The sequel to emotional 2014 World War I adventure game Valiant Hearts: The Great War has hit PC, after a year and change locked down to mobile devices and a Netflix subscription – and a decade after its predecessor.
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home picks up after the events of the original interweaving narrative between five characters during the First World War, following four new characters (plus returning dog pal Walt) in Harlem Hellfighter James – who inspires a jazz soundtrack based on the Hellfighters’ introduction of jazz to Europe – nurse Anna, German diver Ernst and British pilot George.
Developed by original Valiant Hearts studio Ubisoft Montpellier with Old Skull Games, Coming Home was first released in January 2023 as a mobile exclusive only available to Netflix subscribers, as part of a three-game deal between Ubisoft and the streaming giant.
Now, it’s come to PC thanks to a port from devs Ubisoft Da Nang, whose work on the PC and Xbox/PlayStation/Switch versions apparently makes them one of the first Vietnamese studios to release a console game.
Coming Home is available as a standalone release for £12.99, or as part of a two-game bundle with The Great War in Valiant Hearts: The Collection for £20.99. Both can also be played via the Ubisoft+ Premium subscription programme.
It’s been a decade since the first Valiant Hearts. At the time, Alec (RPS in Peace) found its mixture of absurd moments against the backdrop of the horrors of real-world conflict to be a tad disorientating, but nevertheless felt its emotional punch and narrative heft more than made up for the flaws, writing “there is no world in which I’d let those factors make me miss what Valiant Hearts gets right”.
