So I made this post to go through the different possibilities.
From dreams to what could be more realistic or a compromise between the two.
While I think the most realistic start to any revival would be psn classics since it would be the lowest costs and maybe even if we fans get together and make lots of requests maybe Sony would want them as psn classics. Or sadly the reality right now that anything else would involve Universal Entertainment selling the rights or making a deal to let someone else make the games.
Game Ideas
When I started this list I had a few ideas but then it grown especially with replaying Shadow Hearts recently and now I have 8/10 ideas, seriously Shadow Hearts could be a gold mine Universal Entertainment what are you doing?
- Prequel to Shadow Hearts focusing on Yuri's dad
From an interview with geekgamer Machida, we saw what plans he had for what would have been the next game which I think would have been great because the original Shadow Hearts had snippets of it in the story with flashbacks but it would have been nice to see that extended as it could connect everything up where it becomes a full circle. But sadly the reality was that we got From the new world instead and Universal Entertainment owns the rights so currently Machida has no control of the franchise.
- Remake of Koudelka
Considerably it's it is a prequel to Shadow Hearts it would be nice to
see it remade and maybe change it's battle system to Shadow Hearts or a mix of the two.
And a chance to add more story elements just to connect the dots more to Shadow Hearts.
- Sequel to Koudelka
It would be nice to have something that connects Koudelka storyline to Shadow Hearts, there is a manga of Koudelka but it is not cannon to SH so it would be nice to have something that is where it leads up to the events of SH1 or this could get combined with a remake of Koudelka which would then add additional content instead.
- Prequel to Shadow Hearts (With Albert Simon as the main character)
It could be a great idea to show more how he changed and what happened but in more detail and his interaction with characters rather than the few scenes that mentions the events in the games would be cool to actually experience it.
- Prequel to Shadow Hearts or additional scenes with Yuri, The Masks and the Mysterious Voice
In the story it was implied Yuri having history with the masks and that the mysterious voice aka Koudelka sent him to various locations. So it can be an idea for another game but granted could be difficult as Yuri was like a loner prior to the events of SH1 and maybe it cant be a full game but certainly a shorter one or more scenes get added to a remake to support this.
If Yuri gets his own game I thought something like Joe Devers The Lone Wolf game system then just add judgement ring mechanics into it, I think that could work quite well.
- Remake of Shadow Hearts
I think it's the best for people who've played shadow hearts before and also to bring in new users to Shadow Hearts the heart of the series is Yuri & Alice I would love to see a remake with cut scenes voice acting and if it was able to improve the battle system from from a new world then it would be mouth watering stuff! This would be my dream! Also have more story like LT Kawashima who actually could have been a playable character as she was found in the game's asset and with modding can become playable.
- HD Remaster of Shadow Hearts Covenant
I think it's already an amazing game like what is there to change or improve?
Very little, maybe the director's cut content in English and trophies. Considering we can't play the game flawlessly on emulators with up-scaling (or as close to as possible) this is a great idea and probably minimal effort compared to rest of the ideas here. Also be an important opportunity to port the game to various systems like the switch for a wider audience and it would be amazing being able to take it everywhere I go.
- Sequels of Shadow Hearts 1 and Covenant (For other characters) (2 ideas)
I think there could've been a sequel of SH1 that follows Halley that takes him through
events after SH and right through to events after sh covenant and maybe even beyond.
Plus great chance to like see characters in SH1 and Covenant and even Koudelka.
I always found it weird when they were doing a Shadow Hearts game based in America but yet...
not have Halley considering the end of Shadow Hearts 1 when he went over there.
My idea for a story of Halley would be a remix of From The New World.
As even though I didn't really like story as in main characters from a new world.
I was actually more interested in the baddies Lady and Killer.
You could replace Johnny with Halley and Lenny with Koudelka then adapt the story.
The way I would have it is it starts initially after SH1 then skip a bit ahead Covenant and then skip ahead to From the new world timeline.
Also if you do a game with Halley why not other characters like Kurando & Anastasia from Covenant? With Kurando you maintain the fusion capabilities.and maybe that could lead up to the finale where everyone joins up.
- Sequel of Shadow Hearts Covenant and Shadow Hearts 1 (Good Endings)
I wonder how it would work a sequel to SH Covenant, Yuri remembers and knows what happens but would other characters like Alice know? Then would Yuri's interaction with Albert Simon be very different? And could he become a party member after that? Would events go quicker and maybe to then also go through events of Covenant as well and make it one explosive finale. Which would be like a proper goodbye to Yuri and Alice's storyline.
What should change?
Personally I would not want to change anything, I would love to see a new game with the same standards on newer hardware but that ain't the reality. Shadow Hearts and SH Covenant didn't have the worst amount of sales but it was done on a Final Fantasy type budget which basically sort of made it fail in terms of profit. So here are my ideas to make a revival make sense financially.
- Should Shadow Hearts be more streamlined/more simple?
Something like Fairy Fencer (which I talked about here) or a mix of the two? In Fairy Fencer F there were no towns to walk around in, just dungeons and everything outside of that was visual novel or map selecting what you want to do. The sales were very similar to Shadow Hearts but due to lower costs it was more successful with that they port it to various systems and maintaining the same amount sales for each system. Granted it wouldn't be exactly what I want but would it be a compromise that us fans could accept if it meant a possible revival.
- Needs to be multiple systems
It needs to be more accessible steam and switch would be my top 2 required options, switch very successful and the games would be portable, steam because would be nice to have the games on pc. Right now I would not say for other systems mainly due to that sony and microsoft are working on their next consoles.
- Would I keep the judgement ring?
I was asked this question if SH ever made a comeback would I keep the judgement ring?
I would prefer to keep it and see what more can be done and maybe even make variations depending if more games came out something similar to Lost Odyssey etc... Although if someone ask me we will make a Sh1 remake with voice acting and loads of cut scenes but it becomes action rpg, I would say do it!
- PSN Classics makes the best sense as a starting point
Liked I have mentioned on previous posts I always believe that starting with psn classics makes the best sense as it is the least amount of costs, gives fans an option to preserve the games/play on newer hardware and also gives access to those who never played Shadow Hearts.
Is a psn classic that simple? Who knows but if you have a hacked ps4 / on firmware 5.05 you can inject a ps2 game into a classic and play it for example from the new world works via this method sadly with the other two games currently don't work but surely if they were getting done officially sony would fix their emulation software to support them.
Other changes?
Difficulty mode options normal or hard, there are difficulty mods for the 3 Shadow Hearts games which seems to work very well but could be cool to an option where when starting the game you can choose the difficulty,
Final Words
That's why I think Shadow Hearts deserves a chance because that's 8-10 possible games or even more. Like if a remake or a prequel of Shadow Hearts is successful then that's hitting gold!
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