Shadow Hearts: Covenant details
by Kit

Friday, April 30 2004

RPG/Strategy game coming to U.S shores courtesy of Midway.

Midway Games announced today that Shadow Hearts: Covenant, the sequel to the fantasy-style role-playing game (RPG) Shadow Hearts, is scheduled to be published this fall in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system. A mix of turn-based strategy and RPG elements, Shadow Hearts: Covenant provides players with a hybrid gaming experience, popularized in games like FF: Tactics. Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts: Covenant, known as Shadow Hearts 2 in Japan, were created and published in Japan by Aruze Corporation.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant also brings back the innovative combat system, the Judgment Ring, which allows players to choose which characters to bring to battle, and also determines the final outcome of the battle based on the players' speed and accuracy. New to the Shadow Hearts sequel, are enhancements to the Judgment Ring which allow team-based combo attacks.

Set during World War I in a fantastical world of magic and creatures, the game takes place six months after the original Shadow Hearts ended. Yuri, the main character is back, and he embarks on a new expedition with friends Gepetto, a puppet master, and Kallen, a German female soldier. Yuri's morphing abilities have been weakened because he has been cursed by Nicholas, a member of a secret society taking advantage of the war to fulfill their evil ambitions of ruling the world. Yuri and his companions must journey to find a cure for his curse and defeat the malevolent cult.

--- Kit