Look-Backs: Shadow Hearts series

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Here's another look back, only this time it's looking almost two decades back at an RPG series that... while slightly obscure... has left an indelible mark on my memory.

I qualify the 'Shadow Hearts' games in the same category as stuff like Earthbound, quirky yet also serious games that blend numerous genres, mythos, and concepts into one enjoyable package. And the funniest thing, to me, is that it's a sequel to an EVEN MORE obscure PS1 RPG, called Koudelka. And there's kind of a good reason why THAT game's not quite well remembered.

Koudelka's development history reads like a prime example of 'internal quarreling' over how to approach the game. To put it in short (since this is more about it's 'sequels'), it was originally intended to blend Resident Evil-style fighting to an RPG approach... but also not be bound to a world of typical mythical fantasy. This game was set in the late 19th Century, and took place entirely in a large mansion estate/monastery. You played as three characters, the brash adventurer Edward Plunkett, the priest with a crisis of faith James O'Flaherty, and the main title character... Koudelka, a young gypsy mystic; who are all drawn to this mysterious monastery for their own reasons but end up working together to get through the demonic creatures that infest it.

The story is actually quite solid, and well-done for it's time... but other issues ended up bogging it down. Remember how I said it's original intention was to blend Resident Evil-style combat to an RPG? Well that idea fell through, because some of the development team wanted to make it more closer to the kinds of RPGs Squaresoft (at the time THE BIGGEST DOG in the realm of RPGs) was making. Somehow this in-fighting begot a game that looks and controls a bit like a Resident Evil game... but has random encounters that switch to turn-based battles like most of the RPGs at the time. Except their approach to combat was more in line with stuff like Front Mission and Final Fantasy Tactics than anything else. Just done ineptly, and apparently served only to severely BOG down the loading speed, (almost to levels that rivaled first generation PS1 games) so random encounters were more dreaded for their arduous/tedious length than any actual danger posed by the creatures in question.

So Koudelka wasn't the big success it maybe could've been... but somehow that eventually lead to the Shadow Hearts series. Things that happened in Koudelka, and some characters who were introduced, play big roles throughout the sequel series. Whereas Koudelka was VERY serious, Shadow Hearts was almost anarchic with it's subject matter. 

Basically the Shadow Hearts games are, more or less, Horror-themed RPGs set in various early 20th Century time periods (1913-1929) and deal with supernatural occult 'secret histories' of various events that shaped that era. It blends both ancient monster/religious myths/ideas, Lovecraftian lore, and other such things. But it's not strictly tied to it's subject matter or setting. There's many and various crazy anachronisms that served to create the almost 'gonzo' tone of the series. So you had someone like Yuri, the shape-shifting 'hero' of the first two games who was possessed by various demon souls whose forms he could take on in battle... or Zhuzhen, a skilled Chinese exorcist... or Karin a rapier-wielding German officer... simple concepts that aren't too out of the ordinary given the setting and subject matter. BUT then you had someone like Joachim... a pro-wrestling vampire who wielded various objects (his coffin, a gym locker, park bench, etc.) like clubs to bludgeon enemies to death when he wasn't performing elaborate wrestling moves or vampiric attacks. I shit you not. Or how about Natan, a Native American Gunslinger who basically does "Gun Kata" ala films like Equilibrium. Or even sillier is Mao, a giant boozing human-sized cat creature who knows kung-fu.

And all these characters interact with real historical people like Czar Nicholas II of Russia, T.E. Lawrence, Al Capone, and Elliot Ness! And they're all played ridiculously serious compared to the playable characters. So you have the former Czar of Russia basically in the same room as a big beefy wrestling VAMPIRE and he doesn't bat an eye to this. ;p

So yeah, if you ever have a chance, I recommend at least TRYING one of the Shadow Hearts games. They're very fun once you get into the swing of the gameplay and have some really entertaining stories.
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BelRhaza4017's avatar
I have played and won all three games; each had their own appeal, and in completing them all, I truly enjoyed the entire series for each 'section' it was meant for