Fatal Hearts (GxB/G, now free)

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PrettySammy09
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Re: Fatal Hearts

#31 Post by PrettySammy09 »

Naiomi666 wrote:ok can anyone please tell me how the key puzzle works?
The little key icon next to the puzzle has a certain pattern. Push up the pins to match that pattern. Imagine the key sliding into the lock and pushing up the pins according to its pattern. Once you get one pin in the right space, you can push up the next pin. But you have to keep adjusting the pins so that they match the pattern on the key.

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#32 Post by Naiomi666 »

ok but i still don't get it yet. I just need to know were the first two sticks go. do they go on the bottom or near the top?

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#33 Post by PrettySammy09 »

Naiomi666 wrote:ok but i still don't get it yet. I just need to know were the first two sticks go. do they go on the bottom or near the top?
Only the top sticks move.
move the first stick up one space. This should unlock the next stick. Move that stick up one space and the second stick up another space.

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#34 Post by naiomi666 »

ok i was able to get the first four sticks by making them in a diagonal shape. Is there something I'm suppose e to do differently with the 5th one because it will not move when i try the same thing.

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#35 Post by PrettySammy09 »

If you look at the pattern in the key, it makes a dip. You have to lower the first stick to match that dip.
Okay. I've gotten twelve out of the fourteen endings, so I think I'm pretty much ready to give a full review.

First of all: Congratulations on finishing this wonderful game. It's commercial quality in its presentation and style, and you should be very proud of yourself. :)

Graphics: The characters sprites are fabulous, and the CGs are numerous. Although I'm glad you split up the work between many artists, I did find myself wishing for more consistency, especially when some peoples' styles completely contradicted each other. I was taken out of the game, saying to myself, "Waiiitt...that doesn't look like the art from before." All the pieces were nice, but maybe finding one or two artists to do it would have been better. :)

Sound: Nice music, wish there had been more of it. There were times when the game had a lot of silence, and although that's all right, more background music would have added even more tone to the piece. However, the times when you did use music were very appropriate. Nice sound effects too.

Puzzles: Excellent! So much fun! I loved all the puzzles, even the ones that were so frustrating I wanted to kick them! Once I did solve them, I really felt accomplished. Your skills amaze me. If I ever need a programmer for a mini-game, I'll know who to turn to. :)

Story: Ahhh, the biggy. This'll be placed under a spoiler cut so I won't ruin the entire game for everyone else. XD
The idea for Fatal Hearts is indeed unique. I enjoyed the premise of the story, a creepy vampire romance thriller. The characters were all fleshed out and well-written.

Warning: Sort of Nitpicky Critique alert!

However, I've achieved 12 out of 14 endings, and I'd say 11 of them are not exactly "good" endings.

(in no particular order)

1.) You Die
2.) The House Goes Up in Flames
3.) You Become Sebastien's Bride and suck his blood
4.) You Kill Sebastien and Jeremy sucks your blood
5.) You Run Away From Everything with $20 and Lucy
6.) You Go to the Police with Elizabeth and abandon Tim and Company
7.) Tim rams you through with a stake
8.) You shove your hand through Sebastien's chest.
9.) Randy and the Vampire are caught in a never-ending struggle
10.) You commit suicide and kill the entire cult
11.) You Join forces with the vampire and put your best friends' family in jail.

The only ending that made me smile, that made me feel like I had done the world a justice and improved Christina's life was Lucy's true ending (where Lucy drives them away from the mansion). Other endings did provide closure (and I didn't really feel bad about the one where Christina and Bastian put the cult members in jail and stuff), but they certainly didn't make me feel as though I had "won". In fact, I'd say ten of these endings are downright "bad endings" in the fact that they are cop-outs or the fact that they are sad.

Now there's nothing wrong with having bad endings! XD All VN players know that bad endings are a necessary part of the VN genre! But, as I've narrowed down endings, I now realize that between Tim, Randy, and Jeremy, only one of them has a good ending. (Considering how you told me that you can achieve a very bad ending with Jeremy if you answer the questions in the beginning like a ditz. XD) Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think my math is right.

I came into the game thinking it was going to be about romance. But so far, the most romance I've seen is two girls falling in love (nothing wrong with that!) and a couple of boys flirting with a girl and eventually killing her/sucking her blood/abandoning her.

As I continued to play through the different paths of the game, I realized just how horrible a person Jeremy is; killing innocent girls by asking them out on dates. However, the first path I played was Jeremy's. I feel as though the game is punishing me for taking an interest in him. Maybe this is realistic (be careful who you trust!) but it is also an hour and half of time that ends in disappointment. It is many cute moments that make me squeal in my chair that end in nothing satisfying. I think there are just too many disappointing outcomes in this game. I know you probably want to tell a dark story, but with a cast of characters that are as colorful as they are, I don't see why you have to make nearly every story end badly.

In your defense, I have yet to play the final two endings. They might be full of sunshine and happiness and rainbows, but I doubt it. XD

That's my only complaint about the story. Once I get the final two endings, maybe my opinion will change. But, from what I've heard, only one ending is good. XD
Once again, congrats! Great job and I can't wait to see more great games from you!

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#36 Post by Anvil Factory »

Ooh, finished, is it? I'll probably be purchasing it sometime soon...when I'm feeling less poor after having had almost all my DS games, along with my PS2, two PS2 games, and laptop stolen. XD

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#37 Post by papillon »

Discussion of full-game plot and endings within...
This honestly isn't a dating game. :) This is an adventure game, and the plot does take priority over the romance. From what I can tell from your list of endings, you have missed an ending that you might count as being a lot more sunshine and flowers than the rest of them. (The super-bad Jeremy ending I mentioned is just a variant on 'you die', it doesn't have a picture.) But really, what counts as 'good' somewhat depends on the player.

Some people might feel that the ending where you join the wolves and kill the vampire is the best ending, because Christina has become empowered and is no longer trapped being a victim and playing out some role from the past. As for putting Lucy's parents in jail, well... They're MURDERERS. Don't they deserve that? :)

As for Jeremy, depending on what choices you make, in one of the epilogues you may find out that Jeremy and Elizabeth end up as a couple! (If there ever is a bonus Elizabeth branch, the two of them have some things to say to each other.)

I'm actually quite fond of Jeremy, even if he is a bastard. I know why he feels the way he feels. In his viewpoint, the people he betrays aren't people. They don't have souls. Which isn't all that different from the wolves, who kill people that they think are monsters... and anyone who happens to get in their way. (That being you.) Jeremy wouldn't hurt *Christina*, because she's real to him... unless your initial choices have made your version of Christina a ditz. Stupid people are not real, to him.

I'd like to see some people try to figure out some good-ending stories for characters like Jeremy and Tim, who are somewhat trapped by the plot. That's what the Fanfic forum is for! What would be necessary in order for Christina to talk Jeremy into abandoning Bastian and his promise of power? How can Christina convince Jeremy that just because people are stupid doesn't mean you should crush them mercilessly?

I'd *LIKE* people to feel inspired, to demand 'No, it could have happened like this!' and tell their own outcomes. Go for it! :)

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#38 Post by PrettySammy09 »

Ahhh! I see! So a super happy sunshine flower ending eludes me! :twisted: I won't rest until I get all the happy endings! (Am I lame like that? XD)

I suppose I had expectations for both Tim and Jeremy, but it's your story, and you're right, they are "trapped by the plot". I suppose I love stories where those captured in a bloody struggle overcome evil with the help of a loved one.

I agree that a "good" ending is subjective. And Lucy's parents going to jail isn't all that bad. Those sandwiches she made us were probably disgusting! :P

Fanfiction huh? Hmmm...maybe a fan game?

"Fatal Hearts: What REALLY Happened"!

Christina: Jeremy, you're a servant to a vampire?
Jeremy: Sort of. But I love you more than him. (takes out a ring) Will you marry me?
Christina: Eee! Of course!

Epilogue: Jeremy and Christina got married and had ten children. Bastian was never even part of the story.

Bastian: Wait! What?! O_o Liebchen!

Oh...but uh...Kirsten came back to life and Bastian got de-vampirized and they lived happily ever after too.

Kirsten: Oh I'm so happy! ;D
Sebastien: But what about the wolfriemen?!

The wolfriemen became social workers in South America and helped save small children from terrible infectious diseases.

Randy: Sure is great to help people!
Tim: My past isn't tragic at all! :D
Eric: *says something but it doesn't matter what because everything sounds sexy with a German accent*

Elizabeth and Lucy became a couple and spent all their time at the mall.

Lucy: Can we find someplace else to go in a time of crisis?

Congratulations! You won! You got 1 ending out of 234 other equally happy endings! :) You're a great person! I love you!


XD

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#39 Post by papillon »

*grin* Hey, with all the resources in the data directory, you COULD make a fangame if you wanted... but I think all those happy endings might take you a while! :)

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#40 Post by Jake »

papillon wrote:
This honestly isn't a dating game. :) This is an adventure game, and the plot does take priority over the romance.
You say this, but a good proportion of the seemingly-important choices, and a good deal of the heroine's musings, are kind of romantic in bent. And playing enough of the endings, Christina does kiss her way through half the cast. ;-)
papillon wrote:
Some people might feel that the ending where you join the wolves and kill the vampire is the best ending, because Christina has become empowered and is no longer trapped being a victim and playing out some role from the past. As for putting Lucy's parents in jail, well... They're MURDERERS. Don't they deserve that? :)
On one hand, I mostly agree with PrettySammy09; most of the endings aren't that fantastic in terms of wrapping everything up and providing Christina with a fulfilling happy life ahead of her. But on the other hand, I kind of like that... I think if any of them had tied everything up in a contented manner it would likely have felt pretty artificial, after all.

But as to that specific ending, I thought that was possibly one of the saddest ones, really. Mainly 'cause I'd already seen in a different branch how Lucy was in love with Christina, and enough from various branches to suggest that she's pretty bad at getting around to telling Christina important things... it's unlikely she's ever going to find another vampire-abduction-facing-death-or-betrothment to prompt her to confess her feelings, after all! If it had been the first branch I'd played through I'd probably have found it a lot happier...
papillon wrote:
I'm actually quite fond of Jeremy, even if he is a bastard. I know why he feels the way he feels. In his viewpoint, the people he betrays aren't people. They don't have souls.
Me too - he's a great creation. Although I'd have gone for 'insane' rather than 'a bastard'. ;-) I mean, pretty much everybody has some set of things which they consider not-morally-wrong which society deems illegal - and for most people, they'd happily do those things if they thought they'd get away with them, from back-street abortionists doing illegal things for others to abandonware sites doing illegal things for themselves (and lots of other examples all curiously beginning with 'A'). A bastard does things he considers wrong because he benefits enough from them to overcome his conscience, where I got the impression Jeremy considered murdering these 'soulless drones' not 'wrong', just 'illegal'. And hey, he can [half the time] get away with it, it seems.

But really, this whole discussion highlights one of the things I liked most about this game - the fact that most of the branches are relatively 'equal', one can play through two games making totally different choices and not feel like one ending was really that much more 'worthwhile' than another. Each set of characters has its motivations and its flaws. I'm not a big fan of 'one true path and lots of little failures' approach. ;-)
papillon wrote:
What would be necessary in order for Christina to talk Jeremy into abandoning Bastian and his promise of power? How can Christina convince Jeremy that just because people are stupid doesn't mean you should crush them mercilessly?
Electro-shock therapy!
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Re: Fatal Hearts

#41 Post by BellosTheMighty »

I just finished it first time through, winding up at ending #2. A good job overall- nice writing, and the art style is remarkably consistent given that you had to get several artists working together. I found it strained credibility some that a woman would let her fifteen-year-old daughter go out with a high school senior- for that matter, the mother more or less drops out of the plot completely, after being fairly important up until then. I'll talk more about the plot after I've seen more of the paths.

The puzzles are important, so I'll talk about those. The early ones are kinda lame. The first, with the spiderwebs, seems to be more an exercise in filtering the "noise" out of a situation then a serious puzzle. But the later ones are much better. Though a little uninspired, runic sudoku is fun- the kind of knotty puzzle where you pull one strand and watch the whole thing unravel. The arrows puzzle was very satisfying to crack open, though it took me over an hour. On the other hand, the car chase I did not like- the controls are difficult to get down, and it's too easy to run into the side of the road and get hung up badly enough that you get caught. The clock was fair but frustrating- I quarreled with the game for five minutes trying to place the IV correctly, finally leaving it for last and going the other way around. I also didn't find a use for the square or diamond shapes in that puzzle- more noise, perhaps?

All in all though, some good work. Good luck at the market.
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Re: Fatal Hearts

#42 Post by papillon »

I'm pretty sure quite a lot of 15yos go out with 18yos. Parents have different ideas of appropriate boundaries. (and a websearch for relationships between freshmen and seniors will pop up plenty)

He was, after all, a very charming and polite older boy.

Don't look at me, though, I didn't have a date until I was older than that. :)

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Re: Fatal Hearts

#43 Post by Jake »

Did she find out exactly how old Jeremy was anyway? It gets harder to tell the older you get - I wouldn't be surprised if someone I'd guessed was 16 or 17 turned out to be as young as 14 or as old as 19, and I'm 'only' 27 myself... I expect by the time I get old enough to plausibly have fifteen-year-old kids it'll be harder still.
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Re: Fatal Hearts

#44 Post by BellosTheMighty »

Playthrough #2- wound up taking what the Gallery screen seems to define as the "low road". Got ending 4. Didn't like it all that much, so I backed up a little and got ending 11- better, in the sense that it was what I was trying for, but still lacked a kind of oomph.

Wasn't as impressed with the puzzles this time- the dictionaries, the safe, and the keypad all required research outside the game, which is something of a game design faux pas. It's not necessarily bad in the sense of making the game unfair, but it plays games with the forth wall- YOU know what those runes mean because you had a net connection an alt-tab away and asked Wikipedia, but the heroine doesn't have that advantage, so it doesn't make sense. It's also, in the case or obscure or esoteric knowledge at least, somewhat contingent on finding the same resource the author used to make the game- the last two runes on the safe I had some trouble determining, because they're too obscure. The cooking puzzle seems like an odd digression- Papillion was probably trying to say something about Bastian, but it didn't quite come off. Actually, that my be a problem with the plotline as a whole- I don't get much of a sense for Bastian. I'm not getting the idea that his affection for Kirsten is genuine, which is why the Bastian endings didn't grab me.

Still fun, but less so this time. Trying again later- I still want to run with the wolves. ^_^

[EDIT]

Oh, one more thing: I had to reload from a save file because I forgot the phrase in Bastian's letter that clued the keypad. That's another design mistake, and a rather more serious one- Since I couldn't backtrack to see the letter again, it constitutes "save-restore" puzzling, which has never been fun.
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Re: Fatal Hearts

#45 Post by papillon »

The heroine also has access to several bookshelves full of occult references and foreign language dictionaries, as well as an inside source to question, all of which are extremely difficult to replicate in-game.

In fact,
the rune-keypad puzzle is easier if you use the knowledge *Christina* has - because she was given a runes sheet with the relevant translations of all the runes earlier. (In German, admittedly.) The combination is also written down in another cult book she had access to earlier. AND replicated in the game scenery, if you're looking closely enough.
it constitutes "save-restore" puzzling, which has never been fun.
... Did I mention I grew up on Sierra games? In which 'save early, save often' was an important motto? And that I found them fun? :)


Some people will think the idea of doing real-world research to solve a game puzzle is bizarre, others will find it more interesting than trying to solve a logic puzzle. The game has lots of different kinds of puzzles.

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