You're probably wondering why I haven't given it a 9/10, or even a full 10/10. Well, the game play takes some getting used to, and is a little annoying. For each and every action, you have to time button pushes just right. Want to hit the enemy? Wait for the dial to reach the right points and press the ‘x’ button. Want to heal? Same problem. I cant fully describe the frustrations that occur when an enemy does something to effect that stupid little dial, and I cant name the number of times I haven't been able to heal my characters because they've all been affected one way or another! As if that isn't enough, if you donut occasionally go into Yuri’s mind at save points, you’ll be slaughtered by a fool that looks like Yuri’s dad wearing a fox mask. So, you have to occasionally hold back so you can bring Yuri into his mental graveyard, where the malice of all the humans and demons he's ever killed takes form. You then have to fight a monster, based on the amount of malice, and when you beat it, the malice is gone. While I like that concept, they didn't pull it off perfectly, making the game itself less than perfect.
Don't get me wrong, I love this game. It just isn't equal in all three areas of game perfection: story line, sound, and game play. I solute Shadow Hearts, and hope that the other games in the series are equally good.