My Heart Grows Fonder

My Heart Grows Fonder

Steam Review

This game took me by surprise, I was expecting a few more choices which is its only real downfall, but minus that the game has a great story and nice length to it. I recommend playing multiple times to get all the endings available.

Expanded Review

As I previously stated on my Steam Review this game actually took me by quite a surprise as I wasn't expecting the depth of the story that I got from this Visual Novel. The story, dialogue, music, and drawing all are pretty well done for this Visual Novel and is something the people making it should be proud of. Honestly when I read the premise of this game all I could say is, 'Nope...I would have not done that' because I can remember being slightly in the same position as most men are at some point. So what is the background of this? Well, here we go.

You are a man working in an office building living the normal single man's life. You scrape by to make rent and pay for your car and keep your bills paid, you live off instant ramen and other quickly and cheaply made meals, you work long hours taking calls and helping customers with their accounts and answering questions. Sometimes a friend/co-worker will ask you to go to the local bar and hang out with him..even though you most of the time turn him down because of being broke all the time. 

One day a life long childhood friend that you have kept in contact since you moved away to the city for work contacts you asking if you would help her out by allowing a friend of her's stay at your place for a couple of weeks while they go into the city to handle personal business. At first your hesitant but after hearing that the person will pay and help keep your place clean while you're at work you decide that it can't be too bad plus you will be helping your friend out of a bind which is always good right?

So you tell your friend you will help her out and that you will meet her and her friend at the train station. The day comes and you at the train station waiting for your friend Ava. When Ava shows up you find that the friend she is wanting you to help is Maia the girl you were dating before she suddenly and without warning disappeared without officially breaking up with you 3 years prior. 

Needless to say it is obvious the main character is taken back by this and what ensues is a story of resentment, anger, bitterness, love, and possibly forgiveness. 

Ava (the short dark-haired girl) is your childhood friend that has been with you through thick and thin. She's a college student that is constantly finding a way to stay in school and at her parents' house. She is a very outgoing and comical person that enjoys a good joke and laugh and can be a bit upfront when it comes to many ideas and thoughts...unless they deal with her not being in school anymore. She also holds a couple of secrets from you that as the game progresses you figure out and how you deal with them will determine what happens between you two.

Maia (the long blonde hair girl) is your former girlfriend that you were head over heels for and one that in some thoughts you felt you could have spent your life with. However suddenly and without warning she left without a word. For 3 years you never knew what happened to her and you spent much of your time heartbroken and feeling rejected until finally moving on and getting your job. Now suddenly she is back in your life and in her mind, she never officially broke up with you so she still believes that you two are dating. Maia is shy, a bit of a health nut, does not like being touched and can be a bit absent-minded. She is very kind and caring, however. 

This game has several choices you can make throughout that will change the games ending. There are multiple endings including 1 bad ending. The others are what I would deem as good endings. The game takes a bit to play through but isn't overly long. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed this game enough to play through it enough to get all the endings including the bad and would recommend this to anyone that wants a light Visual Novel to play and enjoy at their own pace. The story is nice and the characters fit their roles decently.