Heaven's Vault
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Rating Summary
Based on 30 critic reviews
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Score Distribution
Unscored Reviews
Top Critic
Inkle's follow-up to 80 Days is an archaeology adventure like no other.
Top Critic
For a game that revolves around the beauty of languages, it’s a disappointment that Heaven’s Vault can’t find the right words to express itself.
Top Critic
The thing is, the problems are there. I don’t know if I can recommend this to someone who isn’t a word nerd. But at the same time, what Inkle have achieved in Heaven’s Vault is tremendous. I don’t know what to compare it to, because there isn’t anything.
Scored Reviews
Top Critic
A totally unique odyssey that immediately envelops the player in a richly detailed universe ripe with intriguing lore and some of the finest storytelling on PS4, Heaven's Vault is an essential odyssey for all to embark upon.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault is rough around the edges, but its sense of discovery and self-fulfillment are unparalleled thanks to its commitment to player agency and its unique language-translation mechanic.
My final score for Heaven's Vault is a 9 out of 10, and I'm only taking off the point for some small issues like the slow movement and the minor issue I have with map navigation. Other than that, I adore this game. Inkle studios has really impressed me with this release and I look forward to exploring more of their games in the future.
Heaven’s Vault is a flawed experience, with the flaws jumping out early and persisting until the end of the story. But there’s way too many other things bundled into this package to simply ignore them on that premise alone. I wasn’t expecting to like Heaven’s Vault as much as I did, but it’s honestly one of the more enjoyable games I’ve had the pleasure of going through so far this year.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault is a puzzle game you haven't experienced before. From its engaging story to its engrossing fictional language and puzzles, this is a game that feels rewarding in a way that no other game has done before.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault communicates the beauty of assigning meaning to symbols, and thus the people who wrote them.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault manages to make me look forward to learning a new language, which is something I honestly never thought a game could do.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault is an unusual game about exploring ruins of ancient civilizations and learning their language. It's easily described as an 'archaeologist-linguist simulator', which has interesting plot, many nice dialogs and tons of moons to visit. Get ready for great and memorable adventure!
Review in Russian | Read full review
Heaven’s Vault is a stunning achievement in interactive narratives and is an absolute must play
Heaven's Vault is a different game than most, and that alone makes it worth celebrating. It comes with many a wart, and it never really gels together the way a more conventional game would, but I had a great go with this moon-hopping, language-studying archaeology adventure.
Playing Heaven’s Vault gives the same sense of satisfaction as curling up with a favourite book. With top-notch writing, exotic locales, and a true sense of adventure, Heaven’s Vault is a triumph.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault features great characters, exciting places to discover, and a thrilling mystery to piece together
Top Critic
Although Heaven's Vault boasts no groundbreaking animations, an emphasis on dialogue and language truly makes it stand out as an innovative puzzle game. With characters as colourful as the worlds you visit, you are guaranteed to be swept into an intriguing storyline shaped exclusively by you.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault is a fantastic narrative experience that offers a genuinely mature and intelligent take on science fiction and the interactions between technology and religion. Superbly realised characters, fascinating architecture, and a wonderfully detailed new language to decipher combine to make this a truly original and rewarding game. It's a shame that the sailing is so repetitive, but Heaven's Vault will reward fans of slower paced and meditative games.
Top Critic
All in all, this game was quite fun to play and discover the secrets of the ancient language. I enjoyed the freedom of choice and the flow-on effects of those choices. This is a game for anyone who is interested in adventure games – it definitely would appeal to a wide-range of players.
Top Critic
However, Heaven's Vault is not about deciphering inscriptions for the sake of it, as with each successful translation you'll be one step closer to discovering a long-forgotten history that's about to repeat itself. Not to mention that you'll meet a myriad of characters that will change their attitude depending on how you interact with them.
Top Critic
An intriguing game for graphic novel fans with a lovable old style art design.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Top Critic
It is safe to say that there is no other title in the history of video games that offers a similar experience and atmosphere to Heaven's Vault, but the fact that there is no voice acting in a game that relies so heavily on dialogues and conversations, is a huge mistake that costs Heaven's Vault greatly.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Top Critic
A markedly different approach to adventure gaming; while it won't be for everyone, Heaven's Vault will undoubtedly attract a cult following.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault may have one of the most well-realized video game worlds ever, with your curiosity and personality molding your story through the Nebula. Whether you're fascinated by history or just by a personal sense of duty, there's a lot to love about Heaven's Vault, even if the clunky movement and frustrating sailing sour the overall experience.
Top Critic
The game is ambitious for its translation mechanics and its big-picture look at the evolution of culture through the ages.
Top Critic
At first it seems that Heaven's Vault is an absolute treasure and you can just marvel at the creative ideas that Inkle Studio came up with. But in between all those moments when I loved the game, some of the gameplay mechanics made my eyes glaze over and the experience would lose its luster.
Top Critic
An ambitious narrative adventure that mixes fun lore with fiddly mechanics.
Top Critic
A fascinating, fantastical world let down by plodding pacing.
Top Critic
Heaven's Vault will satisfy budding archaeologists and linguistic fanatics in fits and starts, but the overall experience that brings those mechanics together leaves a lot to be desired. Alongside technical frustrations and tedious movement between locations, this is hardly a game we can recommend with any sort of confidence.
Top Critic
The core mechanic of decoding a language is fascinating, but it can't overcome all that surrounds it: a slow-paced narrative with dated gameplay.
Top Critic
Exploring the lost ruins of ancient civiliyation is not as much fun as it should be.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
