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Midway brings over Nautilus’ latest RPG title. It’s a bit strange looking at the Midway logo on an RPG, but I guess that is how life is. Shadow Hearts: Covenant is a solid RPG title with cool characters and a nifty combat system.
In Shadow Hearts: Covenant, you’ll discover the story of Karin Koenig who is sent to invade a village by the German army, to which she belongs to in this World War I-era title. Along the way, you’ll meet up with Yuri Hyuga who protects that village and is able to defend it, until Karin returns with a helper, who disables Yuri’s special abilities. Sensing that something isn’t quite right there, Karin decides to help Yuri regain his powers and figure out what exactly is going on. Throughout the game, the guys at Nautilus manage to provide a good bit of humor and as much sexual innuendo as they could possibly fit in a Teen-rated game.
While the story is great, the battle system is where the game really shows off. Most turn-based RPG titles allow you to choose an attack, and watch the glorious animation that follows without too much hardship. In this game, you’ll need to choose your attack and then wait for the judgment ring. The judgment ring is a spinning wheel with different segments which you’ll need to hit in order to successfully plant your attack and you’ll need to time it just right. If you’re quick with the fingers you can even use it to your advantage by selecting a part that will give more impact. Be careful though, since going for the gold and being unsuccessful can cause you part or all of your turn. It takes a bit of practice to get used to the ring but once you do, you’ll appreciate the added depth that it brings.
The game takes things a bit further by allowing you to use the ring to pull off combos. Basically, what happens here is that you’ll use one of the action buttons for each of the characters and you’ll need to successively time the attacks to get combo points. For each character combo you complete, you’ll gain points but if you mess up, your turn ends. As you can tell, the game rewards taking lofty chances and rewards in a major way as connecting a four person combo will give you massive rewards in terms of the outcome.
Even more skillful players can edit the ring to change its segments and increase their overall power. Doing so will make the ring harder to control but if like always, if you manage to pull it off, you’ll be rewarded. Of course, if you were fine with the typical role playing system, you can eliminate the ring all together and you’ll always pull off the moves, although it is less powerful than doing it yourself.
The game’s main story, which spans two discs, offers some forty hours of gameplay. Like any decent RPG, you can spend countless hours collecting special items like moves and weapons and of course, explore every bit of the game. Additionally, the game offers two endings to encourage a second run.
The game’s visuals are excellent. The many places you’ll visit are brought to life with detailed architecture and excellent textures, which can partly explain why they needed two discs to fit the game. The characters are very pleasing to the eye, animate very fluidly and contain great expressions. The story is told through effective use art, CG and in-game cutscenes all of which portray it vividly.
The game’s audio is charming. The background music throughout the game, whether it is the main theme or the dramatic battle music, fits the action and goes along with the game’s unique style. The voice acting is respectable, although certainly nothing extraordinary.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant’s quirky charm, nifty battle system and likeable characters compromise a noteworthy RPG and its strange yet satisfying story sets it apart from other, similar RPG titles on the PlayStation 2. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Oct 4, 2004
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