A decent but unfortunately short and linear strategy RPG.

User Rating: 6.3 | Vandal Hearts: Ushinawareta Kodai Bunmei PS
What's up with the excellent scores? Vandal Hearts was one of the earlier strategy RPG entries, true, and it does have a certain flair to it (hilarious and totally unrealistic fountain of blood spouting when someone dies notwithstanding), but it is a very short and linear game.

Vandal Hearts is old school and makes no bones of it. The story is decently paced, with interesting and sometimes comical dialogue interspersed with the serious (but cliche) story. It's not bad by far, but it's hardly something that will grip you and keep you up nights. From the linear class progression to the linear one-time battles (yes, you do NOT have the option of replaying ANY map), Vandal Hearts rushes you through a series of story battles to wrap up the story.

It's short and somewhat interesting, but the lack of options really kills it. This is something you'd probably only ever play once.