I've seen this game discussed in a few circles I'm in recently and finally sat down to give it a spin for myself today. The game... is very evidently in alpha: grammatical errors, wordy and unclear descriptions, sections of text that seemed like they were supposed to be removed but were forgotten about and an overbearing amount of poorly-applied metaphors.
It's hard to tell if the script was proofread before being released to a general audience, although understandably this was probably put together within a short period of time for the Jam. These issues do render the first chunk of this game into a un-immersive slogfest that nearly made me quit.
I stubbornly pushed through because I wanted to see if I couldn't find something to endear me to the game like my acquaintances seemed to be. After finishing a playthrough of the game (Mage ending) I can confidently say that there are some genuinely endearing lines and moments in this game. The characters working together to tackle their issues are probably the strongest moments in the game.
There is an endearing story at the core of Hearts & Hexes that suffers from clumsy execution.
I look forward to giving it another spin when it is out of alpha.
Thank you for taking the time to play and comment!
As you mentioned, the game is very much in alpha. It was made during a game jam that happened to be many of the team member's first ever visual novel. Despite this and some setbacks, we are proud we were able to submit the project to the jam during the submission period.
Many of the things you mentioned we agree with and have already started brainstorming how to correct.
At this time, we are enjoying the simple pleasure of accomplishment before diving back into work.
We're glad you played and look forward to releasing the next update.
Cheers!