r/ShadowHearts

!Heads up: no spoilers in this post!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boy.

Does anyone else get that somewhat melancholy laden feeling when finishing a game, movie, anime or whatever else that you really enjoyed? I am happy to have finally played through it, but that is effectively the end of the first time I'll ever get to see all it.

It's a conflicting feeling, on one hand, GOD was this game FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

But on the other. MAN, IT'S OVER! IT'S NEVER BEEN MORE OVER!

My 6 month journey, starting with Koudelka back in October and now wrapping up with me playing the sh*t out of Shadow Hearts 2 is done. I will absolutely replay the games a few years down the line, get new nuances with my more improved Japanese, but as of now...it's just done.

From the moment I hit new game and gained control of my character in this game, I could tell that I was playing something special. A confident work of pure passion and love from its creators who have put forth all of their experience and effort into making this game as good as it ended up being.

This game truly felt like a warm, hearty meal from a person you know loves you, and I wanted to savor every bit of it. Although I was not a fan of the general story and some of the goofier stuff in it, this did not deter just how fun and well put together this game is from start to finish. Very little fluff, impeccable pacing, incredibly fun combat, art direction that makes a history and horror buff in me squeal with glee. The thought of seeing parts of the world in this pretty much never explored time period rendered and framed with such artistic precision.

Among all its excellent JRPG contemporaries, Shadow Hearts stands out by taking place in our world, in real history. And the developers were going to make damn sure that they make the best use of that. It just resonates with me on such a deep level, seeing the architecture and atmosphere of the early 20th century brought to life, it almost felt like watching very old early movies and pictures from this exact time period. I can't help but feel that the developers likely used this as inspiration.

This series is just one of a kind, I truly have never experienced such a unique JRPG. One that manages to be both firmly grounded in our reality and that respects all of the locations it depicts for their real world counterparts, yet still manages to veer into over the top edgy anime territory.

I know that there is still one more game remaining, and you bet your ass I am gonna jump right on it. But I have heard it's a massive tonal departure from its predecessors (even the marginally more goofy Shadow Hearts 2). So as of now, I think I can confidently say that there is just nothing else even remotely close to Shadow Hearts 1 and 2 that I know of.

And that makes me kinda sad, because I don't want this to end to be honest. I can really only hope Penny Blood finds a publisher and finally gets released, although I think all of us are hoping for that.

Outside of that though - even though I have games lined up I am excited to play absolutely, I think I will need some time to "get over" Shadow Hearts if that makes sense.

But, who knows, maybe the 3rd game surprises me. I definitely set my expectations for it differently.

I was disappointed that the third game (*From the New World*) didn't feature Yuri's story. Admittedly, some fans feel that we’ve already had enough of his tale. But let’s face it—we love Yuri, don't we? I felt that *Shadow Hearts* simply had to be Yuri's story. From a structural standpoint, too, it feels wrong to have the protagonist change in the third installment after the first two focused on him.

In my opinion, it would have been better if the protagonist of *From the New World* had been a version of Yuri from an alternate timeline branching off from the "Good Ending" of the first game. The sequence would be: *Shadow Hearts* (Bad Ending) → *Covenant* (Good Ending) → *Shadow Hearts* (Good Ending) → *From the New World*.

That is the ideal *Shadow Hearts 3*.

Just a quick head's up, SH1 (JP) is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this Sunday, June 28! Let's have fun and celebrate!!

I've updated a guide provided by Atomos199 from GameFAQ to make it less complicated to understand.

Provided below is a table that will help you achieve every possible secret rewards after cleansing Malice in the Graveyard:

Enemies	0-2 Fusion LV	3-5 Fusion LV	6-8 Fusion LV	9-11 Fusion LV	12-14 Fusion LV	15-18 Fusion LV
1	2	2	3	3	4	5
2	4	5	6	7	8	10
3	6	7	9	10	12	15
4	8	10	12	14	16	20
5	10	12	15	17	20	25

Each enemy give Malice Points, and the amount varies depending on how many enemies are on screen and what your current Fusion LV is.

Here's how it works, starting with back to the beginning of the game:

• Two Wolves in the Plains while having Fusion LV 2, (having only Death Emperor and Raging Tiger), will yeild 4 points. This will reward you the Seal of Wisdom once you go to the Graveyard and cleanse your pendant of Malice.
• Fighting a Wolf and either two Vampire Bats/Venomous Spiders in the Plains, while still having only Death Emperor and Raging Tiger (totalling up to Fusion LV 2), will yeild 6 points.
• Once you have reached Fusion LV 3 after slaying enough Wolves to unlock the Tornado Soul, you will still yeild 4 points, as what Fusion LV you've upgraded to after the battle does not affect how much you've gained during the fight.
• If you then fight two Wolves again while at Fusion LV 3, you will then gain 5 points instead of 4 points.
• [EDIT]: I'm not 100% sure, but apparently bosses and mini-bosses do not yield Malice Points.

Provided below are the one-time rewards that can be obtained upon reaching a certain amount of points:

Reward	Points Needed
Seal of Wisdom	4
Key to Success	7
Seal of Vitality	25
Silver Hand	35
Kirin Scale	42
Seal of the Soul	50
Seal of Force	56
Seal of Speed	60
Seal of Strength	63
Seal of Life	70
Seventh Key	77
Seal of Aura	84
Monkey's Paw	91
Seal of Luck	98
Dice of Caesar	99

Bear in mind that once you reach a high enough Fusion LV, certain rewards will be permanently missable, with the exception of rewards needing points that are multiples of 5.