I'm a love interest in my childhood friend's reverse harem!!! Reviews

I have only finished one route, but it was really fun. The ending of the romance route I just finished might have made me go all, "Aww". I am really excited to play all the rest of the routes. It was really enjoyably wholesome without being too saccharine or family sit-com feeling. I really liked how the protagonist's orientation was handled. The fact he is bi was treated like a foot-note and not his defining characteristic (even if I did take every opportunity to flirt with the boys), because of that the character felt a lot more realistic and was a pleasure to play.

I really liked the game! It has a unique idea. You can romance the boys or the MC itself! There is also a polyamory route! It has 11 endings and I had to replay a lot to get all of them. Overall, I enjoyed it. It was really cute.

This is a pretty cute VN! I was kind of ambivalent about it at first, since during my first playthrough (trying to romance the foul-mouthed tsundere Ao) I was given no option to return his feelings when he confessed to the MC, Geum, which made the mention of 'BL possibilities' in the Steam description seem misleading... But, when I did another playthrough and tried to pick all of the positive Ao options, I was rewarded with several scenes that differed quite a lot from the platonic playthrough, plus a cute romantic confession (which was reciprocated!) and a couple of sweet CGs. I was too quick to judge this VN because of my own inability to win over the boys, and for that I apologise... Each playthrough of this VN is pretty short, and will probably last about 30-60 mins based on reading speed (with each subsequent playthrough taking less time because of some repeat text between routes). The VN might be a little on the short side for the price tag, but there's quite a lot of artwork to make up for it. There's plenty of CGs, the characters have multiple outfits, some side characters who only appear for a few brief moments get full sprites (I like Miss Garden's design a lot in particular), and all of the food the Geum can cook has accompanying artwork (anime food my beloved...) All of the artwork makes the game's universe feel more alive, and it helps justify the price tag. It's clear a lot of polish and effort went into this VN, and if you want to poke through it multiple times to get all of the endings, you can probably get about 2-3 hours of playtime out of it based on reading speed. As an aside: the VN does include a lot of fourth wall breaking humour (Geum's childhood friend's nickname is literally 'MC', there's a bunch of jokes to the tune of 'hahaha wouldn't it be wild if we could see affection meters when talking to one another', 'wow, we're doing a kabedon like in my favourite shoujo manga'), so if you don't like that sort of humour it might be a bit of a turn off. If you do like these kinds of jokes though, and you want something sweet and silly to read, this is definitely worth checking out!

A fun game filled with charm and humour An Australian experience of slang, pop culture and a core of multiculturalism in its cast of Ao, Geum, Hong Yang and Emily. The writing style is fun and upbeat and makes the characters feel like people you want to spend more time with and get to know further. Multiple endings with each character, the options can lead to unexpected endings. Mini games that influence interaction (and make you question your knowledge). I've now bought this game twice now that it's available on steam and i cant wait to replay it. This game was extremely fun to play, an enjoyable twist on a well known genre and the price is a steal. I cant wait to see what comes next in the game universe!

I bought this game on a different site when it released, but bought it here again so I could leave a review. "I'm a love interest in my childhood friend's reverse harem" is a really funny twist on the otome/bl genre. It's lighthearted and has no problem with poking fun at itself, which I really enjoyed. I'm not much of an otome player, but I found Emily's route just as enjoyable as Ao's and Hong Yang's. Geum as a protagonist was also hilarious and I can't wait to see more of him in the sequel. I found the price really good (perhaps too cheap!) for the amount of time that has gone into the project. The art is lovely, the writing is hilarious (love to see a game set in Australia!!), and everything is very smooth and clean. I also love how bright the game feels! Can't wait to see more games from WitPOP!

Ok so this one definitely has some funny moments, especially at the start. It pretty much makes fun of everything in the VN / dating sim genre and does so in an honest light hearted way. No biting sarcasm or shaming to be found. Just a good spirited roast of everything from characters to game mechanics. That being said, I found it to be way too short for the asking price. Value is a subjective experience though, based on the buyers resources and expectations. For myself, $10 is alot more than i usually pay for an hours entertainment. While true there are a few play through options to get more out of it, alot of that will of course be spent just re reading the same material again, and looking for the differences from the original play through. So to give a more fair comparison, other VNs Ive played at the same pay point lasted anywhere between 3 - 5 hours per route, and offered anywhere between 3 and 5 routes (on average) So basicly if you dont blink an eye on dropping a Tenner for a couple of laughs, you will find that here. If your looking for an evenings entertainment though, there are better options to spend your money on.

I used to be a huge otome fan, but after a while got tired of some typical cliches and moved on to BL/GL, which I'm far more satisfied with. I backed this game on KS and already completed it. Brought it here so I can support the dev(although I consider a refund rn).Well, turns out this wasn't the game for me. The other negative review has an issue with pricing, but for me it's not a concern. Rather, I have problems with advertising, writing, pacing and the "true" route of the game.[olist][*]Let's start with the fact this game is neither otome nor BL. This game is about friendship and struggles of teenage relationships. More ramblings about the issue:[list][*]The whole point of otome game is having a female protagonist. Here, you can only play as a guy, no kind of POV from Emily(the female "MC"). It's such a missed opportunity to not have her become an actual MC in her own route. Heck, she isn't exactly thrilled to enter a romantic relationship(understandable in the context of the game, but for a potential buyer it's very misleading).[*]The "BL possibilities" part of the description is more accurate than otome part, but not quite. This game features little to no romance, Geum(MC of the game) straight up tells the player he has no intention to fall for either of two male leads. Even by the end of the game, during an individual route, the guy confesses he MIGHT be interested in Geum, but not right now due to personal reasons. That's right, there's no kind of romantic resolution here. Understandable, but why label it BL?[*]I also have a problem with "not-so-generic" thing. Is it, really? I'll talk about writing problems later, but the game is kind of a friendship simulator where you can flirt with your friends. I suppose such closeness in platonic relationships is something we lack in VN department?[/list] [*]The writing. This was the weakest part of the game: This game has a problem with "show, don't tell" rule. First, it shows you something and then it tells you how to feel about it. Generally, it's better to let the player think on their own and react accordingly, unless it's a game made for toddlers. As an example: one of the screenshots has a guy with cat ears. In context, he was trying to defuse the tension and everybody else remarks how weird and whacky this situation is.The worst example for me was the fact every every time LI rejected MC and told him they would rather be friends, Geum tells the player "I guess it was wrong of me to try and trick/force them into falling for me". Yes? No shit? Why were those lines necessary, the game showed MC was acting selfish during first three minutes of the gameplay? As you can see, this point really frustrated me. Hehe, I did the same thing.[*]Another huge issue, the pacing. The game takes place in a span of a week. So, it makes it very hard to believe Geum could befriend his male love interests, much less fall for them in such a short period of time. Both routes felt like a race to the end rather than gradual build-up. At least his and Emily's relationship was believable enough.[*]Final point, the "true route" aka polyamorous ending. Yup, remember how I said it felt unnatural for any of the main cast to be into Geum? Welp, suddenly all of them are! And of course, the game doesn't miss the chance to tell you how weird and strange this is! And of course, someone makes a harem joke! Honestly...I quit this route and that, because I have a feeling this will be even more of not my thing.You may think "you didn't even finish this, why judge it so harshly? Indie devs already have it rough!". I agree, I might went on this a little bit too critical, you may really enjoy this if you don't mind or enjoy things I mentioned. But for me, the writing and pacing problems made me forgot about things I initially praised the game for. So, I sadly will leave this game with a "not recommended" rating.[/olist]