An intriguing story of Japanese imperialism mixed with Chinese mysticism sets the stage for Shadow Hearts, a solid but familiar feeling M-rated---and sometimes pretty graphic---RPG. Expect the typical RPG gameplay with turn-based battles featuring a unique timing-based combat system, and the normal item buying and magic spell learning. Shadow Hearts' visuals and sounds are nice, but unfortunately they don't match up to those of other RPG wonders. A predictable plot and linear gameplay are the minuses to this otherwise well-crafted dark RPG.