Home for the Heart

Although most motivational posters and quotes tell you to follow your dreams and not worry about the financial aspect of life, it turns out that money can have a pretty serious impact on your daily routine, especially when you do not have enough of it to pay rent or buy food. Thus, as important as it may be to look on the positive side of life all the time, having money is up there as well.

Home for the Heart is a romantic visual novel in which you play the role of a girl by the name of Celine, although you have the option to change her name to anything else in the beginning. Although it’s not the most interactive game out there, you are allowed to make choices every now and again, choices that allow you to pick sides and reach one ending or the other.

As for the actual story, Celine has major life problems after her parents lost her jobs, which in turn lead to her scholarship being revoked and being kicked out of the dormitory. She needs help, which is why she turns to her best friend, Lyle, for help. Hence, she ends up staying in a house with two men who are constantly arguing and disputing.

Since this is an Otome novel after all, you also have the possibility to make one of the boys your partner, although it takes quite a bit of time to reach that stage. As such, you need to make certain decisions at the right time in order to end up with the desired character, although it should be fairly obvious which option is the one that allows you to get closer to either Joshua or Philippe.

As for the graphics, the background artwork is worth a special mention, because every image is incredibly detailed and pleasing to the eye. The characters are not bad either, but they are obviously a few classes beneath the background artwork, which is a bit of a bummer. On the other hand, at least they come with multiple poses and facial expressions, and that’s a godsend to avoid monotony.

When it’s all said and done, Home for the Heart can keep you busy for quite some time, especially when you consider the fact that it features over 21,000 words. On top of that, you can also replay the game and pick a different route.