bit-tech Shopping: XSeed Games Shadow Hearts: From The New World for PlayStation 2 (PS2)

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: More "modern" "real world" settingGame play that rewards timing and skill

Weaknesses: Real world... not very realPlot gets lost

Summary: The first SH was fun, if dated by the time I finally got around to playing it. The second was great though, so I was really looking forward to this... and was disappointed. It's not that it's a bad game, it's just a very mediocre game full of cliches. The best thing about it is what made the previous two so unique: the Judgment Ring system. Instead of just mashing X to muscle through battles, you must press it at select times to be able to do pretty much anything, and if you hit it at just the right spot, there are bonuses. This makes battles far more involved than your typical RPG... but that's about it. The rest is VERY much your typical JRPG.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: Decent conclusion to the Shadow Hearts trilogy

Weaknesses: Not quite as good as the second one, drags a bit in parts

Summary: Shadow Hearts From The New World is the conclusion to the Shadow Hearts trilogy. The series definitely peaked with the second installment. However, this game is enjoyable enough in its own right even though it doesn't quite live up to the one before it. Like Shadow Hearts Covenant it contains a full assortment of bizarre characters the likes of which are not usually seen in most other RPG games. It brings back the Judgement Ring combat system (where timed button presses are essential to winning battles). A few tweaks have been made to make combos a bit easier to land, but otherwise the battle system is the same as before. The story is fairly well done but it can drag in parts where there is a lot of dungeon crawling with little story advancement. Also, the encounter rate can be annoyingly high at times.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 14 Days

Strengths: Gameplay

Weaknesses: boring story

Summary: I decided to purchase this game after reading various reviews and enjoying Shadow Hearts 2 very much. This game keep me interested early on but I lost interest later on in it. A big disappointment after the last title in the series but it is still okay.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2

Strengths: Graphics, gameplay

Weaknesses: Story not as good as the previous installments

Summary: Shadow Hearts:FTNW is an entertaining and fun game. It is a RPG with an adventurous journey. It has its settings in America with real-world locations but the story makes them a bit unbelievable. That aside, the gameplay itself is pretty fun and rewarding. Shadow Hearts:FTNW is the third installment in the Shadow Hearts series. It has excellent graphics and gameplay. However, the story is a little sub par comparing to the previous games. At any rate, it is still good on its own. Pick it up!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 30

Strengths: Good battle system

Weaknesses: Doesn't feel as great as the previous installments.

Summary: Well, technically this game is still pretty good. If you had to compare it to its previous entries, then this one falls a bit short. That doesn't mean it's bad though. Its previous games were great games, and it's hard to compare others to it. I personally found this game to be pretty fun and well worth the money. It's cheap now so I'd personally recommend it to RPG fans.