I, personally, could not stand Koudelka because the controls were so awful. I felt like I was driving a bad marionette. And the combat system was irksome. I never bothered finishing it. I liked the art, liked the story, and I can understand that the ex-Square staffers who designed and wrote the game expected higher quality programmers that they didn't get at the new company.

I did like Shadow Hearts. It still had that Lovecraftian undervibe. The only things I missed, well one I missed because I had to reload and then forgot to grab an item, so I missed Yuri's final ultimate form; I also missed out on a limited opportunity side dungeon. However, as Lovecraft-pulp as Shadow Hearts was, SH2: Covenant was much lighter and goofier and jokey. To its detriment, I must add.