Shadow Hearts

 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: Midway
  • Release Date: Dec 11, 2001
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 109 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 91 out of 109
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 109
  3. Negative: 7 out of 109
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  1. DarienA.
    Dec 21, 2001
    7
    A solid title with adult learnings and a twist on your standard turn based battle formula.
  2. Caestus
    Mar 11, 2013
    7
    While beeing short the story really succeds beeing the best story of the entire SH Franchies having nice twists in it. The dark touch doesnt do the game bad either but the graphics could be better when you think about that this actually is a PS2 game. The SH Franchise has one of the best main protoganists ever.
  3. Canadyan
    May 23, 2018
    7
    Shadow Hearts is a decent RPG in an era of excellent RPG's.

    The overall story is not very unique but the atmosphere and world-building within that story is what sets Shadow Hearts apart from other games. The main characters are enjoyable and have some decent dialogue but the rest of the characters that make up your team are essentially just there to fill the roles in the party, with the    Shadow Hearts is a decent RPG in an era of excellent RPG's.

    The overall story is not very unique but the atmosphere and world-building within that story is what sets Shadow Hearts apart from other games. The main characters are enjoyable and have some decent dialogue but the rest of the characters that make up your team are essentially just there to fill the roles in the party, with the exception of one who helps tie the game to it's predecessor, Koudelka.

    The battle system is unique and requires the player to actively press the X button to connect all of their attacks (similar to The Legend of Dragoon) with the Judgement Wheel. There are various pieces of equipment and usable items that affect the wheel in different ways, which adds an interesting layer to the battles that is unique to Shadow Hearts.

    Where the game may turn some people off is the fact that it is 90% linear and you move from point to point on the world map when the game allows you too. There are a few side quests to be had near the end of the game but they don't offer much, if anything, to the story and characters they involve. There are also some missable quests that give you the chance to improve your main character, as well as get the 'good' ending but you have no way of knowing about these quests, or when you've gone too far to complete them, which can be frustrating. Additionally, the game clocks in between 30-40 hours. I was personally fine with this, I felt like the game was ready to end and wasn't outstaying it's welcome but some people may be looking for more length (which is where better side-quests can help).

    Lastly, there is a bit of an imbalance when it comes to improving your gear in the game, specifically the weapons. There is an upgrade system where you can pay to improve your weapons but it quickly becomes very costly to do this and you generally replace the weapon with a better one within a few hours of playing anyway, leading to the player either ignoring the mechanic until the end of the game or constantly being broke trying to keep the weapons upgraded, which costs a fortune and requires a lot of grinding to do.

    Overall, Shadow Hearts is a decent game on the Playstation 2 and worth playing if you're an RPG fan who can appreciate the older generation of games with all of their shortcomings. I recommend it primarily because the battle system is fun and keeps the player involved and the 'real world' setting with fantasy elements to it is unique and makes Shadow Hearts feel different than other RPG's of this generation.    … Expand
  4. VidM.
    Nov 9, 2004
    7
    Great game. Too short.
  5. guiletheguiles
    Mar 28, 2021
    5
    This is the 2nd Shadow Hearts that I've played. Since the internet has nothing but praise to this hidden gem on the PS2, I had high hopes for it. In the end, what I found was a game with nothing but unique mediocre experiences.

    At first, I was really enjoying Shadow Hearts. It is a traditional JRPG that wears its inspirations on its sleeves and I appreciate it for this. The battle    This is the 2nd Shadow Hearts that I've played. Since the internet has nothing but praise to this hidden gem on the PS2, I had high hopes for it. In the end, what I found was a game with nothing but unique mediocre experiences.

    At first, I was really enjoying Shadow Hearts. It is a traditional JRPG that wears its inspirations on its sleeves and I appreciate it for this. The battle system is quite unique and keeps you on your toes. It's not perfect and it can get old pretty quick, but it kept me interested for the most part. The presentation is quite simple, but somewhat familiar, which kinda made me feel at home. There's also a nice amount of challenging and fair fights which, despite some weird unbalanced difficulty spikes during boss duels, made me constantly strategize my next moves.
    The atmosphere is probably one of the best things in the game. The whole tone and story can get very dark and, at times, even creepy. Whether you're in dungeons, cities or doing sidequests, the music is unsettling and the feeling is moody. There's even a place called Dollhouse that made it feel a lot like I was playing an RPG version of the first Resident Evil. Sidequests felt a litte short (which is not exactly bad), but they were nice, expanding a bit more on characters like Keith and Margarette, while also establishing some world-building.

    It's just sad that this feeling of joy didn't last very long.
    The battle system got dull. The enemy variety is nothing but the same 10 monsters with their color palette swapped, the music became repetitive and not at all memorable, characters just never developed and the writing is bad!
    I know that the battle system is cool and all, but did EVERYTHING in the game have to revolve around the ring mechanic? Puzzles, item usage, getting discounts on shops and even reviving a fallen character. And did it have to be this punishing? That definitely did not help when it comes to variety.
    Some other mechanics in the system felt unnecessary. Did we really need to keep quieting Malice? Did we really need sanity points? Did we need acunpuncture or the graveyard at all? The feeling I got from all of it was that the game's mechanics were there just to **** with you, not to create a decent gameplay experience.
    And what's up with the story? The writing starts off ok, but it get super tiresome, with some rather uninteresting plot points and "turns". I couldn't care less about half of the things that happened after we left Asia and I couldn't care about ANY character in the game.

    I just cannot recommend this game. It's not bad, but it screams mediocrity and boredom.
    It's nice that it brought a different type of element to a traditional genre, and it's also good that it was the beginning of a fine trilogy, but it's certainly not special.    … Expand
  6. VLG
    Aug 22, 2023
    7
    I played this while i was literally a kid, so i could not beat it. But i loved the ambiance, the style and the combat mechanics.

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best PS2 Game of 2001
23
#23 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2001
50
#50 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2001

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Electric Playground
    80
    Shadow Hearts’ enthralling plot and superb combat system make this one a keeper. Did I mention the micro-skirted heroine?
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  2. IGN
    55
    This story and this world deserved to be supported by better graphics and game design.
    Read full review
  3. Hot Games
    80
    The game is nothing if not involving. A story with real depth, actual humor and pathos, and some dramatic and frightening moments is something you don't see everyday - and even more rare in RPG's.
    Read full review
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