Comments on: Heileen – What Mysteries Do You Hold?

By: leyla

leyla — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:35:48 +0000

You should check the latest game, Bionic Heart. That is much better than Heileen, with 24 unique endings and it’s also fully voiced.
Surprised that RPS didn’t even cover it with a simple news, since is one of the most interesting games in last weeks.

By: LaBelle

LaBelle — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:35:44 +0000

I purchased the game after the demo’s cliffhanger. Much to say – that’s the only real bit of excitement in the story.

Even with three different endings, the overall theme is the same. The characters don’t really change their dialogue no matter if you brown nose them or treat them like dirt. Even with well drawn characters, their movements/poses, and clothing hardly change (except the final scene for a few select characters). If the character falls down or does an ‘action’, their frame merely moves (like Lora did in the demo). NO other drawings to supplement specific chosen events and etc…[so basically no reward for making a different choice]

To be frank, this is not worth 12 pounds, or 19.95 USD. I expected a lot more variance in the storyline and a longer game. I’d get that from a game that’s HALF the cost and twice the entertainment, with no obvious grammar mistakes.

ps: there is no sex or nudity later on in the game. Just simple fan service of seeing the main character in her nightwear and Lora showing off some skin. That’s not a problem for me, but it may be a deciding factor for others.

My score: 3/10

By: Bloo. ^_^

Bloo. ^_^ — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:50:58 +0000

I actually downloaded the demo of this game. A real cliffhanger at the end of it… tempted me to nearly buy the game. But yeah, the graphics hardly change and I assume it would get really boring eventually, so I dont think so… The storys ok though and- although there IS kissing in it, (no visual of it, by the way. Just them telling you its happening.)I dont think it goes much further than that.
Still, if someone DOES buy the game, feel free to comment on whether the endings sucked or not….

By: Monk

Monk — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:01:47 +0000

I don’t mind the style, at least it’s not like the majority of Japanese visual novels that I’ve seen, where most girls look like 8 year olds.

By: FreezerBag

FreezerBag — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:46:14 +0000

Wow, exposition much?

Without the promise of disproportionately sized boobies and unlikely sexual parings, I’m not sure I can really build up the enthusiasm to read through this turgid nonsense.

Still, pirates!

By: Dorian Cornelius Jasper

Dorian Cornelius Jasper — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:41:19 +0000

Alarik:

The Japanese-influenced pop aesthetic has seeped into just about every corner of the civilized world. In nerdier circles especially.

There’s no need to begrudge anyone, especially if they were raised on Japanese pop ephemera as much as they were Western. And some people have more exposure to the former than the latter.

But honestly, the Visual Novel genre is a decidedly Japanese branch of the Adventure Game concept. While it would certainly be novel–pun intended–to see a visual novel in a pop-culturally-neutral style (realistic, perhaps), there’s nothing strange about seeing a Visual Novel made by Westerners adopting the general visual cues and form of the genre’s origin.

After all, if one intended to make a visual novel, knowing precisely what a VN is and what country tends to produce such works, one would have to be an anime fanboy/girl to start with. A Westerner without a love of Japanese nerd culture would have settled for a more traditional form of Adventure Game.

tl;dr– Your complaint misses the point entirely. And landed somewhere in Timbuktu.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:01:50 +0000

Yeah, most visual novels are erotic (or were in Japan – there’s one or two that came to the US with the naughty bits surgically extracted for whatever reason), but certainly not all.

I confess that I tend to find them inexpressibly tedious without random nudity every so often, though.

By: Monele

Monele — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:04:31 +0000

Having helped as a tester on this project, I can confirm that there’s no sex that I’m aware of. And it’s still fun, yes.

Also,
“I wonder why they didn’t choose their own visual style and opted for this pathetic apery, really.”

Are you speaking about the drawing style or the interface/presentation? If the former, I don’t see how this style “apes” the Japanese. I see influences, yes, but it’s not a carbon copy nor a pale imitation. It’s just its own style. Blame an artist for drawing what they like :).
If the later, why go with a different interface? For the sake of being different? Because only japanese are allowed to do that? *shrugs* I don’t see the point of limiting oneself like this.

By: Alarik

Alarik — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:44:53 +0000

emichan: Hmm, no. I wouldn’t use those words in that case.

By: Klaus

Klaus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:00:39 +0000

‘slag’, I figured what this meant but I still keep my thesaurus open when I come here. All these British idioms keep my mind sharp.

“It feels really dirty, like wanking over your sister.”
I honestly, have no idea how this feels. But my stomach hurts now. A tad.

By: emichan

emichan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:07:05 +0000

the protagonist, who is female, looks like a ‘bro supreme’? is this some phrase i’ve never heard before or what?

there don’t seem to be any pictures in it at all except for the character portraits and backgrounds, so probably not worth it.

alarik – the same reason the Japanese pathetically aped Disney, perhaps?

By: yns88

yns88 — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:10:50 +0000

Christ, the protagonist looks like a ~~douche~~ bro supreme.

Also, English Visual Novels are never good. (Except perhaps Katawa Shoujo, those girls are just so d’awwww)