Help! I'm Turning Into A Mermaid!

Great new adventure VN from Lachedup games! I've played all of the Adventure game VNs so far and this is the best one, Also works as a great entry point for newcomers who don't know where to start, the protagonist starts out just as lost as you. Great characters, great story, great puzzles, the full package.

The story is fun and the world building is super good. You get to go to a lot of places and meet all kinds of people. All the characters are likable and their dialogue feels natural for the world they are in. This is a great VN!

You can romance a steampunk catgirl. 5/5 stars. oh and there's also like an interesting story i guess, and guys getting turned into girls.

This is an amazing VN, and my favorite in the series by far. Even if you aren't a fan too much of TF content, most of it is fairly well handled and while some of it is played for laughs, the drama and emotions are felt, and the comedy and some 4th wall leaning don't feel out of place. It strikes a good balance. The story is also excellent, and never did anything feel too out of place for the series, and everything was explained well. It is also beginner friendly, and as such while it does mention stuff that happened in prior games, if this is the first time you encounter the Axon City crew, don't feel like you have to play the other games first or be lost in lore. Compared to the other games the developer produced, this plays most similarily to Max's Big Bust 2 (and is canonically set after the game). It has more puzzle sections, which can be good or bad depending who you are. There is never a time limit, unless you are going for some of the keychains (if you played Max 2 kind of think of them like the Mermaid Spikers figures) or the bonus puzzle. I'd recommend taking things at your own pace, these tend to be standard logic puzzles, and the game has NG+ if you missed keychains. Free Time is a wonderful addition, allowing you to rank up all the Heart Beats and not feel pressured, and work the three jobs. While the Coffee Shrine job earns you way more money, I still liked the game store and noodle shop jobs as I liked interacting with the owners. The Heart Beats (think akin to modern Persona Social Links/Confidants) also are relatively simple and rewarding, and the fact you can do them whenever (minus plot locks) helps it feel more free. One of them does have to be at a certain rank otherwise it locks at a certain part of the story, but other than that they are simple. There is romance, but its a relatively tame optional Some nitpicks I do have are small. I wish there was an on-screen skip button. I know Tab works to skip, but I wish there was one. In the same vein, I wish there was a log button to see the conversation in full. Finally, a bit awkward to review, but after the final puzzle I felt the game rushed a bit to the "We did it" ending, and it took a bit to wrap my head around where Axon City was after everything. In conclusion: really good game, and I'd recommend to anyone remotely interested in the game. My gripes are minor, and you do not need a guide to enjoy this game. Just sit back and enjoy the splashy mermaid fun! P.S. I also really enjoyed the secret at the end, and I can't wait for the next Lached Up game.

Possibly the best game in the series so far, which is saying quite a lot since Max 2 and RBM are among my favorite games. Hunter is a wonderful protagonist, and her dynamic with the rest of the cast is genuinely compelling. The world feels more alive than ever, with nearly every single character from the past games showing up and having their own goals without ever feeling overwhelming. The plot itself is interesting, Hunters arc is a blast to watch unfold, and the puzzles are all incredibly fun. My only personal issue with this game is that the romance mechanics feel a bit underbaked. Every romance candidate has 4 Heart Beat events, which are all nice, as well as a final event with a cute cg, but after that final event there are only a few changed lines after that. This isn't really a flaw if you know what you're getting into though. This series has always been pretty light on romance post Max 1, but I do wish the games would start giving the romance options cute post-credits scenes or something. Regardless, I absolutely adored this game, and I really look forward to what LachedUpGames makes next.

amazing game again with now competition for my favorite protag of the series

Just finished 100% the game, and overall it was a grand time. As a onboarding for the rest of Lached Up's games it was great at getting me interested in the rest of the series. Despite me never having heard or played the other titles. Some puzzles can be a bit grating but there are guides up now for most of the real head scratchers. If this game remotely peaked your interest I would highly recommend picking it up, or at least trying the demo.

I learned about the economics of Australia. 10/10

Great game. Has a good and unique sense of humor with the Aussie theming. I would say the biggest change is the focus on politics, which I personally liked as a subtheme. It is a dating sim, but it seems like there is less focus on that and more on puzzle, story, transformation, and gender bender. Each of the four love interests does have four unique events each, but it far less development than you see in a standard dating sim. I do think that could be improved and expanded and I would be okay with less routes, but more depth for each one. If you liked Max's Big Bust and Max's Bigger Bust, you will like this one, which has more expanded features and scope than ever. The story is very interesting and there is meat to this beyond the genderbending and transformation fun. The cast is quite big and there's many callbacks to the old games. I do wish the art direction and cohesion was a tad mor consistent, and redid some of the older sprites. However, it shows how much the art has improved over time, especially from the original game from the same creator, but a different studio. I haven't played every game in the franchise, but you will probably get more references. I am very glad they returned to puzzle focus over the RPG focus. The puzzles were interesting and varied. This game puzzles are on the more difficult side with a few exceptions, so keep that in mind, but there are guides. I think the optional one is especially difficult. Some of the minigames were a bit challenging, too, but none are required. I was able to eventually complete them all even though I don't play real time game that often, but it took multiple extra tries. I think Hunter is probably one of the best protags in the series up there with Max. He has strong values, and is fairly interesting. I also really liked what they with Kitty. Not just the change, but her role seemed way cool and better than earlier entries. I do think a sequel could develop his personality and maybe his mentality.

Another fun story in Axon city! A great mix of story and puzzles that just sucks you in and doesn't let you go even into NG+. The three minigames are all fun in their own ways (personally I had some annoyance with the cooking minigame until close to the end when I realized just how much easier coordinating your sexy/cute style with it) and allow you to choose the way you want to earn your money for the Heart Beat items. The creator was great at watching both the bug discussion threads here on steam and in the Discord and updating the game quickly when issues were found. The only real negatives I have are that one puzzle on the boat (ya'll who played know the one and it thankfully was optional and I did it before the extra hint was added) and the choice of HB partner had very little payoff in the end. Overall I loved the game and the it persuaded me to go back and play through the RPG's that I skipped previously. Looking forward to the future of Axon City!