I didn't get into Shadow Hearts till a bit after the second game came out, so I didn't get why wenlet was all WHYYYYY DID THEY TAKE THE BAD ENDING AS CANOOOOOOON and then eventually I played it, and I sobbed at that too. My roommate kept a save right before Yuri's pivotal choice in SH2 so we could see both endings, and ... I think I will choose for the "good" ending forever more. :|

And I DID play From the New World, and I dunno, I liked it! I know there were people who weren't terribly interested -- and granted, I didn't like Shania half as much as I liked Yuri -- but I found it fun. It's got a much-brighter colorscheme than the first two (Johnny himself is all bright colors), but it's got bizarre whacked-out history, crazy things going on with Malice, a Valentine party member, a dollhouse sidequest, and a harmonixer. It was pretty fun, I think. XD