In the Shadows of the PlayStation 2

I spent several hours, days, years diving into the library of the PlayStation 2 and falling in love with all the amazing titles. There were two titles/series that left an impact on me, that both had the word “shadow” in them, and no Shadow of the Colossus does not make an appearance in this. In my younger days, I would wander the aisles of Walmart, Zellers, and Superstore looking for the next title to immerse me completely.

One day, in my local game rental store (which is a phrase that you don’t hear anymore), I found some box art that appealed to me. Shadow of Destiny (Shadow of Memories on Windows), is a game where you die in the first five minutes. No, this isn't a precursor to a Soulsborne title. You play as Eike, the unfortunate soul who is killed almost immediately as you begin your adventure. From here you are introduced to Homunculus, a creature who gives you a device called the Digipad, which gives you the power to go back in time to an earlier point of time before you died. So the first couple of chapters are about you preventing your own death, and then there is a shift when you accidentally take someone into the past with you, and to make it worse losing this person in the past.

Shadow of Destiny starts with a simple premise but evolves into a deeper connected story that, as the player, you are able to take in as much or as little as you want. Your efforts lead you towards one of six endings (eight technically with variations of two endings) to learn about how the two major timelines you traverse are related.

The element of time travel and the effect it can have on the present is a story that will always drag me in, and Shadow of Destiny nails it completely. As I played through the story, I started piecing together the timelines and I finished my first play-through with the lowest possible ending. However, in this the lowest possible ending it reveals that two of the major characters you interact with were switched at birth, and it answers some questions but raises more. As I played through more and more of Shadow of Destiny, I kept exploring different options to see if I could get different endings, so I could learn more of the overarching story and find out the truth about Eike, Homunculus, Dana, Magarette and the rest of the cast. Most of the games in my library at the time were JRPGs or fighting titles, but Shadow of Destiny played more like an open-world puzzle game. This was my first foray into narrative gaming with zero action and I loved every second of it. This was one of the first times I played a game with voice acting, and it wasn’t terrible, which makes immersion all that easier.

The soundtrack to Shadow of Destiny was more ambient than musical which added to many elements of the game, especially in the earlier chapters. There are many times where you are on a timer trying to prevent your death, and you hear echoing footsteps or a lonely cold wind and it just increases the urgency of the moment.

There is a solid chance of me firing up the PlayStation 2 right away to relive Eike’s adventure. But first, there is another game, or should I say games, I have been dying to tackle again. Shadow Hearts was released in 2001 and Shadow Hearts: Covenant was released in 2004, with both games detail the adventures of Yuri. Yuri is a rude brash young man who possesses a unique ability. He is a Harmonixer, a person with the power to fuse with monsters to take on their forms and use abilities associated.

                                         

Shadow Hearts and its sequels use a unique combat system, the judgment ring. Each character has their own personal judgment ring with its own sweet spots. Think of a clock face and a minute hand moves across the face over two-five seconds. There are certain spots the player needs to hit in order to attack, and smaller sections if they want that attack to deal more damage. This system really appealed to me as it applauded skill and punished you if you made a mistake. Throughout the game, you could buy upgrades to the judgment ring, making the sweet spots bigger or do more damage. It was nice to play a role-playing game with more than just selecting attacks. There are little elements in games that make them more memorable; Legend of Dragoon and Super Mario RPG both had twitch-based combat mechanics which I found made combat more rewarding, and I get that same feeling here in Shadow Hearts.

Shadow Hearts takes place in an alternate version of the Earth and it takes you on a trip between China, and Europe. The story is about a young woman named Alice who is being chased by an evil wizard named Roger Bacon (greatest supervillain name ever). Yuri shows up on a train to save Alice from Roger after a voice in his head tells him to. After they are able to escape Roger, Yuri and Alice begin their journey, meeting several new friends and learning new fusions. The story of the game is a complete banana sandwich and jumps all over the place, which is part of the appeal. It is one thing to root a game in realism and establish continuity, it is completely different to jump headfirst in the shallow waters and embrace the chaos you create with your narrative. For fun, play the game and after it is all said and done, try to explain the plot and why you went to certain places to a friend and have them not look at you like you’re off your rocker. Both titles take you on wacky adventures littered with adult crude humor, weird-looking creatures with tails in the front, and tons of dialogue that will catch you off guard. The music in these games always blew me away, and I am still reminded of the opening theme whenever I hear other songs with foreign chanting.

Shadow Hearts has two endings, one canonical and one not. What is great is that the sequel confirms the canonical ending with a crazy plot twist of its own. These games will give you many hours of enjoyment, around 20 each if I had to take a guess, with all the fixings that good RPGs have to offer: puzzles, lots of conversation, and grindy goodness. I am excited to dive back into both of these.

There are many phenomenal titles on the PlayStation 2, and many adventures to go on. While the console sits in the shadows of the PlayStation 4 and the upcoming PlayStation 5, these two titles will always hold a special place with me.