Fragile Hearts Review

Looks like what you might expect from an RPG, but it’s completely the opposite…

- by Nathan H

I don’t believe I have ever played such a memorable game in my life – Fragile Hearts truly tickled my (kind of crude) funny bone. It is a RPG made in RPG Maker 2003 in a similar yet still original style to the old JRPGs of yore. A fair warning though, this game isn’t for everyone.

The game may seem kind of similar to other RPGs at first, until you get about 3 minutes in and the hero tries to avoid marrying an ugly princess. This is when you realize the game’s style – charming, WTF, crude (expect some boob jokes!), silly, over the top, full of fun and stylish. The dialogue is quite silly and fun, and I always had a smile on my face, sometimes a chuckle. I couldn’t stop playing, almost solely because of all the dry and dirty humour sucked me in. I won’t spoil it for you, but the story is neat and in other words, if you were expecting a serious story, go someplace else.



Another example of the game’s charm, as well as another flaw is the fact that talking crackers are the save points, but you can’t save anywhere you want so you may have to repeat parts of the game. Also, some of the items and skills descriptions have a humorous nature, so be sure to check them out. There is even a Star Wars reference hidden in there. Comment if you find it!

This is also when I noticed my first nitpick – the character portraits were too big, and during conversation they take up about a third of the screen. Like I said, it is a nitpick and doesn’t truly hamper the game. After the action starts to roll and you start to get into some battles, I noticed the game was fairly easy (perhaps too easy and maybe turn off the more hardcore gamers), and that almost every enemy drops a health potion early on. Near the end of the first chapter (the game is broken into chapters and there is a few playable characters), I had 35 health potions. Yep. The battles are a mix of real-time and turn based combat (like Final Fantasy‘s ATB system), and I think they are quite enjoyable.



Another odd flaw is the fact that some things in the environment can’t be interacted with when you would expect you could (for example, a shelf in a dungeon). As well, I was sometimes lost because there is no journal to keep track of what to do. Of course, to please puzzle fans, there are a few puzzles spread out around the game. Sometimes the game feels a bit too linear with not enough room for exploration, but this can also be overlooked.

I believe there is around eight chapters. I haven’t finished it yet but I believe it to be around 15 hours long. I could be wrong. Either way, Fragile Hearts is amazing. I hope you give this game a try as it is one of the most refreshing games of the year and I couldn’t stop playing it.

Link: http://www.hbgames.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=75964



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