itch.io

This reminded me that I wanted to write a story about being a hive for a swarm. I love the thought of peeling away and cracking open to reveal the exoskeleton beneath. Whenever I imagine becoming a bug I think of melting inside of a cocoon first, so I really admire the sheer violence of the transformation as you write it--I love how gross and brutal and oozing it is. It really captures the kind of feelings that I think draw trans people toward identifying with insects, though even still it's hard to articulate. The train ride scene works so well toward that end, because while it's partially about being protected by your own skin, it's also partially a sense of revulsion that seems to drive us, a morbid fascination that pulls us toward the disgusting, as well as the plain desire to come together and use overwhelming numbers as our power--solidarity in the hive that lets us reflect death back on itself. I love the swarm scene a lot, too--I'd go deeper into why, but I don't wanna put a content warning on this comment, I guess. Anyway, loved this a lot. Thank you so much!

Love it so far! I can barely get through Verse 5 and was immediately annihilated the only time I made it to Verse 6.

That said, the first time I cleared Verse 5, I got scared by "This is it" so I backtracked to the previous room, hoping to get to rest, but I couldn't, so when I went to proceed to Verse 6, I just walked endlessly through the void, rather than getting a screen transition. As I recall, the orange bars or light indicating that it was a transition zone weren't there--I just walked into the purple. I had to quit the game and struggle through Verse 5 again to confirm that wasn't supposed to happen.

So basically, if you clear Verse 5, don't go back. Be brave.

I love this game. Thank you so much for making it. I want to write a longer review at some point as a better "thank you" to the devs, but the characters are great, the music is fantastic, the battle system is engaging and challenging the entire game, the art and graphics are outstanding, and everything is charming in a way so unique to Heartbeat itself.  It's just a fun, fun experience that brought to mind all the GameBoy Advance games I used to play when it was around.

I find the game to be very well-executed overall. There's a few places where I would have liked to have seen more--maybe more or better-developed puzzles, or perhaps more sequences where the battle system itself is changed up, or maybe ways to make fish and EXP grinds a little more interesting--but overall the game benefits from its relative simplicity.  I really enjoy the writing and the story, but I always felt like I wanted more of it. There's the makings of a great tale about wronging and seeking forgiveness, and being wronged and forgiving, but it's slow to develop and underdeveloped by the conclusion.

None of that takes away from just how much fun it is to be playing the game. I would encounter new enemies and send screenshots of their designs to my boyfriend as I played, I'd hope to hear certain music tracks again, I'd hope to get more dialogue from my favorite characters (namely, all of them). It's a beautiful experience full of warm colors, lively characters, and great personality.  It's also perfected the lost, difficult art of the boss rush, and you get to feed the cutest little baby moth ever. So,  I hope I get to have more experiences playing games like those I had playing Heartbeat.

Honest, thoughtful, atmospheric, elegant, well-crafted. Very much like or unlike gender, depending on your  point of view. This game might not have answers but it has questions and that's even better.