A masterpiece that went under the radar.

User Rating: 9.4 | Shadow Hearts II PS2
By Rambo_Potter | Review Date:
After FFX, I swore off RPGs for a while. It became too much of the same really. 50 hours much time of which is spent in battle after battle to get to a high enough level to best a boss or learn a new skill. Villain wants to destroy the world, existence, time, whatever. Many characters share many traits of character from other games...blah,blah,blah. So four years after FFX, I break down and buy this game after seeing it at an affordable price and reading favorable reviews. I must say this game was well worth my time and yours as well.
This game isn't a drastic change of pace and does not seek to revolutionize the genre like FFXII does. What it does is make a perfect RPG formula eliminating a lot of what makes the genre tedious and repetitive. Never once do you need to find an area to level. The game does a good job of getting your level up to par by exploring the dungeon area and battling along the way. The judgment ring is very unique battle system combining both skill and luck. Time your presses correctly and you can unleash a massive 4-person combo. Time them wrong and watch your combo or move attempt fall flat. Each character has their own unique abilites that set them apart from other characters. Some characters abilities make them physical powerhouses or excellent magic casters and support, but moreover these are some of the most different characters in a game I've seen. Yuri is an awesome lead hero with his penchant for sarcasm and humor. It's always great to hear him tell a boss to shove it, .you know where. Plus there's Joachim a gay-vampire-professional wrestler-masked vigilante. If that's not character writing and imagination at it's finest, I don't know what is.
Beautifully animated scenes keep the game going and the story is quite good. Rather than stick with a single objective or villain, the game changes pace a couple of times to keep things going nicely until the end. The graphics are pretty solid too for an RPG and each area you visit is nicley detailed for the vast puzzling dungeons to the real-life based areas in Europe and Japan. My only complaint with the game is that it does proceed in a very linear fashion and many of the sidequests don't appear until the end of the game, but there is so much to like about this game and the story scenes are so good, it's a minor complaint in the end. The game is rather easy too, so if you want a challenge, you're probably not gonna find it here. If you're looking for an RPG on PS2 not named Final Fantasy but just as good, look no further than this game. You won't regret it.

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