|
 "Awrooo awrooooooo!!" (Wolf Howl) - Unknown Good Boy ***** What is Shadow Hearts: Covenant? Shadow Hearts: Covenant, also known as Shadow Hearts 2, is a JRPG by Nautilus (formerly Sacnoth, they rebranded in the interval between games) released in 2004 for the Sony PlayStation 2. Unlike the first Shadow Hearts, which was a somewhat tenuous sequel to its predecessor, Koudelka, Shadow Hearts: Covenant is a very direct sequel continuing the story of the rude hero punchboy, Yuri Volte Hyuga a year after the conclusion of the events of Shadow Hearts. You can find a full LP of the original Shadow Hearts that I'd recommend reading through right over here. Unlike the transition from Shadow Hearts to Koudelka, where they basically threw out everything and made a completely different game, Shadow Hearts 2 is a clear evolution on what worked and didn't work in the original game and makes steps to improve the experience. Shockingly enough, it is a WAY better actual game as a result. Battles are hugely improved and far more engaging (Fusions are actually a balanced mechanic and not the one optimal win button one at any point), it actually looks like a PS2 title and not a ported PS1 game. They got back a budget for voice-acted cutscenes again. It's a better game in almost every single way. Shadow Hearts 1 is a game I'd recommend with several caveats. Meanwhile, Shadow Hearts: Covenant I'd say is actually a really solid rear end game and one of the better JRPGs of that console cycle. It still has some problems, don't get me wrong. Ain't no such thing as a perfect game. But they're more of the minor nitpicky bits or "boy this sure was a game made in the mid-aughts" sort of... questionable content stuff and not the game falling apart at the seams like parts of the original game had going for it. All of which we'll get to later. Do I need to have played/seen an LP of the previous games to enjoy Shadow Hearts: Covenant? You can safely ignore Koudelka at this point. Absolutely nothing from that, outside of a single reoccurring character, is relevant to the rest of the series. You may at least want to brush up on the plot of Shadow Hearts 1. At the very least, how it ended is quite important. Covenant has mostly a new cast, outside of the punchman hobo protagonist Yuri and a handful of returning characters and small cameos. But the game actually does go out of its way to recap previous events when they pop up, so if you want to skip my previous LP like a huge jerk, you'll probably be fine. How many things get punched in this game? Many strong men await. What was with the huge break in the LP?! My daughter died. Quite suddenly. I was a WEE bit depressed and not good for doing this thing. I'm still  Spoiler tags! Shadows Hearts: Covenant is nearly a fifteen-year-old game at this point. And while it reviewed quite well, it still sold... not great and I doubt tons of folk have played through it. So please be considerate and use spoiler tags for events and gameplay the LP has not yet reached! Thanks! The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Sep 22, 2022 |
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 16:15 |
|
|
 Cool stuff folks made goes here. More is appreciated and promoted!  Nimsant shows that Gepetto rocks it better than Kimarhi.  FeyerbrandX wants you to bite into a Slim Jim!  Nohman To Be Continued... <Roundabout Begins>  Wonderslug is pirating magazines for the greater good.  Pesky Splinter remembers the basics of CQC.  Nohman is going to the Bad Place.  TurnipFritter said a bad word!  Crowetron has found Blanca's inner weeb.  FeyerbrandX has reached an inner Id.   Calamitous_Justice knows the truth behind Blanca. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Jun 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:12
|
|
|
Episode I: Domremy NEW Music: Deep Meditation ~ Title (Very soothing.) .jpg) At no point, once the DVD disc is stuck into a Sony PlayStation 2, does this game make any remote attempt to call itself "Shadow Hearts: Covenant." It is just Shadow Hearts II. Full stop. b.jpg) This statement is patently false. Shadow Hearts 2 has a goddamn conga line of actual dead historical figures showing up doing weird poo poo in several places you could hop onto a plane and visit right now for the most part. Also perhaps Yuri got a wolf buddy at some point. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. Music: ENDS .jpg) Instead, let's affix our bayonets... .jpg) ...and head to the sleepy burg of Pueblo, Notspain. That's right. We're going back, baby! The President's daughter has been kidnapped and it's up to special agent Leon S. Kennedy to ta– .jpg) Oh. Wait... Shoot. I'm getting my wires crossed. False alarm... It turns out we're heading to the town of Domremy, of a currently unknown country, about 90 years before Leon Kennedy sent the better part of the population of Notspain to Suplex City. .jpg) We follow the first person view of presumably one of the German soldiers advancing on the rural town. We're at some point after the end of Shadow Hearts, a game which ended on the note that a minor regional conflict occurred shortly after the events of the main plot concluded. .jpg) Believe it or not, this game actually predates Resident Evil 4 by just a couple weeks short of a year. Shinji Mikami has some explaining to do... .jpg) For all the games I've played with silly dress-up helmets, I feel as though there is not enough dumbass pickelhaube representation. Put more opulent spikes on top of helmets, you cowards. .jpg) .jpg) Our squad of German soldiers links up with another unit already hanging out outside the church. Waves, stern looks and finely groomed mustache inspections are exchanged between the groups. The man with the largest mustache, indicating his leadership over the group, as I understand was the ranking system of the era, nods to our perspective character. .jpg) .jpg) Squad tactics and building breaching techniques hadn't really been developed yet at this point in history. So tactics are mostly just selecting all units and rushing a point then hoping for the best. The Great War's meta was rubbish. .jpg) The war has taken its toll on poor Super Mario. Luigi fell at the First Battle of Krithia. Wario lost a leg at the Battle of the Frontiers. They say Yoshi was shot for desertion. Countless young Toads have been sent into the meat grinder by an uncaring Mushroom Kingdom. .jpg) .jpg) The ravages of war aside, the squadron kicks open the church doors, an impressive feat considering they're about fifteen feet tall, and the men shuffle into the interior. They proceed to... kind of just mill about looking around the area like they're in a dull tour group. .jpg) .jpg) The door to the church slams shut and there is some manner of ruckus outside. As per standard operating procedure, everyone opens fire wildly and screams without giving any verbal indication of what is attacking, how many enemies there are, where its position is located or anything remotely relevant to anyone not seeing the assault. .jpg) .jpg) All we get is a quick shadow of a winged... something, wrecking a rando squaddie. RIP. The poor lad only had one more deployment before he earned an actual name. .jpg) .jpg) Super Mario keeps his cool. After seeing both Waluigi and Donkey Kong struck down by sniper fire in a single day, little can shake his resolve anymore. .jpg) We finally lose the perspective gimmick for the opening movie and get a look at our perspective character... .jpg) Surprise: It's a pretty anime girl. .jpg) DID SOMEONE... .jpg) ...SAY... .jpg) ...ANIME?! .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Our heroine finds herself star-struck by meeting THE Devilman all of the sudden like this. She also appears to have forgotten to equip a weapon. She is just on full blunder lord mode today, it would seem. .jpg) .jpg) Super Mario rushes to the rescue by shoulder checking the woman hard enough to send her flying halfway across the church floor. He takes her place in the Devilman face-off. .jpg) With a fiery resolve in his battle-hardened eyes that have been there since he cut down Bowser Jr. with a bayonet in a muddy trench in the south of France, Mario takes aim at the creature and... .jpg) .jpg) ...instantly gets incredibly owned. Welp. I hope he got a 1-Up ration recently. .jpg) .jpg) The rest of the men, seeing the only one among them with an actual detailed face model get taken out so easily, naturally instantly fall into a panic and fire madly at the monster. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Shockingly enough, it doesn't go well. .jpg) The lady soldier, still stunned from Mario's powerful shoulder check, rolls onto her back to sees what all the fuss is about. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) She is just in time to see a full montage of all of her comrades getting EXTREMELY wrecked by Devilman. .jpg) One enterprising soldier attempts to do what any common newbie tries when they know they're done. Lob a grenade and hope to get at least one kill before you eat poo poo. It's my go-to tactic anytime things go south with a bad team in a battle royale game.  .jpg) .jpg) Unfortunately, he attempts to throw that thing at point-blank range and the monster slaps that poo poo away instantly. You should have just thrown it at your feet, you idiot. Now you look the fool. .jpg) The problem is, that grenade parry sent it flying directly toward the face of the only character who might actually have a name or character portrait in this group of incompetent redshirts. .jpg) .jpg) This expressionless hell face somehow still manages to muster a look of "oh poo poo..." .jpg) .jpg) The soldier lady uses her cat-like reflexes to— .jpg) ...Not so much as gasp in surprise and eats an explosion along with the rest of the soldiers in the near vicinity. That dude is gonna eat a week ban on this server for all that TKing. This isn't the finest showing for the German army today. .jpg) However, the smoke clears and what's this...?  Meh. Bored now. .jpg) .jpg) The woman admires her tall, buff demon savior. .jpg) His work here done, the demon begins strolling off out of the church. The doors of which he apparently uses telekinesis to open onto a sun going supernova outside. .jpg) But what's this...?! .jpg) Why he transformed into an anime man with messy hair. Now, where have we seen a dude that can transform into a Devilman before? I feel like I should know this one. But it has just plain slipped my mind... .jpg) Oh well, I'm sure it'll come to me eventually.    Video: Shadow Heart 2 Intro (Hey go watch this!) The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Mar 3, 2019 |
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:13
|
|
|
I do look forward to seeing how this game progresses.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:31
|
|
|
Yeeeesssss! Snarky punchman supreme! HE HAS RETURNED!!!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:35
|
|
|
The way he drops her to the ground never fails to make me laugh.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:44
|
|
|
The Dark Id posted:
I can already tell I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 18:44
|
|
|
The thing that gets me about the teasers at the end of your recent LPs is that I don't recognize the games you're previewing. This is already looking good.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:02
|
|
|
Hell yeah. I lived through SH1 vicariously with the lp, but i think I’m gonna play along with this one
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:05
|
|
|
Ground floor I never had a playstation growing up nor did I hear of these games for what it's worth
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:07
|
|
|
Yeeeeeeeeessssssss. This will be excellent. Better than the first game in every way, imo. Can't wait to see you riff on some of the more stupid things in the game..
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:12
|
|
|
I was late to the last thread due to having to catch up with the Koudelka LP, but I'm in on the ground floor for this one.GimmickMan posted:The thing that gets me about the teasers at the end of your recent LPs is that I don't recognize the games you're previewing. Ubiquitous_ posted:The way he drops her to the ground never fails to make me laugh. Llab posted:Hell yeah. I lived through SH1 vicariously with the lp, but i think I’m gonna play along with this one
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:15
|
|
|
I am very ready for this mysterious wolf pal
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:22
|
|
|
Commander Keene posted:
I still have my copies of all three games and my old PS2 it still works too!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:26
|
|
|
Best JRPG of all time right here. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:28
|
|
|
Holy poo poo that drop
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:29
|
|
|
This game is awesome. Best of the series. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:29
|
|
|
Dog wolf dog friend is a good sign. Can't wait to see what the hubbub is all about.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 19:57
|
|
|
I've only vaguely heard about the Shadow Hearts series before your last LP and hadn't heard of Koudelka at all, but I've greatly enjoyed both of the previous ones and I'm sure I'll enjoy this one too. Thanks for your hard work showing them off TDI!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 20:07
|
|
|
The Dark Id posted:
That starting statement is a boilerplate anti-libel protection. It's basically saying that they don't claim that the actions and representations of people and locations depicted in the work are representative of any truths about the those people or locations. They might be "inspired" by them, but it means that if you have Richard Nixcon stab someone in the eye, Richard Nixon's estate can't sue you claiming that you published something that claimed that Nixon was an eye-stabber, because you explicitly said the Nixon in your game isn't supposed to be a representation of the real Nixon.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 20:32
|
|
|
Now I want a Shadow Hearts game set in the Nixon era.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 21:22
|
|
|
Yeeeeeees it's the GOOD poo poo now. Looking forward to seeing just how much of this game I've managed to forget over the years!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 21:29
|
|
|
StandardVC10 posted:Now I want a Shadow Hearts game set in the Nixon era. a finger on the monkey's paw curls. the mandatory nixon boss fight has a free self-heal
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 21:29
|
|
|
StandardVC10 posted:Now I want a Shadow Hearts game set in the Nixon era.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 21:39
|
|
|
I am ready for more Rude Hero adventures in punching. Though, come to think of it, did Yuri EVER transform in a cutscene in the first game?
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 22:09
|
|
|
Ready for Punch Hobo 2: Electric Bugaloo!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 22:23
|
|
|
Nohman posted:I am ready for more Rude Hero adventures in punching. Though, come to think of it, did Yuri EVER transform in a cutscene in the first game? Without checking any footage to double check, I believe the only instance is when he fuses with the Seraphic Radiance (and promptly loses control and levels Shanghai.) SH1 is a very "I told you that story so I could tell you this one" affair for SH2 honestly, so...
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 22:26
|
|
|
Nohman posted:I am ready for more Rude Hero adventures in punching. Though, come to think of it, did Yuri EVER transform in a cutscene in the first game? Yuri had pretty much totally different powers in cutscenes than in gameplay in the first game. It would be pretty hilarious if this game opened with him doing his harmonixer thing and then in game his powers were “reattaching his own severed limbs”. Remember that from the opening of SH1?
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 22:28
|
|
|
fluffyDeathbringer posted:a finger on the monkey's paw curls. the mandatory nixon boss fight has a free self-heal Your saying that like having more time to wail on Nixon would be a bad thing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 22:49
|
|
|
First time I noticed that the opening title in-game and the localized title are completely different. This game was just Shadow Hearts 2 over in Japan, "Covenant" was simply attached there by Midway when it was brought over here. Though, that weirdness is nowhere near as wonky as the US version of Breath of Fire IV having the title on the opening screen completely untranslated and left in katakana. I remember thinking it was just some fictional fantasy language or some graphic meant to look cool, but nope! It was simply Buresuobufaia.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 23:45
|
|
|
Woot! Love this goddamn game.  Shitenshi posted:First time I noticed that the opening title in-game and the localized title are completely different. This game was just Shadow Hearts 2 over in Japan, "Covenant" was simply attached there by Midway when it was brought over here. The localisation on this game (though we've yet to see it) is pretty top notch. It was worked on by Jeremy Blaustein, and it feels a lot more naturalistic (and with less nonsense errors than the last game). Oh, and TDI, sent you a PM.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2019 23:57
|
|
|
Death Emperor (I think that's him) got fuckin JACKED between games. Too bad he's probably gonna get tossed aside fairly quickly and completely forgotten about before we hit the five hour mark.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 00:55
|
|
|
I'm psyched for this. Shadow Hearts is a very charming game, but this one is amazing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 00:59
|
|
|
Kemix posted:Death Emperor (I think that's him) got fuckin JACKED between games. Too bad he's probably gonna get tossed aside fairly quickly and completely forgotten about before we hit the five hour mark.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 01:05
|
|
|
I genuinely consider this one of the best JRPGs on the PS2 and repeatedly smack myself for taking so long to try it because I was put off by it being set in the real world. I didn't not realize it was the completely jacked on bonkers alternate real world that is full of amazing things. I am *so* on board for this LP. The OST is also bitchin'.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 01:25
|
|
|
I love this game by sheer virtue of the fact that the main character is the biggest trainwreck in RPG history
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 01:51
|
|
|
Ground floor, bitches! One of, if not the best RPGs of the PS2 era, right here!
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 01:58
|
|
|
And I'm here and waiting, god drat it's probably one of my all time favorite jrpgs
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 02:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 16:15 |
|
|
Oh man, I'm already lovin' this poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 02:55
|
|