1915 is the year in question. The nations of Europe are now being confronted with the harsh reality of war. It is approximately a year and a half after the events that are detailed in Shadow Hearts that the town of Domremy in France successfully repels an invasion by the Germans. It is supposed to be protected by a demon. The responsibility of exorcising the demon falls on Lieutenant Karin Koenig of the German army, who is accompanied on her mission by a man named Nicolas, who claims to be an inquisitor from the Vatican. When they both get to Domremy, things take an unexpected turn from there on out. Karin comes into contact with the young harmonixer Yuri Hyuga, who is suffering from a curse that causes him to lose his vitality little by bit. Yuri embarks on a perilous journey across Europe, through Russia, and ultimately to the Far East in the hopes of locating a treatment before it is too late and preventing a shadowy organization from taking control of the world through political and magical methods.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant is a direct sequel to the original game, Shadow Hearts, and continues the plot from the original game. It also has the same main protagonist as well as a few other characters who were in the original game. Similar to the game before it, this one takes place in a specific historical era but features a significant focus on the supernatural. The storyline of the game features significant contributions from a number of historical figures, including Anastasia, the Russian princess.
The fighting mechanism of this game is very similar to that of its predecessor. However, the addition of an arcade-style component to turn-based combat in the form of the Judgment Ring requires the player to stop a spinning arrow as it moves through certain parts of a ring. In the sequel, there are a greater variety of ring kinds, as well as additional opportunities to personalize the ring by altering its sections and the status-changing abilities it possesses. The player has the option of selecting from a number of different difficulty levels, which vary in terms of both the rate at which the arrow moves and the surface area of the ring.
The Sanity Points system, as well as Yuri’s unique ability to morph into monsters and search the cemetery for more potent fusion variations, have both been maintained. Combo attacks can now be performed by characters working together, and they can have a variety of different attributes, including standard, hard hit, high angle, and knock down. When a player continues a combo with appropriate attacks, the player deals more damage to adversaries. This damage increase is calculated by taking into account the weight type of the enemy as well as the effect that various attack types are having on him. In contrast to the earlier game, this one has you wearing crests of various elemental types in order to gain magical abilities. It is possible to switch between characters and retain both the crests and the magic spells they contain.
