Is From the New World at all worth playing? Covenant seems to be wrapping up a lot of plot threads from the previous game, and I honestly don't see how a side story (that's what FtNW is, apparently) can be all that relevant. So how is it? Worth it or not?

I loved Covenant but I played about six hours of FtNW and was bored to tears. Without the engaging characters and story, it's just another game with an entertaining battle system and not much else.

No, it's a terrible game.

The third Shadow Hearts is... okay.  Shadow Hearts II kinda blew me a way - the first game was solid, but I didn't expect to love its sequel as much as I did.  And following up Covenant is the worst thing From the New World has going for it.  My recommendation: give it some time and then try it out.  Then it might seem a bit fresher.  If you don't, it'll probably be too noticeable that it wants to be its predecessor but doesn't quite make it.

SH ~ FtNW is a hell of a lot better than some other generic RPGs that shall remain nameless (*cough*LegaiaDuelSaga*cough*WildArms3*cough*SuikodenIII&IV*cough*) Man, if SH ~ FtNW is shit, you been playing some damn good games.

IF you have the time, why NOT check it out?

I loved Shadow Hearts II to pieces and put in about 50 hours or so (love those sidequests), so I picked up FTNW a while ago so I could continue along in the series. My understanding is that it's more of a standalone title with some recurring characters to SH/SHII than it is an actual sequel.

I've tried playing FTNW several times in the past few months, but I just couldn't get into it. It's apparent that it's a little off-color like its predecessors, but it doesn't seem solid enough for me to plunk 40 hours into. Although, I would say that as an RPG it's better and has more potential than almost anything else that has been released in the past few years.

So, like Bernhardt said, why not check it out? You could like it a lot more than I do. I'd go with Joe's advice and wait a while, though. It's not going to be an easy transition from II to FTNW.

I played Covenant last year and it became one of the best RPG's I've ever played, leaving a big impression.
The creators of the game obviously got a lot of good feedback on it, cos From the New World is pretty much a copy of Covenant, and as such, lacks the impact and originality that made Covenant so great.
The entire cast of characters is extremely remeniscent of Covenant in terms of Battle style and Skills, the humor remains unchanged, and the graphics have only had a small uphaul.
It lacks the personality, originality, emotion and real humor of Covenant, but it's still a fun game to play I thought.

I'm just going to say this.

I'm guessing that the first two Shadow Hearts games are *absurdly* good, because a lot of people that played through the whole series think that FTNW is a pile of shit.

I've played FTNW, and *only* FTNW, and I fell in love with it! I thought it was such an excellent RPG, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

So, I guess, just don't expect it to be like the others ...? And then you'll be able to enjoy it more.

Ramza

From what I've heard, in the broad scope of RPGs (at least in the past decade) it is definitely an excellent RPG. However, I've also heard that it's not an excellent SH game. After the 40+ hours of Covenant, it's easy to be let down.

And, yeah dude, SHII is absurdly good, and I recommend it to you and you. Dig in.