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Go to the sewers and get lost.
SunflowerGames- 05/25/2017 04:36 AM
- 2838 views
An Earnest Heart: Delve is a short indie demo created using RPG Maker MV. The beginning of the game is very story heavy. The developer shows a great knack for complex event processes and writing a lot of dialogue (And she loves those balloon animations!)
You play as man named Harold, who knew both the queen and the queen's daughter when he was a child (this was all way before the queen got married...) Am I missing something or is there some part of the story that's going to explain how that's possible (The queen had a daughter before she married the king?) Anyways, the queen's daughter doesn't remember you because she had some accident. And the queen seems to be really into you (so it almost seems like your the same age), but the story could be setting up a love story with the queen's daughter. But if you were very friendly with the queen before she got married... So while the story seems deeply involving and has the potential for a lot of good character interaction, it would help if it made a bit more sense.
After getting your mission it's time to start your journey in the sewer. A place that is incredibly maze like. (And is either very well mapped in some areas or not mapped at all in others. The contrast between the areas that are well mapped and not well mapped is sort of confusing.)
I'm feeling big empty map vibe here.
In the sewer you will get lost quite easily, as it's hard to tell if you have gone down certain hallways or not. In addition you will encounter a ladder that lets you go down into the water into some bugged event (As well as areas where you can walk through the wall.) There's a cool save crystal that lets you save your game (even though you can save your game from the menu.) And you will open treasure chests that give you nothing. The sewer is filled with nothing to do. You will walk and walk. There are no enemies, puzzles, people to talk to, or any hint or indication of what you should be doing (though I eventually got to the latter that ends the demo.)
If I was writing a review for a completed game here this review might even be harsher than it was here. The eventing and story telling at the start is pretty good, even though some things might need to be explained better. The dungeon in the game needs more stuff in it. It's really a big area with nothing in it. As of writing this review I'll refrain from giving this game a score.
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CloseHey~ Thanks for the review of this really incomplete (and kinda shitty ;p ) event game. It was literally released just to get a badge (well, I mean, it does have some content but it's not complete and I'd meant to take the download down a while back just so something like this didn't happen but no worries!)
The relationship between Harold and Queen Anna was supposed to come off as an older woman interacting with an older teen that she knew very well as a child. Harold and her daughter played together as children, before she married the king and moved in to the castle. As such, she got to know child!Harold and considered him as part of her little family at the time. She was like a favourite aunt or another mother figure to him, so the both of them were quite close.
I assume you got confused in this due to the idea that she wasn't married to the king at the time. The story behind that is that the king met her during his travels (the same trip that the game focuses on) when he was still a prince, and dallied a bit in the village, pretending to be a travelling noble's son at the time. They fell in love and had a child together by accident, she not knowing at the time that he was the prince of the kingdom.
He never told anyone but his closest comrades (those who knew of her since they travelled with him) as his father had already arranged a marriage with another princess for him, but eventually he came out and did the ol' "I'm already in love with someone else... and oh, have a kid to boot" after his father died in a hunting accident. Being the newly crowned king (and having the support of those who did know about it and were now in power), people couldn't really say anything about it and Anna proved herself to be a capable and kind queen so eventually (most) people got over it.
The story would have unfolded over the course of the journey, with Stella or Harold telling tales when they reach certain places, or the group talking about their upbringings (such as the mage siblings talking about their father, who was one of those who did know about Anna and Stella's existence before the marriage).
The relationship between Harold and Queen Anna was supposed to come off as an older woman interacting with an older teen that she knew very well as a child. Harold and her daughter played together as children, before she married the king and moved in to the castle. As such, she got to know child!Harold and considered him as part of her little family at the time. She was like a favourite aunt or another mother figure to him, so the both of them were quite close.
I assume you got confused in this due to the idea that she wasn't married to the king at the time. The story behind that is that the king met her during his travels (the same trip that the game focuses on) when he was still a prince, and dallied a bit in the village, pretending to be a travelling noble's son at the time. They fell in love and had a child together by accident, she not knowing at the time that he was the prince of the kingdom.
He never told anyone but his closest comrades (those who knew of her since they travelled with him) as his father had already arranged a marriage with another princess for him, but eventually he came out and did the ol' "I'm already in love with someone else... and oh, have a kid to boot" after his father died in a hunting accident. Being the newly crowned king (and having the support of those who did know about it and were now in power), people couldn't really say anything about it and Anna proved herself to be a capable and kind queen so eventually (most) people got over it.
The story would have unfolded over the course of the journey, with Stella or Harold telling tales when they reach certain places, or the group talking about their upbringings (such as the mage siblings talking about their father, who was one of those who did know about Anna and Stella's existence before the marriage).
Okay, yeah I sort of thought it strange that the king wouldn't marry right away after finding out his girlfriend was pregnant. I mean Harold and the princess played with each other as kids, so it was quite a few years at least before the marriage could happen.
Yeah, a fair few. The king was determined to keep them both safe from court influences and machinations on top of the whole illegitimate daughter thing.
The Royal Journey usually happens around the ages of 16-18 (coming of age type thing) so both Stella's father and mother were kinda young when they met and fell in love. It was supposed to be a one-off thing, but when she fell pregnant and he found out, he kept coming back despite having a bride-to-be already lined up. The timeline is like this:
- 17 Prince falls in love/Anna gets pregnant
- 18 A few visits with Anna keeping her pregnancy a secret from him. Prince finds out about having to marry Princess and tries to be a good prince by not visiting Anna. Harold is born to Anna's neighbour.
- 19 Stella born. Her father doesn't know about her yet. Anna decides to raise her daughter alone and tells no-one who the father is.
- 21 Prince finds out that Anna had a child through the mage kids' father who was travelling by. Prince is upset (thinking she married), but still determined to do right by his very soon wife-to-be.
- 22 Negotiations for Prince's marriage take a sour turn for a while. In this time he decides to check in on Anna. Surprise, you're a father! Stella looks just like his mother (the then-Queen) so there's no quarrel that she's definitely his child.
- 23 The wedding is back on. Prince isn't happy about this very much. Spends a lot of time visiting Anna and Stella where possible.
- 24 Prince keeps finding ways to block the wedding - shipments go missing, excuses are made, many illnesses so as not to meet his imminent wife-to-be occur.
- 25 King gets sick. Prince is bouncing between meeting with Anna and Stella, dealing with matters of state and trying to fend off people trying to take advantage of the chaos. King dies at the end of the year.
- 26 Things are in upheaval. The queen is sent away to the summer palace to recover from her shock, leaving Prince in charge of everything. Prince upgrades to King this year, but things are in constant flux and there are many who try to make use of his inexperience and relative youth. He still visits Anna and Stella, though when he can't he sends his reliable allies to check on them.
- 28 Things finally calm down and King has consolidated his rule. His mother is back in the palace, now trying to push the wedding to the foreign princess, only to get shot down repeatedly by King. Stella and Harold are about 9/10 years old.
- 30 Caving to pressure to provide an heir to the throne (by getting married), King picks up Anna and Stella and brings them back to the palace, plonking them down in front of startled courtiers and foreign delegates, introducing his queen-to-be and heir.
Harold and Stella grew up as neighbours since they were babies, so they had a lot of time to get to know each other, despite the odd circumstances around Anna and Stella's lives. Harold was actually really excited that Stella would get to go live in the palace and was only ever enthusiastic on her behalf, promising to become a strong knight and follow her there one day.
The Royal Journey usually happens around the ages of 16-18 (coming of age type thing) so both Stella's father and mother were kinda young when they met and fell in love. It was supposed to be a one-off thing, but when she fell pregnant and he found out, he kept coming back despite having a bride-to-be already lined up. The timeline is like this:
- 17 Prince falls in love/Anna gets pregnant
- 18 A few visits with Anna keeping her pregnancy a secret from him. Prince finds out about having to marry Princess and tries to be a good prince by not visiting Anna. Harold is born to Anna's neighbour.
- 19 Stella born. Her father doesn't know about her yet. Anna decides to raise her daughter alone and tells no-one who the father is.
- 21 Prince finds out that Anna had a child through the mage kids' father who was travelling by. Prince is upset (thinking she married), but still determined to do right by his very soon wife-to-be.
- 22 Negotiations for Prince's marriage take a sour turn for a while. In this time he decides to check in on Anna. Surprise, you're a father! Stella looks just like his mother (the then-Queen) so there's no quarrel that she's definitely his child.
- 23 The wedding is back on. Prince isn't happy about this very much. Spends a lot of time visiting Anna and Stella where possible.
- 24 Prince keeps finding ways to block the wedding - shipments go missing, excuses are made, many illnesses so as not to meet his imminent wife-to-be occur.
- 25 King gets sick. Prince is bouncing between meeting with Anna and Stella, dealing with matters of state and trying to fend off people trying to take advantage of the chaos. King dies at the end of the year.
- 26 Things are in upheaval. The queen is sent away to the summer palace to recover from her shock, leaving Prince in charge of everything. Prince upgrades to King this year, but things are in constant flux and there are many who try to make use of his inexperience and relative youth. He still visits Anna and Stella, though when he can't he sends his reliable allies to check on them.
- 28 Things finally calm down and King has consolidated his rule. His mother is back in the palace, now trying to push the wedding to the foreign princess, only to get shot down repeatedly by King. Stella and Harold are about 9/10 years old.
- 30 Caving to pressure to provide an heir to the throne (by getting married), King picks up Anna and Stella and brings them back to the palace, plonking them down in front of startled courtiers and foreign delegates, introducing his queen-to-be and heir.
Harold and Stella grew up as neighbours since they were babies, so they had a lot of time to get to know each other, despite the odd circumstances around Anna and Stella's lives. Harold was actually really excited that Stella would get to go live in the palace and was only ever enthusiastic on her behalf, promising to become a strong knight and follow her there one day.
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