Developer: Komisari
Genre: Visual Novel, Sandbox, Dating Sim, Point & Click
Store: Itch.io, SpicyGaming
Reviewed version: 0.12
Censored: No
Patch Needed: No
OS: Windows
Language: English
Hero's Harem Guild is the first game made with Koikatsu models I played. I started it out of curiosity without expecting much from it, and 5~10 minutes later, I was blown away by its quality. It has been a while since I was so engrossed in an eroge.
The game follows the story of a poor guy who was attacked by a powerful demon, and for some strange reason, he miraculously survives and ends up stranded in a faraway town. He then becomes the local hero and maintains the adventurers guild while he tries to find a way to go back home.
It's a story-driven game with an incredible cast and some shounen anime tropes here and there. It’s inevitable to get invested in their daily lives and want to learn more about them to the point you won't mind being forced to interact with everyone and increase their relationship status with the MC. What's harder to forgive are the typos and grammatical errors you may find in the story. Some are harder to see while others stick out like a sore thumb, and they sure become a lot more noticeable as soon as you spot one.
On another note, it couldn't be more different than your average Ren'py visual novel. It's closer to an adventure game where you explore the town and its surroundings, loot whatever you find, spend money to learn skills, and increase your relationship levels with the girls by doing sidequests or interacting with them. Moreover, it has a nifty fishing minigame where you have to turn your mouse in circles at a specific pace to catch the fish.
Audiovisuals-wise, the game is a feast for the eyes and the ears. The Koikatsu-made characters look so great they reminded me a lot of the ones in COM3D2. Moreover, all the characters have very distinct designs which make them easier to recognize and give them some uniqueness. Unsurprisingly, there’s some clipping here and there, but I don't mind it much since fixing it would shoot up its system requirements. The soundtrack is pretty good and does a great job of enhancing the scenes and making them more impactful.
Verdict: Outstanding
Hero's Harem Guild is one of those games which you initially play for the saucy content but stay for the quality of the plot. The game is far from finished, with only a 20-hour-long prologue, but it's so good not playing it would be doing oneself a disservice.