>>3879278
Literally who?

>>3879278
I don't know OP why don't you tell us your thoughts on them.

I've heard they are hidden gems and I will probably play them at some point.

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>>3879278
Better than Koudelka (sorry my zettai ryoiki goddess....)

>>3879278
I only played the first one but it was great. Just wish it had more side content.

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>>3879278
FNW is really not a bad game. It's just a complete tonal whiplash, which is something Covenant was already toying with.

>>3879278
I've only played the first one and despite the two leads not being interesting characters (the protag is that annoying sex pest trope from the time) and the story being generally dull and confusing, the ending was good enough to make me look back fondly on the game. The unique setting, atmosphere, music, and combat mechanic with the ring is enough to make up for how weak everything is.

>>3879506
I didn't feel that way. The first game was a horror comedy. The second was a comedy with some horror elements. And the third was a comedy. It was a smooth transition if you where playing the games in order.

Also from the new world kicks ass. People just hated it because it didn't center on the hyugas, but that's why I liked it so much. 1 and 2 where a perfect duology and continuing yuris story could only ruin it so I'm glad they dropped the Ben hyuga plot for shadow hearts three and went with this instead.

>>3879494
Act 3 of covenant and from the new world is basically all side quests. The structure is very similar to ffx.

>>3879280

E33 for old people

>>3879278

One and two were great. 3 was a joke.

>>3879278
Second game is the best for story but third game has the best gameplay.
Just play them in release order.
Skip Koudelka.

It's not the Sh3 we could have gotten featuring Yuri's father and his cousin.

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>>3879785

Penny Blood RIP

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>>3879731
>E33 for old people
For people with taste you mean. Shadow Hearts combat system does laps around E33.

>>3879278
The first one is mediocre but playable. The second one is the best of the trilogy. The third one just plain sucked.

SH3 was really good. I think the change from the somber nature of Yuri's story and love and the Old World and its wars to something more lighthearted fit the setting of the New World. Yuri was done, let him rest. Autists just cry about wanting the same thing over and over. Plus gyaru Native American shotacon was hot.

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>>3879278
All three have incredibly memorable soundtracks which isn't surprising considering who worked on them. First was great for being the first to experiment with no ideas despite not refining them. Second one all but perfected what the first experimented with. The on your toes combat mechanics was novel at the time considering the genre was flooded with time based wait to attack mechanics we've all seen since the NES. The Judgement Ring is unironically one of my favorite mechanics I've encountered in JRPGs.

If you're a sucker for alternate history storylines then the series is for you if that's what you're looking for in a story. Lots of cultural and historical inspiration for characters, areas etc. The third game sadly killed the series which is sad because it had the capacity to have some really good material to work with. It doesn't go off the rails so much as the alternate history gimmick previous titles did but the story and setting in general is insanely dull and unengaging riddled with side quests that are way too long and absolutely not worth it. The game once again experiments with things but a lot of the content doesn't feel like it did it better than Covenant did but in fact worse. The game literally killed the series and it's criminal how under utilized the time and setting was when it was perfectly clear it could have done so much better and keep in mind this is coming off the hype that was Covenant.

If you're interested in the series play the first two and forget the third exists. And if you're an absolute masochist who just likes the franchise and characters go play Chaos Wars.

>>3879809
1>3>2

You couldn't be more wrong. But your in good company alot of plebs share your taste

>>3879815
>The third game sadly killed the series which is sad because it had the capacity to have some really good material to work with.
Nautilus' parent company, aruze, folded and took Nautilus with them. Kinda like what happened with interplay/black isle and more recently index Corp/atlus. Shadow hearts 3 actually had the biggest launch in the series history in Japan as far as units sold. And it repurposed covenants engine and was churned out in a year so it was efficiently.

Also the soundtracks for these games are fucking amazing. Especially the boss and baffle themes. Imo the best ever produced for any rpg.

Hardcore to the brain is midboss kino

>>3879907
The 3 Karma is honestly one of the boss themes that stuck with me for so long because of how different it was yet struck all the right tonal chords. The story behind how the track was even produced was an interesting one too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Shadow_Hearts_series

>"Covenant was Ito's very first project for the PS2, his first time working with Hirota and Mitsuda, and the first time he ever collaborated on a major track, this being the final boss theme "The 3 Karma". "The 3 Karma" was co-composed by Hirota, Mitsuda and Ito. The piece came together after the three composers had a private meeting, and after the speed and tempo were set each was allowed to go in their own direction. Because of the battle's style, a limited number of instruments were used for the theme. During the recording process, there was a combination of scripted music and improvisations from the performers."

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>>3879278
>Trilogy
Ahhh yeah, the Koudelka, Shadow Hearts 1, and Shadow Hearts Covenant Trilogy...
Hmm? What's that? New World? What on earth are you talking about? There's no Shadow Hearts by that name.

>>3879907
I hate when faggots mention good game OSTs, especially specific track names, but don't post them, so here you guys go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex6ulpbhO3M

Which other tracks are GOAT from Shadow Hearts games? Specifically battle tracks.

>>3879917
How hard is it to type in "hardcore to the brain shadow hearts" in YouTube yourself cmon

>>3879917
Also the final boss theme for three is really good too. Especially if you actually watch the cutscenes they time the song and when things switch to battle perfect

https://youtu.be/VFslbZaEHAc?si=BO-Kzp4w-HYvOW-5

https://youtu.be/GzqYDajgANU?si=KBuNQVQrNylxQP11

This one's good too

>>3879917
Ladder to Heaven which was oddly not in the OST.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62-2b3yyxS4

All time great town theme from 2

https://youtu.be/WJlzK-06bfo?si=oHM3iTk7d1uOcYwq

All time great random battle them from 1

https://youtu.be/Pdkw70m1uiE?si=y8wDntcV7J6apZlD

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>>3879995
>That first link
I'm just going to assume you tried to link Town of Twilight/Twilight Street and agree with you.

>>3880009
Ahahahaha!

https://youtu.be/GpiV84wr3Dg?si=AOItMWeNTcDfYztH

Fixed

soundtrack discussion kills threads

>>3879278
Amazing games, all three. FtNW is dumb af and never surpassed Covenant, but it's still one of the best PS2 RPGs.

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>>3879278
Played Shadow Hearts 1 last year; incredible atmosphere, great story, solid soundtrack with some pretty unconventional tracks here and there. Gameplay though is honestly kinda bad. I don't think I would've beat that game without fast forward.

I've played SH2 a bit and it seemed like a huge improvement. Combat feels weirdly balanced early on though and my emulator would randomly get stuck so I've kinda dropped it since. Deffo wanna pick it up again sometime

>>3879278
I enjoyed 1, 2, and Koudelka. I don't dislike 3, and it's fine mechanically, but I just didn't care about the plot or any of the characters.

>>3879717
Yuri actually develops into a much more interesting character in the second game.

>>3879810
I was fine with the concept, I just think the execution was lacking in some ways.

>>3879917
I really like Imbroglio.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lJfhsgsVaTo

>>3879278
>What do you think of the shadows hearts trilogy?
1-Good
2-ok
3-trash

>>3879958
Really like this one, but all posted so far have been good from what I heard. This track caught me right away though.

>>3884895
>1-Good
>2-ok
>3-trash
Many such cases

People who think New World was trash are autistic.

>twitch reflex shit in my jrpgs
Into the trash it goes.

>>3885287
I will never understand why shadow hearts 3 gets so much hate. It's the same game as 2, except with better gameplay and set in the western hemisphere instead of the east. We spent 2 games in the east with the first 2 so the setting shift was a change of pace. I just think some people just can't let Yuri go as the protag for the series and wanted the whole thing to just be about the hyugas and no one else.

>>3885335
People wanted to play red haired guy and Lady. Granted the brazillion ninja grew on me.

>>3885335
It's some kind of meme that formed and can't even be articulated properly. The main reason I can see is that autistic people dislike humour because they tend to not really understand it. It's like how all the autistic newfags call anything with humour that exceeds a certain point "reddit" around here.

>>3879278
I'm shocked it never got an HD Trilogy.

>>3886192
*One of those HD trilogy remasters. I dunno how popular it was/is though.

>>3886193
It's popular enough to justify a quick HD remaster since those really don't have to sell much to turn a profit. I am pretty sure the main issue is that the rights are freakishly fucked for the trilogy.

>>3886200
That would make sense honestly.

>>3879278
I only played Koudelka

>>3879278
I played some of Shadow Hearts 2 last year and I liked it a lot in terms of gameplay. That was the first time I played a Shadow Hearts game; it was the one everyone talked about.

But I've been REALLY liking Shadow Hearts 3 from what I've played of it in the last, like month. I can get people preferring 2 to 3 'cus it takes itself more seriously, though.
The gameplay is a LOT more refined and a LOT more fun.
Also I just love 3's humor a ton. It's a pure and refreshing kind. No Whedonisms and none of the neurodivergent Tumblr safe-humor. Nothing particularly against them, it's just the only kind you see now.

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>JUST EAT THE DAMN MUSHROOM!

>>3879278
Never tried it. Don't think I heard of it growing up and just recently started hearing about it. Heard its decent, so I might try it out one day once I run out of current stuff to play.

>>3879278
1 - great game with some flaws and rough edges

2 - dog shit that ruins everything that made 1 great

3 - better than 2 but still lacks everything that made 1 great

>>3892512
>Also I just love 3's humor a ton. It's a pure and refreshing kind.
It's a party of lovable goofs.

>>3879278
Koudelka was an amazing, well written game with an amazing setting, and mature, realistic character. Shadow Hearts 1 on the other hand, has one dimensional party members, laughably bad villains, an awful first half filled with annoying gameplay segments, underdeveloped main characters, and in general, really immature writing that's a massive step down from the previous game. Covenant fixes all this by leaning heavily into the goofy side of things instead of trying to do a serious story like SH1, and it works really well.

>>3894804
>Koudelka was an amazing, well written game with an amazing setting, and mature, realistic character
lol

As someone who knows what the MCs name means, I couldn't treat it seriously

>>3901860
His actual name is Uru, short for Ermnoff. Yuri Volt is a retard translation.

>>3899103
What do you even disagree with, I think every Koudelka fan universally agrees that the best part of the game is the writing and voice acting.

>>3903621
What's your favorite anime?

>>3879278
It looks like anime slop. So I don't think about it at all. Next.

>>3903626
Gintama, maybe. I don't watch a lot of anime in the first place.

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>>3903905

>>3879278
Going straight into Covenant after the hands down amazing first game, by the time I was near the end of disc 1 the magic had worn off and I realized it was a worse game overall. Unfortunately it started to crash at a specific spot, so I couldn't finish it, but by then I was no longer invested in the story at all.

>>3903937
Covenant loses a lot of steam after Disc 1, but it's still infinitely better than SH1, which was awful for the entire first half of the game, and only got good after Yuri got saved from Keith's mansion.

>>3879278
Thoughts on FTNW?

>>3905682
Great gameplay, story doesn't hit the right notes, having too much of a traditional fantasy story and not making good use of its setting. The requirements for the bonus dungeon are bullshit too.

>>3894138
Is it still worth playing through the second game for the story arc?

>>3905694
>too much of a traditional fantasy story
wut

>>3912263
You don't remember raiding Area 51 in FF6?

>>3903626
>Non-sequitur
What an insecure concession.

>>3879278
You get to spend a night with either Karin, Alice, Margarette, Koudelka, Shania, Hilda, or Lucia, who you picking?

>>3915676
Ricardo.

>>3915676
BBW Hilda

>>3879278
I dont think I ever beat shadow hearts covenant. I also really only vaguely recall anything from the story. The main guy had a demon form. I was pretty good at hitting the timed attack things. It got annoying with the load times between getting a random encounter and easily beating it. I went to a city at some point. The chick with a skirt and rapier was hot. Thats about it. Was definitely a grind.
I ended up playing more DDR at some point.