Vagrant Hearts
- February 26, 2015
- Warfare Studios
- 1h median play time
Get on SteamIn Vagrant Hearts, lead a group of vagrant soldiers across a war-torn continent, making decisions that impact their lives and the fate of the world. Engage in strategic battles, utilizing elemental magic and party-based tactics. Experience a rich, character-driven story filled with intrigue, betrayal, and the struggle for freedom in this indie turn-based RPG.
Reviews
- The game features a compelling story that keeps players engaged and curious to continue.
- The character designs and artwork are unique and well-conceived, adding charm to the game.
- The battle system, while challenging, offers interesting mechanics like the Crest System for spell customization.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs, including glitches that allow characters to walk through walls and issues with enemy encounters.
- Combat can feel grindy and unbalanced, with many bosses acting as damage sponges, making battles tedious.
- The writing and dialogue often suffer from typos and poor structure, detracting from the overall experience.
- story39 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its engaging characters and compelling narrative that keeps them curious, while others criticize it for being simplistic, full of plot holes, and lacking depth. Many appreciate the linear structure and drama, but some find the overall plot uninteresting or poorly executed, leading to a divide in player satisfaction. Overall, the story is seen as a significant factor in the game's appeal, though opinions on its quality vary widely.
“The story is interesting, as are the characters.”
“While the controls can be a bit wonky at times, this game delivers a compelling story the likes of which I haven't seen in a very long time.”
“This is just the kind of retro RPG I've been pining for, one where I can completely get immersed in the story and characters.”
“The story is full of plot holes straight from the beginning.”
“Unfortunately, the story is not good enough to compensate for the lack of challenge in combat.”
“And the more I play it, the more the story comes off as if it were written by an 8th grader with no deep understanding of governments, societies, or politics.”
- music13 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the unique tracks that change per area, while others criticize the repetitive and uninspired sound design, including a lack of custom compositions. Many users noted issues such as the absence of separate audio controls and the persistence of certain tracks throughout the game, detracting from the overall experience. Overall, while the music has its moments, it often fails to leave a lasting impression.
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
“Pros: good characters, good music that changes per area, has a well-involved story with drama, original art (albeit not tons of it), simplicity, gameplay that moves forward at an even pace.”
“Music and art are unique to this series.”
“Horrible level design, the most godawfully boring and unsatisfying stories, tons of HUD problems, and a single goddamn music track for each game.”
“After I went to deliver the 20 rojak fragments to the man living under a bridge, the 'music' from that area kept playing alongside all other music for the rest of the game.”
“The music in this game is terrible, especially the default battle theme.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are a mixed bag; while some users appreciate the charming 16-bit style and nice character portraits, others criticize the lack of variety and presence of graphical glitches that detract from the overall experience. The visuals are described as stunning by some, but they may feel lacking or repetitive for players familiar with similar games. Overall, the graphics may appeal to those seeking a nostalgic aesthetic, but they fall short of expectations for a big-name title.
“The visuals are absolutely stunning, too.”
“The character portraits are very nice, quite a bit better than the graphics in the rest of the game.”
“Nice artwork.”
“While the graphics and sounds might be fine in a vacuum, they quickly lose their charm in Vagrant Hearts.”
“The lack of graphical variety presented another problem in one dungeon, namely Malzu's Abandoned Mausoleum.”
“There's a number of graphical glitches or oddities.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with users reporting numerous glitches, including hit detection issues, graphical anomalies, and gameplay bugs that disrupt the experience. While some players enjoy the gameplay, the prevalence of bugs, such as characters clipping through walls and item loss, significantly detracts from overall stability.
“And to make matters worse, the hit detection is buggy.”
“There's a number of graphical glitches or oddities.”
“Lots of glitches (running through walls, character background not transparent) and an extremely limited, linear game world.”
- gameplay5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally praised for its fun mechanics, engaging characters, and a well-paced story complemented by area-specific music and original art. However, some players note issues such as a lack of depth in spell customization and occasional glitches that detract from the overall experience.
“Fun gameplay!”
“Pros: good characters, good music that changes per area, has a well-involved story with drama, original art (albeit not tons of it), simplicity, and gameplay that moves forward at an even pace.”
“In this game, there are a few glitches here and there, but the gameplay is amazing.”
“Unfortunately, the gameplay is pretty poor.”
“Shortly after you lose her (like 1 hour into gameplay), you find a low-level heal spell to equip on any party member, but this organization doesn't want the character you choose to place it on!”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the game to be quite grindy, particularly in combat, with some items, like ancient fruits, requiring extensive farming—up to four days—to obtain for progression. This grind can make the overall experience challenging and time-consuming.
“The game is a grindy experience.”
“Luckily, you can obtain an item that took me about 4 days of farming to collect enough to beat the game, called ancient fruits.”
“Combat, in particular, feels excessively grindy.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the games is noted as a redeeming quality, with some users finding it amusing, though it may not be enough to compensate for other shortcomings. Overall, the humor is seen as a minor highlight amidst a lack of engaging content.
“The only redeeming qualities these games have is the art; one of the games has some humor as well.”
“Sounds funny, huh?”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express frustration with the emotional impact of the game's mechanics, particularly noting that fleeing from battle leads to a repetitive cycle where characters remain in contact, forcing players to relive the same emotional tension without resolution.
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game's writing has been criticized, with users noting that the dialogue often resembles a middle-school drama performance, indicating a lack of polish and depth.
“The game suffers from severe optimization issues, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
“Despite its potential, the lack of proper optimization makes it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
“I was disappointed to find that the game is poorly optimized, resulting in long loading times and crashes.”
