Where The Heart Is is somewhat difficult to rate. If you know nothing about the game and go in blind you may be taken aback by how outdated and bad everything looks early on. And you may be tempted to quit.
Early on many character models range from unattractive to ugly - of course this is subjective, but Zarah for example will probably be considered unattractive by many people. The quasi aunt Monica (this is not a family game though!) also has a face that is not really pretty. Her character model has been used for various "milf" characters in other games and she is easily one of my least favorite character models.
Then there is no music. And once you see the first animation things are really pitiful, they are bad. As in, really bad. There are massage / sunscreen scenes early on where there are no renders for the actual massage, you read how the MC puts his hands here and there... and just see the back of the woman... but never the hands/arms of the MC. It's a bit surreal. There are also times when oral sex happens... and all you get is a render of the female's private parts... and nothing else. Which is a bit bizarre. Those POV renders can look really dumb.
BUT - if you ignore the outdated graphics and animations and maybe several less than pretty characters and just play the game - you will quickly realize that WTHI possesses something few other games have.
Actual charm, very well written characters, fun interactions and a slice of life story that is actually pretty interesting. So don't let the dated graphics or character designs deter you, graphics are not everything, where WTHI excels is in the writing and later the graphics and animations receive significant upgrades. Eventually you will get more third person perspectives for several things like kissing or oral sex (with the MC's face still mostly hidden, but you can see him). Animations become pretty good and the character models are upgraded to newer DAZ models.
Central premise of WTHI is that the MC's father died and that the father was a sick psychopathic bastard who left behind a will that puts the benefactors like his ex partner, his son and a mysterious third figure in a bind. There are certain conditions in the will that are less than pleasant. Not to spoil things too much, but the MC, for example, will only get his part of the multimillion inheritance if he severs all ties and avoids any contact with three people he may actually love a lot.
And those three people are the ones who have taken the MC in after the he was thrown out of his father's house by the girlfriend.
This main story is slowly developed over the entire length of the game and interwoven with that are the various character arcs, some of which are directly connected to the main story.
What you will also soon realize, once you accept how rough everything looks early on, that WTHI is exemplary when it comes to player choice. Very early on the game goes somewhat overboard with that, since there are several choices with just one option, no one needs that, and there are a few fake choices as well. As in: the game presents you with 10 options or so but it turns out it really wants you to pick this one choice and when you choose something else the MC is being told "nah, not possible".
But the devs apparently learned a lot while developing the game and these things don't happen too often and eventually they don't happen at all anymore.
Instead you are given lots of choices which more or less affect everything. Do you like bi-curious love interests? You can try to convince characters to explore that and you may succeed. You like foursomes and threesomes? Go ahead and knock yourself out... there are options for that! You hate sharing and bi-curious characters with a passion? No problem, you can easily have each and every love interest only to yourself and you can even get the self-professed lesbian character only for yourself and in that case she won't even have a scene with her female crush.
There are no forced kinks, at times there are even options for "dirty talk"... you like that, choose it... you don't like it... well, don't. You will really appreciate the scope of choices in this game, it's something virtually no other game (I have played) has.
And it's even more impressive when you see that there are so many characters in this game and that the game is long, it's one of the longest I have played, there is tons of content. To maintain such a high flexibility throughout the game when it comes to character interactions is impressive.
But let's return to some of the things I did not like:
Debbie the "lesbian" is not a lesbian. I wish games would stop including "lesbians" like her. You see, Debbie is one of the first main love interests the MC can have sex with in the game. And she's also one of the few really pretty characters (even early). And that immediately tells you that Debbie is many things, but at best "bi-sexual" and certainly not a lesbian. It's nothing major but still noteworthy, because otherwise the writing for the characters is really good. The LIs in this game behave more realistically than in many other games. So why Debbie says she's "lesbian" when she's clearly not is a bit stupid.
Another thing I didn't like too much was the inclusion of random potential sex partners even late into the game. Why do that? The game already has 10 or 11 main love interests, you really don't need (very pretty) random side characters so late in the game. They are of course entirely optional (as most other things in the game), but why spend resources on random flings when you can instead give players more scenes with main characters instead?
And that's another thing that may (or may not) bother you a bit... since the game has more than 10 potentially romanceable characters you will never get enough scenes with the characters you like the most. You can absolutely go on a solo path from the very start (only exception is Debbie, you need to set her up with her potential girlfriend, because she has to make up her mind up about either wanting to be with her or with the MC, if you tell her you want her for yourself) and ignore everyone else. But it also means you may not get all that many scenes.
This game is also mostly of the slow burn variety. Early on there is super thirsty (and unattractive) neigbor Zarah... you can have fun with her pretty easily, in fact, if you reject her the game will keep throwing her at you early on. So you will have to keep rejecting her.
But almost all characters are slow burn characters, where the relationships develop gradually.
The MC can first have sex with Katie in episode 11 for example, with Jenna in episode 14 even, Jolina as well, chapter 14. Of course there are scenes before that, teasing etc. but things usually take time here and develop gradually.
A word again about the character design... things are really rough early on, as mentioned, but around episode 10 or so things improve significantly and in later chapters (ca episode 18 or so) things look actually great. Character models were updated to the latest generation of DAZ models, faces improve as well, there are no actual redesigns, the characters still look the same, just more attractive overall. Jenna's corpse like skintone (that has story reasons!) also improves a lot in later episodes, so don't let that detract you. Jenna is a fun character, don't ignore her, even if you may think she looks odd.
WTHI can also be a somewhat misleading game, again, if you go in blind... since it will present itself as a happy go lucky harem game early on. You can easily go after everything that moves, like in any other typical harem game. And there are also no consequences... at first.
But the writing is really good here and the characters / story will begin dropping hints that they are 100% absolutely not ok with sharing (you can try to convince select characters that sharing is ok). The game also offers you various friendly (or unfriendly) exit points for all love interests. So once you realize that romancing Monica (the milf who takes the MC in after he becomes homeless) and her two daughters Katie and Jenna at the same time is absolutely not a good idea, you can easily break things off with any of them.
And when something entirely blows up in your face... no worries, the game has a unique feature that allows you to start the game from any of the episodes and you can set relationship statuses and a few other things manually. So you can explore things a bit and see what happens... if you don't like it... it's super easy to change that. And there is no need to start from scratch even if you realize a decision made 10 or more episodes ago comes haunting you.
My advice is: don't go after everyone. It will result in a world of hurt. Even if things can become quite funny and intense for a while. A movie night scene later in the game is the equivalent of juggling chainsaws if you romance Monica, Katie and Jenna at the same time... the scene is hilarious... until things blow up if you make a bad choice and mushroom clouds appear everywhere. So I would say some restraint is absolutely advised in this game!
As mentioned the writing for the characters here is a lot better than in most other games... and that also means characters more or less behave like actual humans in certain situations. And they will let you know how much the MC (via you, the player) has hurt them, they can get angry, they can be devastated, it's very likely they will make you feel like the sleazeball you are when you think the women here are Pokemon. They are not.
There is one scene with love interest Jolina that can actually make you feel like a real douchebag and sleazeball even if no cheating is involved... of course you can apologize and things smooth over, but at times you may feel actually guilty about doing certain things. Jolina, for example will discover spyware on her laptop, planted (more or less accidentally) by Jenna, and Jenna is a somewhat naughty privacy nightmare with a voyeuristic streak... so when the MC and Jolina have a close encounter of the 3rd kind... let's just say things don't end too well. But don't fret, things will get better again. But Jolina will tell you in very clear language how much she is hurt. A LOT. And you may actually feel guilty about the entire thing.
A few words about the love interests... many of them are more or less your typical tropes, only much better written.
Monica is the milf. That defines her, she's mother of two girls, she was good friends with the deceased mom of the MC and is kind enough to accept him in her home when he's thrown out of the house. She's your standard aunt/mom type character (even if she is not related by blood, none of the characters are). But she also has a life of her own, she has a business, she is struggling a bit with it and that part of her life is an important part of her character arc.
Katie is the sporty and somewhat foul mouthed older daughter. Her banter with the MC may be something you don't like - there are options for that (to a degree, you can't change her character) though, I think the banter is hilarious though and the insults Katie and the MC throw at each other are fun. And it's always obvious none of the insults are serious. And for less observant players there are also several scenes in which Katie explicitly tells the MC that nothing she throws at him is actually meant that way and just silly banter. You also very quickly realize that Katie's swagger and bravado, that all that talk about being a "goddess" etc. is just a facade and that deep inside she's sweet, loving and actually quite romantic. She hides her insecurities behind a somewhat potty mouth. It's even more sweet when that other side of her shows every now and then, if you are on her path you will feel like you make real progress with her.
Jenna is the seemingly innocent, super shy nerd. But as with literally all major love interests in the game there is so much more to her and as you engage with her you find out about her secrets and hidden traits. Jenna is a a naughty nerd with great hacking skills... and also a complete privacy nightmare and voyeur. She can also become quite adventurous (if encouraged, you can choose not to!).
Jolina is the owner of a coffee shop that is in dire straits, the business is in shambles, she has put her life savings into it, she may lose her home because she can no longer afford her rent... when first introduced Jolina is pretty hostile but later on, when things improve, you learn a lot about her struggles and she's yet another one of the main love interests with actual depth.
And these are just four of the many love interests... what I am saying is: in many games "progress" means you make progress on the sex route... while that is also a thing here the progress you make with characters will actually reveal more about the characters themselves, like with Katie, she will reveal facets of her character if you get closer... so if you are on her path you will eventually discover her sweet side and how vulnerable she really is deep inside and it's the same with all the main love interests. It's not just about unlocking achievements or gallery scenes... it's about getting to know the characters better.
So while there are only so many sexual interactions with the characters there are many meaningful interactions with them where you just learn things about them. And you will most likely enjoy these less sexual interactions nonetheless because the characters are all interesting and fun. Of course things often do get a bit more steamy, but it's never just about that.
Even a character like Wanda, who first comes across like a real nasty character with racist tendencies... receives more complexity as things progress and chances are, if you decide to put up with her, that she will grow on you more and more as you realize that she's really not all that bad and that previous life experiences shaped her mean behavior. But especially late in the game she improves a lot and that is actually quite rewarding to see when you put up with her despite all her shortcomings. And the interactions of the MC with her become less mean and degrading (the MC can be nasty with her at first) and actually a lot more respectful and even loving.
So who will enjoy Where The Heart Is?
People who like story driven games with well written and (more or less) realistic characters will love it. Just accept that things look substandard early on, but you will soon realize that having fun characters and fun interactions with them (not talking about sex here even, the day to day banter and dialogue with them is just great) is much more important than graphics and animations. And both of them improve a lot as the game progresses. The one thing you usually can't improve is story, and the story is absolutely worth your time.
You may not enjoy Where The Heart Is if attractive characters are your main priority. Several major love interests can look pretty rough. You may also not enjoy the game so much if you look for instant gratification or lots of scenes with any particular love interest.
If you want a happy go lucky harem power fantasy you may also be very disappointed. WTHI is anything but, it pretends to be a harem early on but you will soon realize that a massive harem is entirely out of reach and that several characters are 100% not ok with that.
But if a well written plot that keeps you guessing, well written characters with more depth than in most other games and choices galore that can significantly shape your playthrough are things you put first... then Where The Heart Is is one of the best VNs, maybe THE best. In many ways it's a 5 star game. Only the technical shortcomings in early episodes and a few minor things like random flings even in later chapters keep it from being truly excellent all the way through.
Still, chances are very high that you will truly love this game if story and characters are your top priorities, not visual bling - and as said, that is added later.
