Heaven Alive

One of the several games on the list from a jam I happened to take part in – this time, it’s Neo-Twiny 2024. I didn’t play this one back when it released, probably because there’s been 141 entries total, 138 if you don’t count my own. That’s a whole lot of games so some of them just didn’t come into my field of vision, which is why I was happy to see Heaven Alive as the next entry. I might never be able to read every single Neo-Twiny 2024 entry but I’m glad I get a chance to experience one of them now.

Heaven Alive abides by the “500 words maximum” rule with the total wordcount of 498 so it was a fairly quick read. There are two sides in this story – The Executor (who is, according to the description, “a space-faring warlord”) and The Wretched (“his visier”). While “visier” sort of implies an advisory position, it becomes very clear that The Executor probably wants advice only if it aligns with what he wants.

Briefly about the visuals. For me, they’re definitely the highlight of the entire experience. Absolutely gorgeous styling that definitely evokes the sci-fi vibe the game is meant to have. The bar code motif, coupled with the fact that The Wretched, which we play as, is implanted with some sort of a device, kind of makes my skin crawl. Is The Wretched disposable? Are we just one of many, lined up to serve?

Due to the wordcount limit, the conversations are quite short and in some cases, that makes things feel a bit sudden. Then again, we are dealing with a space warlord who will torture you for disrespect, so perhaps the suddenness is appropriate. Anger and violence can be lightning quick, after all. There is no good ending here, really: if you end up defying him, he’ll torture you. If you end up bowing down to him, you’ll still lead a life of pain from the device (a transmitter of some sort, clearly an instrument of punishment) implanted within you. How long can you keep The Executor satisfied? How much longer will the torture last?

In all honesty, I’m not entirely sure what to think about it. I can’t say with clear conscience that I “had fun” or “enjoyed it” but also I can’t say that it was a bad game. The visuals are beautiful, the prose is neat, it’s all executed really well. Guess it’s just another one of those things that simply didn’t hit for me specifically and this is completely fine because the world doesn’t revolve around me. Try it out for yourself and see if it’s for you.