Few games reach the state of perfection that Shadow Hearts: Covenant has.
The story begins during 1915, when the world faces the First World War. Karin Koenig, a German lieutenant witnesses an attack by a demon in the village of Domremy. A Priest, seeking the destruction of the Godslayer, follows her back to the village. And so, it all begins...
Covenant features a host of brilliantly made characters, that are both funny and weird in their own way. From Yuri, the anti-hero from the previous installment, to Anastasia, the Russian princess, the characters never cease to amaze you. Complete with personality and style (something that many RPG's lack), they are the color in the dark world of Covenant. The voices that they have, however, fit all but one: Lucia. Also, they lack all foreign dialect. Can Midway or Nautilus explain why they thought that a Japanese sword fighter or Italian fortuneteller would have a solid American accent? Or any other foreign character, playable or NPC, for that matter?
Shame on you. It would have been nice to hear Lucia with an Italian accent.
However, despite the lack of foreign tones, the voice acting is still superb, and manages to mesmerize the player. The dialogue is also nicely written, and is filled with much humour, including Gepetto's "I think you're screwed".
Where the game truly shines, however, is the battle system. Like a number of other role-playing games, the battle system is turn based. When attacking, using Crest Magic, or an item, you will need to face the Judgement Ring, which is basically a while circle that appears to the right of the screen. On it are colored segments that are hit areas, and a needle that spins clockwise. The goal is to press X when the needle is over the hit areas. Basic attacks have both yellow areas for regular damage, and red areas for higher damage; the red areas are of course very small, and requires precision to hit. Couple that up with the fact that the attack is interrupted if you miss an area, and that the needle spins only once, players are required to be alert at all times. Button-mashing just won't do in this game. One must also be wary of a characters SP, which roughly stands for Sanity Points. Each character has a specific amount that increases with levels (some have more the others). Each turn drains one point, and when they are depleted, characters go berserk. During that time, they will attack friend and foe alike, and will not receive experience points after battle. SP can be restored with items, of course, and is also restored fully after each battle.
There is more to it then just the regular attacks and a characters questionable sanity, though. Characters can team up for powerful combo attacks, and unleash a devastating combo magic against the unsuspecting foes, dealing major damage. Let us proceed to the game's visuals. The graphics in this game are very clean, and really show the atmosphere of the game. All character models are unique, and the enemies are quite innovative (who can dislike the big pink cat with earrings?), but the areas sometimes tend to be slightly repetitive. Although the games various locales are quite the beauty, more could have been added to them to avoid repetitiveness.
Covenant also features many CG movies, and an amazing soundtrack. Many of the battle themes in the game have vocals accompanying them, and the tunes heard in the dungeons and cities are spectacular. My hat's off to the composer; a fine job was made on these. A wonderful tale of demons and mystery awaits you.