Man, the only Hearts character that I think doesn't look like a complete disaster of a design, and this first thing you say is you don't like her look!
It looks better in official concept art etc. than it does in the game proper, but even then, I just don't think an 18-year-old should look 12 unless it's, like, really important to their character or something.
Xiahou Shake posted...
Hearts is such a weird game that I actually forget it exists a lot of the time. The chasm of production value between it and the rest of the series coupled with the really rough localization and (at least for me personally) the control issues playing on Vita TV make for such an unfortunate combo. If it ever did somehow get a re-release on modern consoles with a dub and at least a somewhat polished localization I'd probably be reasonably psyched to replay it, because there is a lot of fun to be had in there underneath all the... rest.
I think of Hearts in much the same way I think of Symphonia with modern eyes. Perfectly solid as a total package but very, very rough in multiple ways, and it obviously doesn't have the nostalgic cache to buoy it.
Anyway, sorry for this next writeup looking more like a redacted government document than probably any other one has, but it's tough to talk about this guy without getting way into spoilers.
#9 - Raven (Vesperia) Schwanns buried in the depths of Baction, aint he? The guy standin in front of ya is Raven, just a simple old man.
Ive been critical of some characters that lean heavily on some shtick on this ranking, so having the guy who has maybe 80% of his screen time revolving around him being a perverted old man this high up might be a bit of a head-scratcher.
But damned if that other 20% isnt just awesome.
The interplay between Ravens two identities fascinates me. He himself even seems convinced theyre legitimately two different people, which is odd because, to an objective observer, theyre not really all that dissimilar. The impressive combat prowess, the unshakable selflessness, the wry intelligence, the determination to keep moving forward even when all seems against you. All things considered, hes not even as much of a lech as he tries to pretend - hell certainly do more than his fair share of flirting, but at the end of the day, hell nudge those women who are actually interested in him in another direction.
The only real difference between the two, apart from their weapon of choice, is their attachment to life. Schwann wouldve been perfectly content to die alongside his love in the Great War, but Alexei robbed him of that chance. And then, he accidentally does him a favor. The identity of Raven starts as an assignment but quickly becomes an escape. The easygoing, charismatic, free-spirited guild member has the luxury of walking through life with a smile that the steadfast Imperial Knight never did. Don Whitehorse immediately sniffing out his true purpose and allowing him to stick around anyway is the turning point in Ravens life, which is probably why he treats the Don with a reverence beyond even Karols hero worship.
But his sense of duty keeps him tethered to Alexei, and with Whitehorses death destroying the equivalent connection to Altosk and the other guilds, whatever lease on life hed gained through his alter-ego seemingly vanishes as well. He walks into Baction after kidnapping Estelle fully intending to finally die for good, only for Brave Vesperia to pull that troublesome Raven out of him again.
Schwanns burial and Alexeis subsequent demise eliminates that tether as well, making Raven a truly free man for the first time in a long time. His sorrowful willingness to die at Yuris hands isnt the broken resignation of the death-seeking Schwann, its the regretful apology of the kindhearted Raven who simply didnt see another way out before. And when he finds his life once again spared, we finally get to see the complete picture of the man: a fiercely loyal ally who will fight with all he is in service of what he believes in, both to atone for his past mistakes and to show his gratitude to those who gave him that chance in the first place. It took the soldiers death to allow Raven to really embrace himself and become the true knight he always couldve been. Thats who he was deep down all along.
I absolutely love his design, too. The deep purple that dominates his outfit is kind of an underutilized color in Tales (and some of the characters that use it look terrible otherwise, coughJaycough) that looks super clean and sleek, giving him a casual but refined air that fits him perfectly once his double life is revealed. Hes great in combat, too - one of the better jack-of-all-trades characters in the series, even if playing as him sometimes feels like a trudge through a swamp. Love Shot in particular is a fantastic healing arte and some of his late game spells have a lot of utility. He can play several different roles in any situation, so he always ends up near the top of my usage chart in Vesperia playthroughs unless Im actively trying not to use him for the sake of variety.
This is another one of those characters I could probably talk about for a good deal longer because he has so many little moments that make him great, but thats pretty much the essence of why he ended up this high. Great character.
TL;DR: Tremendously likable character from beginning to end as the layers peel back on him more and more, and hes great for gameplay as well. The dichotomy of his two identities is one of the more interesting backstories in the series when alls said and done. The guys popular for a reason, in-universe and out.