Heartbound is a beautifully written and animated RPG adventure inspired by classics such as Secret of Mana and Mother, in which you play a young boy who has to deal with some very real-world problems (as well as some otherworldly ones) but always has the unwavering love and friendship of his best friend in the whole world – his faithful dog.
In Heartbound you play a young boy with an alcoholic mother and a less than loving step-father, living in a neglected house filled with empty beer tins. It’s not all doom and gloom though, you have your dog; a faithful companion and friend who helps you through the bad times and always looks on the bright side. The banter between you and your (talking) dog is a particular highlight in the current build and it really shows the love and friendship shared between the two, providing a welcome ray of light in the boys rather unhappy life.
Heartbound promises a story that sees subtle tears in reality appearing, which give glimpses of dreams, terrors and unknown histories. There will be lots of secrets to discover and the narrative will be shaped by all manner of major and minor actions – it remembers every little thing you do, such as turning on a light switch or taking out the trash and subtly adjusts all further interactions. It will also feature a mini game based combat system that sounds a bit like the a blend of Undertale and Wario Ware, so for example, to defeat a sock monster you have to peel socks off a wall and put them into a hamper.
The Heartbound prototype serves as a short 10 minute teaser for the full game, and although it doesn’t have any of the mini-game based combat promised in the full game, it does feature some beautiful pixel art visual design and a well written story that will break your heart. By the end of it you’ll be dying for more of this unique, charming and heartfelt adventure. Thankfully the dev plans to release a Beta version before the end of the year so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long!
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Download The Heartbound Prototype Here (Win, Mac & Linux)