Vandal Hearts

There was also a Microsoft Windows version which was released only in Japan and South Korea, with Software renderer and Direct3D Support. The game spawned a sequel, Vandal Hearts II, also for the PlayStation. A prequel, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment was created for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. In 2004, Konami announced a Vandal Hearts game for the Nintendo DS, but it was later cancelled.

• Developer — PlayStation Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo Sega Saturn Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya Windows Konami Computer Games Aoyama System Sacom • Publisher — Konami • Artist — Hiroshi Kyomasu • Writer — Nobuya Nakazato • Composer — Hiroshi Tamawari Miki Higashino Kosuke Soeda Masahiro Yamauchi • Platforms — PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows • Released — PlayStation Sega SaturnNovember 27, 1997Microsoft Windows • Genre — Tactical role-playing • Modes — Single-player

The descendants of Toroah the Messiah established the Holy Ashah Dynasty on Sostegaria, ruling through religion and military power. Arris the Sage led a rebellion, overthrowing the dynasty and forming the Republic of Ishtaria. The new republic faces challenges from corrupt officials. Ash Lambert and his allies uncover a conspiracy involving General Magnus Dunbar and a magical stone. They confront Magnus and battle corrupt forces. Magnus reveals the stone's power and a plot against the government. Ash's group liberates Magnus and others, leading to confrontations with the Crimson Guard. The story escalates with Emperor Hel's rise to power and Dolf's coup attempt. Ash acquires the Vandal Heart sword and faces internal struggles. The party fights against Hel and Dolf, ultimately extinguishing the Flames of Judgment and Ash disappears. The empire collapses without its leaders. Eleni starts a journal as the party members pursue individual paths. Dolan aids in rebuilding Ishtaria, while Kira embarks on self-discovery. Clint leads the DSF, Diego returns to his family business, and the others find their own endeavors. Eventually, Ash returns.

Gameplay is carried out through an isometric viewpoint. Battles are carried out on a series of grid maps, which include cells not accessible like water, trees and buildings. Although the environment is three dimensional with a perspective that can be rotated by the player, the characters are two dimensional sprites. A character's movement allowance for a turn can be used all at once or split, between two or more movements. Turns are on a side-by-side basis; the player moves all of their characters before the AI is allowed to take its turn. Most stages are completed by killing all the enemy characters. Other stages have different victory conditions, such as killing one particular enemy character, moving characters to a specific location on the map, or killing certain enemies while saving others. In every battle, the death of the party leader results in an immediate loss. Losing other characters in the party causes the loss of gold. The character is gone from the current stage and can return in the next stage. On stages that include rescuing other characters, the death of these characters also results in a loss.

A variety of characters join the battle party throughout the course of the game. Every character fits into one of seven character classes: Swordsman, Armor, Archer, Hawknight, Monk, Mage, and Cleric. The strengths of each class are determined through a hierarchy similar to the hand game Rock, Paper, Scissors (and Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, another tactical role-playing game released in 1996): melee fighters (such as Swordsmen and Armors) are most effective when fighting against Archers. Archers are most effective when fighting against airborne characters such as Hawknights. Hawknights are most effective when fighting against Swordsmen. The other three classes are magic-users: the Monk pairs healing magic with average physical strength, where the Mage specializes in attack magic, and the Cleric specializes in healing magic. In addition, Mages are also most effective against Armor. Most magic-using classes have weak defensive capabilities when compared to other classes in the game and most attacking magic spells are stronger against heavily armored opponents.

Vandal Hearts was released in Japan in 1996, and localized to North America and Europe in early 1997. A Saturn conversion was released in Japan in 1997, and included a new rendered opening sequence, animated cutscenes, multiple endings, additional playable characters, and new weapons and spells.