Shadow Hearts

Shadow Hearts
Game general and emulation properties:
Languages supported:
Region NTSC-U:
Serial numbers:	SLUS-20347
Release date:	December 11, 2001
CRCs:	8BE3D7B2
Windows Status:	Playable
Linux Status:	?
Mac Status:	?
Region PAL:
Serial numbers:	SLES-50677; SLES-50822
Release date:	March 29, 2002
Windows Status:	Playable
Linux Status:	?
Mac Status:	?
Region NTSC-J/C/K:
Serial numbers:	SLPS-25041; SLPS-73418 (PlayStation2 the Best); SLPM-60145 (Trial)
Release date:	June 28, 2001; November 6, 2003 (PlayStation2 the Best)
Windows Status:	Playable
Linux Status:	?
Mac Status:	?

Developer(s): Sacnoth
Publisher(s): Aruze Corp (JP), Midway (US, EU)
Genre: RPG
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: Metacritic: 73/100
Game description: With a mix of turn-based strategy and role-playing game elements, Shadow Hearts presents a magical quest within a deep storyline. The story comes to life with complex characters, intense battle sequences, and unique gameplay mechanics that give you complete control of the action. You play Yuri--the son of a Chinese war hero--as he attempts to uncover an evil scheme and unravel the many mysteries surrounding Shadow Hearts. Since Yuri has the power to morph into the different monsters he defeats in battle, you'll be able to assume different roles, including an old Chinese mage, an international spy, or even a vampire.
Shadow Hearts follows the adventures of Yuri Hyuga, a Harmonixer (Shapeshifter) guided by a mysterious voice in his head. He finds himself thrown into the conflicts prior to World War I where he must save the world and the woman he loves from destruction.

Test configurations on Windows:

Environment			Configurations			Comments	Tester
Region	OS	CPU/GPU	Revision	Graphics	Sound/Pad	Comments	Tester
NTSC-J	?	? ?	r1888	GSdx r2693	SPU2-X r2693 1.4.0 LilyPad r1853 0.1.0	BIOS: Japan v2.20, The game runs better in software mode. some texture don't show in GSdx10 hardware mode. It can be run at full speed without speed hacks.	CKL
NTSC-U(?)	?	Phenom II X4 965 BE @ 3.8GHZ MSI GeForce 560ti Hawk	r4980	GSdx r4979 0.1.16	SPU2-X r4949 2.0.0 LilyPad r4959 0.11.0	BIOS: USA v2.00, EE CycleRate (2): noticeable speedup, setting it to 3 causes audio stuttering throughout the game. Idle Loop Fast Forward: noticeable speedup, no issues. MTVU: Noticeable speedup in quads,	Hellbringer616
NTSC-U	Windows	Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.5 GHz ATI Radeon 6970 @ 900/1400	1.0.0	GSdx	SPU2-X ?	SCPH-70012.bin/v02.00/USA/2004, You need to enable clamping mode to full in certain areas because the textures of the room is overlaid on top of the character so they appear invisible. Hardware mode is about 1/3 speed. Software mode got me full speed the entire game., EE Clamping to full causes the game to crash when you jump in the plane in the beginning of the game (after fighting the demon dog). I turned it back to normal and just dealt with the invisible character after that.	jlwmanagement
PAL	Windows	Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.3Ghz Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX+	v1.1.0 r5411	GSdx v0.1.16 r5390	SPU2-X v2.0.0 r5427 ?	Europe v01.70(27/02/2003), Recommended,MTVU, Pretty slow in hardware mode (known GSdx limitation), faster in SW mode, -Hardware mode has broken battle whirl effect and fusion effect (both work fine in SW mode)	Bositman

Trivia

Original names: シャドウハーツ (SLPS-25041) & (SLPS-73418)

Known Issues

Hardware mode

Type: Note (not an issue)
Description: The game is very GPU-intensive in Hardware mode (specially for AMD GPUs) outside of battles. Additionally, enabling Texture Filtering will lead to visible graphical glitches.
Workaround: Use a software renderer OR Direct3D9 (hardware) since it's much faster than 10/11 for this game.

However, it is safe to switch to Hardware mode during battles. This will avoid slowdowns on weaker CPUs.

Invisible characters

Type: Note (not an issue)
Description: In various environments, characters seem to be invisible.
Workaround: Set EE/FPU clamping mode to Full.

This change requires a scene change to take effect and will not make already invisible characters visible immediately.

FMVs flicker in hardware mode

Status: Active
Type: Minor
Description: The FMVs will flicker in hardware mode.
Workaround: Temporarily switch to software mode by pressing F9 or turn on the game fix called 'Switch to GSdx software rendering when an FMV plays' under the Game Fixes section. Just remember to turn it back off when you're not playing the game.

The gallery

Shadow Hearts (SLUS 20347)

	Shadow Hearts (SLUS 20347) (U) Shadow Hearts (SLES 50677) (E)