My gaming instinct desperately wanted to play Asdivine Hearts, so I played Asdivine Hearts. And blimey, do I mean it when I say “desperately” — which, incidentally, is also the reason I’m playing AD on my Switch rather than on my Vita. See, I own the Limited Run physical version of AD for the Vita, and that’s the version I should logically be playing; but for some reasons I won’t bother detailing here, my whole Vita collection is stuck at my family’s place, 500 km away from my own den. With no hope of retrieving said Vita collection before a couple of weeks, what was an avid gamer to do to play AD? To purchase the Switch digital version, of course! That’s my gaming instinct’s needs covered right here and now, and a little more money for my beloved Kemco. Pretty neat arrangement, ain’t it?
After that digression that serves no purpose beyond proving I’m a slave to the gaming instinct, it’s time to talk about my lovely first hours with AD. Beyond offering good ole RPG tropes such as ‘One village, one dungeon, one problem’ and ‘Update your gear in every settlement’, AD is full to the brim with neat gameplay features that may or may not have been inspired by older games. The Jewel system reminded me nicely of my beloved Children of Mana mixed with a bit of Tetris; as for the battle formation system, it's a deeper and more satisfying take on the 'Front Row/Back Row' system that's a fixture in FPDC. Talking about battles, I can simply never get bored of how lovingly detailed the battle sprites are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a high level of detail on battle sprites — let alone in a budget game. It makes every fight a feast for the eyes, with every new foe making me utter awed wows and gees. My, Kemco, how do you always manage to rock my world? I swear, I’m loving you more by the game.
Talking about love, AD has some neat little romance going on. As MC Zack, I have no less than four ladies fawning over me: tsundere childhood friend Stella, yandere ladyboy Uriel, ice queen onee-san Celine and, last but not least, potty-mouthed furry Felix. I’ll be honest: Felix is totes my waifu here. Not only is she a cat, but she’s the most interesting and less cliché of the four. She’s lively, witty, hilarious at times yet serious and devoted when needs be — and she has that great fluffy, chunky body to boot: what’s not to love, seriously? Jokes aside, I’ll probably try to get all romantic endings nonetheless, just for curiosity’s sake.
That won’t happen right now, though. I’ve set foot in Reveria and cleared the story’s first arc; and so, it’s time to take a break and sail towards new gaming pastures. I’ll be back to AD sooner or later, that’s for sure; and when I do, I’ll probably be overjoyed to be reacquainted with the many things I love in that gem of a game — or with that gem of game, full stop. It’s one of those RPGs that make me happy: the mere thought of it makes me all giddy, and actually playing it makes me all mushy and mellow. Until I dive into AD again, let’s meet again with fresh gaming goodness, shall we? Until next time, dear fellow gamers!
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