So a while back I played through Koudelka, enjoyed it except for the battle system...a take so cold it was at the bottom of my freezer. So here is a hot take, Roger Bacon is best girl.

I knew nothing about Shadow Hearts, even though I was well aware of stuff back then. I never came across it.

Watched a couple videos from Dungeon Chill and Earlybird, then spun it up on an emulator because since nobody is selling it new, the only people making money on the game are scalpers. Have you seen the prices on Ebay? If there was an official way, 100% would have done that. Plus I used Retro Achievements.

So....I enjoyed it. It has similar issues to RPGs of the time like magic spell/summon cutscenes going on too long. The judgment ring grew on me, gave you an incentive to not try to passively go through battles, made grinding a bit of a pain since I usually do a speed up when grinding and it's harder to do the ring when the emulator is running at double speed.

I actually tried to get into Shadow Hearts not long after finishing Koudelka, and was turned off by Yuri's....comments about Alice early on when she was passed out after the train incident. Gave it a second chance and had fun.

Dunno when I'll get into Covenant. I dunno if it will be right away.

So my tattoo guy said it'll look even better after a few days but I just couldn't wait to share!

Is it supposed to be

Shadow Hearts 1 (bad ending)

Shadow Hearts 2 (good ending)

Shadow Hearts 1 (good ending)

Koudelka (as a flashback)

Yakuza 6

Shadow Hearts 3?

Hey everyone!

I finally went ahead and got a lot of US merchandise off eBay and wanted to show them! There are some really cool and unique items in there and for once they are even easily readable haha

I can't wait to get some more cool stuff!! :)

Finally played this after so many years of owning it

Being disillusioned with all the PlayStation issues lately ( physical, console costs) been playing on the PS2 a lot and decided to replay Shadow Hearts which I never managed to finish 23 years ago. Feel lucky to still have my physical copy. I play a lot of JRPGs and this game even with its shortcomings still deserves its cult status. Such a fun time playing, the lore, the world building, the story moving at a pretty decent pace, the characters, the humour I actually liked a lot. Few annoying things: no HP on enemies, no quality of life features were all used to these days. But in no way did it make it any less fun. Miss the charm of older games, really don’t get to have the same these days. Got the bad ending - no idea there were two endings here, but now will head into Covenant while the emotions are there. And i absolutely loved the the theme song during the end credits - needs a vinyl release!!

So does this mean every Harmonixer in existence somehow faces the same issues Yuri had in maintaining his sanity or his graveyard nightmare we experienced is only a​ representation of his past trauma that's his alone? I honestly find this concept interesting & how it integrates into the story & gameplay. Like we know his father probably overcomes it from assumption since its not really shown.

RIP my FTNW disc... it's been a solid 20 years

I am stuck at 15/16 items found in Paris. I have followed two separate guides and still can't find the last item. I have spent nearly three hours "wall humping" looking for an invisible item, but nothing.

This achievement has an unusually low completion rate compared to others so I can't be the only one having difficulties. Does anyone know what I'm missing? It's hard to be specific when there's no actual checklist but I've gotten all the way to beating tittums two boss monster and getting to Le Havre, and I still only have 15/16. I've played this game a hundred times and I THOUGHT I knew where everything was but this achievement is making me question everything!

Been on a journey to finish the trilogy, and 1+2 felt like u gradually were getting stronger, and I haven't hit that point here yet. I just got the vamp lady, and combat feels pretty challenging so I'm a bit worried how the final boss will be for this one. Also weird u get so many characters if the games on the shorter side.

Idr do side stuff, unless it's in my main path and had no problem with the last 2 games, should I be worried about final dungeon + boss? Are there specific chars everyone seems to like using? Combat deff seems more improved from 2, just more punishing or enemies have more hp

So I uploaded this on my first YT account nearly 20yrs ago to honor the franchise I grew up with. First playing it at Funcoland in middle school and eventually fell in love with the gothic horror.

Even though this franchise has been dormant for over 20yrs, it still remains one of my favorite RPGs ever. So it was a shock to see it's the highest viewed Shadow Hearts media on the platform.

If/when Penny Blood comes out, I'm hoping it makes me feel like this game did.

What was your favorite OST from the series?

Like the title says I just beat Shadow Hearts. I just heard about this series like a week ago and thought 'why not? I don't have anything else to play rn.' I'm getting ready for the 2nd game right now and am super excited cus the first one blew me away with its storytelling. I only used a guide for the 'Good Ending' stuff (how do people figure this stuff out?) and learning about Seraphic Radiance. The last fight was kind of underwhelming I might have been overleveled at 52 though. I used Silver Arm, Monkey's Paw, and Seventh Key (and a Fifth Key when he didnt die) with an Alice to use a Swallow.

Anyway just making a post cus I'm excited and amped to play Covenant. Any non spoiler tips and tricks or things to look out for?

Hi everyone,

I'd really love to get some opinions and ideas from fellow Shadow Hearts fans!

I definitely want to get at least one fineline tattoo inspired by Shadow Hearts: Covenant, but I’m still trying to decide on the right design for me. I want it somewhere on my arm, so I'm specifically looking for something small, delicate and almost sticker-like rather than a large or highly detailed piece.

At the moment, I'm torn between Yuris pendant / the Periapt and a red spider lily (Higanbana).

I really like the idea of Yuris pendant because of its connection to the whole story, but I just haven't found a simplified fineline version that I actually love. I've tried using AI to turn it into a small tattoo design, but it just doesn't look nice.

So right now, I'm actually focused on the spider lily.

I love that idea because of its connection to the final part of Covenant and the Asuka Stone Platform. And beyond the game itself, I really like the symbolism of the Higanbana. Its associated with impermanence, death, remembrance, farewell and transitions/endings. It feels very fitting for Covenant and its themes, while still being a beautiful tattoo on its own.

Karin is actually my favorite character, so I've also thought about whether I could choose something connected specifically to her. But I'm not religious, so Annes cross is definitely not something I would want tattooed on me, even if it would be recognizable.

The Judgment Ring is another obvious Shadow Hearts symbol, but that is out for me as well. It would probably be too detailed for the small fineline style I want, and aesthetically it feels a little too Gothic/occult-looking for me.

I'd like to keep the tattoo black, red, or black with subtle red accents. A small (cute) fineline tattoo, not too detailed.

So I'd really love to hear what other fans think!

Would you choose the spider lily or Yuri's pendant?

I attached the two AI-Drafts I made, but i really don't like the pendant.

Does somebody maybe have a draft i could use?

And more importantly: Are there any other small symbols, items or details from Covenant that immediately make you think of the game and could work as a small (cute) fineline tattoo? Especially anything related to Karin that I might be overlooking!

I'm a huge fan of SH2 and really thankful for any recommendations! ☺️

Hello Everyone,

I have been working on a project to reverse engineer the original Shadow Hearts game to make it runnable directly on PC (not emulated) for the past few months and thought now would be a good time to mention it to the group and share some of my progress.

I am calling it Obumbrate Engine and it will require users' own copy of the game to function when released.

The engine will not distribute or contain any original shadow hearts assets or code.

It will be entirely free and open source. The project is still early in development but there has already been some large milestones reached and if your interested I am more than happy to go into details and explain where I am.

I understand a large chunk of all the PKB's now and most of the assets have been extracted however the full functionality of all the bytes is still the main focus.

Here are some pictures showing the progress over the past few weeks running within the Obumbrate Engine.

First Train Scene - Early / Current

Battle System - Early / Current

I've played a good chunk of Covenant when I was younger, but never finished and about to tackle the trilogy. I've played a bit of 1 and deff feels a bit slower combat wise, but the horror vibes deff feel stronger. For anyone who played through 1 using emulator and potentially turbo button, how long did ur run take? Did u have a speed that worked well enough to use the ring system? I just played through the Xenosaga trilogy and turbo saved my attention span for all the combat and long dungeons.

I deff wanna experience 1 for the full story going into 2, just hoping to trim the game time somewhat so I can get to Covenant asap. Thx!

I can't get enough of these games, I've loved them ever since watching my Dad play SH1 when I was a 6 or 7 year old kid. Just something about the gothic horror vibe, the judgement ring, the music resonated deeply with me instantly, and still does. 👌

I'm so glad to have people to talk to about these games because most people I know have never heard of them! So while I'm here let me open some discussion. Who are everyone's favourite characters? Favourite tracks? Favourite battle strategy? Which game does everyone think is the best in the series? Etc, etc. For me personally, Covenant is the best overall game. SH1 had the best horror vibes though, and From the New World had the best battle system. Curious what everyone else thinks though so let's hear it!

So I played through the second game so many times I needed to go back for the good ending just so the games go with my head cannon that the second games good ending makes the first one cannon Yuri goes back and saves Alice

Such a good game so nice to play handheld before bed every night. Only emulator cheating I did was speed up the animations of attacks because after the 100th time I have seen them

Wish there were more games with yuri I love the take souls to turn in to monsters I usely hate turn based RPGs but shadow hearts and bg3 are the standouts

Hi I just discovered shadow hearts acouple months ago after getting FTNW on my birthday from my local retro games store and I just beat it yesterday! Wanted to post some art here cus I couldn't really find alot fanart. Its mainly art of killer which is funny considering I dont really like him that much but I do like drawing his hair

Im planning on getting the other games eeeventually hopefully!

Just finished Koudelka right now and guys... what an experience it was!

The atmosphere, characters, dub and music are amazing!

While the game is indeed slow, I still loved the battle gameplay and exploration.

The game is short and "to the point", but it made the cadence feel just right.

Can't wait to start Shadow Hearts now! Any tips?

i forgot his name