In Heaven's Vault, the player takes the role of an archaeologist called Aliya Elasra who has a robotic companion called Six.[2] The game follows the course of their adventure as they 'sail' between the moons of the Nebula searching for a missing roboticist called Janniqi Renba.[3]
The player has to decipher and learn the hieroglyphic language of the Ancients, a lost civilization.[4] This involves finding and collecting inscriptions from ancient artifacts, sites and ruins and translating and discussing texts with other characters.[5]
The developers say that over a thousand words written in Ancient, the game's fictional language, can be found and say that its pictorial glyphs are inspired by Ancient Egyptian and Chinese writing systems.[6]
The player can choose their own route through the story and around the Nebula as it employs a non-linear approach to narrative storytelling, allowing the player to make choices that impact the plot.[7]
On its release, Heaven's Vault was met with "generally favourable" reviews from critics for Microsoft Windows, with an aggregate score of 76/100, and "mixed or average reviews" with an aggregate score of 71/100 for PlayStation 4 on Metacritic.[8][9]
Music
Laurence Chapman composed the soundtrack for the game. Chapman recruited Brookspeare Music for recording the strings. He also added subtle synth pads as a reminder that Heaven's Vault is a science fiction game.[15] Richard Brooker from Brookspeare Music also mixed the soundtrack.[16]
Novelisation
In 2021, Inkle published two tie-in novels for the game, Heaven's Vault - I. The Loop and Heaven's Vault - II. The Vault.[17] Written by Jon Ingold, Heaven's Vault's writer, the books also follow the story of Aliya and Six, but feature a different plot to the game.
