Отзывы Heart of the House

Короткая история в жанре приключенческой мистики, вероятно автор вдохновлялся произведениями Лавкрафта, но видимо ему не хватило либо мастерства, либо желания воспроизвести сходную атмосферу.

I am sad that I could not enjoy the story as much as I hoped I would. The story had a very promising start, giving us the taste of intrigue and danger. But the immersion started to splinter once the protagonist reached safety. Some dialogue lines felt to be added not in the favour of progressing the story, but to deliver a message directly to the reader. Which did a disservice to the characters and the fluidity of the story. Because of that, most characters felt very underdeveloped and unlikeable. Though the problem is not in the messaging itself, but in the way it is conveyed – straightforward and out of the blue. Moreover, the protagonist often takes away the readers agency on how to behave or feel. One example, the sudden panic attack [spoiler]before the ball[\spoiler] when, to this point, I thought I was trying to play a reserved scholar. The attack was explained as a psychological trauma caused by a particular event in the recent past, but it was revealed too late in the story to believe it. A few of the given choices for particular moments in the story were somewhat confusing. As I would reach one of those moments, where all the choices seemed to be implying something I wasn't aiming to imply, I would spend a significant amount of time in confusion, re-reading everything on the screen. It might just be my imagination, that confused me. But I think more of the polite neutral answers would help the situation. Considering that in the work where choices have major consequences and there is no opportunity to alter the decision without a complete restart, it is crucial to make sure the goal for a choice and what exactly the protagonist is going to say are clear. My immersion into the story was chipping bit by bit until I lost the interest in it completely and quit. Hence, I cannot recommend it. But it is a solid work and, I imagine, people with lower expectations and big love for mysteries might enjoy it. Cheers.