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[Mrbob]

Game is damn sweet! Judgement ring rocks!

The looks of this game is strange though. Some of the models look decent and some of the backgrounds do too. But there seems to be a ton of aliasing going on. My eyes!

Battle system is nice. I've only played for about an hour and a half so far but this game reminds me of an alternate FFX game. The adventuring segements remind me of FFX with the map system. The battle system reminds me of FFX with the way enemies and your support characters are slotted attack spots before the battle begins. The whole setting for the game is definitely intriguing.

Before I go any further though, how necessary is it to play the first? Will I miss out on anything by just playing Covenant. Also, were there changes made to improve Covenant that will frustrate me if I play the first game?

 

[SirFodderton]

I played covenent first and just started on the first one. I think I would have appreciated
covenents story even more if I played the games in order. Especially when characters from
the 1st start popping up and references are made to the first games storyline.

 

[lunlunqq]

Yes, you will appreciate covenant even more if you played the first one. There are quite some references to the first game in covenant. Especially, you need to play the first game to understand the relationship between Yuri and a certain very important female NPC.

 

[Mrbob]

Sheet. Out to find the first one! Is it still available?

 

[Mejilan]

I bought the hype (and the game, with the first as a free pack in) and after about 15 hours, stopped. I didn't get what all the good press was about. I didn't like any of the characters, and the exploration was kinda crappy. Fun combat, but I've played better too. *shrugs*

It's certainly not bad however, it seems to be quite competent at what it does, and it's not pathetically easy, so that's a bonus too. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

I bought the hype (and the game, with the first as a free pack in) and after about 15 hours, stopped. I didn't get what all the good press was about. I didn't like any of the characters, and the exploration was kinda crappy. Fun combat, but I've played better too. *shrugs*

It's certainly not bad however, it seems to be quite competent at what it does, and it's not pathetically easy, so that's a bonus too. I hope you enjoy it.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[Bebpo]

I see some people who play rpgs are missing:

--A sense of humor

--A soul

 

[Archaix]

Sheet. Out to find the first one! Is it still available?

It was given away free with the pre-purchase of Covenant, so I'm sure you could find it pretty cheap somewhere used if not new.

 

[Wario64]

Sheet. Out to find the first one! Is it still available?

$17.99
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=50011434&dcaid=1688

 

[Mejilan]

I see some people who play rpgs are missing:

--A sense of humor

--A soul

Awww, I said the game wasn't bad. It's just that GAF jumped on it like it was the best RPG in years or something. And that's not even close to accurate, imho.

 

[Bebpo]

Awww, I said the game wasn't bad. It's just that GAF jumped on it like it was the best RPG in years or something. And that's not even close to accurate, imho.

But you didn't like the characters, and I find it difficult to believe that anyone with a soul would not like the characters

 

[dark10x]

But you didn't like the characters, and I find it difficult to believe that anyone with a soul would not like the characters

This I agree with. The characters are just awesome!

 

[djtiesto]

SH:C definitely injected some much-needed humor into the RPG genre... and the characters were totally random and unorthodox. How well did SH:C do in the US?

 

[demi]

There is one reason alone to play Shadow Hearts:

GODSLAYER: YURI VOLTE HYUGA

You must get the first game, Mrbob just for the opening sequence alone and so you don't get all confused and stuff.

There really shouldn't be much difference between the two except that Shadow Hearts (1) has more PSOneish graphics.

 

[Slayven]

isn't thsi the game where you ahve to collect porn mags and dresses for dolls?

 

[demi]

Yep, you collect cards of buff dudes for a couple of...questionable tailors who then make you new dresses for Geppeto.

 

[Dead]

Hey I hated this game when I first bought it, hated it, sold it. Rebought yesterday, and am now really liking it

The wrestler dude is funny as hell

 

[Luscious LeftFoot]

The game was a lot fun. Really enjoyed the ending too... which almost never happens.

 

[maskrider]

I had recently played through the original SH twice to prepare myself for SH2DC (damn that I couldn't get it yet), and yes, you will appreciate SH:C even more if you have played SH since you understand much more about the background and the link of the characters.

And BTW, SH also has great music and theme song, the credit rolling sequence is simple but feels great.

The bad things on SH is that the graphics is very much inferior and if you have got used to the flexiblity of the judgement ring in SH:C, it will take time to get use to the fixed type and fixed hit areas in SH, I mostly use gamble ring and keep adjusting the number of hit areas to situations in SH:C.

 

[Mejilan]

But you didn't like the characters, and I find it difficult to believe that anyone with a soul would not like the characters

Maybe that's because I never played the original. I dunno, gave the game 15 hours of my life and it failed to draw me in. I can barely remember the characters anymore, let alone their personalities.

Paper Mario 2 and Shin Megami Tensei spoiled me, I guess. Those were my top two console RPGs last year. SHC just wasn't anywhere near 'em.

 

[nitewulf]

i'm hesitant about SH:Covenant, i liked the original's theme, characters. story, and world a lot...but hated the combat, battle music, and graphics.
and when i heard they didnt change the system (judgement ring) i didnt bother with this. on the other hand, i am a sucker for goth stuff....may be i'll pick it up eventually, like the first one.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

I don't really want to get into a lot of reasons why I didn't care for the game, but I was never won over by the characters. I gave the game around 15 hours of my playtime and I never liked them any more than when I started... in fact, I wound up liking some of them less, particularly Yuri. I'm sure it didn't help that the voice acting was pretty eh for most of the characters (well, except the wrestler who's name escapes me right now, who was hammy and perfect for the role).

I'm not sure exactly what complexities of these characters might have been discussed later on, but after my time with it I felt like almost no progression was being made (even with the general plotline, despite the smaller events) and gave up on it. I don't have the time to wait for it to interest me.

If other people liked it, that's cool. I just wasn't won over. On the other hand, I enjoyed the original quite a bit. Who knows.