Shadow Hearts is a game that is honestly trying its best to impress.
It's got the oppressive horror vibes here and there. It's got some real banging music. It's got some wonderful and creative gameplay systems with the whole judgement wheel mechanic even if it doesn't change a shit load over the course of the game.
The story however is just a complete and total letdown. It really ends up being a fairly bog standard and generic story with some awful jokes, gross sterotypes and one or two interesting character arcs with a bunch of others that kinda end up half baked.
All of the elements to make something genuinely amazing is all there but nothing brings these elements together to bring this game to above anything other than just fine.
This is a story that wants to talk about the consequences of Japanese Imperialism/Colonialism but doesn't actually want to do anything meaningful with that as a premise. Instead boringly both sidesing the issue with the more sympathetic side made into literal anime caricatures in order to show how evil they are too. It's dumb and extremely fucking lame.
I really honestly believe this game absolutely should've stopped after the Asia section finished. Everything in Europe just feels like wasted time and potential.
It's a little saddening because there's a lot of potential here but it honestly has me more stoked for how they improved on things in Covenant and to see where that game takes some of the good ideas this game had.
I made a video on this if ya want to see more detailed thoughts. I don't think this game is horrible but it's so genuinely disappointing that it hurts more almost at what the first in this series could've been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z0nL7ZO-z4
It's got the oppressive horror vibes here and there. It's got some real banging music. It's got some wonderful and creative gameplay systems with the whole judgement wheel mechanic even if it doesn't change a shit load over the course of the game.
The story however is just a complete and total letdown. It really ends up being a fairly bog standard and generic story with some awful jokes, gross sterotypes and one or two interesting character arcs with a bunch of others that kinda end up half baked.
All of the elements to make something genuinely amazing is all there but nothing brings these elements together to bring this game to above anything other than just fine.
This is a story that wants to talk about the consequences of Japanese Imperialism/Colonialism but doesn't actually want to do anything meaningful with that as a premise. Instead boringly both sidesing the issue with the more sympathetic side made into literal anime caricatures in order to show how evil they are too. It's dumb and extremely fucking lame.
I really honestly believe this game absolutely should've stopped after the Asia section finished. Everything in Europe just feels like wasted time and potential.
It's a little saddening because there's a lot of potential here but it honestly has me more stoked for how they improved on things in Covenant and to see where that game takes some of the good ideas this game had.
I made a video on this if ya want to see more detailed thoughts. I don't think this game is horrible but it's so genuinely disappointing that it hurts more almost at what the first in this series could've been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z0nL7ZO-z4
3 Comments
@Jean_le_Point I get where you're coming from, I do think that Yuri gets a lot better as things go on buuut if you really aren't meshing with it, Covenant does give ya a recap of what happens in the first game if ya really aren't fucking with it. imo I think it really enhances the experience to play both games but I've heard of a lot of people just playing Covenant and being fine so you should be all good.
@TransWitchSammy Thanks for your quick reply. I'll give the game another two or three hours to see if it catches me after all.
Jean_le_Point
14 days ago