[PS2] Shadow Hearts: From the New World

They seem to be very quickly moving away from the thematic elements that originally hooked me on the series: the dark themes from Koudelka and Shadow Hearts. This is somewhat disappointing, but I'm willing to overlook that, due to the fact that SH:C is one of the top three best PS2 games that I own, right up there with Star Ocean 3 and Suikoden 3. The fact is that Koudelka, Shadow Hearts, and Shadow Hearts: Covenant were all very different from each other, but they were all very strong games. I have avoided anything more than a couple of magazine scans for the new game, so pretty much everything except a few character designs will be a surprise to me. I'm highly anticipating its release next week, despite what appears to be a further removal from the darker theme that initially hooked me on the series.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Rei no Otaku

I don't see why they can't do both. You can have a dark game with humor in it. I will admit I prefer a darker setting, but SHC was by far the superior game. Everything from gameplay and graphics to the richness of the story, and the way they tied it back into the first game. Was just very well done.

Something can't really be dark and light at the same time.

Anyways, I am going to pick it up today. I'm moderately excited, which is about as excited as I get for game releases these day.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've played three or four hours on it so far and am enjoying it. It feels a lot like SH:C so far, which is good. I feel like there is only so much you can do with the same main character before it gets stale, and I'm guessing that is what the developers were thinking when they started working on From the New World. They're still using the Fusion form, just shifting it from the main character to another character, which I like, because I really like the Fusion stuff but it will be nice for it to not be as emphasized as before.

So far I've been pleasantly surprised with Johnny, as he isn't some annoying brat like I was half expecting, and Shania is pretty awesome, what with her dual wielding tomohawks.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Rei no Otaku

Humor doesn't have to be light. In fact quite a bit of it is pretty dark. I just said they could have a game with humor in it, and still stick to a darker storyline.

I'm enjoying it so far as well. I just finished the Alcatraz part and now I'm off to Roswell. I can only imagine what I'll find there...

Most of the humour in this one and the previous has been more along the lines of humour derived from zany characters or characters reacting to serious situations in odd ways. I think back to SH:C and the scene in which you're attacked by a giant pink cat. Yuri's reaction is simply "Whoa, that is one giant pussy." They're mixing the darker themes with more zany humour than dark humour, which worked out well enough in Covenant, and is working well enough in From the New World. I guess that they wanted to use darker themes without turning all of the characters emo.

Also I hate the new VA for our favorite immortal child of the stars.

Spoiler:

Roger Bacon

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Why lie, you need to start out with the first game in the series, Koudelka. Old PS1 game which featured excellent voice acting, years before voice acting became commonplace in RPGs.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I am not really liking the pacing of this game, as it seems to be spend an hour in a big ass dungeon, fight a boss, talk for 2 minutes about where to go next, spend an hour in a dungeon.

I did really enjoy one specific moment at the end of a dungeon when:

don't cry if you click this kthx:

there is a huge centaur standing in the center of the room and Johnny sees it {exclamation point over his head}, then walks up to it {question mark over his head}, and then begins examining it and it starts moving {tear drop} and Johnny says "Well, I guess that's pretty typical."

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?