All good stories have a start and Herald: An Interactive Period Drama starts with a splash, as the main character is drowning while drooling as he starts to narrate. He eventually wakes up in an exotic palace place of sorts, with lush pillows and a wise woman who want some information. And thus begins the story of the poor waterlogged sod, as he recalls his epic voyage across the seven seas.
Herald is a fairly competent put-together adventure game. With a pleasant to look at, complimented by a very colorful art direction and a handful of colorful characters. Which fills Herald: An Interactive Period Drama with life and charm. The point-and-click part is a great departure from the way most story-heavy games deal with events. After all, it will get a bit boring to listen to the people going on and on. That being said, there is a lot of voice-acted dialogue and much text to be expected.
For some very questionable reason, our illustrious leader decided to hand me this review copy. Despite my issues with how slow the story progress. This is very ironic coming from someone who has played Final Fantasy 8 several times and most of the Metal Gear Solid games. Then again this is a purely subjective point of view.
The voice actors do a fairly decent job and competent job, when bringing the emotional range of the characters to life. At least for the most part at times they do talk way too slowly, despite the situation at hand. Even if it brings a certain charm to it all, the dialogue is incredibly slow and tedious for the most part.
Herald also sports some lovely drawn-cut scenes that help to bring it all to life. Though a combination of fully animated 3d models and several hand-drawn scenes. Though dialogue can be a bit awkward, as the one who is currently talking is shown on the right side of the screen. Much like a muppet, with dramatic eye movement and some facial expressions here and there. However, there is not much in the way of mouth animation when anyone talks. It is also very refreshing to see such a varied cast, showing the fantastic variety of people the world has to offer.
Some animations are a bit hit or miss, sometimes those pesky buggers stand around looking weird and unfocused, while other times people in Herald look like they actually have a purpose. Such as the poor fellow puking at the side of the ship. Or that one crew member swabbing the floor.
A historically inspired dram, with many choices that may or may not have an effect on the story. In between the story events, there is a lot of interactivity, through pointing and clicking. Where objects can be looked at, along with an encyclopedia to find info about almost everything. Some blood and sprinkled with violence is to be expected. But due to the nature of the game, it’s not something that should scar or scare anyone.
Herald: An Interactive Period Drama is highly recommended for people who like an intriguing mystery and visual novel storytelling, that’s more than just flashy images and walls of text.
Njål Sand is a Norwegian Cosplayer with opinions on video games, and a passionate for creating content on YouTube about living in Norway, and gaming!