Shadow Hearts

Shadow Hearts
Developer(s)	Sacnoth
Publisher(s)	Aruze (JP) Midway (NA, EU)
Release date	June 28, 2001 (JP) December 11, 2001 (NA) March 29, 2002 (EU)
Genre	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Age rating(s)	ESRB: M
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 Template:Infobox/media Template:Infobox/input
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

Shadow Hearts is a sequel to Koudelka for the PlayStation 2. It, in turn has two sequels, Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Shadow Hearts: From the New World.

Playable Characters

	Yuri Hyuga. Rude hero. As a harmonixer, Yuri can fuse with many different monsters to gain different abilities. The strongest character of the game you are forced to keep him on your party for most of the game which isn't entirely a burden since his kicking ass abilities are great. He uses knuckles as his weapon.
File:Alice.jpg	Alice Elliot. The heroine of the game. Has white magic that can heal allies and punish evil. Also, it can be funny to see her frantically bash at enemies with her book. Always keep her on the back row 'cause her defense is very low.
	Li Zhuzhen. A monk who's the smarty pants of the game, he knows pretty much anything you ask, he has some elemental spells and fights with rods and staves.
	Margarete Gertrude Zelle. An international spy with a twisted sense of good and evil and a predilection for the use of bombs. She is known as Miss Spy Genius and that says it all, a comic relief throughout the game she has a variety of gadgets at your disposal as well as very accurate shooting skill, be sure to get on her good side or she'll make you regret it. Her weapons are tiny guns and shotguns.
	Keith Valentine. An elegant and bored vampire who woke up to help you save the world since he had nothing better to do in his Bistrtiz Castle. A member of the Valentine's Vampire Clan. He has a variety of dark spells that can come in handy very often during the adveture and he can also pummel down enemies with his sword skills, one of the strongest members of the group. He uses swords.
	Halley Brancket. An orphan leader of the London Rats who seems to have a supernatural ability... maybe heritage. The last addition to the group, he's a powerful spellcaster and attacks with a slingshot. This character is one of the main connections with Koudelka, Shadow Heart's prequel and its main character by the same name.

Judgement Ring

The Judgement Ring is omnipresent in the story of Yuri and company. Skillful use of the Judgement ring is essential for success at the various tasks required throughout the course of the game.

The system consists basically on a spinning wheel in which the player has to hit certain areas with a needle. The place hit determines the amount of damage caused by the character. The ring's speed and the size of the hit areas can be customized according to need. For example: the size of the hit areas can be increased or decreased which will also affect the power of the weapon equiped.

The same goes for magic or special abilities, only that the ring for these kinds of attacks is slightly simpler to hit.