SHADOW HEARTS

[TheRocketeer]

Shadow Hearts was an awful series.

I played the second two games, and when I casually remarked to someone how much ass they blew, I was quickly informed that the first of the games was by far the best of the series, and that the follow-ups were watered down since the plebes couldn't handle how cool it was.

So naturally when I played through the first game, it was the worst of the three. It's aged like milk, and the entire series takes itself far, far too seriously even while trying to appear aloof and too cool for the room, with a bunch of trite, gratuitous dark 'n' edgy bullshit thrown around to grant a false sense of gravitas to plotlines that are tired and bland even by the standards of old JRPG's.

So naturally, this game was destined to be a cult hit; when all its obvious failings dragged it down into the obscurity that all mediocre games mire into, its fans convinced themselves that the average gaming sheeple just weren't worthy of it.

Four years later, here we are.

 

[persona J]

i never got to finnish 1 because my ps2 got all jeffed up and the graphics went all broken glassy,but loved 2, was sad at the end. 3 im not sure if ive actualy finnished it, havnt been on in a while but it was a bit weird, not as good as 2 yeah it was prob fan service. i wish they would have made more.

 

[Composer]

it sounds interesting.....now im looking for it on ebay..

 

[CloggedDonkey]

never heard of it before now, but I might check it out.

and for the hell of it:

Spoiler

 

[keillord]

Shadow Hearts was an awful series.

I played the second two games, and when I casually remarked to someone how much ass they blew, I was quickly informed that the first of the games was by far the best of the series, and that the follow-ups were watered down since the plebes couldn't handle how cool it was.

So naturally when I played through the first game, it was the worst of the three. It's aged like milk, and the entire series takes itself far, far too seriously even while trying to appear aloof and too cool for the room, with a bunch of trite, gratuitous dark 'n' edgy bullshit thrown around to grant a false sense of gravitas to plotlines that are tired and bland even by the standards of old JRPG's.

So naturally, this game was destined to be a cult hit; when all its obvious failings dragged it down into the obscurity that all mediocre games mire into, its fans convinced themselves that the average gaming sheeple just weren't worthy of it.

Four years later, here we are.

Shadow hearts was made for gamers of the genre and fans, not like today where developers try to appeal to so many people that games lose what once made then great. Nowadays games are all about graphics and flashy effects and less about atmosphere and defining moments.

 

[Paragon Fury]

I remeber seeing the boxart for I believe it was the PS2 game.

It had the attractive, large-breasted woman on the front.

I found this intresting, but then decided to get Xenosaga instead.

 

[TheRocketeer]

Shadow hearts was made for gamers of the genre and fans, not like today where developers try to appeal to so many people that games lose what once made then great. Nowadays games are all about graphics and flashy effects and less about atmosphere and defining moments.

First, observe how it claims that Shadow Hearts was made to appeal to people who would have enjoyed it regardless of its quality, and that this is seen as a positive thing. In the same sentence, it points out that defying genre limitations and gaining respect from a variety of demographics is the same as selling out, with the strong implication that Shadow Hearts' lack of success is due to some fantastic notion of integrity. Consider also that 'what once made games great' is left as vague as possible so that you can't really argue with it, while assuring with certainty that Shadow Hearts had 'it.'

The second half is a bold-face hypocritical non-sequitur that games now are concerned only with graphics and effects, when all Shadow Hearts titles paid more than their fair share of attention to graphical representation, especially showy attacks, glowy magic, frequent FMV cutscenes, and just generally trying to do its share for a genre that introduced most gamers to lens flare.

And, finally, I'd question the grounds on which it can honestly accuse games now of lacking 'atmosphere' and 'defining moments,' a sentiment with which fans of any genre now would likely disagree, so I won't waste my breath attempting to offer specific examples- although I should point out that even the fans in this thread apparently remember little about the games except odd weapons, incest jokes, and the third game being mainly fanservice, as though the first two games weren't full of gratuitous tits and violence. Maybe the 'defining moments' from the first game include all those times Alice ends up unconscious with her exposed ass in the air?

And there you have it- a prime example of where the 'cult' part of 'cult classic' comes from. Of course, it shouldn't really need to be pointed out that reason they're regarded as such is because the fans of such titles conduct themselves like cultists: no new ideas are let in, and no existing ideas are allowed to change. Even if the golden cow being worshiped is something as inconsequential as an unsuccessful series of genre-fodder that vacated its meager measure of the gaming consciousness years ago with as little fanfare as that with which it entered.

 

[keillord]

I remeber seeing the boxart for I believe it was the PS2 game.

It had the attractive, large-breasted woman on the front.

I found this intresting, but then decided to get Xenosaga instead.

Both Xenosaga and shadow hearts have equally large breasted women...definately a tough choice. Actually now that I think about it that is why I bought xenosaga.

 

[keillord]

Shadow hearts was made for gamers of the genre and fans, not like today where developers try to appeal to so many people that games lose what once made then great. Nowadays games are all about graphics and flashy effects and less about atmosphere and defining moments.

First, observe how it claims that Shadow Hearts was made to appeal to people who would have enjoyed it regardless of its quality, and that this is seen as a positive thing. In the same sentence, it points out that defying genre limitations and gaining respect from a variety of demographics is the same as selling out, with the strong implication that Shadow Hearts' lack of success is due to some fantastic notion of integrity. Consider also that 'what once made games great' is left as vague as possible so that you can't really argue with it, while assuring with certainty that Shadow Hearts had 'it.'

The second half is a bold-face hypocritical non-sequitur that games now are concerned only with graphics and effects, when all Shadow Hearts titles paid more than their fair share of attention to graphical representation, especially showy attacks, glowy magic, frequent FMV cutscenes, and just generally trying to do its share for a genre that introduced most gamers to lens flare.

And, finally, I'd question the grounds on which it can honestly accuse games now of lacking 'atmosphere' and 'defining moments,' a sentiment with which fans of any genre now would likely disagree, so I won't waste my breath attempting to offer specific examples- although I should point out that even the fans in this thread apparently remember little about the games except odd weapons, incest jokes, and the third game being mainly fanservice, as though the first two games weren't full of gratuitous tits and violence. Maybe the 'defining moments' from the first game include all those times Alice ends up unconscious with her exposed ass in the air?

And there you have it- a prime example of where the 'cult' part of 'cult classic' comes from. Of course, it shouldn't really need to be pointed out that reason they're regarded as such is because the fans of such titles conduct themselves like cultists: no new ideas are let in, and no existing ideas are allowed to change. Even if the golden cow being worshiped is something as inconsequential as an unsuccessful series of genre-fodder that vacated its meager measure of the gaming consciousness years ago with as little fanfare as that with which it entered.

I will admit that I am nowhere near as articulate as you and so I will try to explain my view as best I can.

First, it is true that no game is perfect, but the time that shadow hearts 1 was being made (originally for the ps1, but ended up being released on the ps2) was at a time when the developers where not trying to bring in more fans but appealing to the fans they already had. This basically meant using the same formula that they had used before but adding little differences here and there. This is because the people they were expecting to buy the game buy it because it has what they already like, plus a little something new. This does not mean that the game did not pick up a few new fans. I personally prefer that time because nowadays I feel that all the genres are slowly mixing. What I mean by this is that you can see all aspects of genres in almost every game. Before there were simply RPGs, now there are action RPGs, or games that many reviewers say have a RPGish element to it. This is not selling out or a bad thing, maybe I am just into more old school type games.

What I meant by my graphics and effects comment was that I feel these are given more emphasis today as opposed to the days when because of a lack of graphics other aspects had to attract an audience. I just feel that more effort was put into a games story and other aspects. I will admit that games today also have awesome stories and all the aspects that the old games I like had. I just personally find that there are fewer games today that I enjoy as much as the older ones.
I do apologize for the atmosphere and defining moment comment as it is true that those aspects are in all games and genres.

I would just like to end by saying that you are entitled to your own opinion and if you do not like the game, or feel to insult people; it is your own prerogative. However, I made this thread for people who enjoyed the game and would prefer that you keep your negative comments to other threads.

 

[keillord]

Shadow hearts was made for gamers of the genre and fans, not like today where developers try to appeal to so many people that games lose what once made then great. Nowadays games are all about graphics and flashy effects and less about atmosphere and defining moments.

First, observe how it claims that Shadow Hearts was made to appeal to people who would have enjoyed it regardless of its quality, and that this is seen as a positive thing. In the same sentence, it points out that defying genre limitations and gaining respect from a variety of demographics is the same as selling out, with the strong implication that Shadow Hearts' lack of success is due to some fantastic notion of integrity. Consider also that 'what once made games great' is left as vague as possible so that you can't really argue with it, while assuring with certainty that Shadow Hearts had 'it.'

The second half is a bold-face hypocritical non-sequitur that games now are concerned only with graphics and effects, when all Shadow Hearts titles paid more than their fair share of attention to graphical representation, especially showy attacks, glowy magic, frequent FMV cutscenes, and just generally trying to do its share for a genre that introduced most gamers to lens flare.

And, finally, I'd question the grounds on which it can honestly accuse games now of lacking 'atmosphere' and 'defining moments,' a sentiment with which fans of any genre now would likely disagree, so I won't waste my breath attempting to offer specific examples- although I should point out that even the fans in this thread apparently remember little about the games except odd weapons, incest jokes, and the third game being mainly fanservice, as though the first two games weren't full of gratuitous tits and violence. Maybe the 'defining moments' from the first game include all those times Alice ends up unconscious with her exposed ass in the air?

And there you have it- a prime example of where the 'cult' part of 'cult classic' comes from. Of course, it shouldn't really need to be pointed out that reason they're regarded as such is because the fans of such titles conduct themselves like cultists: no new ideas are let in, and no existing ideas are allowed to change. Even if the golden cow being worshiped is something as inconsequential as an unsuccessful series of genre-fodder that vacated its meager measure of the gaming consciousness years ago with as little fanfare as that with which it entered.

One other thing that I failed to mention was that the fact that the game became a so called 'cult classic' means that for whatever reason it gained popularity as apposed to games that lose popularity over time. Also about your comment on people no really remembering the game. All of us here are gamers and we play so many games of course you won't really remember games you have not played in a few years, of you do then you are way too obsessed.