FreshP0325

My younger brother is about to start school soon, so I took him out to travel and play in Xiamen for a few days. After he fell asleep, I sat at the table and finished the SMEE game, including the FD.

The reason for playing this is that I have never played a Galgame that only has a harem route. Of course, it's not completely true; games like "Alice's Eve Chronicle" or "Hero Battle Princess" can be considered to have substantial harem elements. However, these games are not purely AVG gameplay, and their depiction of harem is not as focused on the harem as "Harem Kingdom" is (like "Eve," where I feel most of the plot is still about each female lead individually rather than their interactions with each other).

The game unsurprisingly has many H scenes, and after skipping these scenes, the actual gameplay time is only a little over ten hours. Moreover, the sense of separation in the H scenes is particularly strong; if you just want to experience the story, this time might feel a bit short.

Story#

For me, this is a rather unusual work from SMEE, but thinking about it, SMEE has been fond of various gimmicks in every work over the past few years, so I’ve gotten used to it.

The overall experience still has the shadow of SMEE. The opening stand-up comedy segment, absurd interactions, and high-energy interactions between female characters—indeed, this interaction segment has been greatly amplified due to the "harem" theme.

Yes, this work has almost no individual routes; the only personal plot point in this chapter is just a little at the end, so this is also a significant challenge for SMEE.

The story begins with the male lead and his childhood friend traveling to another world. Honestly, I’m tired of the isekai genre. The world-building in this game is too perfunctory from any angle; the plot almost only takes place in the royal palace, and apart from two or three supporting characters, there is hardly any interaction with others. Many of the settings feel like they were thought up on a whim and disappear after being used once.

For example, the slave system—apart from Kiki, who was once a slave, I haven't seen any other efforts. By the end, this setting seems a bit ridiculous. The male lead's declaration to liberate slaves is only implemented on the female lead.

There are many such examples, making this isekai world view feel very fragile.

Returning to the plot design, the depiction of romance is also quite casual; after the protagonist casually says a few words, the harem is formed. This is different from the absurd plot of "100 Girlfriends." The production team clearly wanted to depict each person's process of falling in love with the male lead, but the length is too short, making it hard to enjoy such a love story.

However, regarding route selection, SMEE offers five harem stories that almost cover all types of harems I can think of. Aside from the H scenes in C5, I think the harem plot setup is still quite interesting. Whether it's various interactions or absurd jokes and references, they are worth seeing.

The route choices are all very harmonious; no matter which route you choose, there are no actual "losers" in the end, which I personally appreciate.

But in the end, returning to each female lead's personal route, several routes are just for the sake of being emotional, and the handling is a bit too casual. I would hope for more individual depictions of each female lead. The daily life in each route is almost overly energetic; everyone's emotions are always at their peak, and sometimes I just want a little time to relax and enjoy life.

Character Design#

My favorite character in this work is the childhood friend, Hikaru. He fits the traditional SMEE trope of the sarcastic character. Besides him, Kiki and the scheming Sonia are also pretty good setups.

However, the space for developing these characters is too small! The focus on each character's development is almost only during the harem gathering and a little personal route at the end, which is quite different from SMEE's other games. This flaw is only slightly smoothed over in the FD.

But the portrayal of the female leads is just a minor issue; the most notable problem as a harem work is that the male lead is utterly charm-less, lacking responsibility and being overly frivolous, making it hard to imagine how such a male lead could attract love.

Players who enjoy harem themes are more sensitive to the protagonist's performance.

If this person lacks charm, it makes the female leads seem very frivolous and brainless.

The few supporting characters also fail to pique interest; calling them annoying is a mild description.

System#

There are no issues, but no highlights either. The only dissatisfaction might be that the volume during testing differs significantly from the actual adjusted volume; the volume balance is not well done.

Art#

The backgrounds and art have no quality issues, but the homogenization of the female leads' faces compared to "Sugar * Style" and "Making * Lovers" is a bit excessive. In some cases, the female leads' actions and faces look a bit strange.

Audio#

It's average, with nothing particularly outstanding. Some pieces have overly repetitive motifs that can become tiresome, but the excellent voice acting can be said to slightly redeem the thin character portrayals. Don’t miss the female leads' messages in the music appreciation section.

Practicality#

Very poor. Although the story invested a lot of resources and has a massive number of H scenes, most H scenes just involve five female leads choosing two to have a 3P, and what they do and say is not much different. The pacing of the H scenes is also strange; some parts are too short while others are too long. Essentially, the H scenes have little to do with the main plot, and removing all H scenes would not affect the story's development at all.

Looking at this work, SMEE's games seem to be moving towards a more explicit direction, but it’s not explicit enough, and the previous pure love feeling is not pure enough, resulting in a sense of shock like good girls going down the wrong path.

In 2020, I believe such works should have foot jobs as standard; they don't, which is a deduction.

Subjective#

Why is there no plot for Lulu! Okay, I understand that inserting a protagonist's sidekick with five female leads is a bit inappropriate, but can you at least include a bit of plot in the FD? Sigh.

Summary#

I used to be a fan of harem themes, but this work made me realize that pure harems might not be suitable for AVG. This game feels like a "Making * Lovers" without individual routes, where all stories end in bickering. If you pursue deep character portrayals, this game might disappoint you.

SMEE's comedic elements, aside from Hikaru, also feel a bit lacking in impact, which is hard to express for traditional stand-up comedy fans.

Is it a good SMEE game? Not really; it's just another game where you can't survive without sex. It starts off well, but after you read a few endings, you lose all expectations for the plot. I think if they try the isekai theme again in the future, it might be better.

But if you are a hardcore fan of harem themes, this work almost fills the gap for such works, and you absolutely cannot miss it.