the opening alone was such a shock to the system when I was a kid, the setting, the music and the skill-based combat set in a turn-based game, I haven't seen a game since try to do something like the judgment wheel, it gave you the perfect amount of risk to reward, and mastering the timing on your abilities meant that if a battle got under your skin you could miss time your inputs.
the setting itself is another I haven't seen done as well in RPGs, and while it is horror, the narrative balances it well with brevity, alongside a genuinely enthralling story with some absolutely amazing cutscenes.
Shadow hearts as well as its predecessor koudelka need to be made available to everyone, this classic RPG needs to live again.