Heaven Will Be Mine
| Heaven Will Be Mine | |
|---|---|
| Visual Novel by Aevee Bee and Max Schwartz | |
 Official cover art | |
| Released | |
| July 25, 2018 | |
| Where to play | |
| itch.io | |
| store.steampowered.com | |
| apps.apple.com |
Welcome to the official Exothermic Wiki for Heaven Will Be Mine.
Heaven Will Be Mine (HWBM) is a sci-fi visual novel written by Aevee Bee with art from Max Schwartz and music from Alec Lambert. It was released to Steam on July 25, 2018[1] and published via Pillow Fight Games. It is available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and iOS.
The player can select from three characters to play as, each having their own storyline and perspective. The player will also be faced with choices to make as each character, which impact the character's loyalty to the governing factions, romantic relationships, and outcome of the overall story.
Setting
[edit | edit source]See also: History of Heaven Will Be Mine
HWBM takes place in an alternate version of the 1980s[2] where humanity is capable of space travel. This was achieved due to the game timeline's Cold War, where humanity detected an alien presence, and deemed it hostile, preparing to attack. All nations of Earth joined forces to find a way engage in combat and travel in space, and the result of this Space Program were the Ship-Selves: large humanoid ships that connect directly with a single pilot, allowing them to extend their senses to the ship (i.e., seeing and feeling through the ship). Another outcome of this combined effort was the Lunar Gravity Well, which allows humans to survive in space without the need for conventional protection.
Once space travel was achieved, the alien presence - which had been dubbed the Existential Threat due to its alleged danger to all of humanity - was revealed to be a shadow created humanity's own gravitational presence. This shadow was easily destroyed, and following this Earth ruled the Space Program a failure, and called all colonies to return back to Earth with the help of the remaining members of the International Space Program, the Memorial Foundation. In response, the human colonies in space declared independance, forming the Cradle's Graces faction. Meanwhile a third faction, Celestial Mechanics, is formed during the fight for humanity's future. Rejecting the choice of returning to Earth or staying in space, their main objective is to eschew their humanity altogether.
The game starts during the resulting stalemate between Cradle's Graces, Celestial Mechanics, the Memorial Foundation.
Plot
[edit | edit source]See also: Plot of Heaven Will Be Mine
Plot goes here (Spoilers!?)
The events of the game take place over the course of nine days. Each day, the player (as their selected character) embarks on a mission, played through as chapters of the visual novel. Before starting a mission, the player can access their comms and speak to various other characters.
Each mission has one decision for the player to make, which impacts that character's loyalty to the three factions. The player's current loyalties can be seen from the mission control screen before starting a mission. All decision explicitly state which faction they will increase loyalty for: A decision will always favor one faction, and will either state that they are betraying the player's chosen faction, or if they are remaining loyal. (eg. "[LOYAL] Outcome favors Memorial Foundation" if the player has chosen Saturn, and "[BETRAY] Outcome favors Memorial Foundation" if they player has chosen Pluto or Luna-Terra).
By the end of the eight days, the player will receive an ending based on their final loyalties. There are three main endings, one for each faction. The endings have small differences in perspective depending on which character is selected, but the overall narrative beats are independent of the character chosen.
There is also a "secret ending" that plays if the player reaches the end with their loyalties evenly divided. The secret ending finishes with a final choice for the player to select which ending they wish to experience.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
[edit | edit source]See the full list at: Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of game is HWBM?
[edit | edit source]Heaven Will Be Mine is a Visual Novel, a type of video game with a relative lack of in-depth mechanics. Players interact with the game almost exclusively by clicking their mouse or pressing a button on their keyboard, and the focus of the game itself is on exposition and delivery of its story rather than reflexes or skill.
Players looking for games with similar themes to HWBM with more engaging mechanics might be interested in ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, or SIGNALIS .
Which character should new players start with?
[edit | edit source]New players should start with Saturn, as her playthrough provides the most context for the concepts of the game. Players who have a better understanding of the story, or who are already familiar with mecha fiction tropes should start with Luna-Terra. Players with a more thorough understanding of the game's themes may wish to play as Pluto, as her playthrough engages with these themes more directly.[3]
How many playthroughs are necessary to experience all content?
[edit | edit source]In order to experience all possible content in Heaven Will Be Mine, a minimum of nine full playthroughs is necessary: the player must play as each character three times and get each faction's ending each time, with one playthrough using strategically selected decisions during missions to divide loyalty and unlocking the secret ending.
However, since the game lacks a mechanic for skipping dialogue, and a lot of content overlaps between the characters, only two full playthroughs as different characters are recommended. In these playthroughs, the player will experience all missions and two endings (if loyalties are different for each playthrough).
Game Credits
[edit | edit source]| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Writer | Aevee Bee |
| Art & Creative Direction | Max Schwartz |
| Music & Sound Effects | Alec Lambert |
| UI / Design | Christopher Simon |
| Additional Artwork | Erica June Lahaie |
| Producer & Tech Artist | Jo Kreyling |
| Technical Lead | Conrad Kreyling |
Other Links
[edit | edit source]- HWBM on Pillow Fight Games
- HWBM Wikipedia Page
- HWBM Fandom Wiki
- HWBM TV Tropes Page
- HWBM Fanlore Page
- HWBM PCGamingWiki Page
- HWBM Metacritic
- HWBM HowLongToBeat
- HWBM Dreamlist on GOG