Frankly speaking, My Heart Grows Fonder did not come to my radar until the very release. Mostly because I was extremely focused on the new add-on for The Sims 4 (should not have…).
Usually, visual novels catch my attention with their artwork. However, in case with My Heart Grows Fonder it was the story that made me play it. No, I am not trying to say that the visual part of this game is lacking in any way; quite the opposite! Still, the story premise is so intriguing! Why has Maia disappeared for so long? What or who made her do it? And how will Cassius deal with the whole situation? I smell a good mystery when I see one, and here we have it for sure!
So, did this visual novel meet my expectations in the end? Is it worth playing? I think yes and let me tell you why. Just one note before we start: I did not use the 18+ patch as it is not really necessary for a story like this, so maybe I missed something important. It is difficult to say, sorry.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1914848844
[h1]Pros and Cons[/h1]
The game is quite short, but it is actually one of the pros. It has just enough drama, slice-of-life, romance and mystery/detective flavor, as well as nice titbits of comedy and fanservice. Everything is in the right place and in the right amount, which creates a very nice plotline about difficult life of adults and their problems. I think that authors should not make such stories too long – 7-10 hours is just enough to give them enough development. Otherwise, it risks getting depressing or outright boring, as it happens with some books. Also, My Heart Grows Fonder has several endings, which is great! You get to see various outcomes of your choices and each romantic interest gets in the spotlight.
Now, what can I say about characters? I sympathize with Cassius in every aspect. He is a responsible young adult who is really trying to change his life and to grow up not only physically but also from a moral point of view. Maia’s sudden disappearance affected him greatly, but he is still trying to find out more about her situation instead of blindly hating his ex-girlfriend. This is a very mature attitude to relationships. I also like that he is not a pervert or a lazy bum who gets what he wants because ‘he is just so hot’. Even though at least two characters think so (yes, Ava and William, I am looking at you!).
And about girls…Well, I will be quite honest here: I did not like Maia at first and had some issues with Ava. I will write my thoughts about them under the spoiler, so, please, read them only if you are ready or have played the game.
So, let me start with Maia. She was such a sweetheart! Lovely, a perfect cook, sometimes hilariously clumsy and shy, and endearing overall. But! [spoiler] I am a very shy girl myself – I hide my face when I see people kissing on the screen. So, this girl’s frigidness did not really bother me. However, it just rubs me the wrong way when female characters say, “All males are animals! They will attack me as soon as they see my underwear!” However, from the very beginning I had a feeling that the whole situation cannot be that simple. Either Maia had a very strict and overprotective family who made her think like this or she could be a victim of harassment. Such prejudice just does not come out of nowhere. Well, as it turned out, I was quite right.[/spoiler] And the more Maia opened up, the more I started to like her – her strange behavior finally got explanation and boy was it a sad one! She also has a lot of very good qualities that make her a great person.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1915226105
Now, speaking of Ava, she was a nice comedy relief through the whole story. This forever student was quite cute and even supportive at times while making jokes more often than any other character in the game. I can even understand why she does not want to move out of her family house and start working – heck, adult life is a disaster! You just work all the time, sleep, and wait until the New Year holidays to finally get some life. And all this housework, responsibilities, deadlines. Gosh, I wish I were still at school sometimes. But! [spoiler]I do not approve of ‘friends’ who try to help you while doing some shady business behind your back. If she really wanted to give Maia and Cas a chance, why did she start sending him some hints about her own feeling as soon as they got back together? As Cas said she was scared. It is understandable. But if you want to be a good friend, do not try to steal your friend’s boyfriend right under her nose, even as a joke! This is just mean, in my opinion, no matter what your motives are.[/spoiler] Apart from this issue, Ava is not such a bad person and she actually tried to help whenever she could.
The antagonist…I hate him. That is all I can say. I really, really hate him. The author did a great job making this person as unlikeable as possible and gave good reasons for other characters to hate him.
That is all I have to say about the characters. There is one more very important feature of any visual novel – the presentation or, in other words, the design. My Heart Grows Fonder is really pretty to look at – starting from cute character designs and ending with pleasant user interface. The backgrounds are wonderful and go well with the whole atmosphere; and I particularly appreciate the fact that they seems to be hand-drawn. The CGs are neat, but my main issue is that there are not that many of them in general.
And the last but not least: the music. I will be brief: all tracks are nice and work perfectly with the overall design and various situations.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1915325630
[h1]My Verdict[/h1]
My Heart Grows Fonder is not as dark as Sickness and is not as magical as Sable’s Grimoire, but it has it is own slice-of-life charm. I also definitely like that it focuses on adult people and not yet another group of schoolchildren as many other visual novels do.
All aspects of this visual novel are really nice, and its somewhat short play time should not be a big issue, at least in my opinion. The story is captivating and does not let you get bored even though it takes some time to bloom into something more active, but the endings are worth the wait.
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