Mythic Manor

Mythic Manor is a sweet and harmless visual novel for all you semi-furries out there. You would think that this is some kind of horror game from the title, right? Nope, it’s basically a harem anime thing where you live in a house with a few hot girls who are “mythics”. They look like humans, sure. But under special circumstances, they might shapeshift into other forms, like a sphinx or a phoenix. It’s just cute window dressing to make the game stand out from the millions of other harem anime shit out there. The lore sounds cool and all but it doesn’t matter all that much. You’re a horny dude living in a house with other bangable chicks. You know where this is going. You’re supposed to be in this house to keep an eye on the girls. Watching surveillance footage to keep them safe from who knows what’s going on—that’s one of your jobs. Kind of. You can just ignore it, though. You live in your room and you can freely go around the house interacting with the rooms, checking to see who’s home. Everyone’s so fucking nice, too. They’re always happy to see you. There’s no drama, aside from little tiny things like the girls teasing each other in good fun. This place feels like a perpetual vacation or something. Nothing ever goes wrong. If you want some cutesy, drama-free escapism with sweet girls and minor RPG mechanics, you’re in the right place. The girls are all different in their own ways. If you know anime stereotypes, then you’ve seen these chicks before. Skinny, innocent girl with gigantic tits? Check. Klutzy girl who’s always shy around you? Check. Hot kinky demon girl who’s always flirting with you? Uh, sure, check. I went for the gorgeous Egyptian librarian girl who’s supposed to be a sphinx. She’s pretty smart and she’s always down to do some sexy “research” on you, the main character, who’s supposed to be a half-mythic. Whoever you pick, you level them up by doing talking to them at certain times of the day, or doing quests for their individual storylines. You can go for as many girls as you want, too. You have a ton of freedom to explore the town of New Lark City and see what all the residents are up to, not just your housemates. You can find a few other girls to hook up with around town, like the police officer at the mall and a homeless girl hanging out at the park. If you want to go after the homeless girl, you have to give her money. And if you want money, then you’re going to have to work every day. It’s as simple as using the computer in your room to write an article online once a day for some cash. Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to write anything. It’s all automated. Before you know it you’ll have more than enough money to spend on whatever you want. Leveling up the girls you want is the main grind. As you learn more about her storyline, she’ll slowly start to open up to you more. Accidental panty shots turn into accidental blowjobs—then before you know it, you’ll earn enough trust to start getting more hands-on. It’ll be a while before you can have all the sex you want with whoever you have your eye on. You’ll eventually get rewarded with some pretty hot scenes, so keep at it!

Do Whatever You Want

I like that this game never holds your hand. You can do whatever you want. Aside from a short tutorial at the start, you’re free to go wherever, whenever. Sometimes it’s a little too open-ended, though. Say you’re trying to be responsible and help out around the house. There’s a little to-do list that you can tackle. Fixing a leaky pipe sounds easy enough, right? Oh, but you don’t have all the materials to do the job right away. The game gives a vague hint about how to go from there, but it’s just that. Vague as hell. By chance, you might figure out what to do next. If you have the cash, you can buy what you need to finish the job. You have to go exploring to find the solution to the problem. Yeah, it’s a learning experience. If that kind of thing pisses you off, then you probably won’t have a good time with this game. Fair warning. Other than that, I’d say the freedom in Mythic Manor is a great thing. There’s a bunch of places to explore like restaurants, the mall, a creepy lake, a farm, a few different stores, a gym, a library, and a train station. You can meet new people or find your housemates at work during the day. Since I went for the Egyptian librarian chick, I was usually at the library chatting her up when she wasn’t at home. Whoever you pick, they won’t have much to say unless it’s time to progress their storyline. You can just follow the hints page to see when and where to talk to them next. You’re going to be opening that page a lot, though. I don’t recommend winging it. You’re going to end up wasting a bunch of time that way. Unless you love reading the same old stock responses over and over again, follow the hints. It’s better that way.

Grind those Storylines

Like I mentioned, you have to level the girls up to gain their trust and have sex with them. Every little event you do with them earns you one level. You can only level someone up once a day. Then the next day, they’ll be available for a new event where you get to learn more about them or do a new quest. That librarian takes a special interest in the main character as a half-mythic, first by asking him normal questions about his dreams and what he likes to do. Then that progresses into getting a sperm sample from him. Totally harmless, right? She makes it seem like it’s all just research. She’s pretty detached like that but she’s kind of charming about it.

I was amused once she started blowing the main character for those sperm samples on her own. She has another test subject, too—her shy little assistant at the library. It’s a normal thing for you to go to the library and find this assistant masturbating to get those samples. Aside from that, her storyline is interesting with how she turns into a sphinx when she’s mad or loses control. Sort of. She hates swimming, too, so she’ll ask the main character’s help with learning how to get over that. Then she’ll offer a sexy reward afterward. I wouldn’t say anyone’s storyline matters all that much, though. If you’re just in it for the rewards, it’s easy to click past all the dialog and get straight to the sex.

What I Like

Mythic Manor’s freedom of exploration is the best part of the game. You’re free to go after your own goals. The game respects your freedom and offers a ton for you to do on your own. You make up your gameplay as you go along. If there’s a girl you don’t like and you don’t want to see her? That’s cool, just ignore her. You’ll only have to see her during the “mandatory” events on Sundays every week where all of the housemates hang out together.

I like that there are a lot of different girls to choose from, too. You can go for one of them or all of them. It’s up to you. Their storylines can be silly and wacky, so it’s entertaining enough. If you like the girl enough, you’ll want to learn more about her and do her quests.

What I Hate

Sometimes the freedom goes too far. There’s not always a ton of guidance for what to do next, aside from following hints to level up each of the girls. It’s not the end of the world when you have to figure something out on your own. But it’s the little things that can add up over time. If you’re running into roadblocks all the time, there’s an official walkthrough you can follow. So that’s something. The whole low-stakes, happy-go-lucky tone isn’t for me, though. Maybe I’m too cynical for this shit. I probably am. The storylines are cute and all, but I just don’t care about them that much. I know that there are plenty of other people out there who will love this kind of thing.