Help! I'm Turning Into A Mermaid!

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Despite having issues with a select few puzzles and my many presentational criticisms, I had a wonderful time with Help! I'm Turning Into A Mermaid. It's confident in its absurdities and eccentricities, committed to being a truly ridiculous adventure game, and is a captivating continuation of its creator's curious little universe. Pretty much everything I liked about Snell's prior games has been refined here, enhanced by a decade of fresh experience, and I think he delivered something special here. Full Review: https://natalie.tf/2026/07/16/help-im-turning-into-a-mermaid-review/

Disclaimer: I don't think the game's title is accurate, I do not believe it accurately represents the overarching story/gameplay as it'd lead someone to believe it would. Despite the above, HITIAM is still an excellent experience in many regards for someone looking for a TG/TF/TSF experience on the less serious and more fantastical side. The music hits (tho can sometimes feel repetitive due to a game environment where you can spend quite a bit of time in one area with one track or the mall area in the freetime sections due to the amount there) and especially the finale pieces. I don't even know any Renpy games that actually have a finale like this one. It's kind of crazy but on the flip side, there's not much else. My main point of comparison for this game is fellow TG renpy game, Student Transfer, which runs a gamut of quality but I would say has managed to use small sprite animations (such as angling a sprite down to reference picking something up, or small movements in similar regards) to better immerse the player into the game. It's such a contrast to not see these consideringly minor animations vs. the entire mini-games, UIs and other things done that make this game stand apart so well from other Renpys in presentation. Likewise I feel that HITIAM lacks a level of introspection that hones in the ramifications of the primary hook for the game. It's literally in the title and yet the protagonist does not do much beyond verbalise their desire to go back/reverse the transformation etc. We never see them discuss or directly experiences the changes in their body that make them feel this way, how their new sense of balance makes them conscious of every step taken, how smoother skin makes rougher clothes feel very different against it. Hell just having longer vs. shorter hair is a pretty massive difference, especially when it gets long enough that you can sit on it. I know firsthand! These kind of introspective trains of thought can really help set up a characters frame of mind and experiences, especially in a medium so inclined to it in visual novels and was one of three things that kept me from getting as fully immersed in this game as I could. Another thing that held me back is the protagonist themselves, partially due to the above perhaps, seems to go from strongly denying their forced transformation, to being completely unbothered by it, to actively trying out even more crazy transformations without any real gradient to it. It's such a major aspect of the TG/TF medium to me, the turnaround and acceptance period and I feel this game treats that like something to be skipped/rushed over to get to what it wants to do. It's a shame, as I utterly adore Hunter in basically every other aspect in this game. They are such a great character and that's probably why my biggest complaint is that I am just lacking the material to better connect and understand them MORE! Gimme that sweet good stuff gurl, lemme get into Hunter's juicy braingoop and suck up those emotions! It'd make those latter scenes hit so much hhhhaarrrddeerrrr. Finally, I really enjoy the concept of the outfit system and the way it could have included the myriad TFs that Axon City offers as part of it's base premise. However it DOESNT! For some ungodly, abyssal reason only the darn furry catgirl gets to work as a TF option *and* wear every possible clothing set in the game! There is a dedicated Foxgirl transformation, including only ears and floofy tail (far less than the full skin replacement of the catgirl thing) and yet for some reason you can't equip any other outfit with it. Sadly this means that for the Foxgirl transformation, you'll rarely if ever get comments on the direct transformation but instead the 'brand' associated with the 'uniform' it comes along with. As a Kyuubi, I must admit I find this representation somewhat lacking. (Also where my Octopus girl transformation at?) Conclusively, I believe that HITIAM is an excellent game that delivers on far more than enough aspect to justify it's existence in the world we live in. It is however important to understand what one is getting into with this game. It's not intended to be a deep introspection into TG/TG, nor will it address the harrowing nature of loss and new frontiers of a life changed by this. It is however an exceptional comedic, comfortable, energetic game with just that kind of Australian sass that works. The plot is intriguing and the characters quickly grow on you, shining where they can. 7/10

If you're somewhere in the ven diagram of interest in: - A visual novel with puzzle elements. - Monstergirl TGTF ecchi comedy. - Interesting characters and worldbuilding. - Australian setting. - Don't care about small bugs and art ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Let's face it, you've either bought this already and the previous games in the series or you've just discovered the series and you're about to buy the whole set and watch the dev. If you hit more than half of those criteria, give this game a shot. It's a charming game that pulled me in and made me want to 100% it.

A very crazy game, but more fun than expected

It's good

This game sucks. The cooking minigame sucks and is glitched.

This was my first Lached Up Game and I had a fun time. Free time and story were both good. I enjoyed most puzzles except certain square rock puzzles where I had to discern the pattern between them. I can tell the developers deeply care about their characters with how unique and fleshed out every person is in how they act and interact with Hunter. The slow progression of Hunter's transformation was done really well, combined with all the puzzle solving you have to do. The process of story and puzzles makes each transformation or article of clothing or stars/hearts you earn feel really satisfying. The ending was nice and wrapped everything up nicely. HOWEVER (Spoiler so don't scroll down) I was absolutely HEARTBROKEN when Hunter lost the mega boobs. Yeah, the mermaid princess powers with the sparkly hair was nice, but that I could live without. In my opinion Mega boob Hunter was one of the hottest characters in the game and I had the same reaction as Dani when she reverted back to a previous form. I felt I earned the mega boobs with how much time I put into the puzzles and all the free-time activities. I'll be grieving the death of megaboob Hunter, maybe I'll see her again in a future game. I'll maintain a personal head-cannon that megaboob Hunter didn't disappear at the end of the game to cope. Anyways, getting over personal grief, I enjoyed the story enough to get upset over a minor detail. If that isn't a huge compliment I don't know what is. I had to remind my self of real world time and responsibilities because I enjoyed doing all the free-time activities. The story is goofy in a good way and has pretty good stakes and build up. I would definitely recommend this to other people who like fanservice visual novels with plot, a niche, but the best niche. Also the game has cat-girls.

This game really ignited my passion for visual novels. I can only recommend it. Over the time I played it it became a comfort game for me, even if the actual story is a but too real some time. The unquestioninng support of every character for the main charakter is just really hearwarming to me.

This one is really cute! Hunter makes a great MC caught in the titular(heh) situation. RBM''s dynamic really rubbed me the wrong way; Hunter has social support, is able to make their own choices (we love consent!), and throughout the story is clearly vibing with the changes as they happen. The humor really landed with me and the puzzles were pretty dang tough at times. I hope we can get an update on Sera next game as it appears she's still being gaslighted/enslaved by Iliana. She's been through a lot and I'd love for her to get some justice.