Heart of the House 12+

I don’t even know where to start. It’s a long, powerful, gripping journey where moral questions I never considered gripped me. I haven’t felt so attached to characters in a long time and the length of the story let the grow so well and become powerful and striking people. The story is nothing short of astounding. A tale and a concept I have never seen done and it was done so well that it was made to feel familiar in its approach. The ideas and the universe are so novel and new and exciting that it can seem overwhelming considering them but the story explains and paces it so well that it feels organic, smooth and almost caring. It doesn’t hold your hand but it doesn’t leave you high and dry in jargon or theory.

What I found the most important and for me powerful element is that the story, centered around one relatively inconsequential question creates the entire plot, an entire discourse on ethics, morality, power and even life and asks some powerful question in the story and then answers them. Or better yet let’s you answer it yourself.

It is truly hard to describe the elation I had at this story and just how much it moves me without spoiling it so I will wrap up here with this. I laughed and cried with the characters. I walked and ran with them and I danced and wondered with them. I was there and that is not something I can say about a lot of stories.

Oh this is such a fun game! And I loved every character they were all sweet and 3 dimensional. They really do make you want to save everyone, especially Loren, such a sweetheart. The story was great as well, by the end, I felt like I’d just starred in my own gothic romantic adventure. I got the friendship ending where I saved everyone but didn’t date and I feel like my heart grew three sizes, it was so heartwarming.

If I did have any feedback though, I would love the option to be of another race. Being non-white, it felt a little odd to be compared to Dev and Bastian as if I were white(such as the scene where you have to chose whether to go to town or send Dev, and it says something like “they might not take to well to him bc of his skin”. I remember bc I thought “😬 well they’d hate me then” lol).

Speaking of, I really appreciated the attention put into identities in this game, in race, sexuality, and gender identity (there was even a poly option???). It was put in seamlessly, but it still felt like they weren’t just cosmetic identities. I loved it. Games should really follow this game’s example when it comes to diversity.

This story was beautiful and I was attached to all of the characters by the end. You can tell how much care and craft went into it. I am so attached to the characters I would even love to play a sequel! I really felt their pain and was so worried when I thought they’d get hurt.

I also enjoyed the diversity and especially Loren being nonbinary and the option to be trans. It felt a little bit unrealistic (it would have been great if there was binding in the story etc but it’s not necessary) but the story was fantasy so it was not difficult to suspend disbelief.

The one complaint I have is that the romance all seemed very hurried. I wasn’t sure who to choose that quickly and was unsure if denying their advances at first would make them no longer romance-able. It was also frustrating because the choices all seemed to happen at very inconvenient times and so I would put off showing interest in them until a more convenient time but then they’d no longer be available.

Spoilers:
I was actually very sad when Dev and Loren got together. I love them both so much and I’m glad they found each other but I would loved to have been able to romance them both (that may have been an option but it wasn’t in my ending) or at least be able to choose one of them later in the story. Regardless, I’m so thankful I was able to get them their happy ending.