Would you Persona-lly recommend a certain JRPG series? :3
Oh man if there’s a JRPG series that you want me to recommend that might be off the beaten path, then boy do I have one for you!
Lemme tell you about the Shadow Hearts series!
Despite technically starting on the PS2 the Shadow Hearts series goes back to the PSX era with a game called Koudelka. Developed by Sacnoth games (a reference to the fantasy stories of Lord Dunsany) Koudelka was an attempt to bring together the popular survival horror genre and mash it together with traditional JRPG elements. It’s not the first to attempt this and it’s certainly not as successful as Parasite Eve (though that is largely because Parasite Eve really lightened up on the Survival Horror elements) and despite some really strong atmosphere the two genres never really gel, probably because turn-based gameplay is antithetical to panicky jump scares. Regardless, there’s a lot to love here in this game, particularly with its characters. Koudelka is a Rom with occult powers who has to babysit a priest and a would-be adventurer as they go through a haunted Welsh monastery in the late nineteenth century. Also appreciable is that it’s a JRPG where you’re not saving the world from a Satanic figure (or God in the case of SMT) for once. The much lower scope is appreciated. Another interesting thing is that the canon ending is the neutral one, which requires you to -lose- against the boss. Yeah.
Things really get into gear with Shadow Hearts. While it keeps the really expressive dark gothic atmosphere it’s now absolutely a pure JRPG. That doesn’t mean it lets up on the horror aspect. It’s a very dark game and if you’re a fan of World of Darkness you’ll really like the atmosphere. The game follows the biracial Russian-Japanese Yuri Volte-Hyuga. As a Ruskie myself it was really cool to see a Russian character in a JRPG who wasn’t a big ol’ block of muscle. Representation matters, folks! The combat has an interesting combat wheel where more powerful attacks require more precise timing. It also leans pretty heavily on the historical aspect of the game. Dragging you through historical pre-WW1 sections and even has Mata Hari of all people join your party as well as the first of a family of vampires: Keith Valentine.
The sequel Shadow Hearts: Covenant also has the bold choice of making the bad ending canon. (Something I’d like to see more) and while it forsakes the gothic horror aspect for a more historical fantasy edge, it’s still really compelling. Rasputin is a major villain and Anastasia eventually joins your party. It’s arguably the high point of the series.
The third game has a lot of promise, such as being set in America in the thirties and having a heavy emphasis on Native American oppression. True to its historical fantasy aspect it even features H.P. Lovecraft and Al Capone showing up and you heading to Roswell (twenty years too early). Unfortunately it ends up being a reverse Frankenstein: Less than the sum of its parts. The new main character Johnny Garland looks like Sora from Kingdom Hearts which really does not fit a game defined by Gothic Horror influences. Shania, our Native American princess, looks less line an actual Native American and more like Yoruichi in Bleach. Despite that, there’s some stuff in here to like, especially if you liked the first two.
And there is a JRPG series I would Persona-lly recommend and I have no inkling as to what else this could possibly be referring to maybe be a joke about.
