Heart of Iona
In the captivating world of Iona, players embark on a thrilling narrative journey in the heart of a remarkable Narrative Game. Within this immersive experience, players are granted the unique ability to shape the story’s outcome through the choices they make, allowing for a truly personalized and engaging adventure.
Our tale begins on the momentous day of Ella’s coronation, a joyous occasion that is abruptly disrupted by a sudden and unexpected attack on the castle. In the chaos that ensues, Ella stumbles upon a hidden chamber, concealed from the prying eyes of the kingdom for centuries. Within its ancient walls lies a fearsome dragon, imprisoned and yearning for freedom.
Driven by curiosity and an innate desire for justice, Ella dares to help the captive dragon break free from its shackles. Little does she know that this seemingly small act of kindness will set in motion a series of extraordinary events that will forever alter the course of her own destiny and the fate of the Kingdom of Iona.
As Ella and her newfound ally embark on their exhilarating journey, they traverse treacherous landscapes, encounter mythical creatures, and confront powerful adversaries. Along the way, Ella’s character is tested, and she discovers that the true strength lies not in her physical abilities, but in the depths of her heart.
Through the highs and lows of their odyssey, Ella gradually unveils the untapped potential within herself, realizing that her choices have the power to shape not only her own narrative but also the very fabric of the kingdom she holds dear. As her character develops, Ella learns the importance of courage, compassion, and resilience in the face of adversity.
The Kingdom of Iona itself becomes a living, breathing entity, shaped by the consequences of Ella’s decisions. The people she encounters, the alliances she forges, and the challenges she overcomes all contribute to the intricate tapestry of the narrative. The players become active participants, weaving their own story within the grand tapestry of Iona.
Ultimately, the fate of the Kingdom of Iona rests upon Ella’s shoulders and the choices she makes. Will she lead her people to prosperity and harmony, or will she succumb to the forces of darkness that threaten to consume the land? The answers lie within the hearts of the players, as they navigate the intricate web of decisions, dilemmas, and consequences that lie ahead.
Prepare to be captivated by the rich storytelling, stunning visuals, and compelling characters that populate the world of Iona. Step into Ella’s shoes and embark on an unforgettable adventure where the power to shape the narrative lies within your hands. The heart of Iona beats with anticipation, ready to be shaped by your choices and forever etch your mark on this extraordinary tale.
Game Discussion
Steam User 3
This little fantasy VN is not particularily bad, but neither is it outstandingly good. I definitely don't belong amongst the intended audience. It's nicely romantic and a bit cheesy, with mostly nice visuals (a bit of the ending falls out of the line) and would probably suit best to young players. Unfortunately, it is also made quite sloppily - besides the lack of logic common in the genre, text occasionally repeats itself, there are continuance errors, and at one screen in the beginning there is Russian text untranslated. If you're the kind of person who is not annoyed by such details you might enjoy it. If you expect high quality work, well, that's not it. All, in all, mostly meh, but not horrible.
Steam User 16
“Simply stunning visuals”
Iona.. tiny, rugged island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides.. no, wait – this Iona is a fantasy kingdom with dragons and a nefarious plot to bring down the rightful heir to the throne!
Story
Our MC, Ella, is princess and heir to the kingdom of Iona ever since her parents died of a mysterious plague some years earlier, a disease which appeared to have been cured by a tincture concocted by her grandfather and then king.. only for them to die shortly after appearing to recover. Since then, the throne has been taken by the Prince Regent, her Uncle Conor, who – as best as we can tell – has ruled with fairness and sincerity until the time arrives for Ella's coronation.
For her part, Ella has felt trapped through all of the intervening years, desperate to be allowed out of the confines of the palace and desirous of the freedom to explore the wider world and to seek adventure; and this opportunity unexpectedly arrives when, at the time of her coronation, the palace is attacked by dragons, and in seeking to escape from the falling rubble, she finds herself in a secret dungeon within which is held a captive dragon, which she frees, befriends and accompanies on a flight of escape.
However, this leaves the dragon exhausted and near death, and so begins only the start of Ella's problems and she initially seeks to save it, but discovers some unsavoury and surprising truths along the journey which follows. There are a few well judged player options throughout, but beware of the timed life-or-death ones. If you make the wrong choice at the wrong time, you'll have sentenced Ella to an untimely demise and then the game appears to freeze – although it hasn't. If this happens to you, the only way out is to hit that menu button and restart the chapter.
Graphics and Sound
The one thing that will hit you the moment you visit Heart Of Iona's store page is the quality of the graphics. The visuals are simply stunning throughout. I don't do the “marks out of 10” thing, but it would not be possible for these anyway as they would break the scale. Backdrops and characters alike are outstanding. Granted, character sprites do not possess any changes of pose nor expression, but when you consider the level of detail, this is perhaps not surprising.
I didn't notice much in the way of sound effects, but the music has a number of tunes playing along and they are all high quality and suitable for the scenes with which they accompany. A lot of talent has been put to use in creating both the visual and audio for this game.
Narration
Considering the game is available only in English, it seems odd that there is a translation issue. At least, only one that I found – during one scene (for the developers' awareness, check your scene with Tom) I made a choice from two options, and was presented with a caption in what appears to be Russian for my troubles.
In addition to this, there are many typos and occasionally a duplicate or missed word, and on four occasions I had the same caption repeat itself after moving forward from the last one. I also felt at times that one caption appeared to have jumped in progress from its predecessor, where it felt like something had been said or happened that hadn't been directly addressed in the text, which gave a knock back to fluency. The narration itself is told in second person (“You said this”, etc) which in my experience, instantly distances me from the MC when I am looking forward to immersing myself as the heroine. All of this said, none of these points are game breaking and ought to be quite straightforward for the devs to address, which I hope they do.
U/I
This is, sadly, where the game falls down the most. In a nutshell, there isn't a user interface. All of the typical features that you have come to expect in a visual novel, do not exist in Heart of Iona. To clarify: there is no manual save/load option, no back step, no text speed selection, no screen size selection, no facility to hide the text box, no gallery, not even a skip. The only menu option available is for music and sound, and even these are merely on or off, no setting of levels. But if you're about to stop reading and give up at this point, I'd urge you not to. It's still not a disaster!
Granted, with graphics like these, not having a gallery seems a criminal waste of an opportunity to really show off the game's high point; and no skip is akin to asking players not to bother going back and trying alternative choices, thus effectively hiding some of the additional material available to be enjoyed. I also missed a couple of captions through inadvertent trackpad taps; through having neither back step nor history log.
Nonetheless, on the front screen there is the option to either “Play” or select a chapter. The story is split into 9 chapters, each of which will average about 20 minutes if taken at a casual, steady pace. Whenever you leave the game and return later, the “Play” option will start you at the beginning of the chapter you last reached – so as long as you take a break after finishing a chapter, you won't need to work through the same material again to reach where you left off – and at no more than 20 minutes between these save points, even I was able to manage that without difficulty.
Verdict
I have highlighted quite a number of flaws and failings in this game, and yet (and this is why I urged you not to abandon before reading all of this review) I still find it quite easy to give this a recommendation. The story – while not groundbreaking – is enjoyable enough and maintains interest throughout as we gradually learn more about Ella's family's past and where this is leading – and (despite some unnatural-feeling 'spoken' sentences) is presented very much in a classic Disney-esque princess fashion which is quite endearing in a youthful-aspiration kind of way.
The game comes in at just £4.29 which places it into the budget category and doesn't cost much more than a typical DLC artbook – and the art in this blows away what you'd generally find in one of those. Add on top a pleasing enough story, some good music and a few player choices, and you have a product which is available to purchase at a fair price, despite shortcomings which, with a bit more effort and will from the developers, could be removed and turn this into a bit of a bargain.
I'd like to thank the devs, OneTwoPlay for the curator key. I had, on the whole, an enjoyable time reading through this.
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Steam User 5
A good game in the form of a quest, well-developed dialogues, like a visual novel, the ending of the game depends on your choice, I like these games!
Steam User 8
This is like Frozen, The Princess and the Pauper, and Eragon mixed together with timed choices and an interesting story. If you liked the things I mentioned, you will like this and if you don't know about them, this is still fun. Great game but one sprite scared the crap out of me at the ending I chose. Other than that, I love it.
Steam User 7
"Iona is an immersive masterpiece! As Ella, my choices shaped a captivating adventure. The living world, compelling characters, and epic storytelling left me spellbound. A gaming experience like no other!"
10/10
Steam User 6
A girl. A dragon. I've seen this somewhere before. Mother of dragons. Wasn't it on Game of Thrones?
In general, this is a fairy tale novel, read, follow the plot and sometimes choose what to answer in dialogues. Help Ella save her kingdom of Jonah.
Boom schlakalam!
Steam User 1
This game is like a picture book, you read an interesting story and choose the development of the plot. fun to read.