A fun game that follows in the footsteps of one of the best RPGs of all time.
GAMEPLAY: If you've played the other Shadow Hearts games you'll be happy to know that the judgement ring is still being used. If you haven't, you'll find that it is a simple yet very addictive element that makes battles much more interesting. Simply put it is a bar that swings around a circle like a clock. You have set points on the clock that you need to click in order to make a successful hit or to cast a successful spell. It's surprising just how much fun this is. As far as differences from previous games, we now have to keep track of a player's stock, which can rise from either successful hits or by being hit from enemies. When the stock is raised to a certain point the characters can do extra actions such as combos or being able to do two different actions on the same turn, such as attack and then cast a spell or use an item. The monsters have stock as well so that brings in the strategy of using hard hits to bring their stock down. Acquiring magic spells was different this time around as well. Players now have their spells laid out on a constellation from the Zodiac, and each point can only use a certain type of spell, though later you can go to a merchant and make many adjustments to the constellations so that it will be to your liking. It was a bit confusing to me at first but as I played it started to make sense and it was an interesting concept. Overall the battles are more difficult than those in Covenant, as the enemies will make full use of their stock and will launch multiple attacks if they can. Still wouldn't say that this was a particularly hard game, it just means that you have more to keep an eye on as compared to Covenant.
GRAPHICS - Once again Shadow Hearts used beautiful graphics in both the real time scenes and in CGI movies. The setting was much brighter as compared to Covenant, as your characters will go to many colorful places. Overall I felt that the backgrounds and especially the characters were very detailed, and Shadow Hearts does like to give you interesting looking characters!
SOUND - Another area that Shadow Hearts does very well. The bgm was very listenable, worthy of a soundtrack, and the battle music always kicks it up a notch. The characters and the enemies have a considerable amount of speech and I found it to be exceptional. Some times very humorous, some times very heart-tugging, it always works.
VALUE - The first thing I should point out is that the Shadow Hearts games provide many optional side quests to provide the ultimate weapon, armor etc. and that my review does not include these side quests, only the main story. With that in mind it took me approximately 30 hours to complete the game, which is short by RPG standards, as I find most take at least 40 hours. It should also be kept in mind that I did not have to spend time wandering about aimlessly in order to "level up" as the battles I had as I was moving to my destinations was sufficient, which also helps to keep the game addictive as you are constantly moving the story forward. After completion it offers you the option to go back and watch all of the movie scenes, which is something I really enjoy and wished all games would do that.
SUMMARY - One other thing I should mention is that it is not necessary to have played the previous Shadow Hearts games in order to enjoy this one, as there may be some references and players from the previous games but this is not a sequel. When it's all said and done, I feel that From the New World was an excellent game, though not quite on the level of Covenant. I found the characters in Covenant a bit more endearing and the story to be a bit more gripping. Still, this shouldn't be held against FTNW as it is still a great game in it's own right, and RPG fans will definitely enjoy this game whether if they are already Shadow Hearts fans or if this is their first one.