You play as Johnny Garland, a 16 year-old, whose parents are both dead. Not only does he have enough nous to run his own private investigation business, but he’s rough enough to hold his own on the streets of New York, where he carries out his business. A long list of dull or non-existent jobs is finally broken when he takes a case from a mysterious professor wanting him to track down a man. All seems fairly by the books until Johnny finally arrives at the target of his investigations house, only to witness a demon emerge from a portal and swallow his mark whole. Understanding that this isn’t an everyday occurrence, our spirited young PI sets off to uncover what's behind this mysterious and disturbing incident.
Core to From the New World is its cast of off-beat characters. If you think you’ve met some weird folk in your time as a gamer then be prepared to have the parameters for which you measure ‘weirdo’s’ stretched. These misfits range from Mao, a drunken style, kung fu practicing giant feline; a couple of native American’s; one, Shania transforms into elemental creatures and her companion is the firearm wielding Natan, who practice his own form of martial art, Gun-Fu; Frank the American Ninja with a slightly Slavic accent, a knack for getting out of trouble and a seemingly useless glowing bauble hanging from his forehead - and these are but a few that will join you on your quest. Then there’s the extras. For example there's the pair of the gayest stereotypes in videogaming we’ve seen for a long time who motorcycle their way around after you appearing in almost each area to sell you things. All of these characters put together almost manage to outweigh the narrative which strings them all together.
Round and round and round we go..... the judgement wheel adds a great deal to Shadow Hearts' gameplay.
Johnny’s journey for answers takes him and his bizarre band of sidekicks through some incredibly anachronistic American settings. A secret high tech base in Roswell, Gangster riddled Chicago, Alcatraz complete with it lodger, Al Capone, and the list goes on. Each seems to take an intensely cartoonish view of the United States, the sort of America that you would imagine had you just told of what it was like by someone that witnessed it in the movies. It’s in this cobbled together world that Johnny’s crew will take on creatures in both planned and randomized encounters.
A central part of the title's gameplay is its Judgement Ring, a circular tool designed to involve the player in situations that in many RPG’s would revolve around simple chance or random die rolls. Essentially it is like the wheel of fortune with a twitch based stopping mechanism. As a pointer traverses the ellipse it must be stopped by the press of a button on highlighted areas. The Judgement Ring is used mainly in combat, but is also implemented in various other circumstances such as lottery games etc. Whilst it can be turned off during combat, and your fate handed over to chance, it is almost always better to use it. This is not only a result of better outcomes and harder hits you can get but also the immense satisfaction gained as you manage to land all your hits on the wheel as you learn to gauge the point at which you must stop the needle.
Fights have other features that serve to further flesh out these oft drab sections of turn-based RPG battles. The Stock meter is an addition that allows for new moves to be performed as combat progresses. Adding additional complexity to encounters these moves include double hits, hard hits, and combo attacks with your team-mates. These Combo attacks are particularly entertaining. It’s great fun to pound the same enemy in quick succession with multiple characters. The Hard Hit is one of the key moves as it takes away some of your enemy’s stock meaning they can’t inflict on you the same pain and suffering that these special moves allow you.
The game’s magic comes in the form of ‘Stellers’ which must be arranged within in the various star signs, of which you must pick your favourite. Essentially these Stellers make up the stars within the constellations which are in turn your list of usable spells. Collected along your journey, each Steller has an element that it is attributed to and each constellation has its main elemental focus. It is therefore important to match the Constellation of your choosing to your own playing style. Points within your sign may also be powered up as you go meaning more powerful magic can be put to use.
As with other RPG’s there’s experience to be increased and levels to be gained which will increase your health and spell points, however little else benefits from leveling up. Sidequests are essentially the only way to gain new skills with the various characters, and each has their own to journey out on. It’s partly a relief that these are unessential but also a shame that there are many skills that can be missed out on if you’re not a completist.
Concentration is key.
Most areas are on the smallish side meaning that those that get tired of wandering around vast locations will not grow tired of repetitive backdrops. There are also many varied styles, making the game more accessible to a more varied audience.
The game's cutscenes look great and convey some of the incredibly odd scenarios and cartoonish gags extremely well. The gameplay visuals are more basic in terms of artistic direction but still do a great job of managing to get the PS2 to throw some good looking pixels up on the screen. Some of the scenes do feel a little sparse and sterile making you feel more like your on an empty movie set rather than a bustling metropolis, but never-the-less they're some of the better ones you'll find on Sony's now ageing console.
Shadow Hearts’ voice acting is not amazing, but is decent and definitely not the worst we’ve heard. The music is enjoyable and matches the offbeat mood of the game where needed. Twisted yet light hearted tunes can often be heard as some of the more unusual action is played out and some nice background musical numbers play in other areas where less of a focus is required. These do a good job of tying all the action together.
When one culture peers through the window of another’s there are inevitably some incredibly inaccurate stereotypes that often develop into some spectacularly funny results. Shadow Hearts is a relatively easily accessible RPG which manages to remind us that a good time can be had with the genre without taking itself too seriously. Its strange cast and inventive battle system make it a great title for fans of the RPG genre and those not so well versed in it as well.
. The characters are pretty damn bizarre, and amazingly awesome at the same time.
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