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Shadow Hearts 3 Official Trailer!
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A couple of impressions posted at GameFAQs...
tsurara_mai:
the game is SHII: redecorated, re-populated and rewritten... the difficulty has been upped a bit, the focus has been changed, the ambiance is a total 180...
but the system, the dungeon/village size, amount/length/style of cutscenes, the puzzle frequency and quite a few of the gag setups are pretty much exactly the same as the previous game...
The connection to the previous games is being made in the gameplay itself much less than connecting storyline or characters. The returning characters never take the focus away from the new ones and everything of import is pretty much "new stuff"...
The game PLAYS like Shadow Hearts II... and seems to be making a point in establishing some scenes/joke setups/even repeated melodies (the weapon theft music) as "traditions" that will probably continue into the rest of the games...
So basically: if you like the way SHII plays: you'll like this. If you hate it: might as well give up on the series now...
And 75% of questions about the game's system/gameplay can be answered by thinking back to your own copy of SHII.
That said: I'm loving the game. The atmosphere/villains/and story seem a hell of a lot more focused this time around and they've succeeded in tying the games together without having the first 2 games infringe on SHIII's identity as a standalone game. The story is unfolding more or less as I had hoped and I think the characters are stronger personalities this time around. Relieved to find that Hilda doesn't annoy me half as much as I thought she would, I actually think fat-Hilda's pretty freakin' cute. It's a lot of fun to play and gorgeous to look at.
The bad parts ~ the individual characters are so entrenched in their own worlds/quirky personalities that they don't really interact meaningfully with each other all that much... they all have their own agendas and more than ever seem to be travelling together "for the hell of it". Their individual backstories and personalities are a heck of a lot stronger this time around and they're an interesting batch, but they haven't formed any bonds with one another (aside from Frank and Mao and the characters already travelling together) Maybe this will improve (I'm only halfway)...
I'm also dissappointed at how much of a bit part Rene's gotten ;-; Some of the fetch quests are annoyingly trigger-specific (Arkham University and not being able to pick up the obvious lantern until you've done 3 or 4 other fairly useless things... and some of the puzzles seem totally unrelated to anything or lacking in clues. Natan is too damn quiet...
and THAT was New York?! Last I checked New York city has more than a detective agency, 2 blocks and a theatre (4 screens total, not counting the sparse interiors)... WEAK Aruze... just weak!
transience:
- anybody who liked SH2 will like SH3. it's almost the exact same thing - the battle system is slightly tweaked but otherwise it's nearly an exact copy with different characters, locations and story. people who say that Final Fantasy games are all the same better not say that SH2 and 3 are different, because there's very little difference. that doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's extremely similar.
- battle system: maybe it's just me (though tsurara said the same thing), but the ring seems to move slower. it's almost like they dumbed the ring down, I have like an 85% perfect percentage, way higher than I would ever have in SH1 or 2. the strike areas also look bigger, though the entire ring is bigger so it's kind of hard to tell. the double system is a little odd at first, especially in the context of bosses. you need to use hard hit on bosses in order to lower their stock gauge or they will just brutalize one character. hard hit takes away some of your stock gauge, so there's some strategy involved here. I had a boss one-hit my Johnny when he used his double attack, so you have to be cognizant of your opponents' stock gauges.
it seems that which attack you use actually matters in this one. for example, in order for Frank's huge star attack to hit, the enemy has to be knocked up; otherwise it misses. I also missed my combo magic, which was kind of shocking. I'm sure each ability has a certain way that it has to hit, making things like double pretty important. combo is also interesting, you don't group characters but simply choose combo when your gauge is high enough.
- Frank. Frank is...... something. interesting. awesome. unique. he is basically a Joachim clone - you find his weapons the same way that Joachim does, and the same song (gathering god) plays. I'm currently fighting with a cactus that Frank stuck on the end of his huge sword. my concern about Frank is that he seems absolutely untranslatable. I can't imagine what he's going to sound like in English. I'm not one of those people who goes OH NO THEY SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE JAPANESE VOICES, but I just can not picture Frank. you have to hear his voice actor... he, like, sings. it's hard to explain. he is awesome, though.
- Stellar Charts. these things look scary as hell to me. the best comparison I can come up with are FFX-2's result plate/garment grids, only instead of jobs you have magic. you can spend money to upgrade/tweak them, and you find several throughout the game. (in the lottery, for instance.) you equip them on any character you want (sans Shania, since she fuses) and then go to equipping magic. I have utterly no idea how this works, and judging from maskrider's comments he's not completely sure either. my current philosophy: if I have a cure spell, I'm okay. I have three cure spells equipped on three stellar charts. therefore, I'm okay.
tsurara_mai:
the game is SHII: redecorated, re-populated and rewritten... the difficulty has been upped a bit, the focus has been changed, the ambiance is a total 180...
but the system, the dungeon/village size, amount/length/style of cutscenes, the puzzle frequency and quite a few of the gag setups are pretty much exactly the same as the previous game...
The connection to the previous games is being made in the gameplay itself much less than connecting storyline or characters. The returning characters never take the focus away from the new ones and everything of import is pretty much "new stuff"...
The game PLAYS like Shadow Hearts II... and seems to be making a point in establishing some scenes/joke setups/even repeated melodies (the weapon theft music) as "traditions" that will probably continue into the rest of the games...
So basically: if you like the way SHII plays: you'll like this. If you hate it: might as well give up on the series now...
And 75% of questions about the game's system/gameplay can be answered by thinking back to your own copy of SHII.
That said: I'm loving the game. The atmosphere/villains/and story seem a hell of a lot more focused this time around and they've succeeded in tying the games together without having the first 2 games infringe on SHIII's identity as a standalone game. The story is unfolding more or less as I had hoped and I think the characters are stronger personalities this time around. Relieved to find that Hilda doesn't annoy me half as much as I thought she would, I actually think fat-Hilda's pretty freakin' cute. It's a lot of fun to play and gorgeous to look at.
The bad parts ~ the individual characters are so entrenched in their own worlds/quirky personalities that they don't really interact meaningfully with each other all that much... they all have their own agendas and more than ever seem to be travelling together "for the hell of it". Their individual backstories and personalities are a heck of a lot stronger this time around and they're an interesting batch, but they haven't formed any bonds with one another (aside from Frank and Mao and the characters already travelling together) Maybe this will improve (I'm only halfway)...
I'm also dissappointed at how much of a bit part Rene's gotten ;-; Some of the fetch quests are annoyingly trigger-specific (Arkham University and not being able to pick up the obvious lantern until you've done 3 or 4 other fairly useless things... and some of the puzzles seem totally unrelated to anything or lacking in clues. Natan is too damn quiet...
and THAT was New York?! Last I checked New York city has more than a detective agency, 2 blocks and a theatre (4 screens total, not counting the sparse interiors)... WEAK Aruze... just weak!
transience:
- anybody who liked SH2 will like SH3. it's almost the exact same thing - the battle system is slightly tweaked but otherwise it's nearly an exact copy with different characters, locations and story. people who say that Final Fantasy games are all the same better not say that SH2 and 3 are different, because there's very little difference. that doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's extremely similar.
- battle system: maybe it's just me (though tsurara said the same thing), but the ring seems to move slower. it's almost like they dumbed the ring down, I have like an 85% perfect percentage, way higher than I would ever have in SH1 or 2. the strike areas also look bigger, though the entire ring is bigger so it's kind of hard to tell. the double system is a little odd at first, especially in the context of bosses. you need to use hard hit on bosses in order to lower their stock gauge or they will just brutalize one character. hard hit takes away some of your stock gauge, so there's some strategy involved here. I had a boss one-hit my Johnny when he used his double attack, so you have to be cognizant of your opponents' stock gauges.
it seems that which attack you use actually matters in this one. for example, in order for Frank's huge star attack to hit, the enemy has to be knocked up; otherwise it misses. I also missed my combo magic, which was kind of shocking. I'm sure each ability has a certain way that it has to hit, making things like double pretty important. combo is also interesting, you don't group characters but simply choose combo when your gauge is high enough.
- Frank. Frank is...... something. interesting. awesome. unique. he is basically a Joachim clone - you find his weapons the same way that Joachim does, and the same song (gathering god) plays. I'm currently fighting with a cactus that Frank stuck on the end of his huge sword. my concern about Frank is that he seems absolutely untranslatable. I can't imagine what he's going to sound like in English. I'm not one of those people who goes OH NO THEY SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE JAPANESE VOICES, but I just can not picture Frank. you have to hear his voice actor... he, like, sings. it's hard to explain. he is awesome, though.
- Stellar Charts. these things look scary as hell to me. the best comparison I can come up with are FFX-2's result plate/garment grids, only instead of jobs you have magic. you can spend money to upgrade/tweak them, and you find several throughout the game. (in the lottery, for instance.) you equip them on any character you want (sans Shania, since she fuses) and then go to equipping magic. I have utterly no idea how this works, and judging from maskrider's comments he's not completely sure either. my current philosophy: if I have a cure spell, I'm okay. I have three cure spells equipped on three stellar charts. therefore, I'm okay.
I'll wait until later to really talk about this game, but I'll just say that so far it's really good.
I've always thought that the SH series was the 'other' FF. Like besides the battle system it was very similar to FF, especially as how it was made for everyone and not just the hardcore rpg crowd (but the hardcore rpg crowd could still get all the ultimate weapons and do all the stat crunching if they wanted). Well SH3 is even more like an FF game than SH2 and it borrows a ton of stuff from FF...yet does it better IMO.
Auto-map is fucking awesome and anyone who remembers some of the mine mazes in SH2 will really appriciate a non-loading instant awesome auto-map.
Magic is sooooooo much deeper and better.
Music >>> SH2 from what I've heard so far. Gonna be a battle with the SH1 ost.
Graphics are a lot better than SH2 in terms of art design and facial textures. Some of the backgrounds are gorgeous.
Yay, it's good.
I've always thought that the SH series was the 'other' FF. Like besides the battle system it was very similar to FF, especially as how it was made for everyone and not just the hardcore rpg crowd (but the hardcore rpg crowd could still get all the ultimate weapons and do all the stat crunching if they wanted). Well SH3 is even more like an FF game than SH2 and it borrows a ton of stuff from FF...yet does it better IMO.
Auto-map is fucking awesome and anyone who remembers some of the mine mazes in SH2 will really appriciate a non-loading instant awesome auto-map.
Magic is sooooooo much deeper and better.
Music >>> SH2 from what I've heard so far. Gonna be a battle with the SH1 ost.
Graphics are a lot better than SH2 in terms of art design and facial textures. Some of the backgrounds are gorgeous.
Yay, it's good.
I am currently playing the side quests (entered and left the last dungeon), and got some of the ultimate armors/weapons.
So far, this game is much much better in terms of the battle system, the stock and combo are much more flexible and can be used to great advantage.
Stellar magic chart is a bit more complex at first but you will know it well after you level up and change the element of the nodes.
There are a lot of suble animations that do not exist in the previous games, but there are not much CG pre-rendered cut-scenes comparing to the previous one, may be to squeeze the game onto one single layer DVD.
Frank is even more an idiot than Joachim IMHO.
So far, this game is much much better in terms of the battle system, the stock and combo are much more flexible and can be used to great advantage.
Stellar magic chart is a bit more complex at first but you will know it well after you level up and change the element of the nodes.
There are a lot of suble animations that do not exist in the previous games, but there are not much CG pre-rendered cut-scenes comparing to the previous one, may be to squeeze the game onto one single layer DVD.
Frank is even more an idiot than Joachim IMHO.
BuckRobotron
Member
Is anything related to Halley or Koudelka in the game? I'll be picking it up as soon as a U.S. release (hopefully) happens.
Played it for about 45 minutes so far. SH3 is good. It surpassed everything in SH2 technically and really shows that Azure learns and improves much faster than most other developers. It remains to be seen if the actual game will surpass SH2 but it's looking pretty damn good so far.
YAY FOR 0-SECOND BATTLE LOADING!
YAY FOR 0-SECOND BATTLE LOADING!
Mr_Furious
Member
ARGH! Everytime this thread gets bumped I get this false sense of hope that there's some hint of a US release. A single click gives me a sad reality check 
Attack You
Member
Mr_Furious said:ARGH! Everytime this thread gets bumped I get this false sense of hope that there's some hint of a US release. A single click gives me a sad reality check
Same.
Duckrowlned indeed.Maskrider, I have a few questions (don't want to check the gamefaqs board because I don't want spoilers).
--I seemed to have missed Shania's 2nd fetish for her 2nd Fusion. Do you remember where you found it? I just got the 3rd fusion (water) and its 2nd fetish from the lottery on the pirate ship but my 2nd fusion (earth) only has one fetish so far.
--I can't figure out Natan's second UMA. The cheif says it's in the sunken ship in the pirate cove and that it doesn't like sour food. So I go to the 3 spots in the sunken ship and try using the grapefruit and it's just regular enemies. I've gone through almost all the foods at all three spots and after about 2 hours of trying to find this UMA I still can't find it. What am I supposed to do here?
--How do you get new Ninjutsu for Frank? He still just has his starting one.
--At this point am I supposed to have more attacks for Johnny than just snap? I only have snap currently.
Thanks,
--I can't figure out Natan's second UMA. The cheif says it's in the sunken ship in the pirate cove and that it doesn't like sour food. So I go to the 3 spots in the sunken ship and try using the grapefruit and it's just regular enemies. I've gone through almost all the foods at all three spots and after about 2 hours of trying to find this UMA I still can't find it. What am I supposed to do here?
--How do you get new Ninjutsu for Frank? He still just has his starting one.
--At this point am I supposed to have more attacks for Johnny than just snap? I only have snap currently.
Thanks,