Shadow Hearts: From the New World

"At least it's better than Shadow Hearts 2"

I really enjoyed the original Shadow Hearts game and it's prequel Kodelka. I didn't care for Shadow hearts 2 which was a direct sequel of the first game. Now we have Shadow Hearts 3 and even though it's been out for a year now I just now got around to playing it and I must say I was surprised. Is Shadow Hearts 3 worth picking up? Does XSeed do a good translation job since this is their second release? Read on!

The plot this time around is a bit different. Malice still plays a role and a few characters do return briefly for stuff. The main idea is you're this orphaned kid who runs a detective agency in New York City. You meet this Indian girl and you set out on a question and it kind of jumps around from there. The characters are nicely developed for the most part and are amusing but real at times. The bad guys are also interesting and the way their story is told was something that really kept me playing.

The graphics in the game aren't too shabby. The cut scenes look awesome. In game wise the game looks pretty good. I love the real life locations and the look of them just oozes with coolness. The character models are much more interesting in this game than the last one.

The sound in the game is pretty good. Sound effects are pretty much what you'd expect. The voice work is actually rather well done and I liked it a lot. Music in the game is good and I love the vocal pieces which weren't dubbed.

Control in the game is easy. Battles are menu and wheel based. By wheel I mean you just time a press of the X with a spot on a wheel. Very easy. No problems here.

The game has a world map that just has you selecting a location from a list. People who have played Grandia of Final fantasy X will instantly know what I am talking about.

The biggest draw of the Shadow Hearts is the combat system. Depending on the character you either have one or more spots to hit on the wheel. But I am jumping ahead. When attacking or doing anything a wheel appears. There will be marked areas and a tiny red sliver. Hitting the marker on the red slivers will net you a perfect hit, dealing slightly more damage. It's a unique battle system and it works well and keeps the gamer interested.

The dungeons in this game are nicely layed out, not too long but not too short. They are also full of some rather interesting puzzles later on. Early in the game the puzzles feel a little simplistic.

This time around the wheel is really customizable now. You can make it bigger, add more hits, and make the red sliver bigger. You can add special effects and do another of different things with it.

Besides that you can also do team attack, combos, hard hits, air hits and a number of other things so a lot of thought can go into a battle but it isn't needed since you can easily beat the game without going into it too deeply.

The replay value is fairly high in the game. A lot of back tracking is needed for 100% and to get the good ending you'll need to spend a lot of time doing some mundane tasks and I really doubt anyone would get it without a guide.

Shadow Hearts 3 isn't the best one in the series but it makes up for the lackluster effort that was Shadow Hearts 2. As a second effort from XSeed this was a much stronger dealing than Wild Arms 4 since the translation seems a bit smoother. I'd recommend this one for the slightly more advance battle system and the interesting plot.

Story - 8/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 9/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay value - 6/10

Final Score - 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/07