Tag: Heileen

Heileen 3: New Horizons (Winterwolves.com)

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Heileen is shipwrecked on a mysterious island with Robert and Ebele. They are saved by a ship called the Morning Star led by the pirates Morgan and Juliet.  Not only does Heileen use this opportunity to find her friends, she also needs to discover her destiny.  Will Heileen find love or will she find her true calling?

At first, the story is about Heileen searching for her missing friends and family.  After everyone’s found, the story changes depending on which character you pursue or which colony activity you partake in.  In the original game, Heileen can choose between Morgan, John, Jonathan and Sebastian.  Purchasing the female romance expansion extends her choices to Lora, Marie, Juliet and Ebele.  My favorite of the guys is Sebastian (though I hate to admit it) and my favorite of the girls is Juliet.  With Sebastian it might be more out of relief that Elias was going to be the romance option but he was voted out by Celso Riva‘s followers.  He also had no intention of adding Juliet to the mix but popular demand changed his mind.  I much prefer the plots where Heileen partakes in colony activities because at first she’s clueless about what she wants to do with her life.  As she continues, she realizes that she found her true calling.

While the first two games were pure visual novels, this one is a dating/raising sim.  During the game, you can do basic activities on the ship or colony activities on land.  You have to raise attributes from the former in order to participate in the latter.  You can invite one of the characters to do the colony activity with you and if you raise your stat high enough, you can qualify for the profession attached to it as long as you have the right sin or virtue.  There will be some cut scenes in the game where you have to make a choice that affects your alignment with good and evil.  It also affects your relationships with certain characters.  Some cutscenes are story-driven while others are just you inviting someone out or vice versa.

This is definitely my favorite of the Heileen series.  I give it 8 out of 10; it ended with a bang.

Heileen 2: The Hands of Fate

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After the last adventure, Heileen is shipwrecked on a mysterious island with Robert and Ebele. In order to survive, Heileen must rely on her friends. Meanwhile, a pack of tarot cards wind up on the island that hold the key to Heileen’s past.

In the last game, other people pushed Heileen on a certain path. However, in this game Heileen takes a more active role. Instead of people deciding for her, Heileen is asked to make decisions for the people in her life. Her choices influence her relationship with Robert and Ebele. It is also her decisions that can either lead her and her friends on a righteous path or throw them into the depths of sin. She can also decide if she wants to remain in limbo.

During the game, you select tarot cards that represent the seven deadly sins and the seven virtues. When you go to sleep, you select a card and you make a decision in your dream. After the dream ends, a card flashes to show if you chose the path of virtue or sin. It also affects what situation you find yourself in on the island. Like the last game, you can find quests to complete. Finding a quest gives you two points and completing it gives you three more points. Gathering items in the dreams also helps you complete your quests.

This game has an intriguing concept and can become very addictive. I give this game 6 out of 10, far more superior to its predecessor.

Heileen

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Heileen’s uncle just received stock to take to the New World. On the journey, Heileen meets many interesting people and discovers what secrets her uncle has been hiding from her.

This one is nowhere near as good as it sounds. It’s just some spoiled girl whining on a trip, and yet everyone wants her, even the women. I know, you’re probably thinking “homosexuality in 17th Century England, no way!” Yes, there actually is, and the characters are a little too open about it. Before I get over a hundred comments telling me that homosexuality did exist in the 17th Century, I’m not saying that it didn’t. I’m just saying that due to very strong bigotry, you wouldn’t find many open homosexuals walking the streets. No, that is not the only historical inaccuracy they committed in this game. I don’t really know that much about the 17th Century, but I do know that according to this article, some behavior we regularly take part in today would be considered crude in that time period. The characters partake in this behavior regularly, especially Lora. There are some references to historical events in the 17th Century, but the characters behave like they live in this time period. It’s very much like the Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, only without their charm driving the movie.

The characters themselves are not intriguing in the slightest. Despite Heileen’s whining, she’s loved by everyone on the ship. Come to think of it, that’s actually believable considering that the only other women on the ship are Lora, her uncle’s mistress, and Marie, who does not meet the standards of 17th Century beauty. It’s hinted that Marie is such a reject that she’s not even considered to be worthy of rape. Just so this review doesn’t become long and boring, I’m just going to sum it up in one sentence. Rape is not about beauty, it’s about power. Not to mention that Marie isn’t even that ugly. Sure, she doesn’t meet the standards of 17th Century beauty like Heileen does, and she doesn’t wear as little as Lora, but she’s not completely hideous. No wonder Marie has so many emotional issues. As for Heileen, I said earlier that it’s believable that she would be the most sought after on the ship. However, that does not explain why everyone is completely in love with her. Anyone who hates her is automatically labeled evil. The other characters Heileen can have a romance with are John and Lora. John is the bad boy sailor that Heileen’s drawn to, and I can see that. I just don’t see how she can fall in love with him in such a short amount of time. As for Lora, I’ve already said that she’s Heileen’s uncle’s mistress, so she and her uncle watched Heileen grow up. Yes, that’s right, Heileen hooks up with a woman who has been a parental figure to her. Anyone else thinks it sounds like lesbian wife husbandry?

The story is not historically accurate and the main character is a Mary-Sue. However, it’s still an interesting play through. I give this game 2 out of 10.