Shadow Hearts

"A good game, could have been great..."

I'm not usually one for writing reviews, but this is an outstanding RPG. It is far greater than the later Final Fantasy games (Whose characters simply personified jobs from FF2/5 and characters from FF3/6). But I must warn you, I do tend to put some minor spoilers in, describing the high points in the game. Of course, none of it will spoil your enjoyment as I haven't given away WHY they're so good.

Story - 6/10
As is the bane of most RPG's a cliched storyline and insubstantial reasoning abound. Some of the characters just seem to join for no real reason, Margaretta, a spy who almost kills you by accident, being a prime suspect. The fact that in typical fashion, each of the members personify a certain job or skill (e.g. Yuri is a Harmonixer who transforms, Alice a priest who cures) is standard but the fact that she simply seems to decide to tag along does disappoint. The storyline as written in the manual is its saving grace however as it sets the scene perfectly. Also once you get the story going (about 2/3 of the way into the 1st section), it does grab hold of you again in a suitably addictive and inescapable headlock. Yuri's back story in particular, is suitably poignant, especially when Alice ventures into his mind. Also Yuri's amusing (slightly horny) attitude at the beginning made me bump it up a point. :D

Game play - 9/10
Unless you haven't read a single other review here, or a single article about it, you should know about the Judgement Ring.
A marvelous idea, building on Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario's action timing. Push X when the sweeping line is over a yellow section gets you a good, and you hit the enemy. Get it on more yellow sections (up to 3) and you hit the enemy that many times. Get it on a red part at the edge of the yellow and you get Nice, Cool, and Perfect for consecutive 'hits' on the red. Basically a way to do more damage if you have good reflexes and timing. This is implemented throughout the game. Instead of simply Yuri knocking open that door, you have a Ring so its up to YOU to get it right.
The idea of Elements is in this, as in almost all RPG's since the beginning of time. But in this, each individual character has an Element for their normal attack, and separate (occasionally different Elements to their own) Elemental spells. Of course the extra damage you get from having the right character in your team is pretty small, and it will never make Alice do more damage than Yuri. But its a nice touch that makes you want to train the characters evenly.
The idea of Malice is pretty integral too. Killing monsters ups your malice, get too much and Fox Face hunts you, lower it by fighting Evil in the Graveyard (explained below). The flash of the amulet on the screen when the malice goes up another 'level' is often enough to get people legging it to the nearest Save point and the Graveyard.
The graveyard is an interesting concept that fits in very well. It is Yuri's mind and contains 4 masks which personify negative aspects of Yuri's personality. They will summon an Evil for you to fight made of all the defeated creatures Malice. Also there are the Seals of various Elements, which each allow you to use a Fusion Monster for Yuri to use in battle. This means you will see a lot of this place...

Sound - 7/10
Good overall. Personally most RPG's sound the same to me, as after hearing the battle theme for one RPG, most seem the same. (Except Earthbound, but that was almost hallucinogenic) However, the music at certain points shine through. I won't say exactly where, but think of a situation like Cloud and the Lightstream and you'll get a good idea.
And Sea Mothers story of a ghost is the funniest sounding story ever. Whoever thought up that definitely had a good sense of humor.

Replay Value - 8/10
I really had no idea what to put for this, as its a long game, and has two endings, optional(and hidden) fusion monsters to find and some nice Easter Eggs. (Shanghai Angels. :P) Not much more I can say, as I still haven't done everything yet, but after everything is said and done, you won't really want to finish it again. But occasionally you might get an itch to just watch that opening FMV one more time, or load up a game and beat that last boss again.

Overall - 8/10
Technically, if I did an average score it would be 7.5 but Shadow Hearts truly is greater than the sum of its parts. Its not the best RPG I've played, and certainly not the best game, but it saves itself with some good ideas well implemented. Plus it puts a good amount of humor in, which is a great thing to have in games. Maybe if Squall was less of an insufferable toe rag and more a normal person (which possibly a bit more of a HUMAN personality) he would have been Yuri.

Summery of Good Points:
Believable and Likeable main character
Humor
Innovative
Judgement Ring
Very replayable (compared to other RPG's)
BETTER THAN ANY FINAL FANTASY YET!!!(on the PS/PS2 anyway...)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/03, Updated 01/19/03