This interactive novel was a truly lackluster effort in my opinion. It came as part of a bundle I bought, and for this I am glad, because if I had actually spent a few bucks for this game by itself, I would have been pretty upset with the content. The writing is pretty terrible, the voice acting is mediocre, and the story is completly lacking, and often doesnt make any sense.

For example, there are a pair of stowaway escaped slaves hiding in a room at the bottom of the ship. Somehow, nobody knows they are in there except the uncle, his wife, and the ship doctor. They have scurvy, but the doctor doesnt realize this until Heileen asks him about it, lol. Additionally, they are being taken to a slave owner who has promised the uncle and wife that the ex slaves would not be treated as slaves, lol. Fortunately for all parties involved, one of the passengers is vegan, and through her advocacy of eating only fruits and vegetables, the are able to stave off the slaves scurvy. Had she not been there, the slaves would have died from scurvy and presumably, many of the ship mates would have also, since prior to that revelation, only the weird people at fruits and veggies at all.

That is just the tip of the god awful writing spear.

Do NOT spend money on this game. If it ends up in a bundle you purchase, then go ahead and waste an hour playing it I guess, but that is all you will be doing...wasting an hour.

3 out of 10.

p.s. the menu screen music is pretty cool even though it's like a 30 second loop, and the graphics are decent (but not enough to save the game)

I really wanted to be able to recommend this game due to its mixed reviews.
Heileen falls short of other romance based Visual Novels. It does not really have a large amount of character development, and none of those sweet sentimental touching moments, that I have come to love from games of this genre.

On my first play though, I barely spoke to the person I ended up with, and my character showed no really inkling that she liked him, nor did he to her. In fact, he seemed like an awful person the entire time, and my character seemed to despise him.

I played through to get all three endings, and each relationship seems equally forced.

In other Visual Novels I have played, the protagonist gets closer to the person you wish to romance, and you learn more about them and you see a relationship forming. This just did not happen.

There also seems to be a huge anti-male sentiment within the game. The male characters are arrogant, sexist, womanizers and violent. The result of this is that 2 out of 3 game endings involve the protagonist concluding that she hates men.

If you really enjoy Visual Novels, and you have run out of games to play, you may enjoy this game. However, do not buy it at full price.

Short Verdict: Heileen 1: Sail Away is an under-par girly visual novel about a girl travelling by ship centuries ago from England to the New World. The game is probably isn't worth your time. It's not absolutely terrible, but it's a lot more on the bad side. Here's why:

Pros:

• 3 different endings, so there's some replayability
  
• It's possible to skip seen dialogues
  
• To be honest, I can't really think of anything else--the things that aren't bad are just ok

Cons:

• The story should be the main thing in the game, but there's nothing interesting about--not much besides a girl with a crush, a girlfriend, an uncle and his mistress
  
• The characters are really annoying, boring, and shallow--nothing special about any of them and the dialogues are bland
  
• It completely fails on the "quests" (completing quests without an RPG's freedom of movement is lame), that are the game's only differential
  
• The options are really awkward (making me want create my own) and most of them don't matter much
  
• It's short. Got the 3 endings in 3.5 hours

Bought on / for: I got it on TG (that website Steam hates) mostly because of the trading cards. Yeah, it served that purpose. But I wouldn't choose to buy this kind of game to play. I played it only because I already had it. The only value this game really has are the cards.

Similar games: I'm not the greatest fan of VNs, but I kinda enjoyed playing Cinders, which is also girly, so you might wanna check that one out.

A gathering of animaes appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said
They said come sail away come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away come sail away
Come sail away with me
And get card drops!

All aboard!

I clicked 'Yes' to recommend, but in truth, I only recommend as an introduction to the characters for the 2nd and 3rd entries in this series. Heileen 1 is short, with limited input and very brief, shallow storyline. The endings are easy to get, and it is an easy game to get 100% on with only 3 achievements. It does contradict the second novel (the ending of this one, to the start of the 2nd) - so do play with the knowledge that they don't seamlessly merge together into one story.

I've completed this on android and steam. It is the weakest in the series, but I'm glad to have played it as groundwork for the later games. The 2nd is enjoyable, with a lot more interactivity and a lot more depth as an adventure visual novel. The third is a 'proper' dating visual novel, and highly enjoyable. So only buy/play this if you you intend to play the others - try to grab on sale or in a bundle.

I enjoyed playing this visual novel. The beginning is kind of quirky with some fun elements, but it does develop the characters very well. The game doesn't require any grinding, instead your choices with the other characters decides what will happen next. I prefer this over grinding points to unlock points (which unfortunately is present in some Winter Wolves games), as it feels like you truly develop a loving relationship with the other person.

The female characters feel well done, especially Lora, who at first glance appears as very shallow and just a man pleaser, but if you take the right path, she develops tremendously as a character. Heileen herself is cute, ending up in some typical anime awkward scenes.

The male characters on the other hand were all too stereotypical. The only reason anyone falls in love with John is because he has abs. His personality is flat like paper. The chef were one of the few that felt somewhat real, but unfortunately you can't develop much of a character with him, as he is one of the background characters. The father is your typical fat and greedy person.

The story is quite short, but it develops well. There are important elements of the story you get to explore, with some deeper issues being explored and characters experiencing both happiness and pain. You do get some side quests to complete, but it doesn't seem to matter if you fail them. As the game is choice based, you get access to different dialog and development depending on what you want to do.

I got the game cause it was on sale and the story really just seemed sort of flat. It felt like the writing was all over the place - half the scenes were so random and didn't even make sense tbh. Like they were thrown in as a filler or something. And many of the characters were just plain annoying. I like other Winter Wolves games, but Heileen falls way short of their better quality games and I don't think I'll be buying either of the sequels anytime soon.

Absolutely NOT worth the price of $5.99. Maybe if you get it in a very cheap bundle it might be worth playing, but it is NOT worth paying $5.99 for. At all.

The story is lackluster at best. It isn't engaging at all. In fact, it's rather annoying.

The characters aren't well developed and it feels as though they're more of cardboard cutouts than actual characters.

The writing is just...bad.

It comes across as a teen boy's weird fantasy that has very little writing talent at all.

The only pro to this game is that it's really easy to get all three achievements. So if you're a completionist and you want another game to complete, this game is an easy notch to add to your bedpost.

Even if you're a completionist, I still don't think it's worth the cost of it.

+ Choices aren't too obvious, seem to truly effect the outcome (at least, in my playthrough)

- Story isn't interesting
- Short

[Rating: 57/100]

100%able in less than 1 hour using a very good steam guide. Nice ;)

I have to wait longer for the card drops than I used to 100% this game.

This must be one of the silliest - and shortest (1 hr to finish) - games ever made. It's all about little girls' overly dramatic fantasies about boys (and other girls); what's worse, all you can do is click on a very limited choice of replies. If you're over 13, don't bother.

A heartwarming tale of a barely legal settler girl discovering the sleeping lesbian within herself.

Simple little VN. Cute stories and nice characters. Good if you need something not too deep to invest yourself in for an hour or so. The art is also very nice. :)

038/100

A casual visual novel, with a story that has charm.

The story has a thinly veiled anti-men theme going on and while it didn't bother me, I apprechiate it might be a hard pill to swallow for some. Especially since the story beats you over the head with it!

I honestly wonder who wrote the characters and thought 'yeah they seem true to life' as the story seems to assume that all women like the big muscular man and that all men are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ weirdo horndogs.

The secondary characters are flat and the primary characters hardly fare much better but despite that the game has a charm to it that makes it a game you can play once and when you are done, you will smile.

This is the first installment in a three part series, I quite enjoyed playing each one and hope the rest of the series makes it to steam. Its a very simple yet fun visual novel, well worth getting. I already had the game before it made it to steam but plan to unlock the achievements for it. Art is very nice and story gives a small taste of the ones to come.

This is one of WInterWolves earlier games, and the newer games are definately better. The game is a pure visual novel/dating sim/ You play as an 18 year old girl named Heileen, who is going on a journey from England to the New World with her uncle, Otto, her uncle's mistress, Lora, her best friend, Marie, and the crew on the ship. By the end of the game you can end up with a sailor named John, Marie or Lora. The game is pretty short and the three achievements are easy to get. For the price, you might as well pick up this game if only to give support to WinterWolves. I'm waiting for Heileen 3 to get released in July, and it looks like it will be much better than the first 2.

Time Played: 2 Hours
100% Achievements

Heileen 1: Sail Away is the first of a trilogy of Otome Visual Novels set in the 16th-17th century. Having lived a sheltered and spoiled life, the eponymous Heileen is sent away to the New World in search of self discovery and growth. Instead what she discovers is that she actually hates men and their womanizing ways. As a result, her inner lesbian is unleashed. Two endings have female/female pairings whereas the neutral ending has her with a man. (Why is the male ending neutral?)

The story was fairly forgettable with minimal character development. The dialogue seemed to carry this sense of anti-male rhetoric that I suppose would appeal to the targeted audience. But then again, maybe I should have checked my privilege before playing.

Pros:

Cons:
Did not captivate my young maiden heart

Do Not Buy This Game!

There are few things that are truly awful. This is one of them. It's a mockery of a historical novel, and not even an entertaining one. The anachronisms bounce between stupid and annoying. Also weirdly racially insensitive, as somehow returning the slaves that were saved from slavery to slavery is a good thing? They'll be safer there? I ... I don't even know ...

As for the romances, they're run of the mill to get the basic guy or best friend ending, and weird to get your uncle's mistress ending.

If you want an entertaining visual novel with romances, try Magical Diary. If you want a story with weird yet touching romances, try Hatoful Boyfriend. There are so many better novels out there with more choice and better characters. I cannot fathom how something this bad and boring became a series.

This has to be one of the sillier games Ive ever wasted money on. Probably good for a 7-8 year old boy to play. Too much lesbian love innuendo and simply no action...

another sub par visual novel. pass on this one