Shadow Hearts: Covenant for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

It has an amazing story line, great graphics and great characters. This is the darkest RPG I've ever played and quite possibly the funniest. The battle system is extremely fun and challenging and very well done. Most people will find this game to be entertaining, just don't take the historical aspects of the storyline too seriously.

"Shadow Hearts: Covenant" picks up where the first "Shadow Hearts" left off, while managing to come full-circle with the beginning of the first game (if you earn the good ending). Along the way, the player will encounter, fight beside, and fight against several memorable characters, from swashbuckling German Army officer Karin, to Joachim the flamboyant vampire wrestler, to Princess Anastasia of Russia. Of course, if you've played the first "Shadow Hearts", be patient. You'll meet Yuri again after a couple of hours of play.

Battles are turn-based, but with a twist. Merely clicking "attack" is not enough in "Shadow Hearts", you must negotiate the Judgment Ring, which is different for each of your party members and can be upgraded. The Judgment Ring is a two-edged sword; it can easily become an annoyance if your hand/eye coordination is poor, but it also makes the ramdom battles more than an exercise in holding down the trigger and staying awake.

Unlike many RPGs released after 2000, the voice acting in "Shadow Hearts: Covenant" outshines the solid, but somewhat unmemorable soundtrack. Each character has his or her own personality (even the wolf, Blanca) and the crew gets very chatty once the story gets rolling. While the over-arching story is quite dark, with occult overtones throughout, the dialogue is often hilarious. If you ever wanted to know how to respond to a monologuing demon, this is the game to play.

The sidequests provide an amusing break from the main story, and many of them can be started early in the game if you pay attention and poke around every town and dungeon. All of them are worth completing, either for the upgrades or for the extra subplots.

While "Shadow Hearts: Covenant" is not for children (because of the occult overtones, historical references, and sexual innuendo), it is worth playing if you want a Japanese RPG that avoids the saccharine and cliches that riddle "Final Fantasy" and its imitators.