Shadow Hearts: From the New World
Shadow Hearts: From the New World
Description (IGDB)
Shadow Hearts: From the New World is the third official game in the Shadow Hearts series. The game series departs from Europe and centers on the "New World", the Americas. It is not directly related to the previous games in the series but it occurs in the same universe. The main characters' quest is to investigate mysterious "windows" from which vicious monsters pop out. Gameplay follows that of its predecessors, using the Judgment Ring to decide most battle outcomes, as well as many other actions throughout the game. A new "Stock" system was made for this game which expands the combination attack system between party members from Shadow Hearts - Covenant and enables double attacks. The "Stock" system works by filling up a character's stock gauge when he/she performs or receives an attack. A maximum of two stock gauge may be stored. Stock can then be utilized in many ways. For example, doing a Double attack (a character performs two action on the same turn) or starting a Combo consumes one Stock. A Double Combo on the other hand consumes two Stock. The Judgment Ring system essentially remains the same from Shadow Hearts: Covenant, with ring customization and added ring effect items being still available. Magic returns in the form of Stellar Charts, where characters equip Stellars onto the chart. The charts are based on the constellations of the twelve zodiac signs. Finding and fitting all the Stellars onto the charts rewards the player with the Melt Crest Stellar, the strongest non-elemental magic in the game. Fusion is also back in the game, albeit quite differently. Unlike Yuri, Shania does not possess the power of the Harmonixer where she is able to fuse into different demons. She makes spirit pacts with the different Guardian Spirits and draws on their power to transform. Shania is only able to fuse into four forms but through acquiring fetishes; statues of different animals, she is able to learn different techniques by powering them up. Snapping photos is more emphasized in this game. Not only can Johnny obtain enemy data through his photographing enemies, he can also trade the snap cards obtained for prizes. Johnny can also draw upon the power of Malice to transform; though this ability comes rather late in the game.
Histoire (IGDB)
The game begins in North America in the year 1929 and features two new main characters: a 16-year-old New Yorker named Johnny Garland, and a 21-year-old Native American woman named Shania, who has powers of fusion similar to Yuri and Kurando in the previous Shadow Hearts entries, although she is not a harmonixer. She makes pacts with spirits while Yuri and Kurando turned into demons. The story begins with Johnny, a private detective, being hired by a man named Gilbert to find one Marlow Brown. When Johnny finds the man, however, a mysterious 'window' opens, and from it emerges a monster. The rest of the game follows Johnny, Shania, and company as they attempt to uncover the truth about Gilbert and his plans. Meanwhile in Brooklyn, a wanted criminal who was severely injured was being pursued by the police. He met a mysterious woman who rescued him by finishing off his pursuers with ease. Then, she healed his wounds with the 'Kiss of Malice.' Nobody knows what her intentions or motives are, nor did she speak a single word. The man who identified himself as 'Killer', called her 'Lady' and thereafter followed her where ever she would go. Shania later teams up with Johnny, accompanied by her guardian, Natan to investigate the strange happening Johnny has witnessed. Arriving at Arkham University, they meet Gilbert, who reveals his true intentions to open the Gate and rain Malice upon the world. Gilbert later teams up with Lady and Killer to achieve his goal. Johnny continues his pursuit to stop Gilbert and meets new allies along the way. They include: Frank; a wacky ninja, Ricardo; a lone guitarist, Master Mao; a cat specialized in the Drunken Fist and Hildegard Valentine; sister of the vampire brothers Joachim and Keith Valentine in the Shadow Hearts series. Together, Johnny and his friends travel across the globe to stop the evil plans of Gilbert, Lady and Killer. Johnny finds out a shocking truth along the way - that he was revived using the Emigre Manuscript and that Lady was actually his sister, Grace Garland. Their father had revived them after losing them in an accident. He was eventually killed by Grace as she had transferred all her Will into Johnny in exchange for his Malice. This explains why Lady does not speak; she has no memories and is only acting instinctively on the Malice in her body. An epic battle with Killer eventually defeated unlocks Johnny's "Awaker" powers and Lady calls out Killer's name for the first time. The ritual to invoke the opening of the Gate of Malice is going underway and Johnny is determined to stop his sister. The team battles Gilbert, powered by Malice, for one last time before the final confrontation with Lady. Lady is finally put to rest with Johnny delivering the final blow and she disappears along with Killer's body. Months later, Johnny receives a case from his detective agency and he proceeds to investigate. There are two different endings, the Good Ending and the Bad Ending. In the Good Ending, Shania follows Johnny out of the agency. In the Bad Ending, Shania watches over from a building with red eyes; an evidence that she has been consumed by Malice. The Good Ending can be obtained by maxing out all of Shania's fetishes including the ones for the optional fusion.
Description en cours d'enrichissement.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« It’s hard to find fault with a game that does so many things so well. »
« Without a doubt, one of the best RPGs to hit the PS2. It's quirky, hilarious, loaded with enjoyable side quests and manages to tug the heartstrings just enough to round out the whole experience. »
« Shadow Hearts has proven itself to be one of the most rewarding and polished series of RPGs in years, if not ever. In this vein, From the New World continues this tradition, with entertaining characters, a lengthy quest, a healthy does of character-specific side-missions, wonderful dialog, and more than a few chuckles along the way. »
« A really decent RPG. This is the game you were looking for, I promise. It's lengthy, but not 80-hours-lengthy. It's hard, but not impossible. It's engrossing, but not so much that it will ruin your life (unlike "World of Warcraft.") »
« Any role playing game fan should love this game. What’s more impressive is that even non-RPG fans can find many aspects enticing. »
« Thankfully, you'll spend a majority of your time immersed in the stellar combat or drinking in the often surreal moments that define Shadow Hearts: From The New World as one of the most inventive and entertaining RPG's in years. [Mar 2006, p.106] »
« It has beautiful graphics, great sound, a fun combat system, and long-lasting gameplay that can easily entertain any RPG fan. »
« The latest installment in the Shadow Hearts series will have fans of the first two clamoring for more. Those just joining the series, prepare for a RPG unlike anything you have ever played before. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« La trilogía al completo es maravillosa (el 1 y el 2 destacan más). Combate por turnos diferente a lo habitual, personajes y tramas interesantes, gráficos bonitos... Imposible aburrirse. Que pena de aquellos que desconocen este título. »
« Love it. Always a nice refresher from the edgy over the top triple a “jrpg” experiences of today. Just a fun game that wants to be fun and knows how to do combat well. »
« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »
« Questo è stato il primo gioco della serie di Shadow Hearts che ho giocato, ed è stata una buona esperienza. SH From The New World è un rpg unico nel suo stile, un gioco a tema horror ma che cade molto di più nella comicità dei suoi ****. Ha un cast bizzarro ma che funziona bene, un ottimo sistema di battaglia che porta a Boss Fight impegnative, e una buona dose di missioni secondarie. L'unica pecca del gioco è data dalla trama che è poco sviluppata e dagli antagonisti che appaiono molto generici già dai loro nomi. In ogni caso rimane un rpg facilmente reperibile a un prezzo decente, cosa che non si può dire degli altri due titoli della serie. »
« Definitely a real good RPG. The main drawback was that it had to follow the superb Shadow Hearts Covenant which was the highlight of the series. By comparison it is the weaker game but that does not equal a bad or even mediocre game. It has its own new story with some connections to the previous game. I enjoyed the characters, the over the top humor and the story of the game. Each game in the series has a wonderful cast of characters. Here we have Johnny the protagonist, Mao an anthropomorphic cat with connections to the Mafia and film business, Shania a female native American shaman, Frank the Ninja that uses hilarious stuff as blade for his swords, a mariachi playing gunmen, and Hilda Valentine who is a vampire and has 3 forms caused by nutrition of the blood she drinks. It is even a bit crazier than it sounds. The story picks up themes from Shadow Hearts Covenant (the bad ending if I remember correctly?) and uses this as starting point for a chase around the world. For me the mixture of hilarious fun and seriousness was always a plus for the series. I must mention that this could be a negative for others. However the twist are good but I saw one of the big reveals coming from miles away. The battle system is a bit different from other RPG (series). It uses the judgment Ring for battles. You must stop via button press in the hit areas to get results with small critical hit zones. There is a combo system and a good variety in the characters abilities. The side quest are another highlight of the game. It was again full of great humor, some easter eggs for fans and references. The graphic and soundtrack were really good for its time and aged relatively well for me. Overall the game does nothing wrong. It is the combination of following the best game in the series and a restart with new characters that drove away fans. For me the humor alone was worth playing it. »
« Played on PlayStation 2. Gameplay: GREAT. Story: GREAT. Graphic: GREAT. Music/Sound: GREAT. Dialogue: GOOD. »
« + Has some cut-scenes with great animation and some ok voice acting. + Fantastic graphics. + The awesome judgement ring is still fantastic. + There is lots of side content before the final part of the game. - Story has it's moments but for the most part, the story isn't anything to write home about - The dark mood of the first game is no more. The game is less enjoyable and less interesting as a result. - Puzzles are easy to understand yet gives you obvious instructions with pointless cut-scenes. - Doing puzzle in dungeons with random encounters is very annoying. - Big difficulty spike for the final boss. »
« The story is not as good as its predecessors but it is still better than the average JRPGs stories. The graphics and the battle system are improved and while the characters are not as memorable as the characters from covenant they still can convince you. »
