"A Ton of Games"

JRPG #4/100

#Shadow Hearts: Covenant

The spectacular follow-up to #Shadow Hearts, this one improves on the formula in almost every way. The Judgement Ring mechanic has been refined and the game now allows you to customise the hit areas to your liking via the use of items. The game even offers several modes for players of different skill levels. The 'Practice Ring' for example allows the player to miss hit areas, giving them another chance at attacking but will remove the ability to perform critical hits. The Judgement Ring isn't the only way the battles have been changed up though. Shadow Hearts: Covenant adds in the ability to perform 'Combo' attacks, wherein characters forgo a turn in order to teamup for a combined attack later on, which may finish with a powerful 'combo magic' spell. Enemy position can also be manipulated, with attacks having the potential to knock enemies backwards, into the air or thrown to the ground, raising the effectiveness of future attacks. This new focus on positioning opens up the game to allow the implementation of 'Area of Effect" attacks also. Combine all this with the huge range of character abilites, and you have an extremely engaging and fun battle system :)

A lot more light-hearted than the orignal, Covenant lays on the humour much more frequently and in my opinion is all the better for it. The comical moments and colourful characters give the game a unique charm that few other rpg's can offer. Dare you take on the "Curry Festival", a gauntlet of battles against half-naked wrestlers wearing plates of curry on their head? :P Or how about hunting the world to take down a secret society whose members include a whip-wielding dominatrix and......#Grigori Rasputin???? Overall, this is a tremendously fun game that never fails to amuse and entertain. These guys understood that the main focus of an RPG should be the battles, and when you actually look forward to getting into fights, you know an RPG has done something right :D Please, if you play any of the games I recommend here, give this one priority :) Oh, but defos play the orignal first :P

10/10