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Nova Hearts

Nova Hearts Game Cover
69%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay
Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, stability
69% User Score Based on 58 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
Nova Hearts Game Cover

About Nova Hearts

Nova Hearts is a single player tactical role playing game with fantasy, romance and anime themes. It was developed by Lightbulb Crew and was released on June 19, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

A mysterious force of power transforms you and other highly attractive people in your area into superheroes and villains! TEXT, DATE and FIGHT your friends and enemies alike.

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Games Like Nova Hearts

Looking for games like Nova Hearts? Here are top tactical role playing recommendations with a fantasy, romance and anime focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with Nova Hearts: The Spark, The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily or Ikenfell.

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Reviews

69%Audience ScoreBased on 58 reviews
story18 positive mentions
grinding6 negative mentions

  • Beautiful and diverse art style with impressive CGs and animations.
  • Engaging and quirky characters with interesting interactions and inclusive LGBTQIA+ representation.
  • Unique combat system blending turn-based RPG mechanics with dating sim elements, with options to skip combat for those uninterested.
  • Combat is slow, repetitive, and can be frustratingly difficult with some RNG-based unfair encounters and a steep difficulty spike near the end.
  • Narrative pacing and story structure feel rushed and inconsistent; romance options feel forced and lack meaningful player agency.
  • Technical issues including bugs, confusing dialogue choices, lack of save/load flexibility, and a lack of replayability features hamper the overall experience.
  • story

    48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    38% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The story in Nova Hearts is generally praised for its engaging characters, unique setting, and appealing art style, though many find the narrative pacing uneven and the conclusion rushed. Players appreciate the mystery and relationship-building elements but note the plot leans heavily on style over depth, with limited meaningful choice impact and occasional filler scenes. Overall, while not groundbreaking, the story offers an enjoyable, if somewhat linear, experience especially for fans of visual novel and dating sim genres.

    • “I loved the mystery of Luce's secret friend and the story as a whole; I loved the interactions between all the characters, building my relationships with them, and discovering which responses worked best with each one.”
    • “I loved the game, the art is fantastic and the story is engaging through the whole game.”
    • “Great game with a beautiful story and many enjoyable moments!”
    • “The story and characters suck quite a lot.”
    • “Pacing and story structure are quite bad, with scenes that seem to be missing and the game jumping from one thing to another while having moments that almost feel like filler.”
    • “And all I got was a bunch of horny characters that talk about how hot everyone is and a half-baked story with a rushed ending.”
  • gameplay

    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    27% positive mentions, 59% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions

    The gameplay features a blend of dating-sim and turn-based combat mechanics that are praised for their originality and tactical depth, though some find it unforgiving due to RNG elements and limited save options. Combat can be engaging with skill experimentation, but frustration arises from difficulty spikes and tedious boss fights. While character interactions and romance systems add charm, some players feel these aspects lack depth or cause annoyance.

    • “Cool characters, chill music, nice gameplay if a little tough at times.”
    • “I really liked the combat mechanics and how deceptively simple they are; it was fun to experiment with skills and combos in each fight, trying to understand the best tactic for each.”
    • “It's doubly frustrating because the turn-based, timeline mechanic with stacking party member combos is genuinely a pretty cool idea.”
    • “The 'final' boss is such a bullshit of RNG and tedious mechanics that I can't believe it passed any form of play-testing.”
    • “But the romance system and gameplay is so frustrating to play, I just can’t recommend it.”
    • “Gameplay was fine mostly, but it’s either way too easy or frustratingly hard; there was nothing in between.”
  • graphics

    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    42% positive mentions, 58% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The graphics are widely praised for their beautiful and diverse art styles, with particular appreciation for the animations and transformation scenes. While the visual design is engaging and enhances the story, some note stylistic differences between game sections. Overall, the artwork is a standout element that significantly contributes to the game's appeal.

    • “The game uses different graphical styles for the different components of the game (e.g. the way that the characters are drawn/modeled is different in the visual novel section than in the battle sections, as well as in the animated cutscenes).”
    • “And, can't say it enough, the artwork in the transformation scenes is gorgeous!”
    • “I really like the animation and the art style.”
  • music

    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    43% positive mentions, 57% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music is well-crafted and versatile, offering relaxing instrumental tracks during calm moments and upbeat tunes that enhance combat intensity. It complements the game's stylized art and gameplay, contributing to an engaging and enjoyable atmosphere.

    • “The music is instrumental and depending on the scene it can be very relaxing (like when you're chilling on your phone and messaging) and in battle it is more upbeat (you know, fighting music).”
    • “The music is catchy and very fitting of the familiar but fresh vibe of Vermillion.”
    • “The music, backgrounds, and combat animations are very stylized and fun.”
  • grinding

    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in this game is widely criticized as slow, repetitive, and tedious, with combat becoming increasingly monotonous and frustrating due to RNG mechanics. Players find the overall experience aggravating, detracting from the game's potential despite its RPG and dating sim elements.

    • “It is easily the worst part of the game, and engaging in it ranges from tedious to outright aggravating.”
    • “The basic setup is standard—pick skills, target enemies—but as the game progresses, fights become tedious.”
    • “Big fan of dating sims and I also really like RPGs and turn-based combat, so I thought this would be a slam dunk, but oh my god I just found the combat so dang tedious.”
  • humor

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's humor is characterized by diverse, fun characters who offer entertaining and relatable interactions, with opportunities for playful mischief. While the pacing can be slow, the main trio's lively and genuine personalities provide consistent laughs.

    • “The diversity in the game is top tier and these characters are very fun to interact with. You can also be an absolute bastard in this game if you want to be, which can be pretty funny.”
    • “The main trio are hilarious dorks—lively, relatable, and real.”
    • “Slow but fun and sometimes funny.”
  • character development

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Character development is praised for its striking art and distinctive character designs, which effectively capture attention and showcase compelling fashion styles.

    • “For some positives, the art and character designs are great!”
    • “The art really pulls you in and the character designs pop with great fashion.”
  • emotional

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game delivers a powerful emotional experience, blending heartfelt moments with humor and intimacy. It stands out for its positive and supportive representation of queer characters, creating a warm and inclusive atmosphere.

    • “It was heartwarming to see so many queer characters surrounded by love and support from their friends and family.”
  • stability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game's stability is hindered by numerous glitches, leading to uncertainty about whether players have fully experienced all content.

  • replayability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Replayability is hindered by the lack of a skip function, mandatory repeat battles including tutorials, no mid-game load feature, and unclear photo-saving options, making multiple playthroughs tedious. However, these issues only impact those interested in replaying, not the initial experience.

    • “It's a little hard to replay since there is no skip function and you have to refight every battle, including tutorial portions. Photos don't seem to save after you finish the game (I might be missing something), and there is no load function mid-game. If you make the wrong choice and want to go back, you have to exit and load from the menu. These issues only affect replayability.”
  • atmosphere

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game is praised for its charming and engaging atmosphere, creating an enjoyable and inviting experience for players.

    • “This game has a nice charm and atmosphere to it.”
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Frequently Asked Questions

Nova Hearts is a tactical role playing game with fantasy, romance and anime themes. Common tags for Nova Hearts include turn-based, indie, lgbtq+, magic, superhero and others.

Nova Hearts is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

Nova Hearts was released on June 19, 2025.

Nova Hearts was developed by Lightbulb Crew.

Nova Hearts has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Nova Hearts for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Nova Hearts is a single player game.

Similar games include Nova Hearts: The Spark, The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily, Ikenfell, Indivisible, Cris Tales and others.