2019
After thoroughly enjoying the excellent Chants of Sennaar, I was sure this game would be straight up my alley, but unfortunately that didn’t end up being the case.
While both games involve deciphering foreign languages by adding meanings to glyphs through context, those mechanics play a different role in both games. Chants of Sennaar revolves around this mechanic, in Heaven’s Vault it is presented as the main mechanic but in fact it is merely optional - a way to infer more context and lore around the history of its setting. Of course, that is not a bad thing - but if you’re looking for more glyph-sleuthing like me, you might end up disappointed.
Instead, Heaven’s Vault feels more like a point-and-click adventure. You progress by talking to characters and by searching every nook and cranny for artifacts that will lead you to new places with even more artifacts. These artifacts are usually “invisible”, meaning you don’t see them in the game world or in Aliya’s hands when she finds them (they are conveyed simply as a thing you can interact with by pressing the action button), but Aliya will automatically decipher what period and historical site it belongs to, and they sometimes come with a little glyph puzzle. When you have correctly guessed the meaning of a word in two different situations, that translation will be considered accurate and added to your dictionary.
Finding out the meanings of the glyphs, adding more vocabulary, and then going back to the phrases I found previously and seeing how they finally start to make sense, was for me the high point of the game. That’s why I was disappointed that unraveling the Ancients’ language was not a key factor in progressing the story.
That’s clearly a deliberate choice by developer Inkle, because the game is designed in a way that you can completely miss lots of dialogue, meeting characters and even entire locations if you skip over a lot of artifacts or constantly incorrectly guess the meaning of glyphs. Making the glyph translation mandatory for progression would mean certain players could get locked out of progression and completion of the game.
The gameplay that remains, was simply not engaging enough for me. I was constantly fighting the camera and did not feel in control of Aliya as she constantly moved around on her own, sometimes even locking me out of areas that I wasn’t done exploring. I played this on Nintendo Switch and I really regret it - the constant stuttering was driving me insane and the game even crashed twice (luckily the autosave is good). Audio kept cutting out as well though that problem doesn’t seem to be limited to the Switch. All of these technical and control issues make a game revolved around exploring very tough to enjoy.
The story and writing however, did not disappoint. It’s almost a shame how the tedious gameplay kept overshadowing the best parts of the game.
I feel like I would have appreciated this game more if it was presented as a traditional 2D point and click adventure. I still commend Inkle for making a game that is so rich in dialogue and branching paths and the language of the Ancients is incredibly clever and worth piecing together. Good faith to them!
While both games involve deciphering foreign languages by adding meanings to glyphs through context, those mechanics play a different role in both games. Chants of Sennaar revolves around this mechanic, in Heaven’s Vault it is presented as the main mechanic but in fact it is merely optional - a way to infer more context and lore around the history of its setting. Of course, that is not a bad thing - but if you’re looking for more glyph-sleuthing like me, you might end up disappointed.
Instead, Heaven’s Vault feels more like a point-and-click adventure. You progress by talking to characters and by searching every nook and cranny for artifacts that will lead you to new places with even more artifacts. These artifacts are usually “invisible”, meaning you don’t see them in the game world or in Aliya’s hands when she finds them (they are conveyed simply as a thing you can interact with by pressing the action button), but Aliya will automatically decipher what period and historical site it belongs to, and they sometimes come with a little glyph puzzle. When you have correctly guessed the meaning of a word in two different situations, that translation will be considered accurate and added to your dictionary.
Finding out the meanings of the glyphs, adding more vocabulary, and then going back to the phrases I found previously and seeing how they finally start to make sense, was for me the high point of the game. That’s why I was disappointed that unraveling the Ancients’ language was not a key factor in progressing the story.
That’s clearly a deliberate choice by developer Inkle, because the game is designed in a way that you can completely miss lots of dialogue, meeting characters and even entire locations if you skip over a lot of artifacts or constantly incorrectly guess the meaning of glyphs. Making the glyph translation mandatory for progression would mean certain players could get locked out of progression and completion of the game.
The gameplay that remains, was simply not engaging enough for me. I was constantly fighting the camera and did not feel in control of Aliya as she constantly moved around on her own, sometimes even locking me out of areas that I wasn’t done exploring. I played this on Nintendo Switch and I really regret it - the constant stuttering was driving me insane and the game even crashed twice (luckily the autosave is good). Audio kept cutting out as well though that problem doesn’t seem to be limited to the Switch. All of these technical and control issues make a game revolved around exploring very tough to enjoy.
The story and writing however, did not disappoint. It’s almost a shame how the tedious gameplay kept overshadowing the best parts of the game.
I feel like I would have appreciated this game more if it was presented as a traditional 2D point and click adventure. I still commend Inkle for making a game that is so rich in dialogue and branching paths and the language of the Ancients is incredibly clever and worth piecing together. Good faith to them!
2022
The way I was cursing at this game would make anyone (including me) question why I still rank Sifu so high, but the way the game rewards players’ persistence is just masterful. Rarely have I felt so good after beating a game.
2022
I love the first Moss and Moss: Book 2 did not disappoint. The game made some much needed gameplay improvements but most of all I enjoyed just being present in tiny Quill’s world again.
2022
There’s no describing the magical feeling I got when I dug out a notebook and started drawing maps and cryptic symbols because I felt like I was at the cusp of discovering something new in this game.
2022
Having never watched Rick & Morty, I was unsure how I would end up liking High on Life, but I really enjoyed it and laughed out loud more than once. I even watched a whole movie in it. The gameplay was surprisingly good as well!
2022
Lil Gator Game delivers on a mini-BotW adventure in just a few hours and manages to tell a great story that resonated with me deeply. A must play cozy game.
2017
Surprisingly good story and writing. One of the best open world games I’ve played, but stealth and human combat was disappointing.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 presents a world that may be less imaginative in design than its predecessors, but more than makes up for it with superb gameplay, a gripping story and captivating characters. The player may not walk on living giants, but the more intimate storytelling still makes Aionios come alive. In the end it doesn't matter that the world sometimes feels overwhelmingly grand. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 seems infinite in a positive sense, and I have not been bored for a moment in seventy hours. Truly a standout JRPG.
2022
I unironically, absolutely loved my timed with Saints Row. I experienced a few bugs, and had to maybe restart the game about 5 times total but it was all painless thanks to quick loading times. Thankfully no save file fuckery, missions that won't start or crash to dashboard etc. so I consider myself lucky.
Honestly this game is going to be contender for GOTY for me. It’s been a long time since I played a game that I just wanted to come back to everytime I was at work or not at home. The side missions are just so much fun and I never get tired of blowing shit up, or seeing cars fly through the air because of glitchy NPCs. I know "the bugs make it better!" sounds like a really bad take but sometimes, they really do. Getting hit by the car door will never stop being tunny to me for example.
I also can't really understand the complaints about horrible characters/writing. The Dustmoot LARP quests had me in stitches and the game has plenty of funny quips that didn't sound overly hip to me. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Kev, Neenah, Eli and the Boss and thought they were all likeable. The characters could've been fleshed out a bit more though.
Honestly, some of the super harsh criticism feels undeserved. I went into the game with zero expectations and had a blast.
Honestly this game is going to be contender for GOTY for me. It’s been a long time since I played a game that I just wanted to come back to everytime I was at work or not at home. The side missions are just so much fun and I never get tired of blowing shit up, or seeing cars fly through the air because of glitchy NPCs. I know "the bugs make it better!" sounds like a really bad take but sometimes, they really do. Getting hit by the car door will never stop being tunny to me for example.
I also can't really understand the complaints about horrible characters/writing. The Dustmoot LARP quests had me in stitches and the game has plenty of funny quips that didn't sound overly hip to me. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Kev, Neenah, Eli and the Boss and thought they were all likeable. The characters could've been fleshed out a bit more though.
Honestly, some of the super harsh criticism feels undeserved. I went into the game with zero expectations and had a blast.