my two favorite RPG's.

Far superior to FF Tactics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: March 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I played this game many many moons ago, and enjoyed it immensely. I am now in the market for a game comparable in fun that compares to it. I played Final Fantasy Tactics, and didn't enjoy it nearly as much - the entire system seemed much more complicated and difficult than Vandal Hearts. I also played Kartia, and it too was inferior with it's paper-scissors-rock combat system.
I wonder if the game Hoshigami is any good? that is the one I am eyeing in hopes of being as fun as Vandal Hearts.

Best fighting game i know of

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: December 26, 1999
Author: Amazon User

well it isn't a fighting game it's a strategy game but that doesn't matter. this game has a nice story on a scale of 1-10 it'd be a 7. the magics ar amazing, the freedom is exquisite, size of battle maps is enormous, originality is highly above average. I hate strategy i absolutly despise them but by gosh i can't live without this game get it!

A Great Strategy RPG!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I love turned-based strategy games. Choosing where to move your characters, and it will make you wonder if you made a right choice or a deadly mistake. My favorite one is Final Fantasy Tactics. Unfortunately, Squaresoft has decided to discontinue it, and it has become very rare. I was lucky and found a copy. For those of you who weren't so lucky to get a copy of Final Fantasy Tactics, don't worry, because Konami's Vandal Hearts is another great game.

The game plays like any turned-based strategy; you usually have about 3-6 guys and fight a bunch of enemies. You fight on big, open levels and you choose where to have them move and attack. The objectives range from defeat all your enemies, rescue a certain person, or get to a certain place. Also, every time you defeat one of your enemies, they explode into gallons of blood. Swift Justice!

In between battles, you can go to different places to get your skills upgraded. Such as shopping in town, learning new skills at the dojo, getting new information at your headquarters, or just to have a drink at the tavern.

In all, Vandal Hearts is a great game that should be played by everyone who likes turned-based strategy. Even though it's not as good as Final Fantasy Tactics, It's still tons of fun to play. Highly Recommended.

Shining Force +

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This Playstation classic uses the basics of strategic combat from such masterpieces as the Shining Force series, and adds new levels of realism, such as elevation, concealment, and facing.

Probably the worst thing about Vandal Hearts is that it is absolutely and perfectly linear. Unlike Shining Force, in Vandal Hearts you cannot replay any of the battles. You cannot egress at critical moments. There are no secret items or characters (save for the unimpressive hidden herbs and mushrooms you might accidentally find behind trees and under rocks). Vandal Hearts is an exercise in pure, unadulterated tactics, unspoiled by almost any semblance of role-playing. There are few types of weapons, and approximately two dozen of different sorts of items. Where this game succeeds is the selection of character classes and the number of possible strategies.

Just like in Shining Force, here you can promote your characters to better classes, although in Vandal Hearts you can do it twice: once at level 10 and a second time at level 20. Just like in Shining Force, some of your characters can have a choice of classes to which they can be promoted.

So where does this all come together? Just like in the mass battles in Suikoden, the classes follow a cyclical hierarchy: sword beats arrow beats air beats sword. This rock-paper-scissors element hadn't entered the strategy scene prior to Vandal Hearts. Naturally, there are also other, more popular conventions of precedence: opposing elements and the precedence of spells over physical defense will play a major role in the player's thinking.

Lastly, the graphics must be spoken of. Unfortunately, there isn't much to say: on the various zoom levels, the battlefield ranges from "hard to see" to "pixilated". The characters are hard to tell apart, especially when they stand in a group. The spell effects are functional at best. In other words, nothing a persistent gamer can't handle.

Vandal Hearts is a natural transition point from the early consoles to the Playstation and beyond. It is a good beginner's game, as well as an entertaining, if temporary diversion for a master gamer.

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