Shadow Hearts Covenant, is a
role-playing game released in 2004 for the Playstation 2. The game is not your
run-of-the-mill j-rpg as it takes the traditional turn-based save-the-world
formula, tosses out any semblance of pompousness, adds its own bizarre style
and humor, and then follows an original cast of characters on an enjoyable
adventure. While not utterly unique in its execution, the game is a great
example of the genre done well.
According to Gamefaqs.com, the game
kicks off about six months after the conclusion of the originial Shadow Hearts,
with World War I slowly gaining momentum and disturbances flaring up all over
Europe. Karin Koenig, an officer in the German army, is sent with her squad to
seize control of the sleepy village of Domremy. Shortly after arriving, Karin
and her forces are routed in the village chapel by a dark, winged demon. The
monster is actually a young man named Yuri Hyuga, the main character of the
first Shadow Hearts, who has the power to assume the form of a wide variety of
creatures and is safeguarding the village from invasion. Not willing to take
defeat lying down, the Germans soon send Karin back in, along with a mysterious
cardinal named Nicholai who's armed with a holy artifact. The artifact puts a
curse on Yuri, stripping him of all his learned transformation abilities,
containing his considerable power, and really ticking him off. As it so
happens, the attack on Yuri was part of a scheme by a secret society called
Sapientes Gladio, which, like any respectable secret society, is up to no good.
When the village is subsequently destroyed, Karin defects to team up with Yuri
so they can figure out just what Sapientes Gladio is planning and how to free
Yuri from his curse. While the story does sound overdone, it’s the other absurd
elements of the campaign that will really grab a hold of the player and make
him or her finish the game. Absurdness like Joachim, a vampire trained as a pro
wrestler, who fights with a giant mailbox will join your party. At one point in
the game, your party gets lured to a lush island villa, where you have to fight
a fierce boss monster that happens to be a giant, fluffy, pink kitten.these
small moments of comedy serve, well to inject the game with a some truly funny
humor, that many plot-heavy rpg’s seem to lack.
When your party is thrown into one
of the numerous random battles, you'll be presented with a turn-based system in
which your characters will alternate with enemies depending on speed. Whenever
you choose an action for any of your four party members, be it launching a
melee attack, casting a spell, unleashing a special ability, or even using an
item, a disc called the judgment ring will appear. A hand will start to sweep
around the disc, and you'll need to time your button presses as the line passes
through the colored pie slices that are present. Hit everything correctly, and
your action will be successful. Many times, there's an extra red sliver on the
trailing edge of a colored zone that will grant you a bonus if you hit
it--attacks will cause more damage, items will heal more than usual, and so on.
The catch is that these red zones require precision and careful timing to hit,
and if you miss them, your move is over prematurely, or sometimes negated
altogether. Lining up these criticals and hitting the zones is the attractive
lure of the judgment ring system, which moves outside the traditional rpg
practice of selecting an action and then just sitting back and watching your
character carry it out. Furthermore, you can also add items to individual party
members' rings to add various effects to them--you can add another strike zone,
increase the zones' size, increase the damage, and so forth. For the faint of
heart and less nimble of thumb, you can even set characters to "auto
ring," which will let them make their moves without you doing a blessed
thing. The system can be tricky to get a handle on, but once you grow
accustomed to it, there's a certain tempo to the ring presses that almost makes
it feel like a rhythm game. Master the timing, and even the slimmest of
critical zones will fall to your button presses for a satisfying outcome. It's
a great system, and an excellent way to combine a turn-based system's measured
pace with an interactive element that requires careful concentration.
The music, voice acting, and
graphics are superb. The game truly does offer some haunting melodies that will
stick with you long after you finish the main quest. The battle theme is surprisingly
catchy, which is especially rare for an rpg’s battle theme which you will hear
several times.
Covenant, on average, will take you
around 40 hours to complete and that does not even factor all the various side
quests including extra weapons to acquire, special skills to learn, and bonus
dungeons to master. According to vgcharts.com, the game has sold only 240,000
copies worldwide, which is just criminal for a game of this quality. If you consider
yourself a fan of rpg’s, and you have not checked out Shadow Hearts Covenant,
give it a buy. I give the game my highest recommendations.
Link to image: http://www.psp-themes.net/data/media/5/Shadow%20Hearts%20Covenant.jpg
Other Links:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/915253-shadow-hearts-covenant
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/2017/shadow-hearts-covenant/
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