Heaven's Vault

A beautifully crafted language, but lacking the vocal part. A deeply flawed game with a great story, almost good execution of the core concept (more on that below), but strongly enjoyable. Try it! The bad: - (space) navigation locks you down in ways that probably seemed logical to the developers and becomes boring fast - dialog tonal shift seems inconsistent and some NPC reactions are mistifying - single forced save prevent exploration of alternatives without replaying the whole - huge parts of the game can be skipped... while the player gets hints, most will come a posteriori through dialog that should have been flagged out because you did not experience those events! - inconsistent dialog flags: secrets you hold (crown, empress...) are apparently undetermined quantum states - you will see... it breaks the immersion and decisions you made - the end game feels rushed, leaves proper closure to your imagination - little emphasis is made on the decision you took and their impact (that can be genocidal!) - the language engine has some flaws: some words are guessed seemingly arbitrarily, the system will force you to built structure you may know well are incorrect until it offers you the possibility to do it right, no dictionnary - also, you will realise the language is modifier driven, but the game does not allow you to work on that, proposing guesses going against the modifiers, not allowing you to record the modifiers roles... - obscure conditions to reach some obscure outcomes, one wrong dialog choice and the opportunity is missed for this playthrough - irritating repeating dialog and load time - loose ends the good: - non linear game structure allow you to make up your own mind (e.g. not wanting to be used by your teacher) and postponing major events until they don't matter - excellent story - excellent world-building both present and past that would have benefitted from more NPC with agenda - new game + with +complex fragments and more info - complex characters

Heaven's Vault is a gem of a game, while not perfect if you're interested in linguistic puzzles and archaeology you are in for a treat. It supports multiple playthroughs and while the story and everything resets, your character's knowledge of an ancient languages does not enabling you to progress farther in your research and perhaps unearth new connections or information that may open a new path for your journey. (I want to note for folks that while GoG has labeled this a "point and click" style adventure, it is not that style. It controls more like a 3D action/adventure using a controller or WASD keys with mouse look.)

I adore this game. Heaven's Vault is a true new experience in gaming. I've never played a game like this, and I can't stop thinking about Aliya and Six, her robot companion. Their relationship is one of a kind and I was truly upset to come to the end of my first playthrough; I missed them both and had to sit down to start a second playthrough. I've read some comments from other gamers that Aliya is unpleasant, but I didn't take her that way at all. Aliya is prickly and changeable, but by guiding your choices of dialogue you can either give her more bite or make her a more caring person. As the player, it's up to you. Six is funny and sarcastic, but concerned about her. His comments as she blunders into one dangerous situation after another are pricelss. The story is unique. A vast history unfolds as you sail the rivers of the Nebula, and every minutes brings new discoveries for Aliya and new worries for Six. I often read walkthroughs if I get stuck, but this game unfolds before you like a driving down a long winding road. You flow along with it and find the quiet thrills of an all encompassing story. Don't miss it.

After a certain point, the game becomes too much to deal with. Traveling is repetitive, unskippable, and slow. Moving on the ground is not much better. Talking is slow, exploring is slow, decyphering texts is clunky. At first, this pace was atmospheric, but later it just dull. The game can not choose between telling a story or allowing you to forge one.