Heaven's Vault

A totally unique odyssey that immediately envelops the player in a richly detailed universe ripe with intriguing lore and some of the finest storytelling on PS4, Heaven's Vault is an essential odyssey for all to embark upon.

86%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, stability

86% User Score Based on 1,833 reviews

Critic Score 75%Based on 24 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $4.10

Buy NowGet on Steam€21.99

About

"Heaven's Vault" is an archaeological adventure game that follows Ali, a robot archaeologist, as she explores a mysterious network of ancient ruins, deciphering a lost language and uncovering secrets of the past. Players will solve puzzles, make choices that affect the story, and delve deeper into the rich history and lore of this ancient civilization. With a unique narrative-driven experience, "Heaven's Vault" offers a compelling and immersive journey through space and time.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+17

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,833 reviews

story518 positive mentions

grinding109 negative mentions

Unique and engaging language translation mechanic that allows players to decipher an ancient language and uncover the history of the world.
Beautiful art style and atmospheric soundtrack that enhance the immersive experience.
Compelling story with rich world-building and interesting characters that encourage exploration and replayability.

Slow pacing and movement can make the gameplay feel tedious, with long sailing sequences and unskippable dialogue.
Limited save options and the inability to revisit locations can lead to frustration if players miss important content.
Some characters are unlikable, and the dialogue choices can sometimes lead to unexpected or unsatisfactory outcomes.

story
1,439 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
63%
1%
The story of *Heaven's Vault* is widely praised for its depth, complexity, and engaging narrative structure, which allows for significant player choice and branching paths. Players appreciate the unique mechanics of deciphering an ancient language as a means to uncover the story, enhancing the sense of discovery and immersion. However, some critiques highlight issues with pacing, clunky gameplay mechanics, and a lack of clarity in how choices impact the narrative, leading to frustrations in fully experiencing the story on a single playthrough. Overall, it is recommended for those who enjoy rich storytelling and exploration, despite its slower pace and occasional gameplay drawbacks.
- “The story is captivating, the characters are interesting, and the world is incredibly well fleshed out, but the actual act of walking/sailing around (which is most of the gameplay outside of translating or dialogue) was incredibly frustrating, as it feels like instead of you controlling the character, you're just kinda giving the AI controlling the character a general direction to travel and it decides if it wants to go that way or a completely different one.”
- “The story is rich and diverse and I played the game start to finish in a total of 46 hours in less than a week.”
- “The story is so gripping, I couldn't stop playing it.”
- “While the exploration and story have potential, the game is bogged down by filler dialogue, unintuitive navigation, and shallow mechanics.”
- “The story unfolds itself randomly, and you are supposed to piece everything together using the timeline.”
- “The story gets in the way of the gameplay.”
gameplay
759 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
67%
7%
The gameplay of "Heaven's Vault" is characterized by its unique translation mechanic, which allows players to decipher an ancient language while exploring a richly crafted world. However, many reviewers note that the overall experience is marred by slow pacing, clunky controls, and tedious travel mechanics, which can detract from the enjoyment of the engaging narrative and linguistic puzzles. While the core gameplay concept is innovative and rewarding for those interested in linguistics, the execution often feels frustrating and underdeveloped, leading to mixed feelings about the overall gameplay experience.
- “The core gameplay revolves around exploring evocative environments and uncovering ancient text passages and artifacts.”
- “The translation mechanic is smooth, satisfying, and fun.”
- “The core gameplay idea is really solid, where you're an archaeologist translating fragments of ancient text, with you trying to put together words from smaller concepts.”
- “From a gameplay perspective, it is a bit unpolished.”
- “While the exploration and story have potential, the game is bogged down by filler dialogue, unintuitive navigation, and shallow mechanics.”
- “The actual gameplay feels quite terrible.”
graphics
324 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
54%
7%
The graphics of the game are a polarizing aspect, with many players appreciating the unique blend of 2D and 3D art styles, which create a distinct and atmospheric aesthetic. However, some critiques highlight issues such as janky animations, repetitive character designs, and a lack of polish that detracts from the overall experience. While the visuals are often described as beautiful and fitting for the game's narrative, they may not appeal to everyone, leading to mixed feelings about their execution.
- “The graphics are beautiful, and the music just divine, especially when you're sailing.”
- “The visuals are stunning in their color, and the soundtrack fitting.”
- “The art style is gorgeous, the billboarded sprites offer a really unique aesthetic!”
- “The art style is fascinatingly terrible.”
- “The graphics are ridiculously bad.”
- “The whole aesthetic and atmosphere this game brings about is quite remarkable considering it is set in space and is about archaeology.”
music
246 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
34%
3%
The music in the game has received widespread praise for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers highlighting its calming and atmospheric qualities. While some noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, the majority found it to be a standout feature that complements the stunning visuals and engaging story. However, a few critiques mentioned instances of missing or poorly timed music, which detracted from the experience in certain areas.
- “The music is heavenly!”
- “The soundtrack is simply amazing!”
- “The music is fantastic.”
- “On a different note, Heaven's Vault's music is deader than death.”
- “The background music is so bad I had to mute it.”
- “The sheer lack of music, background noise, and most sound effects used in video games seem to be mostly absent.”
grinding
114 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
2%
96%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with many players finding the slow-paced navigation and repetitive tasks tedious and frustrating. While some appreciate the opportunity for exploration and character interactions during these segments, the overall consensus is that the sailing and movement mechanics can feel excessively drawn out, detracting from the enjoyment of the story and gameplay. Fast travel options and new game+ modes help alleviate some of the grind, but many still feel that significant portions of the game are bogged down by tedious mechanics.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “It's chill and spiced up with character dialogue, but it's also very on-rails, with little to actually make it worthwhile and not tedious.”
- “A lot of grinding.”
- “The majority of your time is spent tediously navigating your ship down wind rivers from one little bit of story to the next.”
- “Walking around is extremely slow and, most of all, sailing with the ship is excruciatingly tedious, a monumental waste of time and the most egregious example of padding.”
- “The sailing can grow tedious, especially when the river grows to a crawl when you approach an off-chart moon, or when you're returning to a settled moon, but weren't offered the option of fast travel.”
replayability
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
61%
3%
The game boasts significant replayability, with features like a New Game+ mode that allows players to retain knowledge from previous playthroughs, encouraging exploration of different choices and outcomes. Many players report that the branching storylines and the depth of the language system enhance the experience, making each playthrough feel unique and rewarding. Overall, the combination of narrative complexity and the ability to uncover new secrets contributes to its high replay value.
- “An excellent game with a great number of story arcs and a high degree of replayability; in fact, you are encouraged to embark on multiple playthroughs and it's well worth it... for not only is it very easy to miss certain places on your first voyage - but the places you already know about could tell a different story depending on how you look at them, what you know and what you think you know and what could you do differently.”
- “The game also offers good replayability as you can start a new game with a dictionary of the words you learned in your previous playthrough (you won't be able to translate everything on your first playthrough) and you can explore new choices and see how the story will be affected this time.”
- “Engaging story with incredible replayability, always more to discover and new things to learn depending on how you play, and the language aspect is what I love most, incredibly well-designed and fun, feels like learning a real language and I can't get enough!”
- “Despite the multiple story branching and replayability, it was hard for me to go back to the game.”
- “Replayable, but there are no second-run optimizations such as fast forwarding, skipping dialogue, or skipping travel.”
- “Hugely replayable in theory, but just too boring to go through 80% of stuff that'll be the same from run to run (same conversations, walking from A to B, etc.).”
atmosphere
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
31%
5%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beauty, depth, and immersive qualities, enhanced by calming music and stunning visuals that create a unique and relaxing experience. Players appreciate the intricate world-building and the sense of mystery that permeates the narrative, although some note that pacing issues and occasional bugs can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game is recommended for those who enjoy atmospheric storytelling and exploration, despite some gameplay limitations.
- “The scenery is beautiful, especially when sailing, and the background music is atmospheric and calming.”
- “With fantastic writing and atmospheric storytelling, Inkle has created a vivid and haunting world that absorbed me fully.”
- “The atmosphere and worldbuilding are insanely well put together.”
- “Beautiful, and effective graphics, but the music doesn't really exist, and it severely damages the atmosphere.”
- “The game lacks atmosphere; it misses the peculiar sensations and emotions of facing ancient civilizations, archaeological sites, and ancient engravings.”
- “Can you imagine a game about archaeology where you never see an ancient tablet full of symbols, where you have to translate ancient engravings that you never see, where you enter presumed ancient palaces and temples that have no ancient atmosphere, where what you should see is just described by words?”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is marked by frequent minor glitches and bugs, particularly during navigation and dialogue interactions, which can disrupt gameplay but generally do not detract significantly from the overall experience. Users report issues such as freezing when accessing the map, buggy controls, and graphical inconsistencies, yet many find these problems manageable and still enjoy the game. While some players have encountered more severe glitches, the developers appear responsive to issues, indicating a commitment to improving stability in future updates.
- “It freezes up sometimes when I go to the map to travel to another planet, so I have to close it and reopen it to continue.”
- “The dialogue flow is also so random and almost feels buggy.”
- “There are issues; the navigation can be buggy, the menu for seeing old translations is incredibly cumbersome, and the camera likes to get stuck in walls during some of the forced cuts.”
emotional
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game elicits a wide range of responses, from deep connection and empathy for characters to frustration with limited player agency. Many players report feeling profoundly moved by the narrative and soundtrack, which enhance the experience of exploration and discovery. However, some express disappointment with the bleakness of the world and the unlikable nature of certain characters, which can detract from the overall emotional engagement.
- “Have never been so hypnotized, touched, and taken on such a journey by a game; I still have an emotional hangover from it, I swear.”
- “This is the most beautiful and heartfelt game I've ever played.”
- “The soundtrack Laurence Chapman has provided made me feel like I was exploring the unknown, with surreal melodies paired with tones of antiquity.”
humor
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
93%
20%
The humor in the game is described as subtle, intelligent, and often profound, seamlessly woven into the immersive story and engaging dialogue. Players appreciate the witty banter, particularly with a comic relief robot, which adds a humorous counterpoint to the game's deeper themes. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making the exploration of its unique world both entertaining and enjoyable.
- “The writing is so good, it's worth playing it just for the immersive story and frequently funny dialogue.”
- “It is funny that a game about translating has its story premise based around an etymological error.”
- “The dialogue flows naturally, and I love how witty, funny, and deep it always is.”
- “You're followed around (for the entire game, I'm assuming) by an unfunny comic relief robot who dispenses hints and reminders.”
- “The jokes feel forced and often fall flat, making the humor more cringeworthy than entertaining.”
- “I expected clever writing, but instead, the humor is stale and lacks any real wit.”
optimization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
56%
33%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players noting significant performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While the artistic elements and voice acting are praised, the repetitive character art and lack of quality-of-life features, such as fast-forwarding or skipping dialogue, contribute to a frustrating gameplay experience. Overall, the game struggles with optimization, making it less appealing for fans of action-oriented or strategy-focused gameplay.
- “If you're generally a fan of action-oriented games, or games that reward optimization, strategization, and min-maxing—this is likely not the game for you.”
- “The second reason I hesitate to recommend the game is that it is very poorly optimized.”
- “I would love to see this setting and premise revisited in the future with a less cynical protagonist and some better optimization.”
- “Replayable, but there are no second-run optimizations such as fast forwarding, skipping dialogue, or skipping travel.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
Character development in the game is generally well-received, with players appreciating the originality and depth of the storyline that enhances character arcs. While some feel that the character designs clash with the 3D environment, the immersive mystery-solving experience and engaging character writing, particularly for standout characters, contribute significantly to the overall enjoyment.
- “The most immersive mystery-solving and character development I have ever experienced in a game.”
- “Her distinctive character design, her humor, and her overall character writing were really nice and made me want to hear more stories about her.”
- “The character designs (except for the robot, but that's just my personal opinion) are actually really great and the idea of 2D characters in a 3D environment is a really cool concept, but the characters do not match the style of the background at all.”
- “The character development is okay, but the mystery of discovery shines through so well.”
- “Perhaps the most gripping aspect of it all was how original and well-written the storyline was, and how well the characters and their character development fit into it.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's secretive narrative approach complicates its monetization strategy, as it hinders effective advertising and recommendations due to the need for vagueness, despite maintaining player intrigue about the endgame.