Shadow Hearts Revisited: Character Development

One of the things that the Shadow Hearts series executes well is its parallels between the characters, specifically Yuri and Alice. These parallels serve as a staging point for character development. You, as the player, are given this stark contrast between the rough around the edges Yuri and the more prim, proper and innocent Alice. Using characters with fundamentally different personalities allows Shadow Hearts to develop in a more dynamic way and provides a deeper perspective on how each character evolves along with the story.

Alice and Yuri are a strange pair to be sure; at the beginning of Shadow Hearts they hardly know what to think of each other. This feeling of ambiguity lasts for a bit and you're able to watch as the characters slowly grow closer together, forging a bond is kept alive through the series.

--SPOILER ALERT--

This dynamic relationship between Yuri and Alice is explored more in the second game after Alice's canonical death at the end of the first game. It's one of the only series that I can think of that actually has the "bad" ending classified as the "real" ending. This theme is carried over to the end of Shadow Hearts: Covenant as Yuri succumbs to a curse at the end in a fairly similar manner to Alice's demise at the end of the first game.

Due to Alice's prior passing she is not physically present within Covenant but she still plays a large role when dealing with Yuri's now cursed soul. The "good" ending of the game depicts Alice pulling Yuri's entrapped soul out of the mistletoe's curse before his wish to return to the day he and Alice met was granted, releasing him from the curse.

The obvious parallel between Darkness (Yuri) and Light (Alice) can be seen throughout the story as well as an emphasis redemption through action. Few games can bring such a strange, diverse, and yet still lovable characters through such tragic circumstances. This series is not one that embraces a happy tone, often favoring a more somber mood and very few periods of rest or happiness. The emphasis is on the sacrifice that the characters make throughout the game, often for each other.

This theme is carried through to the second game where we are introduced to an extremely powerful, yet determinedly more aloof Yuri that is holed up in a church, protecting a small town from invading soldiers. The loss of Alice can be felt throughout the game and Yuri is in a near constant state of grief when you look at the circumstances he lives with. The previously flirtatious Yuri adopts a much more reserved state of being, he becomes more serious and uses the remainder of his life to save whatever he can before finally returning to Alice.

The Yuri we see in Covenant and the Yuri from the original Shadow Hearts are so vastly different that it breaks my heart. Few games have shown me character development on this level, and the depiction of Yuri's suffering is often hidden, he doesn't always wear his emotions on his sleeve. This aspect of his character made him feel very...real, as he acted the way most people would after losing the one they loved, he was withdrawn.

Actual depictions of suffering are typically quite limited within video games and very few characters actually develop enough to evoke emotional reactions from the people playing them. I tip my hat to the individuals responsible for developing not only Yuri and Alice but the entire Shadow Hearts cast. To this day it remains one of the more potent RPG's that I've had the pleasure of playing through. I'll just keep pretending the third installment of the series didn't exist.

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Shadow Hearts Revisited: Overview

In the vast annals of gaming history there have been a few titles that have proven themselves as standouts--prolific titles that define genre standards. Everyone has a different list of games that helped shape their own personal definition of what makes an amazing game. For me, one of those defining games was Shadow Hearts.

This past week I began replaying the series after an extremely long time, it has been a reminder that nostalgia, while both wonderful and wistful, needs to be taken with a chip on your shoulder. Things that seemed revolutionary and ground breaking twelve years ago may not be terribly impressive when compared to more current incarnations of those same concepts.

Despite it's age (Shadow Hearts came out back in 2001!) the title has held its integrity and preserved its strengths even when compared to current RPG's. Shadow Hearts is one of those games that allows its players to fall in love with the characters, the development of personality over time is astounding and throughout Yuri's journey it's becomes easier to love him.

So many previous RPG titles have taken a similar approach to designing their protagonists as this kind of brash, arrogant character archetype but few allow them to deviate from that. Yuri is a character that started as something I was familiar with but turned into something I hadn't seen in a hero before playing Shadow Hearts all those years ago.

Part of Shadow Heart's gripping nature sits in the end of the game. Too many games seek to tie things up nice n' pretty without regard to story relevance and this has become especially true in recent times. In a way, the endings of the first and second Shadow Hearts games leave a lot to be desired. They are not happy endings and, without spoiling things, the entire picture that Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts: Covenant paints is a tragedy.

Tragic stories aren't an easy thing to work with as it's hard to allow players into a world where they see characters develop and evolve and in tandem with that growth comes suffering. In a lot of ways, the antagonist wins in both the first and second games and, for me, that's hard to accept. I want things to be different, better. I want Yuri and Alice to end up happy, to find what they are both looking for and, in a way, they do find it, but it's still almost unbearably sad.

Analyzing what makes Yuri appealing to me personally was fairly easy; First and foremost, we speak the same way. I was able to identify with Yuri immediately just by the nature of his speech. It's rough, abbreviated and funny. It allows the player immediate access to a bit of Yuri's personality as the game begins and, without an audible word, the game begins communicating to me what kind of person Yuri is.

I could keep going but...in an effort to keep individual posts short I'll break this analysis up into segments. I'll try to keep them consistent and if you're a Shadow Hearts fan be sure to drop a comment and kick up a discussion if you'd like.

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Morally Correct in a Morally Incorrect World: A Look at the Character of Wei Shen

This past week has been a big one for me since Darksiders II, Sleeping Dogs, and The Last Story all came out together. I decided to start with Sleeping Dogs since Gamestop managed to not have my pre-ordered The Last Story. In addition to the game review itself I wanted to stop and take a look at a character that has now taken a spot on my "Favorite Character" list, Wei Shen.

Sleeping Dogs puts you in the shoes of a fiery undercover cop named Wei Shen as he attempts to dismantle the Sun On Yee (A play on the actual Triad Sun Yee On?) from the inside. The plot felt fairly typical at first and I honestly expected to be playing Sleeping Dogs not for it's gripping characters of plot but rather for a fun, face paced action game. However, as the story progressed, my opinions began to shift as I not only got involved in the story but the character of Wei Shen.

After completing the game the base theme I got out of Sleeping Dogs was the heavy concept of being a morally correct character in an extremely incorrect world. To me, Wei was just that. Throughout the story Wei is forced to play out the age old struggle of the undercover cop, the dynamic shift between criminal and officer that he is forced to go through. Obviously there is a great deal of attachment to his new "family" as he sees how far they would go for him, and he reciprocates.

This closeness to his cover causes great distress for Raymond, his handler for the police department, as he is the only one Wei talks to outside of the occasional case from officer Teng and the caustic interactions with Superintendent Pendrew. As Wei continues down the path of a criminal he is continually presented with morally challenging obstacles that force him to push the boundaries of what he feels is acceptable. The first instance of this is when Wei is essentially forced to take a life as a kind of test to prove he isn't a cop, which he does.

As you progress further into the story there are some very real, very painful situations that lead Wei up the food chain in the Triad. These are all things that Wei needed to complete his job but pain him greatly as he sees his friends suffer. Wei is often displayed in direct opposition to how the police attempt to treat him as well as the people he is working with, even criticizing the Officer Teng for belittling the lives of members of the Triad in a murder investigation. Wei is shown to have an incredibly deep connection to his new family for no reason other than a kind of reciprocal relationship of actually wanting to help them as they do things for him.

Eventually Wei's initial obligation to climb the ladder within the triad fades and he is propelled by his own attachments to his friends. Even though much of what is being done around him could be considered wrong or morally incorrect Wei is often forced into the protector or guardian role as he attempts to stave off attempts to harm his friends. Oddly enough, a vast portion of the crime and, specifically, murder occurs within the Triad itself, leaving the risk of harming innocents almost nonexistent. This seems to be Wei's justification for much of what he does as most of his police work is related to taking out drug suppliers and shutting down prostitution rings, things that are extremely detrimental to the innocents of the city.

However, Wei is continually haunted by many of his choices and the events he is forced into, often hearing replays of conversations in his dreams. Wei also bears a bit of his soul when talking to his Master, Sifu Kwok, as you collect his stolen statues and learn new combat techniques. Their relationship definitely is one of Mentor -> Pupil as Sifu constantly challenges Wei's morality and his choices. Sifu definitely takes the role of Wei's conscience and moral adviser as he is presented with increasingly difficult situations.

Close to the end of the game you are working to put a well-known producer/human trafficker Sonny Wo, behind bars. This set of missions involves getting moderately close to his right hand man, Ricky, and his girlfriend, Vivienne. Sonny is depicted as a raunchy scumbag and is constantly saying things like "Hey, F*** her if you want to! Just don't damage the goods! Hahaha!" Real quality guy.

At one point Sonny forces Vivienne to attempt to sleep with Wei and essentially drag him into Sonny's favor. Wei refuses her advances and sends her home, comforting the clearly surprised Vivienne as she leaves, thanking Wei for not forcing her to go through with it. This scene really demonstrated Wei's dedication to his friends and his desire to never hurt those close to him, even though he didn't know Ricky that well.

For me, Sleeping Dogs became less about the fun, flowing combat, and more about watching how this great character developed. You can't help but like Wei Shen and admire the character's firm dedication to his friends and how and where he draws the line between right and wrong. He is an extremely vocal character who is both the voice of reason and of total opposition to the Triad and the Police.

Wei Shen has definitely become one of my favorite characters, and I'd like to thank everyone involved in crafting this wonderful game!

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