The wind howled like a thousand ravenous wolves as the steam engine moved with an almost living-urgency. Slicing through the night, the train carries a young fair haired woman, a woman many of darker ambitions would posses, and whose very existence can mean the very survival of the planet. So many guards, for one frail girl, it would seem.  Yet, for all the preparations, these men are mere mortals, and it takes only a moment for this demon, disguised in the form of a white haired old man, to tear asunder their flesh and seize the girl as easily as though this were commonplace. The strange events of this night are far from over - and so our story reveals presence of a self-assured, and surprisingly arrogant young man with tousled hair and more power than our nefarious villain has reckoned. Our young hero does not have to wait long before he realizes that saving this girl is much more than a chance to defeat a few more demons and gain some undying obligation from a pretty young woman -- this might just be the test of his whole existence, and the planet's.

So begins Shadow Hearts, recently published on this side of the puddle by Midway Games. One of the final RPGs to come out for the PS2 system before the end of 2001, Shadow Hearts was released to appeal to the more "shadowy" side of the gaming crowd, with a sinister Victorian look with an unusual Eastern flair not often seen in such "horror" themed titles. Featuring more than 200 items and 100 monsters, not to mention a lead character who can morph into 20 creatures and the "Judgment Ring" as a staple of gameplay, Shadow Hearts caught my attention as something other than the "action" that is usually the genre for most horror titles. 

Refreshingly, Shadow Hearts does not take the route of: "Ooooh look - lots of gore and blood. Now we have a scary/horror game." If it's one thing that really kicks in the old ho-hum factor is another game which tries to master the macabre feel with that typical Nightmare on Elm Street hack-and-slash drivel. Instead, our archenemy is a rather sophisticated looking gentleman in the exterior, while our rough-edged hero, while fighting off the demons, also is karmically punished for doing so. With the early 1900's as the setting, even though it does take place in a mythical East, it conjured up images of other famous Victorian era villains such as Jack the Ripper and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

The opening cinematics are eye-opening, and they do a wonderful job of immediately conveying the intentions of the game-makers when it comes to the game's complexity and depth. Gameplay graphics are not nearly as beautiful, which is not to say they are sub-par, but they make a fairly strong contrast to the cut-scenes. Regular gameplay graphics seem a bit chunky or overly sharp. To give the game it's due though, it moves very quickly with few loading times, and if you ask most gamers, they are willing to sacrifice a little detail for a smoother gameplay.

Now - The Judgment Ring. Get your hand eye coordination ready, because it's essential to success in Shadow Hearts. Each action, whether action, white magic, or black magic, comes down to how good you are at pressing a button at the right time. At the beginning of any action, a circle, looking very much divided like the face of a clock, appears, highlighted in varying amounts by different colors. The trick is, pressing your button when that "second hand" that sweeps around the circle is over one of the highlighted sections. Get the larger section, it's a successful attack, hit the slimmer areas; it's better. Miss? You miss that part of the attack. Even curing is done this way - so if you don't pay attention, you may lose your turn and not get anyone healed. This tended to make battle very tedious for me, although it may not bother some gamers as much. I guess it depends on you like an RPG that's more on an "action (button pressing)" or more typical RPG (strategic).

Another major aspect of battle for Yuri is his role as a "Harmonixer," or shape changer. Depending on how many creatures he has mastered, he will have a choice of which demonic creature he would like to transform into. From there he can cast various spells, determined by how much mana you have remaining. Only problem is, destroying demons in general gets Yuri in a bit of trouble with Karma. The more monsters he kills, the more malice they hold against him. Too much malice and you need to get things simmered down by returning to a dream-like cemetery where you must fight to release this monstrous angst. This is a definite twist in the formula, and it's definitely a welcome addition to break up what could have been totally rote RPG work.

Like any standard RPG, there are plenty of good items to collect, including healing items, and special weapons, some of which are imbued with special properties. Each character is unique, bringing their own strengths, powers, and weaknesses to battle. Battle itself does more nice and quick - eliminating long "epic" battles. Even transformations are quick. This is especially nice since Shadow Hearts includes random battles that can either make or break some gamers' experiences.

Shadow Hearts does so many new and wonderful things, but combines it with some tedious and mundane things, making it really hard to call in a review. If only the battle system, so integral to the enjoyment of a game, wasn't so blasé, Shadow Hearts could have easily jumped up into one of the best surprise games of the year. With visuals and sound that also both tantalize and torment, you may find yourself getting constantly mixed up on how you feel about the title. Give this one a definite rental.... because you could also be on one end or the other of the Shadow Hearts spectrum.

Graphics: 7.75
The opening cinema and the beautiful color-work done in cut scenes will have you panting for more of Shadow Heart's unique look and feel. Most of the time, however, characters seem a bit too sharply edged and it loses it's dark silky feel.

Sound: 7
Sound quality oscillates a bit, with a conspicuous lack of sound combined with the occasionally haunting score. There is very little voice over work, and most conversation takes place in text boxes.

Concept: 8
The concept of Shadow Hearts is certainly a step apart from many other RPG titles with a darker theme. Taking an alternative history approach, this early 1900's world includes magic combined with industrialism. This contrast also manifests in the cultures involved - with the Japanese being more industrial, and the Chinese more mystically inclined. 

Overall: 7.75
In terms of taking a unique approach to the concepts we've come to expect for a game of a darker nature, Shadow Hearts has created a category all it's own. Alternating between quite impressive graphics and music with more standard visuals and sounds - the game sort of levels itself out as a mid-range title in multimedia aspects. Gameplay gets somewhat repetitive with the Judgement Ring, so give the game a rent before taking it home for good.