[b]Note:[/b] A wonderful friend gifted me a copy of this game. ^^
[i]Heart & Soul[/i] is an otome visual novel developed and published by GSE Studios. You take on the role of Psyche, a princess from the Greek myth who is renowned so much for her beauty that the people call her their earthly Aphrodite. For anyone who is familiar with Greek mythology, this visual novel is based off of the story of Psyche although there are many endings here. As one can imagine, Aphrodite is not pleased by this, especially since the people stop paying attention to her and only praise Psyche, putting her on a pedestal. Therefore, Aphrodite has a plan to put an end to Psyche by forcing her to marry a monster (but the monster will end up killing her). However, just as Psyche is left to her fate, a mysterious savior swoops in to save her. Next thing she knows, Psyche finds herself in a beautiful castle and then later, she meets the being who saved her, proclaiming to be her husband. Psyche is left in the dark, though, as to the identity of her husband, and she's only temporarily safe, as Aphrodite is still after her. What will happen to sweet Psyche, and will romance blossom between her and her mysterious husband? Will she get her happily ever after?
In regards to the gameplay, there are choices presented throughout the story. While some choices have no effect, others can raise or lower affection between Psyche and her husband. However, [i]Heart & Soul[/i] is primarily a stat raiser in which you plan Psyche's activities over the course of 40 weeks. Activities can include tending to the fields or offering gifts to the gods, the latter of which (as well as praying to the gods) raises favorability with the gods. Also, there are both loneliness and curiosity meters, which you must monitor since getting them maxed can result in a bad ending. With endings, there are 2 good endings, 2 neutral endings, 7 bad endings, and the true ending. In addition, Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited".
Having gone over the story and gameplay, I'll get down to my thoughts. Since the developer just released a new visual novel, I thought it would be a good time to finally get to playing [i]Heart & Soul[/i]. (Also, I have been meaning to get around to this game. ^^) First, I loved the story. It helps that it's based on Greek mythology, which is one of my favorite subjects to study as a hobby. Also, I am very familiar with the story of Psyche. I like Psyche as the main heroine. She's put into this role where the people worship her, even thinking that she's better than Aphrodite. However, it isn't a role that Psyche wanted. It was the people and her parents who pushed this on her. Psyche is quite sweet and innocent although she is human, so aspects like curiosity and loneliness can get to her. Then there's her mysterious husband. Now, for those who are familiar with the story, you can probably guess who he is. Although Psyche doesn't know who he is until pretty late into the story, it is clear that he's clearly fond of her. He wants to protect, cherish, and love her, which is why he rescued her from her fate. Psyche and her husband have quite the sweet, loving romance going on, and she eventually ends up pregnant. I enjoyed seeing their sweet interactions, assuming that you choose the right choices to do so. Also, the other characters, mainly Zeus and Aphrodite as well as Amara and Sirena (Psyche's sisters), help to add to the story. It's clear that Amara and Sirena are jealous of Psyche when they realize how well off she is, while they're supposedly stuck in loveless marriages. Aphrodite is a jealous goddess who's after revenge, and Zeus is stuck in the middle. Not wishing to ramble too much, I like that there are lots of endings. It was nice seeing the good endings, and I especially liked the true ending, where you experience Psyche go through the trials set by Aphrodite.
With regards to the writing, I thought the pacing was fine. I didn't notice any grammatical errors or whatnot, and I enjoyed reading the story as I followed Psyche on her adventure. As for the gameplay, the stat raising was doable although it could be a bit challenging at times. Mainly, I'm referring to obtaining certain endings. However, there is a wonderful Steam user guide in case you get stuck on how to obtain any ending. Of course, I was able to obtain all of the Steam achievements.
As for the art, it is lovely. The sprites and backgrounds are drawn and colored well, giving off that feeling of being in ancient Greece during the time of the Greek Gods. I did notice that a background picture was missing, which was the one where [spoiler]Psyche made her trip to the underworld, as one of Aphrodite's trials[/spoiler]. There are a couple of CGs although I wish that there had been more. I just love them in visual novels, but it's all good. ^^
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3341066714
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3341067353
Finally, the music tracks are lovely to listen to. They give off that relaxed vibe, all being instrumental. There aren't many, but the ones that are present are great to listen to. No voice acting is present, but that's usually the norm for visual novels made by indie devs.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Heart & Soul[/i]? If you enjoy otome visual novels, don't mind some stat raising, and/or enjoy stories set in ancient Greece, then this game is worth taking a look. For the asking price, it might be a little bit steep, as it took me a little over 4.5 hours to obtain all of the endings and earn all of the achievements. However, I used the skip already read text feature, so gameplay hours may vary. I think it is worth getting, but you can always wait for a sale. ^^
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