Shadow Hearts: Covenant is the benchmark all other JRPG titles should aspire to reach.
So as I review the second game in the Shadow Hearts series you've already seen the score I have given it. It really is that good, in fact now I have experienced everything the game has to offer (yes I did everything) I can honestly say it's the greatest JRPG ever made. It's that good. Really. Seriously buy it if you don't believe me!
Story
It's a year or so after the events of the first game following on exactly from the "bad" ending of the previous title. The First World War is flooding Europe and we are soon introduced to our previous hero Yuri who has taken up residence in a church and is battling against German forces led by Karin our soon to be female lead of this adventure. The plot doesn't really stick to the war for long as an evil cult interfere in Yuri's activites and everything gets rapidly demon-filled and horror-driven pretty rapidly. Needless to say this plot is an epic one with lots of twists, turns and I-didn't-see-that-comings that really will surprise you. There are times when the cut-scenes bored me a little for sure but I think this was just a sign of my relatively poor attention span and there being a little too many for me to stomach from time to time rather than them being of poor quality. The story is dark, mature and while I don't want to turn this into a "JRPG's need to stop being all happy and fluffy like Final Fantasy and grow a spine and be adult" rant… JRPG's need to stop being all happy and fluffy like Final Fantasy and grow a spine and be adult. LIKE SHADOW HEARTS!
Characters
Now, this is where the game really comes into its own. This game provides arguably the best cast to ever appear in an RPG. Yuri reprises his role as super badass demon fusing anti-hero and he's joined by a colourful cast with the feisty sword swinging Karin, Keith's brother from the first game ultra-gay vampire wrestler Joachim, Blanca the wolf who despite being a total genius is never understood by anyone as all he says to them is "Grrr" and "Arwoo" as well as a host of others, good and bad, all, for the most part, brilliant. Granted a few cast members feel unfleshed-out, Lucia the dancing girl is incredibly dull and irritatingly ditzy while Japanese bishounen who can fuse into a female demon (don't ask) Kurando joins the cast too late to make an impact. It's not just the characters personalities that are great but the script they are provided with. I have never laughed so hard at a game in my life with the cast directly talking to and interacting with the gamer (by looking at the camera) being some of the best parts. The amusing dialogue extends to even the more serious situations. With a boss bearing down on them Joachim, Yuri and Karin are more preoccupied about where he got the comfy floating pillow he's sitting on rather than the impending doom of the situation. Brilliant.
Gameplay
I won't touch on the Judgement Ring, it's great, that's all that needs to be said. The inclusion of combos and a wider range of abilities etc opens up the combat even more with some adrenalin pumping battles to be had and devastatingly satisfying attacks to pull off. The game is challenging yet not too difficult if you master combat quickly. Other than the combat many other gameplay aspects traditional to JRPGs and the series itself are thrown in to great success. There's the lottery from the first game, collecting of items to unlock a super powered boss, challenges to complete, epic weapons and armours to find, almost nude male wrestlers for Joachim to impress with the size of his "manhood" (I'm referring to his fighting prowess here of course *cough) and ALL work well. The environments you trek through as you fight, search and puzzle-solve pretty much all rock with a few minor irritations caused by poor dungeon design on the main story-driven boss areas. The only flaw I can put on the gameplay is the designers are a bit too keen on pointless mazes to add "challenge" when all they add is my desire to put a foot in the TV. Still this isn't a big issue and the rest of the gameplay is so good it's easily overlooked.
Graphics & Sound
The game looks good for it's time of release, is atmospheric and even creates a "survival horror" feel at times in its presentation. The sound is certainly "stand out" with some great and memorable tunes in its soundtrack and above average English voice acting.
Length
I did everything and my final playtime was 40-41 hours or so. But there is probably a lot of variation in how long it would take to finish. Probably about 30 hours if you just do the main story but this is still a big improvement over the original.
Overall
Shadow Hearts: Covenant is quite simply the best JRPG in the history of JRPGs. It's moody, it's adult, it's humorous, it's addicting and it creates a fantastic sense of power and achievement if you master its many challenges. It truly deserves the score I have given it and if you've missed out on this buy it now, and the original too if you can find it.