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slow down!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 16
Date: December 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Upon purchasing, Shadow of Hearts I was extremely excited of the prospects of the game. A long time role playing gamer I relished a new opportunity. To my utter dismay I began my lame quest in Shadow of Hearts. Aesthetically well done this game still fell below the standard of eye candy. Pathetically, it still was its best quality. The game seems more like a slow sub-titled movie then anything else. The first half hour (the maximum amount one can tolerate prior to throwing in the litter box) was ladened with horrible dialog provided in written from The actual game play stuck to the theme of being very slow. I would hold off on this one. I will admit that I could not with stand the torture of the first half hour of game play and put the game to rest. Perhaps there is a diamond in this rough with more experimenting. Good Luck!

A "dark" RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 22
Date: December 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Exorcist Alice Elliot is the focal point of the game Shadow Hearts. She is the young woman you see being held by Yuri Hyuga, a "harmonixer", in the cover photograph. In this dark RPG, many characters are encountered and quite a few pass through your party. The reason I call is dark is due to the fact that I never ventured into a cannibal town in any Final Fantasy game. (There's quite a lot of blood, language, and sexual innuendos that earned it the "M" rating.) Shadow Hearts introduces the use of the judgment ring, which determines the outcome of your actions. It requires practice, but using it successfully greatly increases the effectiveness of attacks, spells, and item usage. Also, in addition to HP and MP, there is a SP or sanity point gauge. Each action in battle costs one SP and when all points are depleted, the character goes "berserk" and can potentially kill fellow party members. Also, each action a berserked character takes sends the gauge into NEGATIVE numbers, which is obviously bad.
As mentioned previously, Yuri is a harmonixer, meaning that he can fuse with specific monsters. (Think self-contained Guardian Forces/Aeons.) These monsters must be defeated and attained in The Graveyard, a place full of sorrowful souls in Yuri's mind. The Graveyard is also where Yuri must quiet the malice accumulated from defeated enemies. Each character has a unique second skill that relates to their innate element and personality. In conclusion, the graphics are beautiful...the story is brilliant...and the game play is innovative and fun. Shadow Hearts will make a great addition to any RPG collection, even for a die-hard Final Fantasy fan.

A great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 24
Date: December 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I just got my PS2 and I needed a game.I was looking for an RPG but not one of the traditional ones. And that's how I came across Shadow Hearts. I started the game and in the beginning of the game the CG graphics were pretty good. The Judgement Ring system made the fight scences more interesting. The game is a mix of Horror and RPG and with a Mature rating is really made for people who don't mind an occasional blood and gore scene. I found the story to be very deep and it made you want to play the game to the end just to find out more about the character's past. The music is one of the highlights with music that blends in with the scenario. With over 100 monsters you fight and an intriguing plot line, this is a must have.

One of the BEST

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: December 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best RPG games I've ever played. Just grabbed it because it seemed interesting, and I was not let down. Theres a fighting system I never seen before and it wasn't hard to learn at all just took a little bit to get used too. The settings will amaze you, and the length of the game will astonish you thinking the game is over it really keeps going. As Yuri you travel with a party which in certain respects can come and go as the story goes on. He has the ability to fuse, yes fuse with what seems to be souls of the matters of life, darkness, water, earth, fire, and wind. CG graphics are good enough to look as if they were real but the lip sync. can use a little work. Also there are some mind puzzles, not many, but they will get harder as the game progresses. One more thing I rented and I'm over due because I got so into it. As I said One of the Best.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: December 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game. It has everything an rpg should and is unique in many ways. Especially the ring of judgement. It has an intriguing story line and is a welcomed change for any rpg gamer.

A different kind of RPG

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: December 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When i frist seen this game i hesitated because the lack of a good rpg for ps2 but when i poped this game in it was a new experience the enviroment for this game is like no other rpg its like playing resident evil or slient hill in rpg form it dark and spooky unlike most bright and colorful rpg where used to. the graphics on this game are great it only falls short to one game final fantasy X it has great CG. the gameplay is fresh with a new battle system where you have this wheel every time youu attack use magic or items what you have to do is time you button pushes at a certin time on the wheel to execute a moer powerful attack so no more just pushing the button and watching what happens this system makes you feel a more a part of the game. the story seems great a cant maketo much of a comment since i have'nt cleard the game yet an i dont want to spoil anything. all in all this is the second best rpg on ps2 behind ff10 and should at least be rented if not purchesed ill give it a 4 cuz it still need some work to be a true classic.

Biggest surprise of the year

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 75 / 80
Date: December 31, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Midway is publishing an RPG? Surprisingly enough, yes, and it happens to be a well-translated adaptation of a fine Japanese RPG. Featuring a dark, macabre story and premise, memorable characters, as well as some of the finest music compositions yet heard on the PS2, it is not an RPG to be missed by any fan of the genre.

This game was created by ex-Squaresoft members who left Squaare and created a development company called Sacnoth. Much like Monolithsoft, developers of the upcoming prequel to Xenogears, Xenosaga, Sacnoth members were sick of creating yet more Final Fantasy related games and wanted to do something different. And something different Shadow Hearts certainly is.

The game features a Square-esque polish, so it is solid in its presentation and has excellent character and plot development. Unlike Square's recent Final Fantasy games, however, you end up playing more than watching.

Pros:
Dark, unique story and good character development
Excellent dialog breathes life into the characters
Beautiful and haunting musical score.

Cons:
Graphics are dated (true gamers realize the unimportance of pretty graphics)
Battle system a little too simple.

So please, put down Final Fantasy X and pick this game up. FFX will be there tomorrow, however, this game may not. This is because it will most likely be overlooked due to FFX's early release date. Don't let that happen, you'll be missing out on one of the best RPG's to come our way in quite a while.

different from final fantasy but still just as good !!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

very,very good. One of the best games i ever played.i play rpgs a lot. so trust me. with the exception of final fantasy 7 and 10 this is the best game i've ever seen.the storyline is great. the charachters so far are good. some of them make me laugh histeraclly. There is also the judemeant ring which is hard at first, but you'll get used to it. I also like the idea of fusing with monsters. there are also sp which is sanity points when they are depleted the character goes beserk.they can harm party mambers as well as enemies. i dont want to give anymore away. if you dont buy it at least rent it to see if you like it.
even die hard final fantasy fans like me will enjoy this game.

A must play RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: January 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was suggested to me buy the guy in the video store so I got it along with FFX and I must say I cant stop playing this one I'm enjoying it more then FFX (surprised me)It has a very gothic story and non annoying charaters. Yuri is one of my favorite charaters in a video game along with Squall(FFVIII) and Dante from Devil may cry.The voice overs on some of the cutscenes are rather dumb but this is proably my new favorite role-player game I cant wait to reply for the other ending. There are lots of side quests and hidden weapons to find along with secret fusion monters to gain. The judgement ring doesnt take that long to get use to it only took me a few tries. Anyway this game rocks . Check it out.

Like it better than FFX

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 11
Date: January 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I had just chucked in FFX `movie/game (horrible, really sucks..) and was waiting for Shadowman 2, when I was misinformed that SH was a sequel to the excellent Kodelka (a very very very excellent game) from PS1. So I bought this game. The screen graphics are an excellent ripoff of Shadow Madness, which was a nice graphic ripoff of FFVII. The battle scenes are what grabbed me. There is a `battle wheel' where you have to x-mash on lit sections to fight. fairly new. As the hero, you can morph into a monster `soul' which has varied spell attributes (not so new). The quality of the spell effects are a tribute to the PS2 capabilities.

The story? It's all about the Japanese trying to take over China while the Occult has it's own agenda. Nicely done, and thank you for not letting PC (Political Correctness) ruin a game.

All in all, the continuity of the game is fair. A lot of political intrigue, and there is the ability to create battle parties. Unfortunatley there is a boatload of x-mashing through conversation, but the graphics are okay, even thought the level of puzzle solving is kindergarten at best. The monster graphics are 32 bit.

This is a 20 hour game, so I would rent it only of you have a 5 day pass. Otherwise, it's a used game sale.

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