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Alert: Local EB stores have Shadow Hearts 2 in stock...
- Thread starter Brandon F
- Start date
Thanks for the tip off! It was indeed available!
I started playing it a while ago...
Story seems interesting, cutscenes are well directed, and the battle system seems a hell of a lot more interesting. I think I might like this...
However, SO3 really spoiled me when it comes to visuals (at this point, I'd say it is the most stunning RPG I've ever seen during gameplay).
The vibrant, 480p visuals and smooth framerate of SO3 were really beautiful and added an extra impact to the experience...but SH2 has a very nasty, dank, pixelated look. To make matters worse, the menus and judgement ring run at 60 fps...while the actual 3D graphics only run at 30. So, when you see that smooth ring spin around once...the half speed battle graphics look pretty poor.
Oh well, I can live with that if the game is good. The US voice acting is suprisingly good, though. Considering how uneven and awful the few voice performances in the original were...this is a nice suprise.
I started playing it a while ago...
Story seems interesting, cutscenes are well directed, and the battle system seems a hell of a lot more interesting. I think I might like this...
However, SO3 really spoiled me when it comes to visuals (at this point, I'd say it is the most stunning RPG I've ever seen during gameplay).
The vibrant, 480p visuals and smooth framerate of SO3 were really beautiful and added an extra impact to the experience...but SH2 has a very nasty, dank, pixelated look. To make matters worse, the menus and judgement ring run at 60 fps...while the actual 3D graphics only run at 30. So, when you see that smooth ring spin around once...the half speed battle graphics look pretty poor.
Oh well, I can live with that if the game is good. The US voice acting is suprisingly good, though. Considering how uneven and awful the few voice performances in the original were...this is a nice suprise.
shoplifter
Member
Man...even with my backlog I want this.
Why get it early if you're not even gonna play it right away=p Not fair!
Sorry, I'm just green with envy right now.
Nope it's not necessary, there are lots of recaps for the parts that you need to know. It's enough so you won't be lost with the story.
It helps to play SH1 though, because alot of the relationships around the main protragonist, Yuri, will come into play in SH2.
Definitely read up on some spoilers for SH1 and its two endings, if you don't plan to play it.
Sorry, I'm just green with envy right now.
Wario64 said:
Nope it's not necessary, there are lots of recaps for the parts that you need to know. It's enough so you won't be lost with the story.
It helps to play SH1 though, because alot of the relationships around the main protragonist, Yuri, will come into play in SH2.
Definitely read up on some spoilers for SH1 and its two endings, if you don't plan to play it.
Drinky Crow
Banned
Picked this up from EB, and DAMN: surprise, it's really good. I've played about six hours now and I'm in the mines before Wales. The Judgment Ring customization and the combo system rock, and the different specialty systems for each character are a lot of fun.
It's nice to play a game with a great localization, good voice acting, and ACTUAL INTERESTING CHARACTERS (ToS, I'm not looking at you) for a change. Sure, SH:C is pretty orthodox as far as RPGs go, but it really seems to do the whole linear console RPG right. The pro wrestling superhero vampire was fucked up, though.
5 hours in, and SH:C >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ToS ~= SO3
It's nice to play a game with a great localization, good voice acting, and ACTUAL INTERESTING CHARACTERS (ToS, I'm not looking at you) for a change. Sure, SH:C is pretty orthodox as far as RPGs go, but it really seems to do the whole linear console RPG right. The pro wrestling superhero vampire was fucked up, though.
5 hours in, and SH:C >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ToS ~= SO3
shoplifter
Member
Awesome, between this and Megaten I'm gonna be busy. Still need to play my SH1 though, dunno why it's been on the shelf so long.
Yeah, it's one of the jaggiest looking PS2 games I've played in a LONG time.
As for that particular area, here's a tip...
Do you remember the first area with the three way split? The RIGHT tunnel takes you to side area while the other two will take you to another place. You need to be in the middle or left tunnel and essentially work your way to the upper left hand corner of the map. The hallways will eventually lead you to where you need to be. When you arrive, you'll see a save point...
From there, you trigger something which will move a car from earlier. Now, go back to the three way split and take the right tunnel. You should be able to find your way through there now...
As for that particular area, here's a tip...
Do you remember the first area with the three way split? The RIGHT tunnel takes you to side area while the other two will take you to another place. You need to be in the middle or left tunnel and essentially work your way to the upper left hand corner of the map. The hallways will eventually lead you to where you need to be. When you arrive, you'll see a save point...
From there, you trigger something which will move a car from earlier. Now, go back to the three way split and take the right tunnel. You should be able to find your way through there now...
Drinky Crow
Banned
The first part of the game seems to be the worst for jaggies. Later on, there's some really beautiful scenery. It's no ToS for image quality, but it's not bad-looking, either.
Drinky Crow said:
ToS has great image quality for a non-progressive game, but Star Ocean 3 has THE best image quality in any JRPG yet created.
Switching from that to Shadow Hearts 2 was quite a shock...Some of the scenery is quite nice, though. The beginning of the game had a very muddy look to it.
Drinky Crow
Banned
Nah, SO3 lacks the ToS heavy anti-aliasing -- it still has a bit of a rough-edged look, even in prog scan. Unlike every other type of game, I prefer my RPGs anti-aliased.
Drinky Crow
Banned
Yeah, but the muddy look isn't so much image quality (output) as it is low-res textures and simplistic lighting. I think SO3 is a vastly better looking game overall, but ToS has no discernable pixel edges anywhere.
Put about 3 hours in last night and am still waiting for teh funny to show up. Those initial cutscenes were snooze-worthy, all those campfire sitdowns coulda been punctuated. Very slow start compared to the crazy fight on the train in SH1.
Battle system is neat though, didn't really get a chance to do anything crazy yet with the combos and stuff, there is a nice amount of flexibility involved with the judgement rings and various attack parameters...well, actually there is the possibility of it being flexible. Can't discern much this early in, need better enemies to face. Any real purpose to using the 4 different attack types outside the realm of -combo-?
Also, is there any way to gain back SP without the use of items? Game forgot to mention SP loss in the tutorial as all three of my heroes suddenly went berserk in the spider boss fight after a couple combo attempts, and my ignorance let it happen. I was shit out of luck until they happened to stop tossing MP heal items at the boss and thankfully decided to attack the boss and not each other.
Battle system is neat though, didn't really get a chance to do anything crazy yet with the combos and stuff, there is a nice amount of flexibility involved with the judgement rings and various attack parameters...well, actually there is the possibility of it being flexible. Can't discern much this early in, need better enemies to face. Any real purpose to using the 4 different attack types outside the realm of -combo-?
Also, is there any way to gain back SP without the use of items? Game forgot to mention SP loss in the tutorial as all three of my heroes suddenly went berserk in the spider boss fight after a couple combo attempts, and my ignorance let it happen. I was shit out of luck until they happened to stop tossing MP heal items at the boss and thankfully decided to attack the boss and not each other.
I dunno, while the initial train scene in Shadow Hearts was pretty intense (as far as RPGs are concerned), the actual beginning content directly beyond the intro was pretty awful. That initial wandering scene as well as the entire first town were so incredibly boring...
I'm still hoping for a little more "SCHLOOOOOOP" in the sequel...
Alex
Member
"SH:C >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SO3"
Incorrect!
"SH:C >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ToS"
Correct!
Both Monster Hunter and Shadow Hearts 2 are games I wanna nab, but, well, everything on Earth came out in September. And I, unless having a very good reason. Don't play through multiple games at once anymore. Distracting, for me at least and usually ended up in dropped games.
Also, I sent you a PM Drinky.
Incorrect!
"SH:C >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ToS"
Correct!
Both Monster Hunter and Shadow Hearts 2 are games I wanna nab, but, well, everything on Earth came out in September. And I, unless having a very good reason. Don't play through multiple games at once anymore. Distracting, for me at least and usually ended up in dropped games.
Also, I sent you a PM Drinky.
nitewulf said:
Not really...
The snowy area you speak of is pretty much the only area that has serious slowdown issues. The vast majority of the areas hold a perfect 60 fps...and that includes battles.
Later on in the game, when larger monsters appear on the field, some areas will stutter a bit though. In general, it holds 60 fps a good 95% of the time (at minimum).
so you agree that the snowy area does have serious, and i mean serious slowdown issues? even with fog.
its odd that you'd think this is the best looking rpg out there considering your own admission as a graphic whore. its not polished really, that sort of slowdowns kill the polish.
its odd that you'd think this is the best looking rpg out there considering your own admission as a graphic whore. its not polished really, that sort of slowdowns kill the polish.
nitewulf said:
That was one area.
That snowy area just runs really badly. The engine does not handle slowdown welll, for some reason. The fog in use is not being used to mask anything, though. When the camera is behind you, there is no limitation in what you can see. I can only imagine that the fog would only add to the problem, as it isn't being used to hide anyhting.
That is basically the only place in the game with severe slowdown. There are a few others areas, but they are very minor. Most of the game is flawless...
I still think it is the best looking JRPG yet released. What would you vote for?
FortNinety
Member
Okay, I have to admit, I know next to nothing about this game. Mind anyone share some basics about the game? I don't like RPGs, but should I try this one?
been skipping all the other threads and the reviews? reviews are out now in mags. surprised there aren't any on sites yet.FortNinety said:
it's very traditional and has (fairly infrequent, by genre standards) random, turn-based battles. if that's enough to turn you off, you'll hate it. if you think you can work through that, it's worth a look because it's a really entertaining game with a cool story, cast, and a ton of stuff to do.
radios shipping overview
Member
Same here, but I bought it anyway. :| I am weak against preorder bonuses and free shipping. Looking forward to playing it, though. Seeing this post (legit?) by Jeremy Blaustein on the localization helped push me over the edge.MetatronM said:Man, this is one game that I really want but just simply don't have the money nor the time for right now.
dark10x said:That was one area.
That snowy area just runs really badly. The engine does not handle slowdown welll, for some reason. The fog in use is not being used to mask anything, though. When the camera is behind you, there is no limitation in what you can see. I can only imagine that the fog would only add to the problem, as it isn't being used to hide anyhting.
That is basically the only place in the game with severe slowdown. There are a few others areas, but they are very minor. Most of the game is flawless...
I still think it is the best looking JRPG yet released. What would you vote for?
hmm, yeah thats pretty much the only area where the game slows down. there are some other infrequent slowdowns i've noticed here and there, while swinging the camera and ocassionally during battles when there are rocks, explosions, lots of enemies centered on the screen at the same time...but that doesnt happen too often.
as for my candidate, you got me there. i'd say SO3 as well. FFX certainly doesnt hold up, what with the angular joints and jerky animation, SOA is very low poly, and while grandia 2 is very solid looking, SO3 just does a lot more. shadow hearts is ugly (part 1 mind you) and aside from these, i havent played any other rpgs this gen.
its just that, since SO3 does so many things well, sometimes the low poly characters and bland textures look out of place...so even though i'd say its the best looking rpg this gen (so far), i dont think its flawless.
I just started last night even though I picked it up the day it came out(had to work through DJ:NY), and so far I'm liking it... starts of pretty slow but so did the first one wandering in the woods after the nice train opening sequence. I'm VERY happy to hear that the music seems to following the same moody style that the first one had, and they retained a version of the winning battle music from the first.... I'm at work right now but does anybody have their manual handy? IIRC the voice of Yuri in the first one was done by Eric Stuart.. I forgot to check last night but it sounds like he's doing Yuri's voice again in the sequel can anybody confirm?
I'm going to check a faq in a bit because I want to learn a bit more about when I should use combo's as oppose to standard/hard/high angle and knock up attacks... I have no idea what I did with my game manual so I don't remember if it's explained at all in there.
I'm going to check a faq in a bit because I want to learn a bit more about when I should use combo's as oppose to standard/hard/high angle and knock up attacks... I have no idea what I did with my game manual so I don't remember if it's explained at all in there.
Cerebral Palsy
Banned
Brandon F said:
MediaPlay has been doing videogame trade-ins here on Tuesdays. Trade 5 games in and get one free. And there are no restrictions on the games. I traded in Madden 2003, NFL 2K3, NBA 2K3, NBA 2K4, and NFL 2K4 and got Pikman2 for free. I think the total trade-in value for the games was listed as like $6 on the receipt
FortNinety
Member
nnthomas said:
True, but I'll still try any game from any genre if I hear it's outstanding. You don't have to be a fan of genre to know such and such game is good, and often the best games are appealing to anyone regardless of the intended audience.
Drinky Crow
Banned
I'm really diggin' on this game. It's like playing FFX, minus all the suck -- it's well-paced, well-written, and never has a cutscene that's too long or a dungeon that's too dull. I can't believe that the same team made the godawful Koudelka or even the original Shadow Hearts -- this game is lightyears beyond both. I didn't think I'd ever really enjoy a bog-standard linear console RPG again, but I'm kinda glad to be proven wrong.
FortNinety said:
This is one of the few RPGs I actually like, if that helps. I usually can't stand them either.
I'm alsways enjoying the (way too easy so far) Megaman X Command Mission as well, but SH2 kicks its ass all over the place.Similar threads
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