I was testing Netflix games on my iPad, deciding whether to keep them or delete them. This succeeded the bare minimum, I ended up completing it and have a fairly positive opinion about it. I stayed for the art, music, the touch screen gameplay that works well enough and curious to see how the story would end. I found out that it’s a very short game, that was the push to keep going. Later on I noticed the historical setting and how the facts menu is based on things that happened during World War One. Or it looks that way at least. So if you want to learn some general history in small doses while playing casual gameplay, then it’s decent enough.

However, don’t expect any deep gameplay to get into. Often times you go from A to B, you’re asked to find an item and bring it to the NPC that is right next to you. There are some flying and music sections but the gameplay is even simpler and there is little variation. They are there to remind you that you’re still playing a game. The story also focuses on racism against the black community. It’s not merely about war which is what I expected from Valiant Hearts games. I’ve seen a lot of content about racism in my lifetime, so this feels a bit preachy even if it’s well presented. I ended up caring about the characters and ending.

If you go with the right expectations, then you can have a good time. I’m glad to have played it through Netflix for being a decent enough version, and not having to pay money for a game that I don’t care much about. Still it was nice enough to experience without taking too much time (there is no timer but it felt like 2-3 hours with little replay value). Now I know what to expect from Valiant Hearts games generally.