Underwhelming; the translation mechanic is a neat idea, but it never felt like I was figuring things out...it felt like I was trying to stumble into Aliya figuring it out for herself. The traversal (both on the ground and between moons) is clunky and frustrating, and the way the story comes together is extremely unsatisfying. It has neat ideas and moments that I really liked, but it stumbled at every other moment.
I've read that it comes together on New Game+, and I started a run, but the issues I had with the mechanics kept me from wanting to go much further.
I've read that it comes together on New Game+, and I started a run, but the issues I had with the mechanics kept me from wanting to go much further.
A game about wandering through the bones of half forgotten old worlds. The worlds are deeply thought through, carefully written, and it teaches you a fictional language along the way. There is a bit of a pacing dip near the middle but persevere and you will be rewarded with a rich and memorable journey.
I found Heaven's Vault to be tedious and undirected at best and frustrating at worst. I wasn't invested enough in the characters, story, or world to overcome the gameplay and puzzle mechanics.
Heaven's Vault looks good, but the character animation is purposely not fluid and I don't like it much, though it is unique. The actual art is well done and areas are pretty with quite a bit of variety.
The linguistic puzzle is the main attraction here, and it didn't really work for me at all. The random nature of the discoveries means that much of what you discover is essentially unimportant. This is fine from a language discovery perspective, but it undermines the game, since it isn't clear what contributes to the story and what doesn't. Additionally, many of the archaeological sites feel strange and pointless to explore, because what you are finding is generic and unconnected. Heaven's Vault would be much stronger if the language discovery was designed with more intention.
The actual act of discovering the language is kind of a cool idea, but in practice it feels more like an exercise in shape matching than information analysis. I didn't really ever have a satisfying moment of discovery, I just tried things until the game said I understood more of the language or was stuck.
Most other interaction in the game is through dialog. These are occasionally interesting, but usually antagonistic or stressful for strange and unclear reasons. The whole tone of the game just feels very bad to me.
There is also tedious and pointless sailing between worlds that feels bad and doesn't add anything to the experience.
This is ostensibly a detective story where you are searching for a missing person while also discovering a dead language. The connection between these two things is tenuous, and this lack of motivation makes the game feel scattered.
The game's tone makes this even worse, since it is hard to understand why we want to help any of the hostile jerks we interact with.
I really didn't have a good time with this game. If you are looking for a game about information discovery, Return of the Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds are far better choices.
Heaven's Vault looks good, but the character animation is purposely not fluid and I don't like it much, though it is unique. The actual art is well done and areas are pretty with quite a bit of variety.
The linguistic puzzle is the main attraction here, and it didn't really work for me at all. The random nature of the discoveries means that much of what you discover is essentially unimportant. This is fine from a language discovery perspective, but it undermines the game, since it isn't clear what contributes to the story and what doesn't. Additionally, many of the archaeological sites feel strange and pointless to explore, because what you are finding is generic and unconnected. Heaven's Vault would be much stronger if the language discovery was designed with more intention.
The actual act of discovering the language is kind of a cool idea, but in practice it feels more like an exercise in shape matching than information analysis. I didn't really ever have a satisfying moment of discovery, I just tried things until the game said I understood more of the language or was stuck.
Most other interaction in the game is through dialog. These are occasionally interesting, but usually antagonistic or stressful for strange and unclear reasons. The whole tone of the game just feels very bad to me.
There is also tedious and pointless sailing between worlds that feels bad and doesn't add anything to the experience.
This is ostensibly a detective story where you are searching for a missing person while also discovering a dead language. The connection between these two things is tenuous, and this lack of motivation makes the game feel scattered.
The game's tone makes this even worse, since it is hard to understand why we want to help any of the hostile jerks we interact with.
I really didn't have a good time with this game. If you are looking for a game about information discovery, Return of the Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds are far better choices.
Rarely is there a game where I'm so excited to explore a new area and find its secrets. The downside is that exploring areas is slow — but often that means you have an extra moment to make sure you're not missing anything. Deciphering the language is extremely fun — you can actually start to make sense of it over time.
Easily one of my all-time top games ever. It's just fantastic and so unexpected! I loved it enough that I actually made a companion web app to go with it, where you can record your own vocabulary! https://heavens-vault-notebook.herokuapp.com/
I want to sell you on Heaven's Vault.
It has a lot of problems: quests are sometimes ill-defined and may bug out, the translation minigame can get old (if you don't have the patience for it), and traversing the world is slow.
With all that said, Heaven's Vault is one of the most impressive games I've ever played. Excavating the overlapping histories of the Nebula is unlike anything I've ever played before. Inkle's world is also realized in an early Islamic (maybe?) style that's refreshingly unique -- I've never seen anything like it. The characters are human and complex, and the ending, while not original, is very well executed.
Tl;dr: Heaven's Vault isn't for everyone. But it's a game I genuinely love, and if you look beyond the surface-level flaws, there's a special, curiosity-driven experience that I can't recommend more.
It has a lot of problems: quests are sometimes ill-defined and may bug out, the translation minigame can get old (if you don't have the patience for it), and traversing the world is slow.
With all that said, Heaven's Vault is one of the most impressive games I've ever played. Excavating the overlapping histories of the Nebula is unlike anything I've ever played before. Inkle's world is also realized in an early Islamic (maybe?) style that's refreshingly unique -- I've never seen anything like it. The characters are human and complex, and the ending, while not original, is very well executed.
Tl;dr: Heaven's Vault isn't for everyone. But it's a game I genuinely love, and if you look beyond the surface-level flaws, there's a special, curiosity-driven experience that I can't recommend more.
Bizarrely stressful game. The mechanics of uncovering history and deciphering languages is inspired. However, all the invisible mechanics made everything really anxiety inducing. Am I befriending the robot or not? What information does his master have that I needed to keep secret? I don't mind not knowing what my actions do so much but I do care that I can't tell what is and isn't an important decision or not.
The world's history and language are very intriguing to discover and decipher. On the other hand, there's many annoying bugs and design shortcomings that dampen the experience. Worst of these: you can accidentally end the game before coming close to feeling finished, with no way to opt-out or reload a save.
This is one of the most unique games I have ever played, from the world to the gameplay. If you want to immerse yourself completely in this fascinating world, you will absolutely be rewarded for it.
// taken from my Steam review
// taken from my Steam review
Heaven's Vault's high-points soar. These moments largely revolve around the quiet wonder involved in piecing together the past of the Nebula, in finding some old item or deciphering some piece of text, gaining some understanding of how things were. As someone who is not into archaeology this game is very good at letting you into that world and letting you understand the appeal, and much of the game is chasing these moments of revelation, however large or small. The translation mechanic is kind of perfect in this context for how it lets you see through Aliya's eyes, lets you directly engage with both seeking understanding whilst also still having a curtain of mystery shrouding things, doubt surrounding the discoveries you make.
I loved both how the game felt like it gave me a large amount of agency with the decisions I wanted to make, these decisions that have very tangible effects on the world you're in and people you encounter, and also with how nonlinear the game is at points. Both this, and the potential for different possible translations to warp your perspective on the past, give you the feeling that the experience you're having is a fairly unique one from what other players might be going through. In addition to all of this the lore of the game, and some of the implications of occurrences late into it, is fascinating, and I love the art-style used for the characters and how it emphasises this feeling of transience, that you too shall become a piece of the past.
Despite all of this there are various mechanical issues with the game for me that are almost certainly going to prevent me from engaging with New Game+ (as interesting as the game manages to make that concept). Chiefly, the sailing sections that are initially beautiful soon become tedious and very repetitive later in the game as they grow in length whilst you hunt new sites to explore. I was also very frustrated with the two characters you can trade items to for information who will only do one or two things for you per visit before you have to leave the moon and then return to initiate another exchange; at its worst the game can devolve into a bunch of busywork, and these trade sequences are a particularly grating example of this.
All the other flaws are much more minor things that still nudged me out of the experience periodically; there's some awkward sequencing with dialogue that will crop up sometimes either as a bug or due to the game struggling a bit with its nonlinear nature, some of the dialogue in any individual conversation can end up coming to you in a non-sensical sequence depending on choices you make of what to say, the controls and display both become pretty unpleasant during particularly long translations, action indicators disappearing when you're talking with Six makes it hard to ever actually walk-and-talk at the same time in case you miss something you can do. I could probably continue this list for a little bit longer of things that just make the experience feel unpolished.
I never thought I would get so invested in a game about archaeology though, and there are some wonderous moments when the game hits its stride so I will still remember the game largely-fondly even if I can't imagine ever returning to it.
I loved both how the game felt like it gave me a large amount of agency with the decisions I wanted to make, these decisions that have very tangible effects on the world you're in and people you encounter, and also with how nonlinear the game is at points. Both this, and the potential for different possible translations to warp your perspective on the past, give you the feeling that the experience you're having is a fairly unique one from what other players might be going through. In addition to all of this the lore of the game, and some of the implications of occurrences late into it, is fascinating, and I love the art-style used for the characters and how it emphasises this feeling of transience, that you too shall become a piece of the past.
Despite all of this there are various mechanical issues with the game for me that are almost certainly going to prevent me from engaging with New Game+ (as interesting as the game manages to make that concept). Chiefly, the sailing sections that are initially beautiful soon become tedious and very repetitive later in the game as they grow in length whilst you hunt new sites to explore. I was also very frustrated with the two characters you can trade items to for information who will only do one or two things for you per visit before you have to leave the moon and then return to initiate another exchange; at its worst the game can devolve into a bunch of busywork, and these trade sequences are a particularly grating example of this.
All the other flaws are much more minor things that still nudged me out of the experience periodically; there's some awkward sequencing with dialogue that will crop up sometimes either as a bug or due to the game struggling a bit with its nonlinear nature, some of the dialogue in any individual conversation can end up coming to you in a non-sensical sequence depending on choices you make of what to say, the controls and display both become pretty unpleasant during particularly long translations, action indicators disappearing when you're talking with Six makes it hard to ever actually walk-and-talk at the same time in case you miss something you can do. I could probably continue this list for a little bit longer of things that just make the experience feel unpolished.
I never thought I would get so invested in a game about archaeology though, and there are some wonderous moments when the game hits its stride so I will still remember the game largely-fondly even if I can't imagine ever returning to it.
shh secret masterpiece
The translation was engaging, as was the story. I found the traversal frustrating, and sometimes it was unclear when a decision you'd make would be permanent and lock you out of a choice.
this game is beautiful and the translation mechanic is really fun.
but god, the robot just never stops asking to stop exploring and go back into the ship. let me die in peace
but god, the robot just never stops asking to stop exploring and go back into the ship. let me die in peace
Really enjoy the translation mechanic and world design, but traversing the world is such a pain that I don't feel like going back for a 'better' ending. Especially when NG+ resets the map...
I blame this game for me studying linguistics and anthropology
An incredible setting, fun sailing, amazingly compelling translation mechanic, and mystifyingly bug-filled experience
This game was specifically designed for me to like it. I loved puzzling out the ancient inscriptions, uncovering the history of the Nebula, and meeting the whole rogue's gallery of characters. What's more, it's rare that a game comes up with a diagetic New Game+ that is as interesting as as this one. I'm looking forward to playing even more.
The game has a lot of good elements, from the core deciphering mechanic and the dialogue system, to great art direction and sound. And yet, I found myself growing tired of constant back-and-forth between locations and of how most characters come across as rude despite my best counter-coaxing. The narrative itself, while intentionally somewhat fluid, has a few confusing/nonsensical scene triggers and often gets lost beneath a bunch of other interesting but orthogonal lore.
Beautiful ideas in this clunky, buggy game. I got too frustrated with how rough it is.
THE best narrative game I have ever played. Inkle's Heaven's Vault is a refreshing take on a graphic/point & click adventure. Instead of a linear story in between slow click+combine puzzles, HV has a sprawling story with so much player freedom and interaction, no tedious slow downs or confusions, and an incredible puzzle mechanic about translating an ancient language that feeds into the mysteries of the storylines.
While everyone arounds you wants to uncover the worlds' secrets to their personal and political needs, the protagonist just desires to satisfy her unending curiosity for the past, without letting it consume her gaze towards the present.
The mechanics too support her views: the stages have lots of optional collectibles and interactions, as characters you can sell your findings to, to gather yet more knowledge in return.
And the sole reward for all this eagerness is being one step closer from understanding the next word of this ancient language. Being one step closer of gaining insight of the past through barely 5 word fragments which have survived the millenia. Being one step closer to trivial knowledge such as epitaphs or engravings in good luck charms.
And to me, this was all the reward I needed.
The mechanics too support her views: the stages have lots of optional collectibles and interactions, as characters you can sell your findings to, to gather yet more knowledge in return.
And the sole reward for all this eagerness is being one step closer from understanding the next word of this ancient language. Being one step closer of gaining insight of the past through barely 5 word fragments which have survived the millenia. Being one step closer to trivial knowledge such as epitaphs or engravings in good luck charms.
And to me, this was all the reward I needed.