Every now and then, on this site, I come across particular games, sometimes properly erotic and sometimes, as in this case, not, that manage to captivate me to the point of almost locking me in. Heads Will Roll is a clear example: a visual novel with rpg elements, with an interesting story behind it, a remarkable freedom of choice and an original combat system.
We could call it a “soldier's life simulator", since our protagonist begins his adventure as a simple foot soldier, a peasant's son recruited by the king of England for yet another flare-up of the Hundred Years' War, who will find fame and honor on the battlefield. The first chapter serves as an introduction, albeit livable in a thousand different ways depending on the choices made, to an experience capable of developing on different tracks that grow increasingly distant, but with the common denominator of the destiny of blood, iron, and glory that seems to await our hero.
The story (or rather, stories) is all to be discovered, so I will not tell you about it further, but know that it is absolutely captivating.
Battles are turn-based, and there are many elements to manage: in addition to the classic health bar (your own and your opponent's), there is also a stamina bar and a fatigue value (very important, as the toughest battles are often ones of attrition, and staying fresh while your opponents get exhausted will be the key to victory). In addition, each type of weapon has different types of attacks (for example, an axe will allow you to easily shatter an enemy's shield, while a mace will allow you to easily face thicker armour), often with differences even within the same category, allowing you to customise your fighting style, easily adapting it to your tastes and the type of character you want to create.
The RPG elements also extend to the presence of stats (which we can increase through training or after certain in-game events) that affect both in and out of combat, during the story and events, unlockable weapon abilities and the possibility of equipment, including armour and trinkets that provide special and different bonuses.
The characters we will meet are not numerous, but they are all well characterised and interesting in their own way. Their art style, as you can see from the game's introductory images, is quite distinctive, with very realistic faces, sometimes reminiscent of more or less famous actors, attached to less detailed bodies (an example in this case is the blacksmith in the first act), which I quickly got used to and did not particularly mind. Otherwise, the game's graphics were to my liking, nothing to say about that. Finally, the music is absolutely to be praised: the tracks included are all beautiful and add to the atmosphere of the game, so don't even dream of playing it with the volume turned down, that would be a mortal sin!
Unfortunately, due to a bug that has not yet been fixed in the version I am playing (the 1.5c), I have not yet been able to finish my adventure (rest assured, I am the one who was unlucky, it is not a particularly buggy or problematic game), but I can still consider myself enthusiastic and very fascinated by what I have experienced. A game that I highly recommend you give a try!
