History YMMV / ShadowHearts

* EvilIsSexy: [[{{Bishonen}} Nicolai]], [[MsFanservice Veronica]], [[CostumeCopycat Killer]] and [[{{Stripperific}} Lady]] are the most prominent examples.

* WidgetSeries: Far less subdued than other examples, but what other series will have characters wielding whatever they can find against the forces of evil... or have gun-based martial artists, [[HighlyVisibleNinja ninjas in red]], and egg-throwing princesses as party members?

* TierInducedScrappy: Every game has one, sometimes two.
** Zhuzhen is a decent mage, and the only party member who can reliably hit all non-Light elemental classes, but after Keith joins, Margarete rejoins, and Halley is required for the next two dungeons, he often hits the bench.
*** Alice for simply being ''too good'' at her job. While other characters like Zhuzhen and even Halley can heal, Alice is the ''best'' equipped for it.
** Gepetto from ''Covenant'' has the highest magical attack power in the game and can boost his elemental power with Cordelia's dresses. Unfortunately for him, Lucia and Anastasia are both much faster than him ''and'' can bring a lot more utility to the table via their Aromatherapy and Snapshot related skills. The crest magic system also allows anyone to have access to support and healing spells, which makes using him later-game a harder sell.
** Hildegard from ''From the New World'', due mostly to her ScrappyMechanic. She is ''far'' from a useless character as ''From the New World'' is fairly well balanced, it's just that her abilities make her suffer.

** SpiritualSuccessor: Has one through the game “Penny Blood”, which has been funded on Kickstarter and has yet to be released.

* ThatOneAttack:
** Any [[StatusEffects status-effect inflicting magic]], like instant death and petrifaction, that target the whole party. Judgement Ring status-effect are even worse as they can, among other things, speed up the indicator or make the hit area invisible.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While not perfect, ''Shadow Hearts'' was considered a very solid and entertaining JRPG, and a ''big'' improvement on ''Koudelka'', which had been regarded as having interesting ideas ruined by clunky gameplay stemming from ExecutiveMeddling.
* TastesLikeDiabetes: Anastasia in ''Covenant'', and [[LampshadeHanging well aware of it]].

* ThatOneBoss: ''Koudelka'': Alias, a gunman who ambushes you on a staircase. He runs back and forth between two boxes, shooting at you and usually dealing enough damage to kill whoever he hits. But you can't reach him with a melee attack until you destroy the boxes, and he's somehow immune to magic, meaning he'll continually pick you off as you work on destroying the boxes...

* DracoInLeatherPants: Killer in ''From The New World'' is often treated as being more sympathetic than he actually is, despite being a psychotic, remorseless serial killer.

* GameBreaker:
** In ''Covenant'' and ''From The New World'', Energy Charge and Entrance spells (boosts Physical/Special Attack by 125-150%) can be utilized to deal tremendous damage when combined with general buff spells, the 'Technical Ring' system, and Lucia/Ricardo's 'Strike Bonus' boost effect.
** The Double-Combo system that debuts in ''From The New World'' takes the optional and fairer Combo system from ''Covenant'', and evolves it into a ruthless boss-killing system. To elaborate, the Stock and Combo system allows players to begin boosting their party's offensive capabilities with buff spells, and then begin spending Stock on the last turn to initiate the Double-Combo with multi-hit abilities. If the player is especially good at the Judgement Ring, it is possible to kill every boss in the game ''before the boss even has a chance to take their first turn''.

* JerkassWoobie: While every game has {{Woobie}}s who wind up becoming villains, ''From the New World'' takes this trope UpToEleven -- it's pretty clear that we're ''not'' supposed to sympathize with Lady or Killer at all... but all you know ''about'' Lady is what Shania told you, and Killer is his backstory. The more you learn about Lady, by the end, you will either feel like a complete ''ass'' for [[spoiler: having killed her]], or you will see it as [[spoiler: Putting Lady out of her misery, earning both her and Killer a RedemptionEqualsDeath]].

* ReplacementScrappy: Johnny from ''From the New World''. As far as some fans are concerned, he's not Yuri.
* ScrappyMechanic: Hildegarde's Calorie Meter in ''From the New World'' is an utter bitch to work, unless you have rare accessories, that hasten the process, equipped or is willing to expend rare, irreplaceable items. To make things worse, she can only obtain new skills by talking to certain [=NPC's=] while being on a specific form.

** In ''From The New World'' both strongest BonusBoss and FinalBoss use the move called ''Lost Progress''. This move removes any buffs your group has. This is already bad enough, but both bosses use this as a counter ''immediately'' after ''anyone'' uses a buff, and they get ''an immediate extra turn'' to wreck you further.
* ThatOneBoss:
** ''Koudelka'': Alias, a gunman who ambushes you on a staircase. He runs back and forth between two boxes, shooting at you and usually dealing enough damage to kill whoever he hits. But you can't reach him with a melee attack until you destroy the boxes, and he's somehow immune to magic, meaning he'll continually pick you off as you work on destroying the boxes...
** ''Shadow Hearts: From the New World'':
*** Malice Killer from the third game. His normal attack cause Instant Death, and his area-based one deal heavy damage to the whole party. On top of that, Killer can inflict "Seal status", blocking the use of magic, and cast powerful fire spells that reset your characters Stock Gauge, preventing Combos and Double attacks.
*** The FinalBoss from the same game is also ''quite'' brutal, especially in comparison to Malice Gilbert which was a bit of an AntiClimaxBoss. Like in Covenant, it is a multi-target fight... but ''un''like in Covenant where everything else was at best an annoyance, both targets ''alone'' are dangerous. Both [[spoiler: Lady and Malice Umbral]] will unleash powerful attacks that hit the entire party at once. What's more, they are all multi-hitting ''and'' both targets can act one after the other and chain their attacks together and turn the bonus damage mechanic against ''you'', compounded with the fact that they might cast Entrance on each other. The only mercy that the game throws at you is on occasion, one of them will attempt to cast an easily blockable Ring Abnormality on you and that you only need to kill ''one'' of them.
* ThatOneLevel: ''From the New World'': Machu Picchu, where you need to solve puzzles while dealing with load of random encounters and searching for items. The first part consist of activating colored pedestals in a specific certain order to unlock doors and advance; afterwards, there is another puzzle involving colored flames. If you missed an item and have to revisit the dungeon, expect to do the puzzles again.
* ThatOneSidequest: The Photographer sidequest in ''From the New World''. It is a game-spanning sidequest that requires you taking photos of enemies. This includes [[PermanentlyMissableContent ''Bosses and Bonus Bosses'']], meaning you essentially need to complete other sidequests as well. Also, sometimes you need more than one photo so you can trade them for other photos you don't have, bringing a hefty dose of GuideDangIt on top of everything else. It does not help that taking photo makes you waste a turn, which in a game where enemies can use the Double Combo mechanic ''against you'' the moment they get chance is not very good thing.

* UnderusedGameMechanic:
** The vampires mechanics in ''Covenant'' and ''From The New World'' can feel this way too, if only because of how [[GuideDangIt little the game mentions them]] or how utilizing it often uses rare and/or expensive in-game items.
** ''From The New World'' explains "Will" as the good counterpart to Malice, and it's explained that too much Will is as bad as too much Malice. But there is no gameplay mechanic about Will ''or'' Malice.
* ViewerGenderConfusion:
** Mao in ''From the New World'', namely due to the CrossdressingVoices in the English version. In the Japanese version of ''From the New World'', Mao is voiced by Creator/{{Kujira}}, who is ''definitely'' a woman. She sounds very similar to [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Orochimaru]], though.
* TheWoobie: Edna from the third Shadow Hearts. A sweet, bubbly flapper girl who hot for Ricardo and deeply cares for her brother, Al Capone. She's lusted after by [=McManus=], then kidnapped [[spoiler: then shot, only to be brought back by Lady via the Kiss of Malice. This leads her to kill when she loses control of herself, and eventually she begs Ricardo to kill her. This firmly leads Ricardo into Woobie territory as well.]]

* ContestedSequel: A ''very'' unusual example, given that fans of ''Koudelka'' tend to also hold ''Shadow Hearts'' in high regard. The contention comes from questioning whether the latter needed to be a sequel in the first place, especially considering that [[StealthSequel it didn't advertise itself as such]]. Beyond the obvious changes in [[DenserAndWackier tone]] and [[ArtisticLicenseHistory setting]], another major point of controversy is the treatment of Koudelka's character in the first game. The fact that the driving force behind ''Koudelka'' wasn't involved in the development of the later games doesn't help matters.
* CrazyIsCool:

* EvilIsCool: Albert Simon, a [[QuintessentialBritishGentleman refined]], [[AffablyEvil affable gentleman]] who kicks all sorts of ass with his ungodly magical power.

* MagnificentBastard: A former mage of the Vatican, [[EvilSorcerer Albert Simon]] desired to better the world, but the prejudice he suffered as a heretic for trying to reform the Church to serve the people turned him to dark magic. Still remaining peaceful, when his apprentice Rasputin got corrupted, Albert finally decided to destroy the world by summoning God and rebuilding it. Needing a light and dark source of magic for the ritual, Albert masterfully manipulated everyone to achieving his goal, while remaining [[SophisticatedAsHell a true gentleman]]. Leading to a final confrontation with Yuri and co. with an agreement that they'll leave the fate of the world to the victor, and despite losing, Albert [[GracefulLoser took it gracefully]], believing in Yuri to face the dark future, even assisting him by using the last of his power to send Yuri's team to fight God and help him master Amon as a SpiritAdvisor. A truly worthy adversary, Albert Simon was a sorcerer to fear yet respect with his cunning and graceful manners.

* {{Narm}}: In the first ''Shadow Hearts'', Sea Mother is telling Yuri and Margarete about Li Li's tragic past, and the scene where her father's drowned corpse shambles out of the shore and into Li Li's room is meant to be horrific. However, the questionable English voice direction makes it unintentionally hilarious instead, with the old woman inexplicably voicing the exact sounds being made (first by him, then by the gulls, then by the creaking door), as if she were telling the story to little kids and not two grown adults.
-->"Shloooop! Shlooooop~! Skree skree! Crea-a-a-cree-a-ak."

* RootingForTheEmpire: Albert will be a true gentleman through-out the game, but at the end reveals he can basically undo all the damage he has caused and even offers to let the heroes sit back and watch since he bares them no ill will and considers them some of the few good parts of humanity despite coming to blows with them. Even Yuri needs to think on it for a moment before he just decides he can't risk Albert being wrong about resetting the world. Still it may be a little hard for some players to remember they are supposed to want to defeat Albert. It's a GutPunch moment when the first Shadow Hearts ends with announcement that World War I has started - confirmation of the disaster Albert felt coming. If you play the sequel and find out what sent him off the deep-end in the first place, this only drives the point home further that Albert had some pretty valid concerns, grievances and intent to resolve them.
* ScrappyMechanic:
** In the first ''Shadow Hearts'' game, to do ''anything'', you need to press the action button at the right time three times. '''Anything.''' This includes attacking, spell casting, using an item, ''searching a place for an item that's right in sight.'' And would you believe this very same mechanic somehow wasn't horrible in the sequels?
** Hildegarde's Calorie Meter in ''From the New World'' is an utter bitch to work, unless you have rare accessories, that hasten the process, equipped or is willing to expend rare, irreplaceable items. To make things worse, she can only obtain new skills by talking to certain [=NPC's=] while being on a specific form.

** ''Shadow Hearts'': The DuelBoss between [[WhiteMage Alice]] and Arcane Olga. The fight is on a timer because of her Sanity Points (the lowest in the game), and taking a turn to restore them could get you killed. And Olga can poison you. The fight boils down to spamming Alice's one attack spell and hoping to get it over with before she goes Berserk.

* ThatOneLevel:
** ''Shadow Hearts'': The Temple Ruins is a [[TheMaze labyrinth]] of CutAndPasteEnvironments, where the party is split in two and cannot use magic and/or items during battles. It also has many empty treasure chests and [[EmptyRoomPsych dead ends]].
** ''From the New World'': Machu Picchu, where you need to solve puzzles while dealing with load of random encounters and searching for items. The first part consist of activating colored pedestals in a specific certain order to unlock doors and advance; afterwards, there is another puzzle involving colored flames. If you missed an item and have to revisit the dungeon, expect to do the puzzles again.

** In the first ''Shadow Hearts'', paying Meiyuan to upgrading your weapons is pointless, as you can just wait to buy new equipment in the next town. The only time it is worth it is when everyone have their ultimate weapons, but it's still very expensive.
** Level up enough, and the Sanity Points system eventually becomes this for the rest of the game. Early on in the game where most characters are at a lower level, the player will sometimes need to keep an eye on their SP and prevent a character from going Berserk, an ailment that causes the combatant to lose control and use random actions for the duration of the battle, and gain no EXP, unless they are cured beforehand. The more the player levels up their characters, the more likely future battles will be over long before any character is at risk of going Berserk ever again, especially when considering that everyone's SP is fully restored after every battle.

** Halley, thanks to his GenderBlenderName, longish hair, and slender figure. It gets cleared up pretty quickly for those who actually play the game.
*** Funnily enough his friend, Chris, is often mistaken for a boy due to her androgynous profile picture, sturdy build and boyish fashion sense.
* TheWoobie:
** Alice from the first game. Her father is murdered in front of her, people slaughter just to get a hold of her, she's tortured by Dehuai, and ultimately [[spoiler: gets her soul killed so she can save Yuri.]]
** Edna from the third Shadow Hearts. A sweet, bubbly flapper girl who hot for Ricardo and deeply cares for her brother, Al Capone. She's lusted after by [=McManus=], then kidnapped [[spoiler: then shot, only to be brought back by Lady via the Kiss of Malice. This leads her to kill when she loses control of herself, and eventually she begs Ricardo to kill her. This firmly leads Ricardo into Woobie territory as well.]]
**

* AbandonShipping: Happens to many Yuri/Karin shippers after they complete ''Covenant''. (Long story short, [[spoiler:thanks to time travel, she's his mother]].)
* AccidentalInnuendo: Yuri in ''Covenant'': "That is one giant pussy." This is said to [[spoiler: Andre, the giant pink cat, although Lucia standing with her legs spread wide right next to the cat didn't help.]]
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The "good" ending of ''Covenant'' changes depending on whether you view it as [[spoiler:Yuri meeting Alice in death after losing his soul to the Mistletoe or enacting a StableTimeLoop and getting a chance to start over to go for the ending where Alice lives.]] Japanese guides - and a line from ''From the New World'' [[spoiler: where Roger Bacon has never seen a successful Emigre Manuscript ritual]] - tend to favor the latter.

* CrazyIsCool: Joachim. Vampire? Check! Superhero? Check! Professional wrestler? And check! ''From the New World'' gives Frank, the Polish-American McNinja.
* DracoInLeatherPants:
** Nicolai, from ''Covenant'', gets some of this, particularly in relation to his feelings for Karin.
** Killer in ''From The New World'' is often treated as being more sympathetic than he actually is, despite being a psychotic, remorseless serial killer.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The [[CoDragons Mutant Apes]] from ''Covenant''.
* EvenBetterSequel: The first ''Shadow Hearts'' game is widely considered a solid horror-tinted RPG, with an interesting combat system and a refreshing protagonist; ''Shadow Hearts:Covenant'', while cutting back (a little) in the horror department, is considered by many fans to be the apex of the series and one of the best [=RPGs=] in history, improving upon almost every facet of what was already praised as good.

** If used properly, Lucia's Aromatherapy ability can make ''Shadow Hearts: Covenant'' ''much'' easier with the only drawback being it will effect everybody but her. While most of her Aromatherapy abilities are lackluster or somewhat useful, the one ability that really makes her stand out is her unique ability to increase the effectiveness of 'Strike' areas (increases effectiveness on many actions taken by 20% if hit) on the Judgement Ring by 50% for a turn. If one can consistently hit 'Strike' on buff spells, their effects are dramatically increased, and if combined with the 'Technical Ring', the results become ''godly''. In the sequel, Lucia's successor Ricardo also retains this ability, and although it was nerfed to only increase the 'Strike' effect by 20%, it is still considered to be very useful.

* HarsherInHindsight: Karin's role in the plot after playing through ''Covenant''. In sum: [[spoiler: Karin, a German soldier, meets and falls in love with Yuri over the course of ''Covenant''. If you make the right decisions, each of the characters is thrown back in time and Karin meets Yuri's father Ben Hyuga and marries him, reuniting with Yuri in a roundabout way by becoming his mother. Karin finally obtains what she wanted - to love and be with Yuri - in an unexpected but certainly not unwelcome way, only to die in front of a young Yuri's eyes before the events of the first ''Shadow Hearts'' ever happen. The StableTimeLoop also ensures that, of all the party members, Karin is the only one to die a true death as a result of the villain's plans if Yuri then proceeds to get the good ending from ''Shadow Hearts''.]]

* HoYay:
** Joachim with pretty much ''any'' other male character.
** Pierre and Gerard Magimel in ''Covenant'' probably have this with themselves, but Gerard definitely has this towards the male party members. You'll see him more often than Pierre since he runs the shop, so count on some sort of comment any time he shows up.

* MagnificentBastard:
** A former mage of the Vatican, [[EvilSorcerer Albert Simon]] desired to better the world, but the prejudice he suffered as a heretic for trying to reform the Church to serve the people turned him to dark magic. Still remaining peaceful, when his apprentice Rasputin got corrupted, Albert finally decided to destroy the world by summoning God and rebuilding it. Needing a light and dark source of magic for the ritual, Albert masterfully manipulated everyone to achieving his goal, while remaining [[SophisticatedAsHell a true gentleman]]. Leading to a final confrontation with Yuri and co. with an agreement that they'll leave the fate of the world to the victor, and despite losing, Albert [[GracefulLoser took it gracefully]], believing in Yuri to face the dark future, even assisting him by using the last of his power to send Yuri's team to fight God and help him master Amon as a SpiritAdvisor. A truly worthy adversary, Albert Simon was a sorcerer to fear yet respect with his cunning and graceful manners.
** [[FromNobodyToNightmare Masaji Kato]] started off as a comic relief character, but after suffering tragedy [[TookALevelInBadass grew into one of the most formidable in the series]]. Formerly Kawashima's bumbling assistant, after her death Kato changed, becoming a high commander for the Japanese army and Yuri's good friend. In charge of forming an alliance with Nikolai and Russia, Kato had other plans: making a deal with Nikolai to steal the Emigre Manuscript for him before capturing him for his powers, Kato used this to see his desire to resurrect Kawashima as the Mutant Ape Ouka come to fruition. However, when he lost Ouka from Nikolai's rampage, Kato snapped, setting up the Japanese government's downfall for letting this happen betraying them to Yuri. After their defeat, Kato planned to return the world 100 years in the past so he could rebuild it, but set-up Yuri to stop him in hopes he could fix the world in his stead, even arranging things to let him see Alice one last time to motivate him. When Yuri defeats him, Kato gracefully urges Yuri and his group to build the world they wish for before thanking Yuri for being his friend one last time. Savvy and sharp, Kato's growth has made him a character the many look up to as a magnificent antagonist.

* StrangledByTheRedString: Anastasia and Kurando appears to be entirely one sided for the greater part of the game. Anastasia develops a crush on Kurando the moment she meets him, obsesses over him and [[spoiler: even gets engaged to him behind his back, thanks to his mother.]] While Kurando does warm up to Anastasia throughout their journey, we don't really get to see what his feelings are for her. [[spoiler: The ending heavily suggests that they will end up together, given that both of their wishes seemed to be about staying together.]] While a sweet relationship, it feels very forced on Kurando's part due to his lack of screen time, and would definitely be frowned upon if their genders were switched.

* {{Squick}}: Two examples from ''Covenant''.
** [[spoiler:Kato creating Ouka as a ReplacementGoldfish for his dead love interest.]] It gets even more disturbing when Raiden and Hien discuss, in a cutscene, about Kato and Ouka wanting to ''have a baby together.''
** Karin's attraction with [[GodOfEvil the inhuman Amon]], [[spoiler:[[ParentalIncest who is also her son]].]] More so after it's revealed that [[spoiler:she is stalking him ''through time itself'' to be with him as a child. Assuming she retains her memories after the time travel (debatable), that's one messed-up family.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Nicolai in ''Covenant''. Revelations about his character with [[spoiler: Rasputin reveals that he is Tsar Nicolas's bastard, and is using Kato to take over Russia from Rasputin's hand. Instead, once they get to Japan, Nicolai is tortured, Astaroth takes over, and he is killed by Kato. In particular, there's no dialogue with his own sister, Anastasia.]]
** Karin herself also qualifies. She is introduced as a DecoyProtagonist who initially assists Nicolai in his quest before his betrayal and killing of her men, and afterwards is immediately replaced by Yuri, the hero from the first game, for the rest of the story. Karin herself is given no backstory and no motivation to join Yuri in his quest besides being set up as his second-love interest[[spoiler: after the death of Alice]], and her background as a former lieutenant on the run is never explored again. If it weren't for the end-game twist that reveals that [[spoiler: Karin goes back in time and becomes Yuri's mom]], Karin could easily have been written out of the story altogether.
** Kurando is the final character to be added to the party in ''Covenant'', and his introduction ends up being more about the Kawashimas. His backstory ends up being more about Yuri and the Harmonixer bloodline than himself. [[spoiler: He's the only other Harmonixer that Yuri has met outside of his own father, he's Yuri's ''cousin'', yet the two barely interact with one another.]] Kurando's main purpose seems to be the love interest for Anastasia, and even that can appear one-sided given that Kurando doesn't really get the chance to show how he feels about Anastasia in return [[spoiler: though the ending does imply that he has feelings for her.]]

* ToughActToFollow: ''From the New World'' had the daunting task to be the sequel to ''Covenant'', while the game is far from mediocre, not having Yuri, among other things, have made fans of the series a bit unhappy with it.
* UnintentionalUncannyValley: The boss from ''Covenant'' that is a giant spider with ''human fingers for legs and mandibles'', a human nose placed in the middle of it's head, and a ''realistic human mouth with teeth and lips''.

** A Malice mechanic is alluded to in ''Covenant'', but, like its apparent [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot plot significance]], never comes up in-game.

** Anastasia's family is being gaslighted by Rasputin, and he is easily able to turn them against her [[spoiler: by using mind control to make it look as if she's going to stab her little brother. Anastasia has no other choice than to run away with Yuri and the rest of the party, even though she knows Rasputin is pure evil, and that both her family and all of Russia is in danger. Anastasia's mother is particularly cold towards her even before the incident with Alexei.]] While things do eventually turn around for Anastasia, she's still a pampered fourteen year old girl thrown into a world she knows little about.

* UncannyValley:
** Averted because of the stylized characters (Rasputin looks like a cartoon villain), but in ''Covenant'', there's the "Miracle" scene in which, for once, the UncannyValley turns out to be more ''funny'' than creepy, because [[spoiler: Yuri tries to make a sad face...but it looks so ridiculous some people who ''would have'' cried at that scene suddenly found themselves stifling back laughter. This has become a ''very'' minor [[MemeticMutation meme]] in itself.]]
** Played straight with most enemies. Such as the boss from ''Covenant'' that is a giant spider with ''human fingers for legs and mandibles'', a human nose placed in the middle of it's head, and a ''realistic human mouth with teeth and lips''.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Margarete. This is Mata Hari we're talking about. ''Covenant'' is set in 1915. Anyone else remember what happened to the real one near the end of WWI? [[spoiler:For those who don't know, the French executed her for spying.]]
** Almost everyone knows what ends up happening to the real Anastasia Romanov and her family. [[spoiler: She and her entire family were brutally murdered by communist revolutionaries in 1918.]]

* FoeYay: Veronica and ''anyone'' she interacts with. Perhaps save for [[HardGay Joachim]].

** Any [[StandardStatusEffects status-effect inflicting magic]], like instant death and petrifaction, that target the whole party. Judgement Ring status-effect are even worse as they can, among other things, speed up the indicator or make the hit area invisible.

* CrazyAwesome: Joachim. Vampire? Check! Superhero? Check! Professional wrestler? And check! ''From the New World'' gives Frank, the Polish-American McNinja.

* ThatOneSidequest: The Photographer sidequest in ''From the New World''. It is a game-spanning sidequest that requires you taking photos of enemies. This includes [[LostForever ''Bosses and Bonus Bosses'']], meaning you essentially need to complete other sidequests as well. Also, sometimes you need more than one photo so you can trade them for other photos you don't have, bringing a hefty dose of GuideDangIt on top of everything else. It does not help that taking photo makes you waste a turn, which in a game where enemies can use the Double Combo mechanic ''against you'' the moment they get chance is not very good thing.

** ''Shadow Hearts'': The DuelBoss between [[WhiteMage Alice]] and Arcane Orla. The fight is on a timer because of her Sanity Points (the lowest in the game), and taking a turn to restore them could get you killed. And Olga can poison you. The fight boils down to spamming Alice's one attack spell and hoping to get it over with before she goes Berserk.

* AccidentalInnuendo: Yuri in ''Covenant'': "That's one big pussy." This is said to [[spoiler: Andre, the giant pink cat, although Lucia standing with her legs spread wide right next to the cat didn't help.]]

* CrazyAwesome: Joachim. Vampire? Check! Superhero? Check! Professional Wrestler? And check! From the New World gives Frank, the Polish-American McNinja.

** Face it: most of the gay characters in ''Shadow Hearts'' are stereotypes whose interests are more than once played for comedy. That being said, ''Covenant'''s four major gay characters are also all heroic; Gerard (1) is your most frequent item shop even in places where he probably shouldn't be, Pierre (2) helps Gepetto with dresses that increase Cornelia's power, and The Great Gama (3) is a special teacher that gives Joachim (4) - a loyal and reasonable party member and one of your strongest physically - stronger moves to whoop-ass.

* JerkassWoobie: While every game has {{Woobie}}s who wind up becoming villains, ''From the New World'' takes this trope UpToEleven - it's pretty clear that we're ''not'' supposed to sympathize with Lady or Killer at all... but all you know ''about'' Lady is what Shania told you, and Killer is his backstory. The more you learn about Lady, by the end, you will either feel like a complete ''ass'' for [[spoiler: having killed her]], or you will see it as [[spoiler: Putting Lady out of her misery, earning both her and Killer a RedemptionEqualsDeath]].

** Kurando is the final character to be added to the party in Covenant, and his introduction ends up being more about the Kawashimas. His backstory ends up being more about Yuri and the Harmonixer bloodline than himself. [[spoiler: He's the only other Harmonixer that Yuri has met outside of his own father, he's Yuri's ''cousin'', yet the two barely interact with one another.]] Kurando's main purpose seems to be the love interest for Anastasia, and even that can appear one-sided given that Kurando doesn't really get the chance to show how he feels about Anastasia in return [[spoiler: though the ending does imply that he has feelings for her.]]

** In the first Shadow Hearts, paying Meiyuan to upgrading your weapons is pointless, as you can just wait to buy new equipment in the next town. The only time it is worth it is when everyone have their ultimate weapons, but it's still very expensive.

* {{Narm}}: In the first ''Shadow Hearts'', Sea Mother is telling Yuri and Marguerite about Li Li's tragic past, and the scene where her father shambles out of the shore and into Li Li's room as a slimy mass is meant to be horrific. However, the questionable English voice direction makes it unintentionally hilarious instead, with the old woman inexplicably telling them the exact sounds being made (first by him, then by the gulls, then by the creaking door).

* {{Narm}}: In the first ''Shadow Hearts'', Sea Mother is telling Yuri and Marguerite about Li Li's tragic past, and the scene where her father's corpse shambles out of the shore and into Li Li's room is meant to be horrific. However, the questionable English voice direction makes it unintentionally hilarious instead, with the old woman inexplicably telling them the exact sounds being made (first by him, then by the gulls, then by the creaking door).