The visual novel genre continues to grow and explore new settings. Birds, daddys, monsters, and now superheroes. Henchman Story is an excellent and engaging visual novel set in the world of superheroes and villains. The story focuses on a would-be henchman, Stan. As a visual novel, the story is the focus, and Henchman Story delivers. Superhero fans will find familiar archetypes. However, the writing twists and plays with these archetypes through the multiple endings. The result is a humorous and satisfying story.
Developer: Silken Sail Entertainment
Publisher: Silken Sail Entertainment
Release Date: October 14, 2021
Developer Silken Sail Entertainment launched Henchman Story on Kickstarter in 2020. It raised over $18,000 and surpassed its’ $15,000 initial goal. This successful campaign provided Silken Sail the ability to employ a talented and experienced voice cast to bring the story to life. The dialog achieves a balance of satire, humor, and charm through the story and multiple endings. As a visual novel, player choice and consequential decisions create engagement and investment for players.
Plot
A strong plot and characterization are essential in visual novels. Henchman Story excels here. Stan, the main character, has a level of snark and sarcasm that is appropriate for a comic book henchman. Stan’s self-awareness about his role in super-villainy activities means that he knows he is often a distraction or punching bag for superheroes. However, depending on the choices and endings, Stan’s sarcastic carefree attitude shifts. Consequently, hardening or softening is based on choice. Whether Stan leans into his role as a villain, takes opportunities to play hero, or walks away altogether is up to the player. Fortunately, each of these choices is satisfying and revealed new sides of the cast of characters.
STORY CHOICE
At first, the characters may feel like troupes and caricatures. The aloof villian, Lord Bedlam. The overzealous squad supervisor, Dave. Sultry super villain, Madame Scorpion. Plucky and charming newbie, Kate. Straight forward paragon, Miss Dynamo. Each character reveals layers of personality as the story progresses through choices. While each character may have the same level of development, the writing makes sure that each character is explored. Depending on which of the 12 endings experienced, each of these characters gets a chance to shine. The writing provided satisfying conclusions during each of the seven endings I experienced.
The multiple playthroughs or restarts at different decision points a key to the enjoyment of Henchman Story. Playing Stan as good or evil provides different experiences. Playing Stan as sarcastic and indifferent provides a different story path. The game records player choices and each of those choices come back around to potentially impact the story. How the player treats Dave the Supervisor or the Chef created different situations in subsequent playthroughs. There is satisfaction in the heroic and evil story arch. However, Silken Sail creates some nuanced storytelling when player choice isn’t all good or bad. Each ending jumps ahead in time to show the impact of the players’ decisions. And the writers tucked away some surprises within some story paths.
Graphics & sound
As a visual novel, the graphics are limited to still images. Facial expressions change based on dialog with a rotation of poses and reactions. The stars of the production are the voice actors. Henchman Story includes a strong cast of experienced voice talent. The voice direction is excellent and brings each of the characters to life. The voice work gives life to the strong writing and keeps the player engaged as they navigate the narrative.
Concerns
An initial concern was the price point, $15. However, within the context of a movie or novel $15 is not unreasonable. The depth of the characterization and branching story created a deeply satisfying experience. So much so that review was delayed to explore more endings.
One story-related concern is the reliance on heterosexual relationships. Henchman Story does provide romance options, but none are same sex. While this does not detract from the story, it may limit a player’s ability to connect with the characters.
Finally, GeeksWorldWide played on both Steam and Xbox for review. The PC version contains 30 save slots and multiple autosave slots. The Xbox version contains only 9 save slots and does not have auto saves. The developer is aware of this and is working with those that ported to console to address the issue. But players on consoles should be aware of the lack of autosaves.
Henchman Story
Silken Sail Entertainment created an engaging and compelling visual novel. The various endings and branching paths provide significant replay value. What starts as humorous and satirical stereotypes, ends up creating layered human characters. Henchman Story is satisfying for visual novel fans, and a great opportunity for superhero fans to explore a new genre.