Guest Post: Fatal Hearts Review
Note: This isn't a review site, though I give my opinion often enough. However, in this case, game journalist, blogger, and good friend JanaLee Stocks (AKA JenaRey) had something a little more playful in mind in addition to her "official" review for the mainstream gaming sites. So - I'm turning over the microphone to her to talk a little bit about Fatal Hearts, the latest game from Hanako Games (of Cute Knight fame).

Fatal Hearts Review

I blame, Jay. No, seriously…it's all his fault. If it wasn't for him I likely never would have found Fatal Hearts, and thus my life would still be my own instead of feverishly clicking on the next dialogue because I simply MUST know what happens this time. My house is a mess but I can't take the time to clean it. Will I find out who is the mysterious stranger in my dreams? Will I join the Wolfriemen? Will I die in my sleep? *whimper*

It's all Jay's fault.

Okay, so maybe it's not Jay's fault, but it's definitely Georgina's who is the chief cook and bottlewasher when it comes to the game Fatal Hearts. It's a clever piece that's a cross between a typical adventure game and a wonderfully written choose your own adventure book. Like most adventure games there are sections where there's stuff to click on (though no pixel hunting, thankfully) and clues to find all combined with a variety of puzzles and plenty of NPC interaction.

The game tells the story of pretty fifteen and a half year old Christina who is having funky dreams (pretty boy mysterious strangers, hubba hubba!) and finds herself in the center of a supernatural drama and only four chapters to decide who will live and who will die, herself included. As Christina you have the opportunity to make choices all through out the game that will take the story in different directions. Do you get into the car with a strange boy? Do you tell the police what you saw in the forest? Do you lie to your mother? This one was strangely difficult to click on. I think I've been so thoroughly brainwashed by my own mother to never lie to her, so it was a hard choice even in a game. The dialogue and action trees are so perfect for a typical teenager that I found myself regressing about fifteen years. There was squealing even…I'm not proud, but there you have it. Even small things - like a discussion about what you want to be when you grow up - can have a significant impact on where you end the game (at any of its 14 end points).

The puzzles in the game are hugely fun and get more complex every time you come across them. I adore the number of different types of puzzles that are represented because they keep me from getting bored. Even better is the fact there's a strategy guide that comes with the game which features cheat codes. I love a good puzzle, but there are some that just don't have as much appeal for me. Like driving Jeremy's car, which connects with a spasmodic part of my brain and all I can do is run into buildings and die. Over and over and over… after about fifteen minutes of frustration it was nice to be able to use the code to skip over that puzzle. It was the only one I skipped without having finished it at least once. Some of the others I skipped on the fourth or fifth iteration because I'd already beaten them and knew they took forever and I wanted to get back to the story. Sue me.

Maybe the very best part of this game was the fact it sucked in my mother. I'm not revealing her age, but neither of us are fifteen anymore. She'd come for a visit to help me assemble wedding invitations and saw what looked like a Sudoku puzzle on the screen. And we have a conversation that goes like this:

Her: "What's that?"

Me: "Just this game I'm reviewing."

Her: "It looks like sudoku."

Me: "This puzzle is."

Her: "The bottom row is wrong."

Me: "No it's not."

Her: "Is so. If you do it that way then these other two boxes don't work."

Me: "…"

Her: "Can you start the puzzle over again?"

Me: "Yep."

Her: "Good…put the one that looks like a devil guy right there…"

So we work the puzzle together and she gets sucked into the story too. We finish that ending.

Her: "That was a stupid ending! I don't want to be the vampire bride. It says ending 04 of 14. Start the game again!"

On the second time through she makes the choices for Christina. Right up until she has to go visit my sister and the sick grandkids. Mom doesn't want to leave because she wants to know how it ends, but she must. So she calls me a couple of hours later, demanding to know in detail what happened.

I think Mom's getting an early mother's day present.

So there it is. Excellent game. Low learning curve. Romance, action, supernatural critters, death, sacrifice, malls… who could ask for more?

Now all of you nice people go away and buy your own copies. Christina has just made chocolate chip cookies for the seventh time and I'm hungry.

Obligatory Numeric Scores:
Puzzle variety: 9
Teenage girl regression: 10
Hunky mysterious strangers: 10
Dramatic Supernatural Story: 10
Stupid Jeremy's car: -2
Times I'm going to play this game: 14+


Fatal Hearts is available from RampantGames.com

Jana's gaming blog is Eeps, Meeps, and Ipes. Besides being fully in touch with her inner fifteen-year-old, she also seems to have a thing for the hyperkinetic rabbity-thing in the Sam & Max adventures, and pretending to be a rock diva in Rock Band and Guitar Hero.


(Vaguely) related... stuff
* Aveyond 2 and Fatal Hearts
* Cute Knight Deluxe Available From Rampant Games
* The Power of Text in Gaming

Labels: Adventure Games

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