Shadow Hearts gets a lot of love

By Jonathan Stark · December 19, 2008

Am I the only one on HG that thought that game sucked?

The characters were one dimensional outside of the two main heores, the battle system was slow and boring, the monsters were repetitive, there were WAY too many battles, the leveling got old fast, and you could get stuck with a bad ending because you missed a task about mid way through. There were also levels you had to catch on a first run, or you'd miss em. Even the sound and graphics were poor.

The two areas that the game stood out for me was in story, which was suitably dark, though it had little relevance to itself and the characters weren't emotionally engaging, and in atmosphere, which it did nicely, no complaints.

But I consistently see scores of 8 or higher here for a game that I couldn't even finish, I got so bored (I had a friend finish it for me). Usually I can read reviews and see where my opinion differs slightly, but in this case it seems like we all played a different game.

What's up?

Comments 5

honestgamer Staff Dec 19, 2008

Yeah, I think you must've played a different game, if only because you say its combat system is slow and boring. The game's three strengths are the two you named and its awesome battle system, which is enough to elevate pretty much any RPG to well above average status. The sequel is more polished (though not as bleak) and generally considered the best in the series, but the first game was still pretty special.

psychopenguin Dec 19, 2008

Yeah what game did you play? And what does "There were also levels you had to catch on a first run, or you'd miss em." even mean?

jerec Dec 19, 2008

I had no problem finishing the game, and I really enjoyed it.

sashanan Dec 21, 2008

It feels different, which alone got my interest. I've played altogether too many RPGs. As for the bad ending, well, it *is* the canonical one, so I took it in stride. The "good" ending is something I can shoot for when I replay this sucker, which may well be years away with everything else that still wants clearing. For that matter, Dragon Quest VIII is in precisely the same boat.

zippdementia Blogger Dec 21, 2008

I don't know, for me the battle system consisted of using the same attacks over and over again, and the stupid wheel system didn't really work... I mean, it never added enough of a bonus for getting the little slice... so I just went for the big ones and slowly fell into boredom.

As for stages which you could only get to at certain points in the game, I remember specifically a doll house which, if you missed going to, you could never go to again. And it wasn't some obvious method of getting there, it was a series of random quests.

I mean, it's gotten enough pizzaz off the site that I may very well try it again, but I remember playing it for a month or two and just LOATHING it... and this was when it first came out!

The biggest thing for me was probably the character design. Together with the altogether unfascinating wheel system (cool at first, like many of the ideas), it just bored me.

The two battle system related things I really remember liking were the balances in the main character's transformations (if I recall, there was some reason you couldn't just spam them), and the graveyard, where you had to alleviate the anger of defeated enemies or face the well designed fox guy (who was your... nevermind, that's a spoiler... but it was one of the few plot points I was really drawn to as well).