#heaven's vault

[katistrophe]

I heard you like conlangs so I put conlang in your conlang

Or, Kat has Heaven’s Vault on their brain after playing Chants of Sennaar.

(Translation notes after the cut)

To start this off, I am a ridiculous person who has religiously avoided language spoilers for Heaven’s Vault, so this is based off of the… sixty-odd pages of notes I took while playing.

The title was tricky, of course - couldn’t really find the etymology of „Sennaar“, so „Chants of Sennaar“ became „Songs of the Tower“. If there is an Ancient word for „tower“ I haven’t found it, so I constructed one. I first thought of „high wall“, but went for „heaven:wall“ as a semi-pun on the Tower of Babel thing instead. (Double pun, but only for English speakers: I’m pretty sure if you exchange the noun marker in „wall“ for a place marker you get „place where something is buried“. As in a vault.)

Also on the title card, „options“ is literally „say change“, paralleling „say your destination“/„say your question(?)“ from hoppers/robots awaiting input. „Change“ is also inferred from the verb.

„Warriors“ was pretty straightforward to translate as „soldiers“. I also „translated“ the exclamation mark in the UI since Ancient doesn’t really have punctuation as such - it now says „important“.

„Bards“ is my own guess since I haven’t found the equivalent yet, but I don’t think I’ve leaned too far out of the window with it - „person who sings“. To reflect how „ungrammatical“ sentences with uncertain words are, I added spaces between the words rather than the run-on style of fully translated ones. I‘m not sure if an approximation of OSV sentence structure like „bards, we are“ would work in Ancient, but the whole mentally switching from OSV to SVO and vice vice versa is enough in the connection segments, I wouldn’t want to inflict it on a hypothetical Ancient-speaking player during all of the Gardens. (Note also the player trying to describe the „plural“ part with „many“ since Ancient doesn’t really do plural forms of nouns.)

„Devotees“ was probably the easiest to translate - „pilgrims“ is as literal as it gets, seeing as they are people wanting to move towards their deity. The „unreadable“ in the inscription becomes „can-not read“. (Not sure whether using „want“ for „seek“ isn’t a Chants-ism, but I haven’t found a better word yet, so it’s the best I can do…)

#heaven's vault #Heaven’s vault spoilers #chants of sennaar #chants of sennaar spoilers

[grumpyfaceurn]

Press A to Contrarian Bastard

#love it #heaven's vault

[rpgchoices]

Some of my favorite videogames female characters

Aliya (Heaven's Vault), Zoe Castillo (Dreamfall), April Ryan (Dreamfall), Vivienne, Flemeth, Morrigan, Isabela, Sera (Dragon Age series), Kate Walker (Syberia), Gobbet (Shadowrun Hong King), Magdalene (Pentiment), Lae'zel, Jaheira, Minthara and Orin (Baldur's Gate 3), Grieving Mother (Pillars of Eternity 1), Calia (Enderal), Viconia (Baldur's Gate 2), Eiger (Shadowrun Dragonfall), Aliizi (Sorcery!), Berath (Pillars of Eternity Deadfire), Meredith (Dragon Age 2), Rhin (Tides of Numenera), Aylin (Baldur's Gate 3), Imoen (Baldur's Gate 1&2), Kanerah, Octavia, Jaethal, Amiri (Pathfinder Kingmaker), Pallegina (Pillars of Eternity), Bethany (Dragon Age 2), Josephine (Dragon Age Inquisition), Quirri, Dirrong (Salting the Earth).

#pillars of eternity #enderal #baldur's gate #dragon age #heaven's vault #dreamfall chapters #etc etc

[aidylweiss16]

Just finished Chants of Sennaar. Had a great time, I'd probably compare it most to Return of the Obra Dinn in terms of its puzzles and gameplay, but for those of you that played it and are looking for more language games, I highly recommend Heaven's Vault.

You focus on one language, instead of multiple, but there are much stronger connections between similar words. A lot of what you run into to translate is procedurally generated, so it's a lot more replayable on that front and the characters will respond differently to you depending on how you approach them. The music is similarly gorgeous. Plus you gotta love a sarcastic robot bestie. I've probably played it through 8 times (6 via new game+) and I'm still encountering new words to translate and new character interactions.

Archaeology! In SPACE! 'Nuff said.

#chants of sennaar #heaven's vault #return of the obra dinn #video games #never missing an opportunity to shill for my very favorite game

[sunstonespark]

making a blorb sheet is like.. literally the most self indulgent thing and uhm here it is uwu

#mysims #tomb raider #428 shibuya scramble #428: shibuya scramble #splatoon #we happy few #zero escape #nonary games #pikmin #tloz #the legend of zelda #psychonauts #heaven's vault #428 and heaven's vault fans. i see u. i lvoe u. #the rest of these guys get so much art haha #well maybe not nicole and vincent specifically but mysims gets a fair amount #was this all a thinly veiled excuse to draw osawa...? answer hazy ask again later

[cabramso]

i know i’ve already posted this here before and deleted it. but i revisited this and added a bunch of stuff and changed up the composition. anyways, I’m in the mood for a second play-through. Game good..

#my art #heaven's vault

[lucrezianoin]

heaven's vault my love

#heaven's vault #crafting #six #aliya #aliya elasra

[mystie-eyes]

Gecko now or gecko later?

#heaven's vault #aliya elasra #vg #mystiegifs

[ota-pixelart]

Heaven's Vault Pixel Demake. Would you play this?

#game mockup #demake #pixel art #pixel sprite #heaven's vault #inkle games #aliya elasra #pixel animation #ota arts

[miharuhebinata]

the top 6 games i played in 2023!

1. Heaven's Vault

An archaeologist uncovers a lost history in an ancient space Nebula.

I know that I said I had mixed feelings about this game in my initial review, and I'm sure if I tried replaying it right now, I still would. But honestly, I think about this game so often, I had to include it in this list. Truly such a unique experience. I'm even thinking of reading the book version.

2. Bugsnax

Catch mysterious living snacks and feed them to your friends in this unusual island adventure!

This is a great game, with fun gameplay and an extremely bizarre but interesting story, but where it really shines is its characters. You might not guess on first glance, but the character development in this game is so good and so rewarding. It exceeded all expectations in the best of ways.

3. Sable

Embark on a unique and unforgettable journey and guide Sable through her Gliding; a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and mesmerizing landscapes, capped by the remains of spaceships and ancient wonders.

Though it can be glitchy at times, this game is absolutely gorgeous, not just in graphics but in its story and its soundtrack as well. Very, very beautiful game. Not to mention the exploration reminded me of Breath of the Wild: you are free to do what you want, go wherever, and the ending will wait until you're ready for it.

4. Song of Horror

Fear the Presence, a mysterious entity you cannot fight: stay alert, hide, breathe slowly… Explore cursed places where unseen spirits and lost souls linger in a true horror story for the ages.

Unlike other games of the genre, in this you are completely powerless against your enemy—and if your character dies, they are dead for good. These (admittedly sometimes frustrating) mechanics make for a particularly harrowing experience, enhanced by the dark, isolating atmosphere of each chapter. A truly gripping experience.

5. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Follow the grim tale of young Amicia and her little brother Hugo, in a heartrending journey through the darkest hours of history.

The story of this was somewhat unexpected, as I was not anticipating supernatural elements in a game about the black plague, but it was so, so good. It really takes you on a journey, though the highlight of the game is obviously the characters. Both Amicia and Hugo felt not only real, they were also endearing, as were the several friends they made throughout the story. Very much looking forward to playing the sequel at some point.

6. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

A new Shogun seizes power over Edo period Japan and enforces nationwide peace. In his battle against conspiracy and rebellion, he recruits five specialists with extraordinary skills for assassination, sabotage and espionage.

I've never played a real-time tactics game before and I'm not at all good at strategizing, so you can probably imagine how frustrating this game was for me; and yet, I absolutely adored it. I found the story and the characters compelling, not to mention this game just makes you feel smart. Completing a level was always so satisfying, and it more than made up for any lingering frustrations in regards to the difficulty of the gameplay.

(Also, fun fact: one of the characters, Takuma, is voiced by the same person that voices the narrator in the Trine games! As a big fan of the Trine series, this delighted me to no end. 😊)

#note: just like last year these are listed in what order i played them not how much i liked them! #besides it may sound like a copout (and it definitely is. at least somewhat lmao) but these games are all so different from each other #it just wouldn't feel right to order them from most to least favorite </3 #heaven's vault #bugsnax #sable #song of horror #a plague tale: innocence #shadow tactics: blades of the shogun #🎮 tag #2023 game tag #send tweet

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Group C Round 3

[image ID: the first image is of Bai Lang, a Taiwanese man. he's wearing a white tank top, and kneeling at the edge of his bed, which is covered in many different stuffed animals and plushies, such as a fox, an angry bunny, a brown turtle, and a smiling tempura. the second image is of Aliya Elasra, a woman with light brown skin, dark brown hair, and wearing a blue head scarf. around her neck is a necklace with a peach colored decoration. she wears a dirty, white loose shirt, and a brown bag around her hips. end ID]

Bai Lang

He's a traumatized babygirl who falls in love with a hot autistic dentist despite being terrified of going to the dentist. Blames himself for everything and tries to distract people from how much he's falling apart with jokes. He has a bed full of plushies that each have names and he says good morning to each of them individually. This does not change even when he has the hot dentist in his bed as well. Responds to his boyfriend proposing by also proposing. He's a mess. <3

Aliya Elasra

What a WOMAN she’s a badass. First of all, she’s an archaeologist, and she’s learning a dead language and deciphering it- that’s the whole plot of the game and that’s super cool of her. She’s also like incredibly sassy and banters back and forth with her robot companion, Six, nearly the whole game. But she’s so interested in the world dude, like, she just wants to find its secrets and help discover a way to save people or learn as much as she can about the past. The Nebula is full of mysteries and if anyone is going to solve them, it’s Aliya. [additional propaganda 1]

#obscurecharactershowdown #obscure poll #group c round 3 #bai lang #my tooth your love #aliya elasra #heaven's vault

[finalvortex]

oops

#heaven's vault #rip six ig. :/

[grumpyfaceurn]

So Chants of Sennaar was great and of course the comparison with Heaven's Vault is obvious but I'm also reminded of other games that sucked me in for a very short, intense experience, like Outer Wilds and Return of the Obra Dinn.

I guess the common theme here is a puzzle mechanic that slowly reveals an intriguing story, coupled with beautiful/unique graphics.

So yeah anyone got something that scratches that same itch?

#Chants of Sennaar #Heaven's Vault #Outer Wilds #Return of the Obra Dinn #(also btw does anyone constantly have to stop themselves from typing heaven's gate instead?) #i mean obra dinn isn't beautiful exactly but it's certainly atmospheric #maybe I should look at walking simulators with a puzzle element? #idk but it needs both story and something to make ya think #(pls don't rec tunic it's lovely and I'm sure very satisfying but I suck at the combat)

[blueeyedrat]

Games I played in 2023.

Last year was stable. This year has been... less so. I've bounced between getting out more and shutting myself in more, and between trying to take better care of myself and letting small issues and stressors start to pile up. My steady job got a lot less steady, and I'm now out of work and finding ways to pass the time. Like video games, for instance. Shall we?

(2022 ⇐ 2023)

Moncage

This was another decent year for getting caught up on games I've tried out and expressed an interest in before. Moncage, INSIGHT, Railbound, URBO, and a few other games you'll see further down the list. I also followed up on some games I've played in the past like Train Valley 2, and even dipped back into some old mainstays like Eternal. One of these days I'll find time for Minecraft or Dwarf Fortress again.

I more or less broke even on my backlog this year, chipping away at smaller games from assorted bundles I've picked up over the years, but also picking up some new bundles to add to the pile. So many games, so little time.

Before We Leave

While we're talking about the backlog, here's a game I've been interested in for a while. A settlement builder in a solar system of small planets, with a quaint aesthetic of wooden ships and massive space whales. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this one. The automation and logistics aspect is an interesting spin on the genre, even it gets a bit complex at times. Never too challenging, though, and there's enough depth and nuance to hold my interest all the way to the final stages and on towards the stars. I'm looking forward to the upcoming sequel.

The Legend of Zelda (series)

It's hard to go wrong with Zelda. I have fond memories of Skyward Sword, Wind Waker HD, and Breath of the Wild, and with a new one on the way, it seemed like as good a time as any to catch up on my library. In order: Link's Awakening DX, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Minish Cap, and the DLC quests from Breath of the Wild I never got around to. Our Wii U saw more activity than it's gotten in years.

Opinions on each: Awakening was a fun, solid 2D adventure that never overstayed its welcome, though the game shows its age at a few points. Likewise, Ocarina was an interesting look at the series' jump to 3D, but was also somewhat janky at times and it took a while for me to really get into a groove with it. (I think the turning point might've been the Water Temple. I actually liked the Water Temple. Ye gods.) Majora was a sizeable improvement gameplay-wise and played with the format in neat ways, though I'll admit that I butted heads with the time loop mechanic more than once.

I have a particular nostalgia for Minish Cap; some of my earliest memories of Nintendo games are watching my friend's GBA over his shoulder on the bus ride to elementary school. After so long, this was the one I was most curious to see if it held up. Answer: yes. Minish Cap is officially my favorite 2D Zelda, and the highlight of this little retro binge. There's a lot of charm to it, and it just feels good to play.

It may be a bit too recent for nostalgia, but I almost forgot how much I loved Breath of the Wild. My old file was exactly how I left it, and playing through the extra content was a good way to re-acquaint myself with the "new" Zelda style before…

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

This was a daunting one. If I had to sum up Tears in one sentence, it would be this: There is so much game in this game. Even compared to its predecessor, there's so much to do and so many more layers of exploration and interaction, with a wide array of smaller improvements that make it a smoother experience overall.

I wish I could say I put as much time into this game as I did into Breath of the Wild, and I did put a lot of time into it, but… some other things got in the way. Summer is when my work got a lot busier and a good amount more stressful, and this was a game I slowly chipped away at whenever I found time for it. I got pretty much everything I wanted out of it, and after the credits rolled, I put it away and haven't touched it since. I should change that. I'm sure there are more good times to be had.

Mutazione

The word that comes to mind to describe Mutazione is fascinating. It's a point-and-click narrative, light on gameplay, heavy on story and character. Of the other games I've played recently, the vibes remind me the most of Sable – quiet and contemplative, where all you want to do is observe and take in the world and characters that are being presented to you. It dovetails nicely with the story itself, which largely consists of a curious little soap opera playing out around characters who are along for the ride. The writing is some of the best I've seen this year, and gets real fuckin' raw in ways I wasn't expecting. This one will stick with me for a while.

Pikmin 3 / The Wild at Heart

I've never had the focus or dexterity for a really complex RTS, but Pikmin's always been a little more approachable. Played the second game in the series a while back, picked up a used copy of Pikmin 3 at a local convention this year, and with another one coming out, it seemed as good an excuse as any to make it a double feature.

Both games have their charms. Pikmin has a distinct style and sense of scale that's hard to replicate, and a good variety of environments and encounters and puzzles. The Wild at Heart is smaller in scope as a Pikmin-like, and hits some familiar beats while remixing some of the core ideas in interesting ways. The latter also put more of an emphasis on character and narrative, something I'd like to see fleshed out more, but what we got was still satisfying. Both games were fun, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Pikmin 4 soon.

Chants of Sennaar / Heaven's Vault

Another double feature – one game that caught my eye immediately, and another I've been curious about for a while. For a long time I've had a fondness for constructed languages, with scripts and writing systems of particular interest. The idea of decoding such a language lends itself well to a puzzle game, and these two approach it in different ways: Chants of Sennaar features multiple cultures in a Tower of Babel-esque setting, each with their own quirks and traits to learn and translate between, and their own puzzles to solve. Heaven's Vault opts for depth, with a single language and a vast history that you slowly unravel through exploration.

My verdict for both games is the same. The language puzzles are really cool and interesting! I want more of them! …Everything else in between gets sort of meandering at times. Not enough to drag down the overall experience, but perhaps enough to overstay its welcome. Sennaar filled the space with a mish-mash of puzzles and stealth, which felt oddly paced at times. Heaven's Vault's pacing was hit even harder with slow exploration and visual novel-esque story segments – fine enough for one playthrough, but the amount of wandering and backtracking involved makes me hesitant to go back and play NG+ to see the rest of the content. I don't have the patience to play a visual novel multiple times to see what all of the dialogue options do. The story's fine as is, and I got what I wanted out of it.

Even with their faults, these are still probably the games that influenced me the most in 2023. If anyone asks me, as a game dev, what I would make given unlimited time, resources, and creative freedom, from now on I'm going to point to Chants of Sennaar and say "something like that". I want more games like this to exist. I will make them myself, if I have to.

F-Zero 99

This wasn't the only racing game I played this year – a bunch of new content was added to Mario Kart 8, and I also pulled Horizon Chase Turbo from my backlog and spent a bit of time on that – but this is definitely the one that made the biggest splash. I've never played an F-Zero game, and it controls differently enough from other racers I've played that I had to unlearn a lot of muscle memory, but I got the hang of it after a while. The 99-player model is frantic in an enjoyable way, and races are quick enough that it's easy to pick up and play in short bursts… which is good, because short bursts are all my nerves can take with this one. Seriously this game is stressful. Fun, but stressful. Maybe one of these days I'll actually win a 99-player race.

Cobalt Core

I've been playing... a lot of Cobalt Core these past couple months. I don't jump on every roguelite or deckbuilder that comes out, but when one does get its hooks in me, they get in deep. This is another one of those games where everything just works. Great music and pixel art, fun characters (all traits shared with its predecessor, Sunshine Heavy Industries, which I also liked this year), a simple but engaging narrative, and an addicting gameplay loop that I can easily sink an hour into whenever the mood strikes me. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't need to – it takes a lot of ideas from games that have come before it, and builds on them to create something really enjoyable. One of my favorite games of the year, without question.

Terra Nil

As we build up, so too must we tear down. This is another one I wanted to get to sooner or later, and managed to slip it in during the last couple weeks of the year. It's also a type of game I want to play more often; a lot of the time when I play sim and builder games all I really want in the end is to build nice-looking homes and environments, and Terra Nil spins that into a puzzle game where those things are the only goal. It was a nice time, but left me wanting more – either more content in Terra Nil, or more games like it.

Eastward

This game is… a curiosity. A solid action-adventure game with a memorable cast of characters and impeccably detailed pixel art. Gameplay flips back and forth between slow-paced story segments and fun setpiece levels with a decent variety of tools for combat and puzzle-solving. The biggest sticking point is the narrative: the pacing and worldbuilding felt odd and disjointed in places, particularly in the back half, sometimes feeling like it's saying too much and often like it's said too little. Yet throughout all that, it never failed to be compelling, and I was hooked all the way 'til the end. What's more, the idea of the upcoming Octopia DLC flipping the entire game and setting on its head has my interest thoroughly piqued – something to look forward to in the coming year.

-

Here's to 2024, and here's hoping things turn around sooner or later.

#cobalt core #eastward #chants of sennaar #heaven's vault #the wild at heart #mutazione #before we leave #terra nil #moncage #the legend of zelda #pikmin #f-zero #bryan writes about games

[rpgchoices]

Useless rpgs recs. Rpgs that gave me sleepless nights in an attempt to understand the lore / rpgs that got stuck in my mind because of lore-reasons (in order of preference for each story's lore)

Under cut for some minor spoilers for the reasons for the order:

Heaven's Vault takes the crown as one of my favourite games and also the fact that the lore/history you uncover depends on how you pierce it together, so part of it will always stay up to interpretations (the Seventh god?? Who is that??), but after sufficient playthrough you can have a good understanding of what happened.

Enderal because damn that Veiled Woman. You get most of the mystery explained by the end, but replaying definitely gives you so much more insight - and some things are just left unexplained and up to interpretation and piercing together (Father? The endings??)

Dragon Age, no reasons to explain here, I hope, given how extensive and complex the lore is! And every game gets you closer to specific answers.

Dreamfall chapters is an amazing game and the whole trilogy has quite some complex lore... so much that I had to write down my own chronology of events to fully understand what was going on, especially Saga.

Sorcery! because while the story seems quite linear... there are so many questions. The whole time-jumping shenanigans was enough to make me want to replay game 3 at least three times, not to mention how mytserious some of the gods are.

Divinity series... well, this is mainly because the lore is ignored by the games, and retconned multiple times, so putting it together in a coherent manner had been quite hard.

(more here)

#enderal #dragon age #dreamfall chapters #divinity original sin #sorcery! #heaven's vault #useless recs

[thejazzywaffles]

I decided to do more "top X" posts after my last one. I couldn't think of 25 books, and 4 of the 13 I COULD think of were honestly filler... so I decided to make this one a "top 9". An awkward number, sure, but I've fallen out of love with too many books to have a top 25 anymore.

I literally had to add the Heaven's Vault books to the Internet Archive's database so I could add them to this image, haha!

Also, the site where you can make images like this is:

#top x post #top 9 books #books #heaven's vault #hitchhiker's guide #asoiaf #animorphs #the hobbit #lemony snicket #discworld #ascendance of a bookworm #drew's posts