Overall most helpful review

Posted on: April 15, 2018

Jazzkovsky

Games: 127 Reviews: 2

Story focused game for children

This game is quite polished and there are several things it does very well. However, it also feels like it was designed for a rather young audience and this might be it's main flaw. Book I and book II are short but they deliver an okay-ish amount of content for the price. The graphics are mediocre and there is no inventory in the style of a classic point and click adventure. Yet none of those things present a problem. It very much focuses on story (which is ok) and everything else is second to that. However, the characters don't feel believeable and this is my main problem with Herald. Now, why do I feel this way? Overall Herald is presented like a story for children and I really wonder why this approach has been taken. The setting is meant to reflect sea voyages in the 19th century, yet all of the characters feel incredibly soft and like out of a childrens book. Both the visual style and the writing seem a bit childish and it never feels like the game gives any credit to the rough life at sea in the real world. Because of this I had a hard time to get emerged in the story. Despite this it seems that like a lot of effort and love went into book I & II, but for reasons mentioned above it just doesn't do the trick for me. If you are looking for a game to experience with your children this might be a great choice (there is one violent scene though). If you are looking for a any kind of authentic sailor story, this will not make you happy.

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Posted on: March 3, 2017

atresica

Games: 113 Reviews: 1

Excellent writing & pacing

Herald is how I want more narrative-focussed games to be like. The writing is excellent, the world-building is top notch, but most important of all: the game is extremely well paced. No meandering, no filler gameplay, no plot-jamming characters. This gives the game a forward momentum that makes you want to finish the two episodes in one sitting. Regarding gameplay: it is much more of a story-telling based game than, say, a point-and-click adventure. Expect to find the challenge in making decisions in the storyline (which can be quite challenging!) than within puzzles. This game is for people interested in roleplaying & interactive storytelling. The biggest downsides are that the visual style may need some getting used to & some of the voice acting of some of the side-characters sound odd in compare to the main characters. But then some other aspects work really well. The feeling of the setting is communicated quite well through some really good directing and audio work. The ship feels like a ship, especially when things get a bit more tense. Disclaimer: I was a kickstarter backer. Back then I backed a few other games which turned into mostly disappointments (I'm rather picky with games that claim to have good stories or narratives). So while I appreciated the intention of the creators, I was a little more than sceptic when I started playing. It feels good to be proven wrong.

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Posted on: March 11, 2017

pommefritz

Verified owner

Games: 154 Reviews: 1

Charming and absorbing

Despite Herald being partly about the racist structure of empire -- a serious theme -- it simply charmed me. The art and music are delightful and the dialogue is very well written (and voiced). The structure of the story is a retelling of events in the past through the reading of the main character, Devan's, journal, and works well as a device to both bring you into events and also give the game a disticintive, almost literary tone. As another reviewer notes, this game has perfect pacing and the only thing that made me take a break from playing the first two book straight through in one sitting was not wanting it to end so soon. This is more of a visual novel than an adventure, so the real gameplay is in the dialogue options. If you're looking for a challenging point-and-click, Herald probably won't satisfy you. Figuring out how to carry out your tasks is dead easy, but choosing the right dialogue for the path you want to take is not. The only drawback for me is the length: I finished the first two books in about two hours. I wanted more! Even two more books (3 & 4 that are in development) are not going to be enough time in this well thought out world. There is SOME replayability in that you have different dialogue options that lead to somewhat different outcomes.

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Posted on: April 15, 2017

Nox.Seth

Verified owner

Games: 625 Reviews: 32

Amazing writing & art

Loved the first two books. The characters were great, art was lovely. It is a bit short (2-3 hours, tops) but it's worth it. The writing is very good and believable, but the writers are sometimes lacking in-depth nautical knowledge about how a ship functions. Yes, I know it's alternate history & everything, but some things really bothered me: 1. Loose objects all around. A ship tumbles and rolls with the waves. Everything that is not fixed in place will eventually fall down. You can't leave wine bottles on tables or books on pillowcases. This is a clipper, not a cruise ship. 2. Studding sail efficiency cannot be yielded from a map, but from direct observation of the sailing points & weather conditions. 3. Discipline. The lack of discipline aboard the Herald only ever happened on pirate ships in our version of history. 4. All sailors seem to just stand idle. Noone ever hardly works. 5. "Sailor" was not a rank, nor a term. The lowest rank was "Seaman". "Boy" was a rank, however :) 6. Freely available drinks and food. Drinking is mentioned often. In fact, all ranks received a daily portion of grog. It was under LOCK and key, to avoid drunkedness. Same goes for water and all other rations. Anyway, absolutely loved it, can't wait for the next :)

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Posted on: May 9, 2017

invisiblesn

Verified owner

Games: 75 Reviews: 2

Great story & refreshing style

My only complaint is that it's shorter than I expected, as each book took about an hour to complete (alas, my fault for not reading the reviews ahead, but in the end it was still worth it). I'm not usually a fan of games with this kind of art style, but it turned out to be a refreshing change after the dark and gritty worlds that are preferred by many games which claim to deal with serious topics. Even though the choices to make often weren't straightforward or easy (a good thing), it felt like it was possible to do the right thing overall (also a good thing). I've grown tired of the "everything you do has unpredictable bad consequences" formula. The CCTV-per-location camera view felt limiting at first, but I got used to it quite quickly and now I think it's another good point, as it simplifies the gameplay and doesn't distract the player. Now to hope that the remaining two books will be out sooner than I completely forget what the story was about.

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Herald: An Interactive Period Drama - Book I & II

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