Review for v0.1
In a Hearbeat hasn't necessarily surprised me (so far) with any type of twist that would shake up the usual "guy returns to town and starts fresh" plot, but when it's done at a genuinely good level of quality with not only the renders and such but with writing as well, I find myself not caring so much about that originality factor. I enjoyed this first version a lot.
I've used the word competent to describe some games with above average writing and I think it does fit here. Characters feel realistic, conversations feel natural, and everything just feels grounded. When you're telling a more realistic story like this that's going to be really focused on the characters and drama, I think it's a pretty big positive.
The game uses a "paragon" and "renegade" system to give you a bit of of choice in dialogue which seems to boil down into being overtly nice or a bit abrasive. While I don't mind having the choice, I think some of the dialogue goes a little too far in both directions. The nice guy thing could be dialed back and similarly being kind of a dick isn't appealing to me at least. Minor complaint though, some dialogue is better than others about it.
While it's not uncommon these days for a lot of AVNs to have impressive renders, I still think it's worth mentioning that the game does look pretty good. Even better though, the characters models are great. Pretty unique in the grand scheme of AVNs. There's one real sex scene and it had both good animations and some hot dialogue that played into it as well. Would not mind some sound during sex scenes though.
The story has yet to really take off into anything yet, but this was enough to get me invested. Definitely one to keep an eye on.
In a Hearbeat hasn't necessarily surprised me (so far) with any type of twist that would shake up the usual "guy returns to town and starts fresh" plot, but when it's done at a genuinely good level of quality with not only the renders and such but with writing as well, I find myself not caring so much about that originality factor. I enjoyed this first version a lot.
I've used the word competent to describe some games with above average writing and I think it does fit here. Characters feel realistic, conversations feel natural, and everything just feels grounded. When you're telling a more realistic story like this that's going to be really focused on the characters and drama, I think it's a pretty big positive.
The game uses a "paragon" and "renegade" system to give you a bit of of choice in dialogue which seems to boil down into being overtly nice or a bit abrasive. While I don't mind having the choice, I think some of the dialogue goes a little too far in both directions. The nice guy thing could be dialed back and similarly being kind of a dick isn't appealing to me at least. Minor complaint though, some dialogue is better than others about it.
While it's not uncommon these days for a lot of AVNs to have impressive renders, I still think it's worth mentioning that the game does look pretty good. Even better though, the characters models are great. Pretty unique in the grand scheme of AVNs. There's one real sex scene and it had both good animations and some hot dialogue that played into it as well. Would not mind some sound during sex scenes though.
The story has yet to really take off into anything yet, but this was enough to get me invested. Definitely one to keep an eye on.
