Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Developer(s): Nautilus
Publisher(s): Aruze Corp (JP), Midway (US, EU, AU)
Genre: RPG
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: Metacritic: 85/100
Game description: More than a year after the events of the original Shadow Hearts, Yuri embarks on a new expedition in a world full of magic and creatures. Set during World War I, Shadow Hearts: Covenant puts you in the role of Yuri and his companions as they journey to find a cure for his curse and defeat an evil cult. Each character has their own distinct personality, attributes, abilities, and subquest missions. The final outcome of each battle is based on your speed and accuracy as you employ a variety of attacks, spells, and defense formations.
Set during World War I, Shadow Hearts: Covenant puts you in the role of Yuri a year after the events of the the original Shadow Hearts and his companions as they journey to find a cure for his curse and defeat the evil cult, Sapientes Gladio.
Test configurations on Windows:
Environment | Configurations | Comments | Tester | ||||
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Region | OS | CPU/GPU | Revision | Graphics | Sound/Pad | ||
NTSC-J | ? |
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r1888 | GSDX r2693 |
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BIOS: Japan v2.20, The game can be run at full speed without speedhacks. The spinning wheel in battle is bugged, and it cannot be fixed in hardware mode by changing setting. The bug is very minor and does not affect game play. The bug is not present in software mode. | CKL |
NTSC-U | Windows |
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v1.1.0 r5411 | GSdx v0.1.16 r5390 |
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Europe v01.70(27/02/2003), Recommended,MTVU, -Hardware mode gets the screen messed up when the judgement ring appears (fixed by using SW mode) | |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 x64 (Build 14393) |
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1.4.0 2016-01-05 | GSdx 1.0.0 2016-01-05 |
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BIOS: USA v2.20 (10/02/2006)
100% playable, upscales very well. Slight blur in overworld but no significant effect on gameplay. Flickering in cutscenes with dialog still persistent. Settings: D3D11, allow 8-bit textures, 5x native, bilinear (PS2), CRC full (safest), EEC 0, VUCS 0 |
Jonbuddy1 |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 Pro (Build 14393), 64-Bit |
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v1.4.0, 1-5-2016 | GSdx v1.0.0, 2016-01-05 |
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Bios: v01.60, 7-02-2002, 16GB (4x4) RAM
Recommended: Please use the two workarounds listed below so you have crisp graphics and can see the cut scenes uninterrupted by glitches and image distortion. The game is 100% playable, save for the listed glitches. It up-scales extremely well, with great graphics capability. Settings: D3D11 HW Mode, disallow 8-bit textures, 8x native, bilinear (PS2), CRC Full (Safest), FXAA on, MTVU on |
skiesfirepaved |
NTSC-U | Windows 7 x64 SP1 |
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v1.5.0-dev-748 | ? |
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BIOS: Europe v01.60, Runs perfect at full speed and it looks great, speedhacks are on except the MVu Flag Hack.The only bug is the judgement ring during battle (sometimes black screen while the wheel is turning or showing the previous character) It doesn't affect gameplay in any way though. The bug is not present in software mode. Flickering screen during cutscenes with dialog in hardware mode. Solution: turn dialog off in options and it plays fine. Or use software mode F9. Settings: direct3d11, 4x native, bilinear (PS2), crc full (safest), hardware hacks: everything off except offset x = 350 and offset y = 350 (added info at 16/07/2016) | stratos |
Trivia
- Original names: シャドウ・ハーツⅡ (SLPS-25334)
- Also known as Shadow Hearts II (JP), Shadow Hearts II: Director's Cut (JP)
- There's a Director's Cut edition released in Japan only, with extra dungeons and new playable characters.
<spoiler show="WARNING: Spoiler containing Ending Information" hide="hide_message>The game has two possible endings. In the “bad” ending, Yuri's personality and memories are erased by Nicolai's curse, and he spends the rest of his life under the care of Roger Bacon, his old friend. In the “good” ending, Yuri chooses to die so that he doesn't lose his memories and personality to the curse. He then finds himself at the beginning of the previous game. In both endings, Karin travels back to 1887 and is revealed to be Anne, Yuri's mother.</spoiler>
Known Issues
Game Blurry
- Status: Active
- Type: Major
- Description: The game looks like a blur filter was applied.
- Workaround: Enable hardware hacks and set TC offset to 350, 350. Do not use half-pixel
Flickering Screen
- Status: Active
- Type: Major
- Description: During cut scenes, battle and other areas, the screen will flicker black and rarely during battle show a different image for a second or two before it starts. In battle, the screen will flicker when you go to use the Judgement Ring but will not impact the ring at all, so it's entirely playable.
- Workaround: By enabling software mode you can disable all glitches listed, but during battle it's not recommended as the only thing impaired is the image. Nothing about the gameplay is harmed by the graphical glitches, so it's encouraged to only turn it on outside of battle if you need to.