Shadow Hearts is a game that is honestly trying its best to impress.

It's got the oppressive horror vibes here and there. It's got some real banging music. It's got some wonderful and creative gameplay systems with the whole judgement wheel mechanic even if it doesn't change a shit load over the course of the game.

The story however is just a complete and total letdown. It really ends up being a fairly bog standard and generic story with some awful jokes, gross sterotypes and one or two interesting character arcs with a bunch of others that kinda end up half baked.

All of the elements to make something genuinely amazing is all there but nothing brings these elements together to bring this game to above anything other than just fine.

This is a story that wants to talk about the consequences of Japanese Imperialism/Colonialism but doesn't actually want to do anything meaningful with that as a premise. Instead boringly both sidesing the issue with the more sympathetic side made into literal anime caricatures in order to show how evil they are too. It's dumb and extremely fucking lame.

I really honestly believe this game absolutely should've stopped after the Asia section finished. Everything in Europe just feels like wasted time and potential.

It's a little saddening because there's a lot of potential here but it honestly has me more stoked for how they improved on things in Covenant and to see where that game takes some of the good ideas this game had.

I made a video on this if ya want to see more detailed thoughts. I don't think this game is horrible but it's so genuinely disappointing that it hurts more almost at what the first in this series could've been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z0nL7ZO-z4