Shadow Hearts is a great RPG with a unique battle system and a weird sense of humor.
The gameplay in Shadow Hearts, mainly the battle system, is one of its strongest features in that it’s what makes it differ from every other RPG. The battles are controlled by a system exclusive to the series called the Judgment Ring. After making any action (using an item, attacking, casting magic) an on-screen ring will come up, divided into sections (usually 3 or 4), and you have to land a spinning pointer on these three or four specified sections. The sections are divided into two colors: a light color and a darker color near the edge of the section. The closer you get to the edge (or the darker color) the more the effectiveness of your action. All of this may sound complicated, but it’s not. After about 15 minutes of playing the game, you’ll get used to the system and get increasingly better as you progress in the game. I think you’ll find that it’s a great system for turn-based battles and adds a little more thought into battles, rather than mindlessly mashing the X button as in other games. Otherwise, Shadow Hearts is pretty standard RPG fare. You’ll walk around some dark/gothic environments, fighting random battles (the encounter rate isn’t frustrating), and finding treasure/items. One other thing that makes Shadow Hearts stand out as an RPG is its unique sense of humor. Shadow Hearts can go from being serious and dramatic one second to being funny the next. The main reason Shadow Hearts is able to pull this off is its characters. Each has their own personalities, problems, and differences. You’ll meet a friendly vampire and Russian spy for example, both of them having their own goals that their trying to achieve. Overall, Shadow Hearts’s gameplay is what saves it from becoming another mediocre RPG.
Graphically, Shadow Hearts looks pretty bland. Not to say it doesn’t look good (some of the backgrounds are amazing), but everything is dark colors (which is to be expected in a game such as SH) and the character models are pretty bad for when it was made. One thing worth noting about the graphics is that the monster models are pretty cool and creative. And the FMV cut scenes look pretty good also (although in my opinion, the character model of Yuri and the one featured in the FMV cut scenes look awful different). But the graphics aren’t horrible and it looks good enough to be called a PS2 game.
Sound wise, Shadow Hearts succeeds in creating a dark, moody atmosphere when there’s are large boss battle going on or something vital to the plot, light music when the characters are having one of many funny conversations, and some ok sounding battle music when fighting run-of-the-mill enemies. The characters aren’t voiced, except for some special manga-type cutscenes. Also, the sound effects are great in Shadow Hearts, one part in particular stands out, as the sound effects there will send shivers up your spine (you’ll know when you get there…..).
As for value, Shadow Hearts packs enough content in one disc for about 30-40 hours of play time (I finished with 36 hours and I missed a few side quests), if you decide to play through the majority of it’s side quests.
Overall, Shadow Hearts is a great, dark RPG that any fan of RPG’s should at least try. With a system like the PS2 that’s full of RPG’s, Shadow Hearts stands out, with its unique battle system and weird humor. It’s a valuable addition to any RPG fans library and I fully recommend it.