Very impressive work all around. The prose, art, music, etc. are all solid. Considering most FVNs are based on the author’s personal experience (write what you know), this impresses for being one of the few examples that comes to my mind of an FVN that seems to have been extensively researched.

Not only does the mirror animation look good, but it’s probably one of the most smoothlessly integrated animations in a Renpy game I’ve seen. I will say though, the animations and the accompanying POV switches are in a few occasions abused. I think a game like this works better if the point of view switches at meaningful times, especially considering how fond the game is of switching it in the middle of a scene and considering how long the accompanying animation is. There is at least one notable example of this being done in a pretty clunky way, towards the end of the story: we switch POV to the prince (with the animation), then just a couple of lines later we switch back to Darin (without animation) just so we can see the prince’s expression, only for then switch back to the prince again (with the animation).

Both the subject matter (transgenerational gay solidarity, yay!) and the story is compelling, although the prince’s backstory especially fell just a little bit flat for me, it felt more like a summary and less like a flashback, which is a bit disappointing considering it’s half-treated as a flashback (we get some imagery and dialogue from the past)! But that’s a nitpick, the core of the story being the two mains conversing with each other works.

I don’t know if this was done intentionally, but I like that by the end not only does Darin fail to convince the prince of his point of view, but he does not share what feels like the most crucial part of his backstory (the final conversation with his wife only we as the audience get to see). I think this leaves us with a delicious ambiguity: did Darin fail because history cannot be changed (either literally or metaphorically, i.e. the prince is the victim of his cultural environment)… or did he fail because Darin failed once again to open up completely and reveal what he is most ashamed of? Good stuff.

One final nitpick I want to mention regards the game’s glossary feature. I have been making fun of this game during streams because it feels the need to explain to us even concepts like the countries of Denmark and Iran. In general, I’m not the biggest fan of glossaries in games, I think the reader should either be exposed to the information they need to understand the story naturally in the text or left to do their own research. But I can respect the decision. What’s a bit perplexing though is that the final scene mostly relies on the reader knowing how Islamic divorce works. It’s strange for the game to be holding the reader’s hand so tightly that it needs to explain to them what “Denmark” is, but then for such a crucial beat of the story the reader is left to fend for themself.

Top-notch presentation. While I don't quite understand the ending, or rather, what it implies, I think this is a well-told concise story that achieves what it sets out to do. 5/5.

A really creative VN for sure. The presentation is impeccable as well. Big fan of the 3D mirror flip, though I did think it was a bit overused for how slow it is. It's also neat that the entire VN takes place in these two bedrooms, yet I feel I didn't lose much for it. There's some deliberate parallels being made as well, I think. Darin being a cheetah like Murad's old flame has to be intentional, as does him being a Kurd. In a way, he does act as Murad's metaphorical guardian djinni, though he is his own person of course. Enjoyed all the cultural stuff too, of course. If I had to comment on something, though, it would be that the story was just a tad predictable. The characters are locked in their respective archetypes (prince betrothed to another, freshly uncloseted divorced man) so there really isn't any other way for the story to go. The prince must stay betrothed, the divorcee must stay depressed. Their backstories were also told in a bit of matter-of-fact dumpy way, which is a bit necessiated by the limited setting, but still. Their interactions were great, and so was the divorcee trying to impart a life lesson. I feel like Murad did learn something, but Murad is right, he literally has no other choice. His country relies on him, and so his story ends there. Bit of a fizzle, honestly. Darin's ending was much sadder though, showing that he was the architect of his own despair. He had no reason to drag Kaja along for as long as he did. Loved the triple mirror crack as well, as that was a deliberate callback to the story structure. All in all, a good and solemn story. I wish it could have been more epic, especially given the wonderful presentation, but it was still a very nice read.

Heavy is our crown killed me not only with it's presentation, but also things I have never seen before in the way I saw them here.
Growing up German I was always close to those immigrants one of the main characters represents but I've never been close enough to their struggles, yet the narrative here swept me away.
Though I am personally never much of a fan of characters just standing there and talking, the presentation of talking to a mirror, to the self, while it also being a window to someone else in a different time and space, felt wonderful.
The illustrations helped wonderfully with the contrast, the Prince in his simple street clothes and a fit and agile looking Cheetah, now looking at each other in ways they haven't even seen themselves in.
Heavy is our cown has some wonderful ideas and uses them, while staying simple enough and doesn't overstay it's welcome, actually wrapping up when you feel the tale coming to an end.
Something does happen in the end that might hint at something actually mystical happening, but the spirit of media literacy and proper object reading is not possessing me and I cannot make heads or tails of it, but someone else who just understands everything better might.
Heavy is our crown is a heavy recommendation but not something for those weak of heart.
I enjoyed this through and through as it doesn't try to be someone else. It just tries to be itself in all it's boldness and truth.

'Heavy is the Crown' is a tragedy told through the unlikely and mystical meeting of a prince from historical Persia (I hope that's the proper term) and an older immigrant in modern day Denmark. Looking at this dev team, it is STACKED with talent from several of the standout VNs from this year's MayWolf, and coming together to create this piece of art did not disappoint! PinkNarcissus' writing style comes though, especially with his penchant for using mirrors as plot devices, though this time the mirror acts as a window allowing two characters from different times to share a conversation. What is a fantastical set up betrays just how grounded and raw the conversations that these two characters share. The theme is in the title itself, where it's the burden of societal and masculine obligations that will end up crushing those that it is thrust upon who do not want it, but are indoctrinated to take them on. This theme is portrayed beautifully, comparing and contrasting the duty of a prince to marry for his kingdom to a modern man's duty to have a wife and kids. Both these men also having to ignore their hearts desire to be with other men. The tragedy being that despite the older man's plea to change the past with this magic mirror, to save the prince from a fate that he is living, this culture is not something that can be changed by an individual. Thus, the cycle has continued, and despite both men acting in good faith, they are destined to cause pain and be unhappy. Quite a sad story, and very effective at it. The art from PlantBearDanji, ImRikun, Kachayet, and WoundedRoar in this visual novel is SO good, the character sprites are extremely detailed, the background design and color story is great, and the crazy mirror and parallax effects just add to the immersion of this experience. The accessibility features included in this are also extremely helpful and considerate to include. The added definitions for non-English terms and phrases was appreciated (I did have to pull out the google-lens to find out the translation of the term when the mirror was breaking). I can't recommend this visual novel enough, but readers should brace themselves for a lot of heavy emotions and no happy endings here.