Heartbound Demo

Having a pet can be exactly what you need in certain situations, especially if you have trouble making friends or you live somewhere with not many people your age around. Dogs are very loyal and friendly, and they also force you to stop being lazy, given the fact that you need to feed them regularly and take them out for walks every day.

Heartbound is a top-down adventure game with RPG elements, in which you get to solve puzzles, explore the world and deal with a few annoying enemies along the way. As it’s fairly obvious from the demo, the game is heavily focused on the story, and especially on the relationship between the boy and his dog. It’s also very sad, on the other hand, so you can expect to feel a bit down after playing.   The gameplay is not particularly complex, given the fact that you only have a handful of functions at your disposal, which include walking, interacting with objects and examining items. Everything feels very natural, on the other hand, since you are not forced to engage in weird activities like silly puzzles or anything of the sort. However, the lack of explanations and slow pace can also get on your nerves.

Speaking of which, all you need to do most of the time is move around and click whenever you are near something that might come in handy. Whether you extract information about a particular object or you pick up useful items, the core concepts are straightforward and easy to understand. Combat enters the picture later on as well, but mostly in the form of mini-games, which are still pretty challenging.   Lastly, the visual aspect is worthy of a mention too, because the environments look very cozy and enjoyable, albeit a tad dull sometimes. This is by design, on the other hand, because the game is meant to make you sad most of the time. The pixel artwork is very clean and modern, so you do not have to worry about ugly pixels or anything of the sort.

All things considered, Heartbound is definitely up to something here, especially if you are a fan of interesting stories and new gameplay ideas. It needs some polish in the interface department, but other than that everything seems to be alright.