The Weirdest Slapstick JRPG (Shadow Hearts: Covenant Part 1 of 2)

Shadow Hearts is a very strange series. Yuri's journey from tragic hero to tragic hero with a slapstick accent is just the next step in a franchise that became ever more joke-filled.
Koudelka video:
• Koudelka, A Horror RPG...
Shadow Hearts 1 video:
• The JRPG You Never Kne...
Covenant Part 2 video:
• The Man Festival & Oth...
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[@Theninjasarecoming]

It's pretty dope that Penny Blood looks like it's doing Shadow Hearts 1 style with some of SH2's quirks

[@BrendonLee]

Can´t wait for you to finish the trilogy. No spoilers but the third took some...interesting turns in terms of tone.

[@mumblerogre2455]

Third one was flawed but still amazing

[@LostCetra93]

There will never be a character as great as Joachim in video game history ever again, I love him.

[@Cross177]

GRAND PAPILLON!!! CHAMPION AGAINST ALL EVILDOERS!!!

[@neodoltsenpai]

Hell yeah! Joachim best Valentine! I knew soon as i saw him(i playd 2 first than bak to 1 i didnt know he was gold bat at the time) i was guna use him always

[@Cloudmark27]

I'm so happy you are bringing attention to this series! I am with you in loving Shadow Heart 1 more than 2 and I think its primarily the darker more gothic atmosphere for me! I still play both games every year and I try to spread them word about them whenever I can! Thank you so much for this video

[@Rath_Burn]

If we had the story of shadow hearts one with the game play of covenant, that would be perfect. Also can we just agree, the music in this franchise mis amazing.

[@ProperBird]

The music is spot on as always!

[@YoshtTheAwesome]

Either this game is newer than it looks to me or the devs also did some time travel shenanigans to get inspired by something from Dragon Age Origins, as your 100% accurate reenactment showed.

[@evacody1249]

Well this came out on the PS2.

[@jolan_tru]

You have this talent of making me feel weirdly enraptured by games that I've never cared about. I don't like some of the other games you've done videos on, but I absolutely LOVED your break-down of them! So, well done you Content-Creating Magician! I dunno how you do it, but I'm glad you're not using your powers for evil!

[@ProperBird]

I'm glad I managed to entertain regardless of subject. ❤️

[@peytonpupstar7931]

Karen was certainly not the most fleshed out character, but I found her to be excellent party member. With her and Yuri, I smashed thru the game. Any others in the party were kind of superfluous. Fun fact: Domremy was where Joan of Arc was born.

[@mesektet5776]

Shadow Hearts is actually my favorite in the series too, but I do appreciate where if a sequel is going to break away from it's predecessor, it at least takes a hard left turn. Koudelka, Horror themed JRPG, but with sarcastic protagonists who don't take it seriously unless confronted by personal demons, Shadow Hearts black-comedy unfolding in horror setting won't blink at the idea of punching God in the face but gets teary eyed when they remember their dead parents. Shadow Hearts Covenant - Comedy anime taking the piss out of HP Lovecraft stories. Also on the subjects of making Lucia work as a party member, I found the key was to activate her cards before it makes a full rotation, the Right-side-up cards are always there at the start, but every time the cards make a full rotation they go into reverse, so the more cards you have, the easier it is to play the system because you have more time til the deck goes through all the options and rotates. So, that's the secret for making that work. Albert's character also made sense to me, I mean, if you are going to hit the reset button on the planet, really why do you even need to walk on egg-shells, go full Bound villain, it won't matter, everything is going to be bought back anyway except without the bad parts. Kill whoever you want, you have a book that brings things back from the dead, it's doesn't matter. Just let God demo the place them bring everyone not evil back from the dead. It's also implied that having Amon made him kind of loopy. The Albert we see in Yuri's heart in Covenant is what he was beneath the surface without the crazy in full swing. There is a critique used frequently for media that if you have magical resurrection, why bother letting characters dying affect you. I like the Albert was actually Mr. Rogers twist, because it basically is that. Going to trigger the Apocalypse and bring back everyone not evil anyway, so, why worry about who you have to kill to get there.

[@raydaug4633]

I totally get why you don't like Karen or the twist with her, I've got to be honest and say that I actually kind of love it. The fact that so much of the game revolves around the romantic tension between a man who's named after himself and the woman who hasn't yet gone back in time to birth him is the craziest shit in the world and I love it. I played Covenant first and never had the opportunity to touch Koudelka, so that inevitably skewed my perception of the series. I appreciate the first game more than I actually like it. That being said, I do agree that there's a lot of Covenant that didn't bother me playing it when I was younger but looking back a number of years later don't sit well with me. Besides the gross age stuff and the general poor treatment of women, the historical fiction angle especially bothers me. This was a great video. Thank you for doing the work of preserving this game and series that's largely been forgotten.

[@ProperBird]

There's a lot I have to talk about in Part 2 and honestly one of the things I like about games like these is that the ending is up to anyone's particular interpretation. But yeah, definitely some nastier stuff to discuss too. ^^;

[@DGneoseeker1]

You think that's the craziest shit in the world? What about the MAN FESTIVAL?

[@ProperBird]

@@DGneoseeker1 This is literally part 1 of 2 my dude.

[@DGneoseeker1]

@@ProperBird Oh I'm aware of that. I was just assuming RayDaug had played the game and would know about the even crazier content.

[@kontchou5221]

26:45 I used to love that scene, just so hilarious to me

[@Mike55690]

Loving these retrospective dives into older games, i never played this series so seeing your perspective of it, alongside experiencing it in a sense for the first time is quite cool ! I wish that we got more games like this, it's why i adore Suda 51 titles, the quirky, niche, creative aspects of his work is always genuinely a joy to experience, regardless looking forward to part 2 and other video series of this kind, keep up the amazing work as always Jinzee !

[@jdoggydogg]

I actually agree with you about 1 being better than 2. It's good to know that I wasn't the only one.

[@ProperBird]

We'll start our own club. 😂

[@BrianLopez-gz8ux]

@@ProperBird cmon how can it be thought otherwise

[@rubystar90]

You're not alone about liking the first one more than the second. I love both, but I had to say the first Shadow Hearts is more fascinating, with a dark aura everywhere you go. By the way I love your use of the ost ❤️

[@TylerG60]

I love covenant but I do hate that they tried to make Albert a "good guy" after all of the stuff he did in the first game.

[@TigermaskenRH]

Great video again! 👍 The constant slapstick can definitely get a little much in Covenant, that’s for sure. However, even though it contains so much (too much) slapstick, I still love this game very much. 😅 I really like the way you pronounce the names.

[@ducky36F]

Me *hears a Dragon Age: Origins reference* ‘You have my attention.’ :P

[@wickedcrayon6022]

😂😂 The skits just get better and better! I love it! This is exactly what I needed after a long day at work. Thanks, Jinzee.🤣🤣

[@torgogorgo1888]

I first got this, played 10 hours and set it down because I knew I wanted to play the first game first, I liked it so much. I since have played the first 3 times and this one twice. There were very few videos about either game when I first got into them a few years ago, glad to see someone is giving them the attention they deserve! As a game I think this one is technically better, and I'm a sucker for WWI history so I love some of that is added to a jrpg (even if it's not even remotely accurate), but I do like the atmosphere and tone of the first game more...and for some reason I love the ps1-ish pre rendered backgrounds in it. Great video! Excited for pt 2!

[@jolan_tru]

Dare we ask what upcoming Hidden Gems you may be thinking of breaking down for us...?

[@ProperBird]

They're not always going to be videogames, sometimes I just want to talk about story stuff in general or books or movies and the like but there's at least one game that I definitely want to talk about. I won't spoil it outright but it starts with an O and ends with you being a Japanese swordsman surrounded by a lot of monsters.

[@jolan_tru]

@@ProperBird Fine, I'll support you on Patreon! Sheesh, get off my back already. I was thinking about it for a while actually, but thought now was the time 👍

[@ProperBird]

@@jolan_tru I knew the Japanese swordsman would pull you over. :p Thank you! ❤️

[@bobgray6498]

Karin had so much potential. Given her profession, I was expecting a character with a much stronger attitude and assertive personality. She was really bland, which was too bad

[@gabrielsobral6682]

Sadly she suffers The Lyn syndrome, she's a female main character that start as the focus, but after the the actual main character appears, they Pretty much become irrelevant (Or in Karin's case, she just becomes the love interest)

[@Cheezmonka]

@@gabrielsobral6682 Lyn as in Fire Emblem 7? Eliwood taking over as protagonist was a huge letdown for me back in the day.

[@DSan-kl2yc]

That's a stereotype. You wanted to stereotype the character.

[@codybagley2358]

The thing I remember most about this game is when my mom walked in just as Yuri makes the "observation" about the giant pink cat. haha oh the memories...

[@Antagonopolis]

Completely agree on almost all of the points here. Been saying about how stupid Albert's retcon and that Karin ain't nothing but a shallow "fanservice cow" for years myself. If not for Yuri + Alice depiction in Covenant , I'd probly could even hate this game [1st SH is my fav game in the genre for many years now].

[@marknagel7899]

Covenant lost me on my first playthrough when Yuri went from mourning Alice to ogling Karin in the span of 10 minutes.

[@ProperBird]

That and the part where we attempt to bring back *redacted* only for it to fail and Roger doing a little song and dance right after it happens.

[@dezopenguin9649]

THANK YOU! _Covenant_ is an across-the-board improvement in gameplay and overall technical performance, but the transition of the story from a horror-based JRPG to a standard fantasy JRPG that happened to take place in a supernaturally-powered early-20th-century setting was a serious downgrade. Flat characters, bad (or tasteless) jokes, squicky moments, and just general silliness was bad enough (my wife despised Anastasia and her wolf-kicking ways, though she also was shipping Yuri with Karin and the plot twist did not land well for her), but I found the retcon of Albert Simon infuriating. _Shadow Hearts_ Albert was a great character, a villain whom Yuri and party managed to build up respect for despite his awfulness and who might have had a point, but in _Covenant_ it's all "oh, no, he was really a good guy all along, we swear" and I'm like...did you forget the piles of bodies, the torture, the dead orphans, Shanghai blowing up, and everything else he was responsible for?

[@ProperBird]

Yeah I'm not sure why they felt the change in character was necessary. He could've just the same been an extremely reluctant ally or required some kind of persuading.

[@VicBoss17]

the shadow hearts covenant experience, i like it but is it as good? i appreciate it for what it did for the story, some of the characters got real arcs that they deserved and based on what the creator has said, leads back into shadow hearts 1, so while its not my favorite sequel, still has some value to it

[@CapitanUwU]

Well, this game really took a different way from the first and i can't say that i like BUUUTT excellent video!!

[@CRedd9830]

I definitely understand why you prefer SH1 TO SH2, I do think Shadow Hearts has better atmosphere, music, setting and pacing. I still prefer Covenant just because I think the story, characters and gameplay is better. Both are top ten all time games for me.

[@CaptainVryce]

This video has impeccable timing as i just finished Convenant. I saw your Koudelka video and decided to run through SH 1, 2 and 3 for old times. The tonal shift of Covenant took me a while to settle into and now I have an even bigger shift with New World. Hopefully I can just 'easy-mode' it with Mind's Eye like I did for one and two.

[@samflood5631]

Speaking of Anastasia and Rasputin, what are your thoughts on the animated 1997 movie Anastasia, produced by Fox?

[@aliasv6964]

Watching this video right after the previous with all that information in mind... ... That means this bad ass Karin ... got ate by low level zombies.

[@kevinjones7870]

Both the first two Shadow Hearts games were great, the second one was more polished with regards to graphics but both were amazing games :) The third one was terrible, however I am looking forward to the sequal Penny Blood which is due out in 2025

[@kontchou5221]

9:06 on the other hand, getting four times the Souls for a bossfight is kinda sick!

[@richmcgee434]

10:35 Current estimates are that about one person in every 40-50,000 has naturally red eyes, which may also appear to be pink under the right lighting. It's the result of an extreme form of albinism where there's so little melanin in the iris you can see the blood vessels themselves. Most albinism produces blue eyes instead. Neither Yuri nor his bro seem to be albinos, of course - but there are real people who aren't video game characters whose eyes are literally red. What? My tiny home town had a family with extreme albinism and I went through grade and high school with four of the kids, two of whom were blue-eyed and the other two of which were red/pink-eyed. Knew a Taiwanese gal in college who was red-eyed as well, she married a gamer friend of mine. I've run into more than my share over the years and red-eyed game characters that aren't even a little pale always make me laugh.

[@19Rinka86]

Yuri is single-handedly responsible for my regular crushes on fictional characters and receptiveness to appealing voices haha

[@AwesomeAutismHC]

30:21 What, are you surprised?? HE’S RUSSIA’S GREATEST LOVE MACHINE!

[@johanandersson8252]

Those Slaps though.

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

Hey hey... you may not like it but being a giggly airhead is a fun character trait - Don't be so negative. I for one am always happy when such characters are utulized.

[@winterburden]

Thanks for the super cool game review! 🙆‍♀️

[@Dhalin]

Ooo. SH2. Will have to add this to watch later for when I have more time. I liked the story of SH1, but the gameplay in SH2 and 3 is loads better, also the soundtrack of 2 is probably the best of the 3. Also... am I the only one waiting for the day Jinzee discovers OMORI? lol. That..... is a game that teaches one how to do some real foreshadowing. Though, that kind of game is best done as a "blind playthrough reaction" type thing. Not sure if she's got time for that sort of thing these days.

[@ProperBird]

I've already watched too many reviews of OMORI to be surprised anymore unfortunately. :p I stream 5 days a week on Twitch which is where I do my playthroughs. ^^

[@hazzar7784]

Brilliant title card. Shame what happened to the series. Theres not enough horror or horror themed games. I would be curious what kind of feels bloodborne would give you.

[@ProperBird]

Really good ones, it's one of my all time favourite games. ^^

[@krazykombatant]

I'm so glad someone is talking about Shadow Hearts. I was a huge fan of the first two. I was so upset at the Karin reveal... actually I hated it.

[@Magnegro]

Even back as a teenager I couldn't stand Karen or her plot twist. I'm glad I wasn't alone.

[@RCady33]

I had forgotten just how goofy this game was, thanks for this!

[@kuroryuu6439]

That man Albert got rocked in the head by a can… 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@poppychloe3037]

Thank you so much for covering this series!

[@10cody7]

only ever played shadow hearts from the new world but should be interesting to see some of the others

[@Dhalin]

SH2 has a very similar gameplay style, so I recommend checking it out if you get the opportunity! SH1 has a good story, but its combat is far more simpler.

[@Zoeila]

i dont remember Lucia ever joining my party i wonder if she's missable

[@ProperBird]

She shouldn't be, she's definitely part of the main story questline.

[@Naif92XX]

I think i am the only entity in the universe that hate Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

[@CDX1080]

I’m so glad I found your channel a couple of weeks ago!

[@ProperBird]

I'm glad you found it too. :p

[@dannyb9209]

It's funny..I remember covenant being the better one....the more you talk about the second the more I feel like I was wrong

[@bernardorodrigues7048]

love koudelka and shadow hearts, sadly the quality of the story decreased with wich new game Koudelka - 10/10 SH - 9/10 SH2 - 7,5 SH3 - 5 (at best) Let's not forget "the mother couldn't bang her son, so she banged his father" is a plot in covenant 💀

[@Sieg_W]

That was a game I loved too much in my childhood. Glad they are making a spiritual successor called penny blood

[@deathseekergibbsy]

I've only just started, but I completely agree. As much as I love Covenant, I vastly prefer SH1

[@appledroplarry]

Was there a part 2?

[@mikeg5039]

What the actual fuck is this game lol i played shadow hearts 1 and it was fine but good god what drugs were they on making this?

[@expsharevideogames]

Collaboration video with Retro Bird when?

[@ProperBird]

I don't know that I can really be considered retro but I'm always up for collabs. ^^

[@notyoursavior78]

The first game is definitely better than the second game. Even if it has more features and the gameplay is improved, the tone in Covenant is so bizarre and just often eye rolling after the beginning. Now the third game I went into with no expectations since I never heard much good about it but it's actually not bad. I thought it was going to be shit. It has an alcoholic cat and some really cool set pieces (Chicago with Al Capone is freaking awesome). It really surprised me how much I did wind up enjoying it. I found your channel looking up Shadow Hearts. The reviews have been entertaining, so good job!

[@omensoffate]

Nah covenant is definitely better

[@SirRavix]

Wait. A superhero wrestler? I'm in

[@SilcronKaytor]

Wait, you like this game but not as much as another one? Next thing you'll tell me you prefer some Iorveth over Glorious Blue Stripes Boy. Outrageus, completely, utterly, outrageus. -10/10. Now if you'll excuse me I am going to stop watching this clearly awful video to enjoy Jinzee, on Twitch, 5 times a week.

[@ProperBird]

Where a Blue Stripey Boy exists as an emote, even. :p

[@decusq]

O_O i guess nostalgia and rose colored glasses kept me from remembering.... how freaking cringe this game is half the time and how over the top anime it is. It has cool settings and some dark material but i completely forgot how BLAND the cast is in this game. I remembering like Ghepetto and Yuri and Blanca was awesome but good lord is everyone such a one note and bland! I recind my need for this game to be remade or re-released on modern consoles and i look forward to PennyBlood.

[@oneofnone7947]

I’ve never played this only one and new world

[@rsunset327]

You’re awesome!

[@danieladamczyk4024]

I don't care about game, im here to hear your opinion about it.

[@kingofkilps]

27:00 POOR LENNY...

[@Rrkeiel]

i enjoyed that video :P

[@DarkSeraph]

Great video as always, where did you get that jacket?

[@ProperBird]

Lolita wardrobe! This particular coat isn't for sale anymore unfortunately but they have a ton of great stuff. ^^ www.lolitawardrobe.com/

[@LeDracodon]

Why are you making me watch a 2h30 long movie ?

[@sto1238]

Pause

[@TheOldBlackShuckyDog]

Interesting thumbnail

[@ProperBird]

It's my favourite scene. :p

[@gabrielsobral6682]

Lucia's Tarot cards are pretty shit, yes. But some of her aromatherapy skills are very Op. 100% crit is bonkers

[@ProperBird]

I was personally a fan of her unlimited mana, especially once you get the big nukes on Yuri.

[@user-pi1lb4tf2f]

I think Joachim is not gay. The great Gama is gay but Joachim is just a bimbo. He went along with whatever schticks he begins involving himself such as with his hero complex and wrestling addiction. He also sorts of becomes Anastasia's Best friend/Lackey. It seems that he is infact good with kids. His whole motivation is that he was bored and after seeing Keith start being motivated with his adventure with Yuri, he wanted to do the same. There are hints that he is stronger than what he lets out being able to break Tryfing without trying and putting himself at a disadvantage/not using his masked form all the time to introduce his hero persona a weakness. And the proof of this is that he's potentially the highest damage dealer in the game even against Yuri's Dark Seraphim.

[@JunKurosu]

No he's really gay they hint him in the Lucia scene

[@AntaresHighlander]

I love your reviews on Koudelka and the whole Shadow Hearts series. However, I strongly disagree with you on Covenant. It is by far the best game of the series - probably the best jrpg sequel ever-. Characters are well-developed, the plot makes sense, it's really funny and aesthetically beautiful. Your criticism seems excessively feministic to me. 😅

[@JohnQueSacc]

Alice was just as much arm candy as Karin...let's not forget the view during the Advent spell animation

[@mcmogg_incmogg2080]

Why do u say valentine is gay? He’s acting up for wrestling so idk where u get that idea from

[@ProperBird]

The torture scene with Veronica literally has him say it.

[@zekielloco1]

For me, most boring characters are the ones from the first game.