Usually a three-star 'average' rating would mean 'unremarkable' in my book.
Not this time.
This game has some really good qualities. The art is just amazing, the characters are well-designed and varied, and the sexscenes are great too - so why just a three star rating?
One thing in particular, really: combat.
Haremon is a visual novel/turn-based RPG hybrid game, so combat is a pretty important element. And as of this version (v0.33.3.5) it still really needs some fine-tuning.
That really is a shame too, because the way combat is set up in this game is actually pretty nifty. It's turn-based, but the characters' icons move along a sliding bar. When the icon reaches the end, the character gets a combat turn - and the speed stat determines how fast the icon moves. So speed matters a lot more here than in, say, the oldschool Pokémon games (in which speed only determines who goes first during a turn). There's also no TP, so any attack can be used indefinitely. But at the same time, your characters have three in-combat stats (focus, rage and pleasure) that constantly shift during combat, all depending on your character's stance (which can be changed by pressing A or F during a character's turn). Every attack etc. requires a minimum rage, focus, or pleasure. So character stance matters a lot, and not all of your attacks will be available at the same time.
So what's the bad thing about combat here?
Well, it's big a damn slog, and there's not really any ways to get around that. In a well-made RPG, your character(s) start out weak but OK-ish, and training and grinding can turn them into a powerhouse. But in this game? You start out weak. Not just weak, but weak weak. Mikuru, your first Haremon, starts out almost helpless. She will struggle against even the most basic enemies.
You can buy upgrades with XP, yes. But these upgrades... they just don't make a very big difference. Oh, you'll need them, don't get me wrong. But maxing out her attacks won't make her anything more than OK-ish. Max out the scratch attack? Congratulations - she'll now be able to take down the most basic enemy in two turns.
In other words? You actually need to grind just to make combat doable. There are games where you can just sit back and breeze through the storyline, but Haremon is very much not one of them. But at the same time, grinding doesn't even feel very rewarding.
Then there's the quicktime events (QTEs)...
Those mainly show up in combat. "Press X at the right time" for a damage/defense bonus, that sorta thing. I don't really mind this sort of thing. But it does make combat even more cumbersome and drawn-out - and considering that your characters already feel a bit underpowered, that's... not a good thing.
Another gripe that I have with the QTEs is that you can get a 'Perfect' hit and... still miss. Seriously, that actually happens. 'Perfect!' 'Missed' - yo, what the fuck. It's not a big problem, but it still happens often enough that it's highly annoying. (really, if they want these QTEs to matter, then a 'Perfect' should be an automatic hit no matter what)
Both the combat strength and QTE problems could be fixed with a little fine-tuning. That's the worst part. The game's design and setup are actually good, and it could be so much more fun to play with just a few tweaks here and there.
The map segments (i.e. when exploring a dungeon) are something that can be unnecessarily frustrating as well. You have to progress through dungeons by activating tiles, which then become traversible. But almost every kind of tile will trigger a random effect upon activation. That random effect will, in turn, usually trigger a spinning wheel or something else that's RNG-related. Those spinning wheels can be a pain in the ass, and some of the bad outcome scenarios make no damn sense (like chests stealing all your money, or losing food when you find an eggplant tree). At least it's possible to savescum.
...
As for the other aspects of the game: the writing, story and characters are pretty decent overall.
The story is fun. The characters are fun. Don't go expect anything deep - there are porngames with deep, compelling stories, but this isn't one of them. But the characters do have just enough substance to be entertaining. It's all nice, lighthearted fun.
The setting feels a bit incoherent, though. You start out with what looks like just a regular modern-day setting. Smartphones, mentions of college, videogames and the internet being a thing. And professor Laurel provides a little sci-fi touch. But at the same time, Annie's shop seems... weirdly rustic. And the guild and Scarlet are just basic pseudo-medieval fantasy stuff. It's really weird when you think about it.
Then there's Annie herself. And Kira, for that matter. They're both potential love interests. They were also both originally written to be the MC's mother and sister. You can tell, because the TsunAmie peeps were a bit sloppy with editing some of their lines; there's still a few times where Annie says the MC's name when she's talking about her son.
Obviously that change had a lot to do with Patreon banning incest and other 'extreme' content. But while I'm not a fan of censorship, I like incest even less - so for once, I'm not complaining about forced changes. That said: what matters most here is that Annie's lines were edited poorly, so the resulting dialog is confusing.
At least Kira was handled better, though. Yeah, her "Imma pretend to be your sister"-schtick is weird. But Kira is fucking weird. Her awkard weirdness is part of her character, and it's written pretty well.
...
All in all, this game has some great qualities. But it's still hamstrung by some flaws that can't be overlooked.
Gameplay should be a selling point, and with this one it definitely could be a selling point. But it isn't. Especially early on, the gameplay is an unpleasant slog. You're basically forced to grind just to make regular battles doable, and that's never a good thing.
This one is just a few tweaks away from being a five star game. So what are you waiting for, TsunAmie?
