Vandal Hearts

"And, so I say unto thee, BUY THIS GAME!"

Vandal Hearts is a polished Stragety RPG, created by Konami. The game is well developed. The graphics, Sound, control, and every other factor has been made to nothing but pure genius. The whole game is just... how a GOOD RPG should be. If you like FFT, you'll like this game. Heres my review.

Story-10/10
The story is just top notch. The hero, Ash Lambert, was bashed throughout his childhood. His father was in the revouloution, who apparently betrayed his cousin in an act of treason. For that fateful mistake, he caried the hate towards him onto his son, Ash. Now, ash works for the secruity force, along with other partners. They embark on a adventure that is sure to change man-kind...forever. Will they fulfill there destiny? Our where there country crumble under the corruptness of its people? Its all in the hands of ash and his friends.

Graphics-8/10
Okay, so the graphics aren't the best, but this game was made in 1997, so that shows SOMETHING. The graphics in this game are pretty small, and blocky. Its like final fantasy, accept the characters are more detailed. The battle-field is not so greatly designed, but villages are just the best they can be. If the graphics where clearer, I would rate this a 10. But they're not, so I wont :)

Sound-10/10
The sound is amazing The sounds of arrows peircing flesh, swords cutting throats, what ever the sound, it is all done just so damn well. And the music is smooth, and has a nice melody, its very pleasent to listen to. The in-battle music is very tense.

Difficulty-1/10
This game is TO easy. Well, thats an understatement. It is somewhat hard, but it's like paper rock scizors, basically. Sword defeats bow, bow defeats flying, magic defeats armor. Thats basically how the battle system works. And since the game is just a bunch of battles, thats how I rated the difficulty.

Control-9/10
The control is just fantastic. You use only TWO buttons basically. O to command, and X to cancel. How easy is that? The D-pad is used also.. the analog isn't. I give this a 9, because I wish the analog was used.

Gameplay-10/10
All you do is fight. I cannot rate this anymore or anyless, because all you do is FIGHT. So, the gameplay gets a 10 for being easy. The only hard thing about it is balancing your party, buying stuff (limited gold) and what not. Anyhoo, its a 10.

Rent OR buy? Rent.
If you can found this game at a video store near you (this will be hard.. the game IS seven years old) then I highly recommend renting it. It is only about 11 dollars to buy, but why waste 11-15 bucks on a 12 hour game? Heh, anyhoo, if you find it, get it. Its a true classic, and it deserves to be in everybodys game libary.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/16/04