Shadow Hearts

Title	Shadow Hearts
Captain	North American Boxart.
Developer	Sacnoth
Publisher
Designer	Izumi Hamamoto
Redirected by	keith valentin(keith valentin?)
Writer	Matsuzo Itakura
Artist	Miyako Kato
Composer	Yoshitaka HirotaYasunori Mitsuda
Series	Shadow Hearts
Released
Genre	Console role-playing game
Modes	Single-player
Ratings
Platforms	PlayStation 2
Media	1 DVD-ROM

is a console role-playing game developed by Sacnoth and published by Aruze Corp in Japan and in the United States and Europe by Midway in 2001. It is the first official game in the Shadow Hearts series and is the sequel to Koudelka. Shadow Hearts follows the adventures of Yuri Hyuga, a Harmonixer guided by a mysterious voice in his head. He finds himself thrown into the conflicts prior to World War I where he must save the woman he loves and the world from destruction.

Gameplay

With a linear storyline, random encounters, turn-based battles, and traditional elements such as hit points and magic points, Shadow Hearts plays similarly to other console RPGs. The Judgment Ring, designed to incorporate an element of chance in various outcomes based on the player's skill, is unique to the genre. There are also side-quests and an option for an additional playthrough (or New Game Plus) with the previous game's data saved to allow for completion of the monster library, to attain further collectible items or equipment, and for a statistical side-by-side comparison of the first playthrough.

Environment/world map/submap

The player maneuvers a 3D character in the submap, a 2D pre-rendered background representing the environment. Many items are found in the submap, typically in the form of chests, while others are marked with a shining dot. There are also items noticeable only when the player is directly in front of them. To change locations in Shadow Hearts, the player can choose from a world map. The world map is a stylized map of Europe and China with locations indicated by dots.

Battle

Shadow Hearts uses a turn-based battle system where the player chooses actions from a menu. The list of actions include many basic commands such as Attack, Items, and Escape. Enemies are encountered randomly and are not visible in the submap. Battle commences in a 3D environment modeled after a section of the current location. The characters and enemies stay in their respective positions and only move from their position when executing an attack. The characters are controlled by the player and the enemies are controlled by the CPU.

The party is made up of three characters and can be changed, with the exception of Yuri, by speaking with the NPC Meiyuan. Characters can be positioned either in the back row or front row. The back row is suited for characters with lower physical defense and attack while the front row is suited for characters with higher physical defense and attack. Another aspect of the battle is the character's base statistics. There are the traditional Hit Points (HP) and Magic Points (MP) plus the new Sanity Points (SP). Like many other RPGs, the character's HP will decrease every time they receive damage and their MP decreases when a skill is used. SP decreases every turn and dictate how long a character can last in a battle before they become 'mentally unstable'. When SP decreases to zero, the character automatically goes into a state of Berserk and the player will lose control of that character. At the end of every battle all the character’s SP is replenished. Each character gains HP, MP, and SP every time they gain a level and there are many items which help restore lost HP, MP, and SP. There are also items which alleviate status ailments as well as revival items.

Judgment Ring

The Judgment Ring is a unique element in Shadow Hearts and is used in many aspects of the game including battles, minigames, and even shopping. The success of the characters actions is dependent on the outcome of the Judgment Ring. Essentially, the Judgment Ring is a circle with different colored segments and a rotating needle which is stopped by the player's input. When an action is chosen, the Judgment Ring is presented on the screen. Players then have to watch the rotating needle carefully as it rotates and hit the colored segments.

!Segment !Color !Description |- |Hit Area |YellowGreenBlueOrangeRed |Hitting these segments in a Physical Attack will do damage to an enemy. If using an Item, the item will be used successfully. The same can be said about the rings in Shopping and Minigames. In some cases this appears in a few Special Abilities where the effect is always at maximum, for example Alice’s White Magic Ability, Arc. |- |Critical Area |Red |These are located at the end of a Hit Area or a Modulation Area. These are very small in size and when hit, extra damage is done or the effect of an item is raised. |- |Modulation Area |White to Blue |These only appear in Special Abilities or Items. By hitting closer to the end or blue, the amount of damage or effect of an item is increased. |- |Step Area |Green |These must be hit in order for the Special Ability to be successful. |}

Physical Attack Rings possess three Hit Areas coupled with Strike Areas. By hitting all of the hit areas, the character will perform three attacks. If any of the hit areas are missed, the character’s turn will be skipped or their amount of attacks will be reduced depending on which hit area is missed. If the first hit area is missed the turn is automatically skipped. If the player hits the first hit area but misses the subsequent hit areas, the amount of attacks will be reduced.

Magic Attack/Special Ability Rings differ from Physical Attacks Rings. These rings possess Step Areas and a Modulation Area with a Strike Area. All the step areas must be hit or else the special attack will fail. The modulation area operates like the hit areas of a physical attack.

Item Rings only possess one Hit Area by itself or coupled with a Strike Area. This depends on the item being used and its effect. Items that cure HP, MP, or SP for a specific amount can be enhanced by strike areas whereas items that cure fully or alleviate status effects don’t require a strike area to enhance the effect.

Minigame Rings only possess Hit Areas which must all be hit in order to win the minigame (with the exception of the Lottery). The Push Ring is a timed game, which has only one hit area, where the player must make the needle move towards the hit area and keep it there until the time runs out. The Normal Ring has three hit areas and the player must hit all three of them and for as many rotations the game states. Lastly, there is the Lottery. The Lottery has many different colored hit areas each corresponding to a different prize. The player only needs to hit one of the hit areas to be successful.

Special Abilities

Every character in Shadow Hearts has their own unique special abilities. These abilities include offensive, restorative and supportive spells. Every character, except for Yuri, will gain their abilities as they gain experience and level up. Yuri, on the other hand, must acquire his Fusions by collecting Soul Energy.

Malice

Malice in Shadow Hearts is the vengeance of the enemies that the party has killed. Malice accumulates every time the player finishes a battle. Most enemies give one point of malice while bosses give higher amounts. Yuri possesses an accessory called a Talisman that can display how much malice has accumulated. It changes color from Dark Blue (lowest) to Red (maximum). Once it has reached the maximum, the door to the dark side opens and the Grim Reaper is summoned to the real world. The Grim Reaper manifests itself as the one Yuri fears the most. Once this occurs, the party will randomly encounter the Grim Reaper forcing Yuri to fight him alone.

To clear the malice the player must go into the Graveyard in Yuri’s mental realm. Once inside, there are four masks (Sword, Grail, Staff, and Gold) that will allow the player to fight a monster to clear the malice. This monster is a manifestation of the accumulated malice. Depending on the amount of malice, the monster will be different.

Shopping

Shopping in Shadow Hearts is similar to most RPGs. The player can buy items or equipment using the in-game currency, Cash. The element that sets shopping in Shadow Hearts apart from other games is the use of the Judgment Ring. Throughout the course of the game, the player can collect certain Guild Cards to attain different ranks. Once the player has a card, they are automatically given an option to get a discount when buying or a price rise when selling. By collecting different guild cards, the player can receive different privileges.

Once the player chooses to receive a discount a ring with three Hit Areas is presented. To be successful, all three hit areas must be hit. Depending on the item being bought or sold, the size of the hit areas and the speed of the needle changes. When the player aims for higher discount or price raise rates, they must complete individual rings for each level.

Characters

Playable Characters

Yuri Volte Hyuga ( in the Japanese version) is the main protagonist of the game and was born in Katsuragi in 1889 to a Japanese father, Ben Hyuga, and a German mother, Anne. An anti-hero, Yuri speaks his mind, is often impolite, and is reluctant to accept his special abilities. Indeed, he is called "Rude Hero" before his name is revealed to the player. At the beginning of the game it is clear that his actions are influenced by a mysterious voice. Although he would rather ignore the voice, he obeys its commands mainly for the thrill of fighting monsters. Once he meets Alice Elliot his attitude begins to change, although he remains troubled about his fusion powers. His desire to change is fueled further when he discovers Alice had sacrificed her soul to save him. He is additionally motivated by the memory of his father, who fought hard and died protecting the world. A Harmonixer, he possesses the powers of Fusion, which he inherited from his father. These powers were awakened in his childhood when zombies attacked his home, and Yuri's mother died trying to protect him. By fusing into elemental and non-elemental demons, Yuri gains new abilities in battles. When he is not using his fusions, he fights with knuckle-mounted blades.

Alice Elliot ( in the Japanese version Alice is the best healer in the game, and books are her primary weapons.

Zhuzhen Liu (劉朱震, Hanyu Pinyin: Liú Zhūzhèn, Liu Zhuzhen in the Japanese version 15 years prior to Shadow Hearts, Ben Hyuga helped him when he was being harassed by Dehuai’s underlings. As a result, Zhuzhen helped Hyuga to stop Dehuai from succeeding in the Demon's Gate Invocation. He joins with Yuri and Alice in the village of Zhaoyang. In battle, his special skills are Yin and Yang, giving him the ability to heal allies or damage enemies . His primary weapons are staves.

Margarete Gertrude Zelle ( in the Japanese version Margarete uses Secret Weapons during battle to deal damage to enemies. She receives her weapons by using her cell phone to call for aid. Her weapons are guns.

is a vampire believed to be over 400 years old. He occupies Blue Castle, the home of his ancestors, and had been asleep for a long time before he met Yuri and party. His weapons are swords. Keith also appreciates other types of rituals and powers.

is the son of Koudelka Iasant, the main character of Koudelka. He was separated from his mother in London when she was taken away in a witch hunt. A big brother to the orphans in London, Halley is aided by Yuri to rescue kids at an orphanage. There they discover Jack's plan to use the Émigré Manuscript to revive Jack's mother. Halley's surname was incorrectly romanised for the English language release. Brancket should have been written as Plunkett However, he has difficulty controlling his powers. In Shadow Hearts the party finally meets Roger and he reveals Albert Simon's real identity and goals to them.

Dehuai (Chinese: 徳壊, Déhuài) was a student of Master Xifa along with Zhuzhen. 15 years prior to Shadow Hearts, he tried to perform the Demon’s Gate Invocation to summon a god, the Seraphic Radiance; a being of pure power who is neither physical nor spiritual and destroys all in its path. Dehuai planned on destroying Japan and at the same time ruling Shanghai from atop Kuihai Tower, which houses his Spirit Machine. He was stopped by Ben Hyuga and most of his power was eradicated. But over the years he regained his powers in order to attempt the ritual again, this time using Alice as a key. He acquires the votive pictures representing the Gods of the Four Directions (Red Phoenix, Black Tortoise, Blue Dragon and White Tiger) over the course of Yuri's journey, which he uses to power the Spirit Machine. It is revealed at the top of the tower that Dehuai was actually planning the Reverse Demon's Gate Invocation, in order to obtain the power of a god for himself. However, this time Yuri was able to stop him and at the same time rescued Alice. She was also planning to take Alice because she knew Dehuai required her to destroy Japan. She used her power and status to make sure nobody could defeat Japan. Because of this, Kawashima does not trust people very easily and will eliminate anyone who, to her eyes, are not trustworthy. Kawashima never reported back any details of her actions to the Capitol. This caused an investigation to be done and coupled with her father deserting her, eventually led to her assassination.

plays a small role in Shadow Hearts. She is the mother of Halley but was separated from him due to a witch hunt. Although unknown at first, it is revealed later in the game that Koudelka is the source of the mysterious voice who has been guiding Yuri on his various quests, including the one seen at the game's beginning that eventually led him to save Alice from Roger Bacon.

Ben Hyuga ( in the Japanese version), also , was the father of Yuri and the person who Yuri inherited his Fusion abilities from. He died after attempting to use his fusion powers to forcefully merge with the god, Seraphic Radiance. Apparently no Harmonixer was ever able to successfully fuse with Seraphic Radiance except for him, but this fusion cost him his life.

Master Xifa is an ancient Adept who is the teacher of both Zhuzhen Liu, and Dehuai. He lives alone, with only one servant, a transformed cat named Xiaofang, sealed in an ancient temple in Wuhan, in which several trials must be undertaken to reach the center. He kept the votive of the White Tiger hidden with him in his chamber so no one could use it for evil ambitions, unfortunately, just as Yuri and company get to his chamber, Dehuai is able to possess Xiaofang, then materialize himself in order to abduct both Alice and the final votive picture for his plan. After Dehuai collapses part of the temple, Master Xifa uses his remaining power to teleport Yuri and company out of the chamber.

Plot

Shadow Hearts takes place in an alternate reality of the real world in the year 1913. The major areas that are visited include many real locations in China and Europe.

Shadow Hearts starts in late 1913 on a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in Manchuria. The game begins with Yuri hearing a voice in his head telling him to rescue a girl named Alice Elliot, whose priest father was recently murdered in a most brutal fashion in Rouen, France. After a British gentleman by the name of Roger Bacon attempts to abduct Alice from the Imperial Japanese Army himself, Yuri saves her, and starts a quest through China, and eventually Europe, to discover Alice's importance, Bacon's intent, the identity of the mysterious voice, and his own relevance.

Throughout their journey in China they meet Master Liu Zhuzhen, an adept. They also meet Margarete Gertude Zelle, an American spy who is trying to hinder the Japanese invasion of Shanghai. Along the journey they discover that Dehuai, a warlock, is behind all of the demonic happenings that they have encountered so far. Dehuai reveals his plans - to perform the Demon Gate Invocation to summon the Seraphic Radiance, a powerful entity to destroy Japan. He kidnaps Alice for this and the group faces him off at Kuihai Tower. The group manages to defeat Dehuai but is unable to stop the summoning of the Seraphic Radiance. In the end, Yuri and the group are separated.

The second part of the journey takes part in Europe. Alice and the gang continue on their search for Yuri. They are eventually reunited while meeting new friends along the way which includes, Halley, the son of Koudelka and Keith Valentine, a vampire. A shocking truth is revealed as they continue the journey - the man who named himself Roger Bacon is actually Albert Simon, a disciple of the real Roger Bacon. They also discover that Albert's true intention is to raise the Neameeto Float, which is a beacon capable of drawing God to Earth so that it can cleanse the world. He was originally attempting to capture Alice to raise the float, but then changes tack and captures Koudelka instead, and raises the float with her power. The group is teleported to the float by Roger Bacon, and they fight their way through it to find Albert at the pinnacle, where they engage him in battle. He repents for his misdeeds and uses the last of his power to send Yuri and company to intercept God before it can reach Earth. The group manages to destroy God and the world is saved.

Endings

There are two endings: the "good" and the "bad" ending. The good ending occurs when Yuri fights alongside Alice in his mental realm, the Graveyard, and defeats Atman, the protector of the Four Masks. The "bad" ending occurs when Alice fights an impossible battle against Atman and "dies" in the dream.

The difference between the two endings is only seen when the game credits are rolling after one has completed the game. Alice and Yuri are seen sleeping on a train back to her hometown, Zurich. In the good ending, Alice wakes up on the train after a while. In the bad ending, Alice does not wake up since she has sacrificed her soul to Atman to protect Yuri's life. Shadow Hearts' sequel, , dictates that the bad ending of this game is canon.

Development

The brainchild of Matsuzo Itakura (art director of Koudelka), who succeeded Hiroki Kikuta as the president of Sacnoth. It marks the introduction of the "Judgment Ring" system as well as Sanity Points.

Audio

Shadow Hearts only features vocals during certain cut scenes and full motion videos. Most of the game consists of written dialogue accompanied by emoticons to display emotions or reactions. In the North American and PAL versions, some of the battle cries for spells and item use remain in their original Japanese.

Voice acting

English

The voice actors in the North American and PAL versions of the game are as follows :

Eric Stuart — Yuri Hyuga

Veronica Taylor — Alice Elliot

Madeleine Blaustein — Margarete G. Zelle

Scott Rayow — Zhuzhen Liu

Ted Lewis — Keith Valentine

Jimmy Zoppi — Roger Bacon

Wayne Grayson — Halley Brankett

Japanese

The voice actors in the original Japanese version of the game are as follows :

Hiroki Takahashi — Urmnaf "Uru" Bort Hyuga

Chie Sawaguchi — Alice Eliot

Tatsuya Gashuin — Roger Bacon

Kenji Nojima — Keith Valentine

Mie Sonozaki — Margareta G. Zelle

Kenichirō Sanada — Liu Zhuzhen

Daisuke Gōri — Albert Simon

Hiroko Kasahara — Koudelka Iasant

Hideyuki Tanaka — Jinpachiro Hyuga

Satoshi Hino — Halley Brancket

Kiyoshi Kawakubo — Dehuai

Manami Nakayama — Yoshiko Kawashima

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of Shadow Hearts was released as two compact discs under the name of Shadow Hearts Original Soundtracks Plus1 by Scitron in Japan on July 18, 2001. It was composed and arranged by Yoshitaka Hirota and Yasunori Mitsuda and recorded at TwinTail Studios. While this was Hirota's first major video game music compositional work, Mitsuda is a veteran video game music composer having previously worked on Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and Xenogears.

The OST packaging was a small hardcover book with the CDs contained in cardboard sleeves serving as the first and last pages. The soundtrack was later re-released on January 19, 2005 in a regular plastic CD case and having an altered cover.

The ending theme, titled Ending Theme ~ Shadow Hearts, was composed by Hirota and the lyrics were written by James H. Woan. It features vocals by Hiroko Kasahara and Kyoko Kishikawa.

The 'plus1' in the OST title refers to a bonus track titled Bonus Track ~ true voice. The track was composed by Hirota with lyrics written by Kishikawa who also performed the song.

Reception

Reviews were somewhat mixed, some gave the game a low score claiming that it lacked originality, while others praised it for being original and innovative. Game Rankings has Shadow Hearts at 76%. Metacritic rates Shadow Hearts at 73/100.

References

External links

Official Shadow Hearts site (Japanese)

Category:2001 video games Category:PlayStation 2 games Category:PlayStation 2-only games Category:Alternate history video games Category:Role-playing video games Category:Shadow Hearts