Let's Play Shadow Hearts! [FIN]

greenyxi

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Shadow Hearts

Hey peoples, welcome to a brand new let's play! This time around we're taking on Shadow Hearts; a very classic JRPG, with the usual random encounters and turn based combat :lew:. However, it's different in the tone of the game. You'll soon notice that it's incredibly bloody and horroresque. There aren't too many horror JRPGs like this, outside of the SMT games, so it's a very welcome addition to the most memorable games of my life :).

By the way, the game was made/developed/distributed by: Midway, Aruze Corp and Sacnoth. There are probably more involved but they're the ones who show up on start-up. Obviously they made this game and not me; all I am going to do is play, edit and commentate :).

I always love to think that my series will be daily but I think it's more fair to say that this series in particular will be daily but with a day skipped pretty often, to give me a chance to get some more editing and recording in (not to mention the sister moving soon so I'll be helping out with that...not that that's a something I'll do more than 2 or 3 times lol). I find the daily aspect a bit cramping sometimes if that makes sense and I feel that I need more time for other things. This is a long process though one that I love all the same.

Here's the opening for ya!


The Youtube playlist for Shadow Hearts is here too, in case you want all the vids in a list:
Thanks for watching! I hope you're looking forward to this one...I know I am since I've had this LP on my mind for a good few months now :). If you have any comments, be sure to chuck them out there; I like replying to comments :s. See you around! :)

P.S.
I haven't played this game in probably about 2 years now so this series could almost be considered blind. Almost. I'll remember bits and pieces, I'm sure :).
 
Before Kingdom Hearts, before FF10, before Xenosaga, there was this. A true testament to a bad ass character in a bad ass opening, made before its time.
 
Before Kingdom Hearts, before FF10, before Xenosaga, there was this. A true testament to a bad ass character in a bad ass opening, made before its time.

I agree. I mean, Yuri is a bit of a perverted shit but he's so interesting to hang around throughout the game :lew:.

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Episode 1 - All Aboard The Bacon Train!

https://youtu.be/JFqhv6XLOCU


Hey folks, we're finally getting started on Shadow Hearts! Today, we're checking out what the game is all about at the start. We meet Yuri, the right shit who happens to be our main character, and Alice, the damsel in distress who seems to have some powers of her own ;). There are also 2 bosses (namely Roger Bacon and Fox Face) but you can't win either of them so no worries there lol.

Finally, we head to a pretty special cemetery that's a huge (and unique) gameplay mechanic throughout the game. More on that later! :)

Thanks for watching folks! See you in a bit for the rest of our first voyage into the cemetery and plenty more :).

P.S. I love trains in games and what happens on the train in Shadow Hearts is certainly no exception :s.
 
Episode 2 - Children Of The Corn

https://youtu.be/_SQ6baohM4g


Hey folks, we've made it to the village of Zhaoyang! They seem to be welcoming us with open arms...though everything seems that little bit suspicious :/. There's a miniboss here in the form of the Hell Cats but it's nothing too hard. I feel like there's more coming though!

Before that though, we wrap up the cemetery, for now, and the plains too!

Thanks for watching! See you in a bit for some more shenanigans in Zhaoyang Village! :sir:
 
Episode 3 - Catnip For Grandma

https://youtu.be/UrjofFuQvNs


Hey peoples, here we have some more of Zhaoyang Village! While the kids are out of the way now, we need to gain access to the shrine! The only way to do that is by taking down the guardian of the village...and that's granny! While there are ways to beat her that are better than what I do here, it's a simple enough boss so long as you aren't underleveled.

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Felinus Strategy:


- Fuse into the raging tiger and use your earth spell.
- Defend/heal with Alice (whatever is needed).
- Cast Zhuzang's fire spell every turn.

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Speaking of Zhuzang, he's a really useful mage with decent strength for this point in the game. Make use of his magic only during bosses at this stage though; that's a lotta MP to use per cast!

Thanks for watching! See you tomorrow for the conclusion of Zhaoyang Village! :)
 
Episode 4 - Yamaraja Is Loose!

https://youtu.be/hWhMWxP7VxA


Hi, here's the rest of Zhaoyang Village! It turns out that opening the shrine isn't the best idea in the world since it let's Yamaraja, the demon behind all of this cursed village stuff, free! Time for our hardest boss so far!

We also wrap up the Plains and find ourselves in the brand new town of Fengtian! Of course, our stay here isn't going to be problem-free since Yuri seems to attract attention wherever he goes (or maybe it's Alice?), but it's such a relaxing little part at the fountain :).

Thanks for watching! See you next time for more of Fengtian! Just got to look out for Bacon and...everyone else who seems to be after us. At least we have the cute little puppy to play with :jess:.
 
Episode 5 - Margarete's Explosive Personality!

https://youtu.be/pLbhSYNsudY


Peoples, meet Margarete! She's a bit of a tart but she's a tart with a heart! A great personality to add to the party imo and has some interesting skills in battle, what with her being a spy and all ;).

Otherwise, Fengtian is a really scenic town (mostly by the fountain) but it's much smaller than you would think of a city. We check out the shop and get chased into the sewers (thanks Marge!). The same can be said of the sewers actually; they're pretty tiny but stuff happens down there that expands the time you take there.

Thanks for watching! See you in a bit for the rest of the sewers and a wee bit more :).

P.S. The cropping is due to the raw file coming out weird and I had to sort it in Windows Live Movie Maker of all places. Vegas kept reading it as a music file for some strange reason. Still, I quite like the variety it adds to the series lmao.
 
Episode 6 - The Tiny Bronco!

https://youtu.be/MNmWmPHQDKY


Hello again! Today, we're escaping the sewers (though not without a boss fight against the Water Tiger and his Kappa pals) and making our way out of Fengtian! It ain't gonna be easy though. Blocking our exit is another boss, but I won't spoil what it is this time around. I want this one to stay a surprise until you see it ;).

Finally, we earn ourselves two new fusions (water and wind) by heading to the graveyard and dealing with them!

Thanks for watching! See you again in a bit for Dalian, a new town with a new problem ha! :)

P.S. I love how the plane looks like the Tiny Bronco in that lighting. I really hope it was intentional :lew:.
 
Episode 7 - An Alice Cursed

https://youtu.be/titTbFR7YC4


Hey folks, it's time to head to the port town of Dalian, only for a new curse to rear it's ugly head :s. You see, there's this girl named Li Li who has some daddy issues of a different sort. Bah! I'll let you have a gander at the cinematics. Speaking of daddy issues, we get to see mini-Yuri too with his father; such a nice little bit of story there :).

This part actually has a tonne of plot and stuff so I'll leave it to you to check out and leave out the spoilers.

Thanks for watching! I'll see you next time for the rest of Dalian, which will be less text-heavy and have much more action to sort this whole problem out ;).

P.S.
Our party is expanding! And...dropping. Sun rise, sun set :'(.
 
Episode 8 - Battle Of The Lampshades

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJlzsuxo9ik


Is it a lampshade or is it the Amish? I wonder what the designers were thinking when making that boss lmao. Still, it's a toughie! :s

Hey peoples ha. Today, we're wrapping up Dalian and taking the curse on head first! There are also a few sidequests, including a blocked off treasure chest, something about turtles and a riddle that's ever so unfair :/.

Thanks for watching folks! See you again when we head off for new lands! :)

P.S. The next 2 episodes will be slightly longer than anything so far, but it'll give us a bit of progress so I think it's worth it, personally. I'll try to shorten them from episode 11 onwards though :).
 
Episode 9 - One Manly Siren

https://youtu.be/BV_B2fDa6qk


Hey folks, it's time for us to spend a bit of time aboard a ship. Surely, we can finally have some time to relax, away from all the curses and darkness? Well, maybe not lmao. Look out for the boss and the curse that still clings to us from Dalian! Yunalesca vibes, for sure ;).

Other than that, I can't help but laugh at Yuri during this section. Poor guy gets no sympathy. So undeserved! ;)

Thanks for watching! See you next time for the grand city of Shanghai! :)
 
Episode 10 - Stretch Armstrong!

https://youtu.be/r6Cssl_gbQM


Hey folks, we've made it to land! Shanghai is a pretty big place since it's split into sections on the world map, but for now we only have access to the one area. This episode has a tonne of plot, but there's a boss here too in the form of Wugui. He's simple enough but the main focus is his arms...those stretchy arms 0_0.

I'd just like to give a shout to the cello (is it a cello? It's kind of strange) cinematic too. I love it so much :).

Thanks for watching! We'll see what else Shanghai has in store for us next time. Maybe we'll take care of that business-stealing bag of sick? ;)
 
Episode 11 - Just Lost

https://youtu.be/GeeeGvyEQZc


Hey folks, we're leaving Shanghai today after a wee bit o' shopping! Our next location is somewhere aptly named: Temple Ruins. It's a temple...that's ruined.

That's just above ground though! Underground is where the party starts! There are 3 mini-dungeons here with special limitations in each! Today, we take on the first one with Yuri and Zhuzhen; a pretty tough maze :s. I hate mazes :/. The boss is ok though considering the limits we're under.

Thanks for watching folks! See you in a bit for mini-dungeon number 2! :)
 
Episode 12 - Just Loster

https://youtu.be/RSopfQyDcZU


Hey peoples, the rest of the Temple Ruins are here! I mean...most of it. The other 2 mini-dungeons of it. Margerete and Alice have their little dungeon first, with no magic and stuff allowed lmao :s. Baigu greets them at the end as an interesting boss design. Just...stock up on those items! Then next up is the 3rd mini-dungeon with Yuri and Zhuzhen again. This time there's a wood token to find along the way though.

THAT'S EXCITING AND NOT A PAIN IN THE ARSE!

Anyways, we're gonna be seeing what the wood token does next time and wrapping the dungeon up as a whole :). Thanks for watching!
 
Episode 13 - Leonardo's Bear

https://youtu.be/kMtF2VQSNZA


Hey there folks, there's a lot going on this time around! While quite a bit of it is plot back at Shanghai, there's also the rest of the Temple Ruins to contend with!

First up is a boss for Zhuzhen and Yuri; the Qinggu! This guy is fine really. Just got to be a high enough level, and be lucky enough, to beat it before you run out of health; remember, you can't use items or special skills right now :s. Afterwards is the big bad boss: Wugui! Or as he likes to be known once transformed: Yamaraja War! This guy is tough to take down if you aren't fully prepared. Just make sure you have a Leonardo's Bear equipped on each character before heading into it or you could die right at the start! :(

Thanks for watching folks! I'll let you see what happens in Shanghai for yourselves and let you see which character dies :'(. See you tomorrow for the very last of Shanghai and a new dungeon! :)
 
Episode 14 - Stone Tower

https://youtu.be/3fPcv3zRuUQ


Hey folks, it's about time we left Shanghai behind us for a new dungeon :). Before that, we need to find a nice surprise back on the ship, but that's only for 2 seconds. Kuihai Tower is where it's at! :monocle:

This place is a dungeon unlike any we've seen so far in the realm of Shadow Hearts, but for today we're taking on a boss that blocks the entrance: Yamaraja Stone! This guy is all about raising his defences and making life hard for our party. Still, it's not as hard as our last Yamaraja boss so I'm not complaining ;).

Thanks for watching! See you in a bit when we start the dungeon itself! :)
 
Episode 15 - Attack Of The Killer Wangs!

https://youtu.be/hfmok0vtTd8


Hey there peoples, today we're taking on Kuihai Tower and let me just tell you that it's wangs ahead of any other dungeon we've seen so far! They're everywhere! :/

Other than the wangs, there's a simple enough little mechanic where you need to put tiles in certain places in order to unlock doors in the tower. It's not hard really but the enemies can take a bit of killing so it can get tedious if you get really stuck; then again, getting stuck in JRPGs usually means level boosts without the grinding! Happies! ;)

Finally, we take on Dehuai, our beloved foe! He's not too bad but he takes a good bit of killing. I wonder if this is a sign that we should have done some level grinding? :s

Thanks for watching! See you in a bit for the final boss of the Asian continent! The next episode is gonna change everything 0_0.
 
Episode 16 - The Great Calamity

https://youtu.be/mxM_K05Ha_4


Hey all, the end of the Asian continent section is here! With us beating the Kuihai Tower last time around, it's time for us to take on such a massive boss! Yamaraja Calamity (made from Dehuai himself) has a tonne of health and deals so much damage that you'll need to spend a lot of time healing. Look out for petrification and silence too; remember that there are some soldiers just outside selling immunity accessories to this stuff along with items (you'll want tonnes of those too).

Other than that, we end things off with such a good cinematic! It feels like that should have ended a disc or something but this is a single disc game on the PS2 so...doesn't happen lol. I'll leave what actually happens in the cinematic up to you to find out :).

Thanks for watching! See you next time when we see what life is like after all that! :gasp2:
 
Episode 17 - Alice's Exorcise Routine

https://youtu.be/5XL2jTUK1Ho


Hey peoples, let's see what life is like for the party now that Yuri has vanished and the whole cataclysm has passed, shall we?

I don't want to give many spoilers for such a mysterious part, but I will say that we get to visit two new towns on our new continent of Europe! Prague is a nice little alley and becomes more interesting later in the game. As for Bistritz, I love this section that we have coming up! Nina and Michelle have problems and there's quite a bit to them! More on that next time ;).

Thanks for watching! See you next time for a brand new dungeon along with all we can do in Bistritz for now :).

P.S. Bistritz has that perfect small, gothic town feel. It really does remind me of a town overshadowed by vampires (not that I'm saying that's what happens here, but it's how I feel about the town).
 
Episode 18 - Castle Of Many Colours

https://youtu.be/6aX9LkxyY8c


Hey folks, it seems that Bistritz is being overshadowed by a vampire castle! Let's go explore like the big kids we are ;).

The Blue Castle is actually really simple but it does have a coffin puzzle that really doesn't give you any hints on how to solve it lmao. I decided to just try everything; don't worry, you don't have to watch all that lmao...I did editing magicks ;).

Finally, we've got a new party member who goes by the name of Keith! Who says vampires are all evil? More on the castle next time (and more!).

Thanks for watching! See you in a bit :).
 
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