Shadow Hearts was barebones, not for everyone, but charming in its own way. You can see its got a place in some hearts, included mine
Got poor scores due.... I guess the lack of mainstream appeal.
Outdated graphics, no cute boys, scarcety of cute and lightly dressed girls, no big name behind it.... how much can a RPG like that score?
Edit: in fact notice how Gamespot, which in my experience tends to give a deeper look to games, scored it nicely; while IGN, usually rating games more in accordance with their mainstream appeal, bashed it. /edit
Gameplay was limited as any final fantasy clone: linear, random battles, classic battle engine, few characters skills and customization.
A definite plus, one of the lowest random encounter rates.
The battle system required you to time a combination of 3 button presses for the best results, and to a certain extent allowed to take risks with more challenging combinations for higher damage; I liked it, but quite some people apparently didn't.
Best part of the game was the atmosphere, thanks to an original setting, good music, quite interesting characters.
It didn't take itself very seriously, which increased its charm and helped to laught off some silly mishaps; otherwise was almost sober.
Again some bareness shows, with small size areas and limited number of side quests.
Overall I really liked it. Not for who requires good graphics, anime lolita fanservice, or a Happy Happy Lucky Lucky setting.
Free when preordering the sequel, is a great chance to try it.