Frail Hearts: Versicorae Domlion

Review

It’s May 13^th 1938 in Gris, the City of Emptiness, and the show is about to start at the Domlion theatre. You’re welcomed by the twins Eria and Rans; Eria will be your narrator for the story which is about to unfold. It’s the opening night of the Versicorae opera, a dark comedy to stir the souls in each and every one of the audience members.

Alexis Nemoria enters the stage and after confronting a monster he will help you through the game’s story, where you will unfold the stories of four characters, Michael (Gangster), Anne (Bookworm), Arthur (Scholar) and Catherine (Nun) who can be found at various places around the city of Gris. As Alexis you’ll visit each of the characters in turn; this will be the tutorial where you’ll unlock the story of each of the characters while learning their strengths and weaknesses. As each of their stories unfolds, monsters and creatures will manifest, and Alexis will guide each of the characters in using their abilities against these monsters in combat.

After the tutorial you will find yourself at the Altar of Sacrifice, where you will find three masks. The mask on the left is Tsed, and can enhance your individual statistics, the mask on the right is Inis, where you can enhance your abilities. Both of these masks require a number of Lusts in order to enhance your abilities and statistics. The final mask is ZZem, which is found in the centre and is able to read formulas inscribed on cards and will take you back to the theatre. Lusts and cards can be obtained from defeated monsters.

Upon returning to the theatre, all four characters are now up upon the stage with a mysterious woman. It’s from here that the stories of each character will continue from where you left them in the tutorial. However, it is up to you who in what order the story of the characters will unfold. Each story is divided into scenes.  Upon reaching a certain point or after completing something, you will find yourself back in the theatre, where you can choose your next step. Each character will be controlled by you and will have you walking around, searching for clues or items which will allow you to continue.

Now that all the characters are in a group, they will have each other's backs and Alexis's help when it comes to combat. As each character has their own traits and abilities, it’s important to work together if you want to proceed. Once combat is initiated, your characters and the enemy will take it in turns, indicated in the top right of the screen. Coloured, square icons match to your characters, and the enemies have coloured squares with black stars, indicating the enemy's turn. There are four categories of options when it's a character’s turn: Attack, Abilities, Special (dependant on the character) and Items. Figure out an enemy’s weakness and use the abilities of your group to take them down.

Each character has a number of Life Points, representing their health which should be kept above zero otherwise that character dies.  If all characters die then it’s Game Over. The characters also have a number of Will Points, which are required in order to perform one of their abilities

There’s a map of Gris which you will use to visit areas, including the Emporium, where you can buy items such as potions, cures, weapons and clothes.  Some may not be available to you all the time, but those that are will be highlighted in colour.

I like the artwork of the game; there’s some pretty weird looking monsters. I haven’t had any problems in running the game. One problem I did have was that I was unable to check or send Steam messages because Shift + Tab would not open Steams Overlay. It isn’t much of a problem to me, but it might be for others.  You can change the window size of the game so you would be able to see any messages but playing full screen, it wasn’t possible; maybe it will get sorted in the future.

Another thing was that I couldn’t take any screenshots of the game; I’m unsure as to why it would be a problem but for some reason it wasn’t possible. I have played the game prior to being released but I’ve never had this happen before in other games. Maybe it’s something to do with Steam’s Overlay; I’m not sure why, but like the chat messages I hope it can get sorted.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com

Frail Hearts: Versicorae Domlion Steam Store Page