History VideoGame / HeavensVault

* ObviousBeta: The game shipped with wonky camera controls, a broken nav system and a plethora of bugs, the latter ranging from irritating but inconsequential (scenes with characters talking that weren't even there) to [[GameBreakingBug game-breaking]] (entire story arcs being impossible to complete or even unlock). To the devs' credit, most of these issues were quickly addressed in the weeks following the release.

* InformedFlaw: Toward the end of the game, we are told that apparently Aliya was born with a lung disease called shearlung. This has had no impact at any point in the game, as every instances of breathing issues were for obvious reasons, such as explicit lack of hair.

''Heaven's Vault'''s most distinctive feature is [[ConLang Ancient]], a meticulously-constructed fictional language that is mostly unknown InUniverse when the story begins. It's up to the player to use the few words Aliya knows to discern the meanings of more complex texts they discover on their journey, using logic, intuition and often [[TrialAndErrorGameplay plain guesswork]]. This, coupled with the game's engaging story, quirky characters, unique art style and [[SceneryPorn gorgeous vistas]], garnered ''Heaven's Vault'' rave reviews both before and after launch.

* ShoutOut: Completing 10 translations unlocks the [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk Reader of the Lost Marks]] achievement before completing 20 translations follows up with [[VideoGame/TombRaider Tomb Reader]].

* IllGirl: Aliya suffers from a hereditary birth defect called Shearlung that severely restricts her ability to breathe and makes her cough up fluid on occasion. It's so bad that climbing even average slopes, or working in even slightly thinner-than-average atmosphere, is life-threatening to her. Worse, the disease appears to be progressive, and it's implied that thirty-something Aliya won't live to see her 40th birthday. [[spoiler:This becomes a plot point when climbing the observatory, since the climb that high shouldn't be possible for Aliya, but she feels completely fine, hinting that there's something weird about the place.]]

* AdaptationalJerkass: Enkei is JerkAss enough in the game, but takes it UpToEleven in the book. She does not stop at constantly insulting her, but bosses her around, threatening her to hopper her into a wall[[spoiler:, and even steals her ship once]].

* CelShading: The game's visual style is based solely on this technique.

* PaintingTheMedium:
** The table of contents looks like a timeline, each age translated to the title of each part of the book, which loosely represents the age Aliya explores in that part.
** Ancient features heavily in the book's editing. Each part's title is written out in both English and Ancient. Within the parts, chapters are numbered in Ancient only. Within the chapters, sections are separated by the "separate" Ancient symbol. Near the end, [[spoiler:we see snippets of the story of Mazwai, which are marked with the word "past" in Ancient]].

!!Tropes featured:

* UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople: Aliya eagerly trading away historical artifacts at a market stall for a wild gecko that immediately runs away definitely qualifies.

* ApocalypseHow: A [[ApocalypseHow/Class6 Class 6]] is already in progress when the game begins, and has been for quite some time because the rivers that connect the moons and provide them with water are drying up. Once they're gone, all life in the Nebula will end. [[spoiler:Finding the ''Heaven's Vault'' reveals that the spaceship's crash landing (namely, the release of its reactor's energy) was responsible for creating the rivers in the first place. It's been busy reabsorbing this energy ever since, which is why the rivers are weakening all over the Nebula. The player has the choice between shutting the ship down to restore the Nebula, [[MurderByInaction doing nothing]], or [[FaceHeelTurn allowing the ship to complete the process before teleporting away with it, leaving the Nebula to die]].]]

* TheManBehindTheMan: Every robot has a "primary user" whose orders override anything another master wants from them. Six' primary is Professor Myari, much to Aliya's chagrin, and it's implied that Myari herself answers to an even higher power.

* PricelessPaperweight: Various items you find over the course of the story appear as decor in your ship, but Aliya seems to have interesting ideas on how to store them. The Crown of the Empire, which Aliya describes as the greatest find of her life, can be found unceremoniously hanging on the back of a chair, and the iolite crystal from Maersi spends the rest of the game plunked in a coffee pot once you're done with it. It's also how Timor and Tapi managed to find things of value for you, since a lot of Elborethians don't know the value of what they actually have, given how many of those things are there on Elboreth

* AutoSave: Triggered by leaving a Moon or some other triggers. Making a translation is not one of them.