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| - Shadow Hearts is a console role-playing game developed by Sacnoth and published by Aruze Corp in Japan and in the United States and Europe by Midway Games in 2001. It is the first official game in the Shadow Hearts series and Koudelka is its prequel. Shadow Hearts follows the adventures of Yuri Hyuga, a Harmonixer guided by a mysterious voice in his head. He finds himself thrown into the conflicts prior to World War I where he must save the woman he loves and the world from destruction. Released in North America only one week before Square Enix's Final Fantasy X, and was not helped by Midway's nominal marketing campaign, Shadow Hearts initially struggled to gain the attention of gamers. The use of 2D pre-rendered backgrounds rather than a full 3D environment drew criticism as well. The game was praised for its original battle system. Shadow Hearts gained a cult following for its quirky use and misuse of historical facts and situations in a form of secret history.
- Shadow Hearts (シャドウハーツ Shadōhātsu?) is a series of role-playing video games for the PlayStation 2. The Shadow Hearts series was developed by Sacnoth (renamed Nautilus for the later games in the series) and released by Aruze in Japan and Midway in North America and Europe. However, Shadow Hearts: From the New World was published by XSEED Games in North America and Ghostlight in Europe. A trilogy of role-playing games set in an alternate history of the early 20th century, mixing gritty realism with fantastic elements and heavy Lovecraftian elements. The first two games take place in Asia and Europe shortly before and during World War I, while the third game puts the player smack-dab in mid-to-late 1920s America... sort of. The original Shadow Hearts had the misfortune of being released just one week before the insanely popular Final Fantasy X, but the series has still enjoyed its share of fans over the years and has developed into something of a cult classic. Koudelka, while not a Shadow Hearts game in name, was the first to be released and exists in the same continuity as the Shadow Hearts games. It was originally developed as the Magnum Opus of Hiroki Kikuta (who previously worked as the composer for Secret of Mana) and a radical new take on the stagnant RPG genre, but executive meddling forced him to change the game from Resident Evil style action-horror to Final Fantasy style traditional Turn-Based Combat. The result was a mess (teaching us, among other things, why Survival Horror games should not have random encounters) with Kikuta resigning in protest after the game's completion. Set in Wales in 1898, the game tells the story of Koudelka, a young gypsy girl with supernatural powers who is drawn to the mysterious Nemeton Monastery after experiencing a series of troubling visions. Along with adventurer/thief Edward Plunkett and bishop James O'Flaherty, they must delve into the dark history of Nemeton Monastery and stop the malevolent force that permeates its halls. After original developer Sacnoth was taken over by Aruze Entertainment, the Sacnoth team (sans Kikuta) created Shadow Hearts as a Spiritual Successor to Koudelka, set in the same universe but shifting the genre to pure Eastern RPG. The first two games star Yuri Volte Hyuga, part genre savvy bada** ineffectual loner and part goofy idiot hero butt monkey who just can't get a break. He also happens to be a Harmonixer, which means that he can fuse with the souls of the cosmic horrors that he defeats and turn into various superpowered monsters. He would rather just coast through life beating up anyone stupid enough to give him lip, except in Shadow Hearts there's a voice in his head that tells him to do stuff and isn't too appreciative if Yuri fails to fall in line. This leads him to rescue a young cleric named Alice Elliot, who the main antagonist needs to power his device, and the plot leads on from there. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant, sees Yuri's former powers sealed away by the new bad guys in town and introduces Karin Koenig as his new companion. They seek to find a cure for the Mistletoe Curse that Yuri has been afflicted with while struggling against the Illuminati-like cult Sapientes Gladio, who naturally want to take over the world. Covenant later got an Updated Re-release under the name Shadow Hearts II: Director's Cut which was unfortunately never released outside of Japan. Curiously, with a little bit of hackwork you can unlock some of the English-translated Director's Cut content in PAL versions of Covenant. The third game, Shadow Hearts: From the New World, could almost be seen as a Gaiden Game (despite the fact it stays within continuity) in that it replaces Yuri with intrepid kid detective Johnny Garland, moves the setting to America (refreshingly, not Eagleland) and gives the fusion powers to a scantily clad magical Native American woman named Shania. She's searching for "Lady", the stoic cyber punk woman who wiped out her entire tribe, and Johnny signs up for the ride after developing the ability to create a laser blade out of a powerful (but evil) force known as Malice. For a very long time, the games in the series were notoriously hard to find. Recently, however, the first two were reprinted, making them rather easy to find at any good EB Games or Gamestop. From the New World is hard to find in stores but simplicity itself to order off the Internet. Good luck finding Koudelka, though. Not to be confused with the Kingdom Hearts games which, while featuring shadows, are not related to this series.
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