VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Blackheart Hotel [Final] [Blackheart Games]

Wow! I'm so glad I came back to this game. It is fantastic. The evil can be dialed up to eleven and I love it. After my first playthrough I'm going to play again as a good boy and see what happens.

This game's story reads like someone told the developer "a twist is what makes a story good" and the dev nodded and decided to just throw a new twist in every 100 words.

It's hard to connect to characters, events, the story, anything, because the game will just throw in some big twist. And then it will have another twist from that twist later. And then another. And all of them will be twisting the exact same story detail, until it's a pretzel. There are at least four characters that "die" and then show up again later, and pretty much every character switches sides multiple times for seemingly no reason and changes personality/goals multiple times.
The characters also aren't particularly interesting. Outside of flip-flopping in characterization and motivation, most of them are very, very flat, and I don't think being written inconsistently can be considered character depth. The story has some interesting bits, but also a lot of unfulfilled story beats, characters jettisoned out of the story, and characters being idiots so the twists can happen.

Outside of the immediate fallout, choices just change a line or two on occasion. Worse, in several cases the game seems to be trying to play unreliable narrator and suggests the MC just THINKS something changed. You can pick every evil choice in the game then go back and pick no evil choices, and functionally nothing changes. Decide to get into a relationship with Paige or don't, nothing changes. There are maybe, MAYBE three instances where a choice leads to more than just a line or two changing in future content. The only real changes from choices happen in the immediate sense, and most times that change is either get sex scene or don't get sex scene.

Usually, I'd just chalk this up to being a very linear game, except in that case over half the choices have no reason to exist and the game should really just be kinetic. Further, the game at various points tries to hint at some big consequences to actions, only to then...not have them. Even the regular mention of "Evil Up" isn't related to a variable. There is no variable to track "evil," and while most of those choices have a variable to track what choice you made, some don't. To be clear: Some of the "Evil Up" choices are literally not tracked in any way. Add everything up, and honestly you should just pick the evil choice every time. Not picking them loses out on the majority of the sex scenes for no real gain, and even if a choice seems to kill or save someone, it honestly probably doesn't.

About the only pro is that the sex scenes are decent. And considering a lot of darker games have really, really terrible sex scenes, that's a nice strength to have. (Be warned though that later on these scenes start veering off into snuff.) But even that strength is dampened because the game lacks a replay scene feature.

Been playing this since the first release and I love it. There is very few dark games on here that cater to sick fucks like myself but Seath sates my inner demons just nicely.

Yes the MC is one sick, twisted Psycho who will kill and rape in a heartbeat if he wants to. The tags for this game warn about this type of content, yet unbelievably, the poor little snowflakes bitching about it, should READ THE FUCKING TAGS before crying. Guys, go play one of the numerous other nice, fluffy types on here and stop giving the dev a hard time, especially as you don`t pay for the game

Anyways, as I said, the content is very dark and violent but if that`s your fetish the you will love this VN. The story is very twisty and crazy but I really dig it, makes a change from the usual generic stuff on here.

Best thing in this game? Paige. I love that twisted little psycho nympho! her and Jacky are like Woody Harellson and Juliette Lewis in "Natural Born Killers"...Paige is just so kinky and funny as fuck....like when she sticks her pussy in a comatose womans face in the hospital...oh my god, I died.

I hope the dev keeps up his vision and does not let the whiners change it..seen that in a few games on here, where devs cave in to the entitled freeloaders.

To sum up: If you like your meat raw and bloody, tear into this one....if you like it well cooked with a side of veggies, keep on walkin`...

The character designs are horrendous, the technical level is very amateur, the lighting is dire, the story is generic, this visual novel gives me nothing to enjoy it, I can't enjoy hes renderings, his art, because it is belong average, I can't enjoy hes narrative, scrip, storytelling, because it is belong average, etc, sorry for being so harsh, use this as motivation to keep growing.

I only played bad guy route.
The choices were interestingly Evil. 5/5
story and plot was also interesting. 3/5
animations were nice but Graphics not so much. 2/5
maybe it can get a graphics rework.
but a worth playing game.

Game version: [v0.4]

It's worth playing if you're into "darker" kinks like rape or violence, but it's not a good game, and that's a damn shame because there's a bunch of wasted potential and sparks of creativity here.

The main problem can be boiled down to bad storytelling. Alleyway already did a good job describing how the MC is annoying and your choices don't matter in molding him. There are other problems like mediocre render quality and bad/non-existent editing, but the main one is that the overall story is just a giant fucking mess.

The game doesn't know what it wants to be, juggling a bunch of different themes, zig-zagging around, and giving you whiplash. It starts out as a thriller/horror story with a psycho praying on women and it's kind of interesting, but later it turns into this undercooked mafia/brainwashing/whatever plot and it just becomes a different, worse game. A really weird, incoherent game with cringy mafia characters, the sudden introduction of an unnecessary secondary MC, and dialogue that's just straight-up terrible and makes you want to skip until something interesting happens.

You're this "scary" mafia super-assassin murderer/rapist but you spend 90% of the game being blackmailed/told what to do/wallowing in self-pity/following the next cryptic clue to the retarded plot and have less agency than your typical 16-year-old incest game MC.

The plot is just all over the place and reeks of "and then, and then, and then"-syndrome, with no discernible structure, constant Deus Ex Machinas, important characters unceremoniously being killed off, new conspiracies/mysteries being introduced, and just a general spiral of "WTF?" The game breaks the fourth wall and pokes fun at the trend of incest in porn games, before introducing a second MC so it can indulge in a bunch of pointless incest content with characters we barely know or care about. If it wasn't so bad I would think it's a parody or trolling.

So why play this dumpster fire at all? Paige. One of the only characters the dev managed to bestow with some interesting characterization and an actual arc. She's weird, damaged, psychotic; but also charming, vulnerable, and lovable. The whole "Bonnie and Clyde" thing made me groan when it started, but it ended up actually working and was one of the only consistent and developed threads throughout the game. The way your girlfriend died was absolute garbage storytelling, but driving through the night with Paige to dump the body was beautiful. The relationship between these two psychos was the only redeeming thing about this game. It even managed to make the sex scenes interesting.

I really don't want to leave a review like that, because I like what the creator is trying to pull off and so very few games do it right, but I ragequit on day 3 or so, not getting to see any of the good stuff.

This game is really bad at writing. The author couldn't decide whether he wants to jump into the middle of something interesting with no time to explain and let the player catch up, or whether he wants to start at the beginning to explain everything, so he does neither - he puts us at the beginning (which is not the beginning of the entire story cause there are dreamlets which suggest that something bad has happened before) of things, where nothing much happens, and he doesn't bother explaining anything, just reiterates over and over again that something bad has happened and oooh you are supposed to feel bad and powerless. But the only thing I feel is bored.

I give this game a 3 because the graphics are cute, and if you're not like me maybe you'll have it in you to skip all the crap and just enjoy the naughty bits. But I don't like it.

In one word: imperfect

I love anti-hero games but this one was too hard to enjoy. I like the premise although the execution is very much flawed. The story is fairly interesting but has convenient plot turns i.e. police officer’s phone doesn’t have a password so mc can easily read notes from a high profile case, readily available invisible drugs inserted into food or drinks to incapacitate people, or an alarm clock with a camera to blackmail the mc.

I had a problem with the introduction because if the dude really wanted to seduce any of the girls, he could easily do so with his status and charm alone. And yet, it wasn't explored why he continued to drug them instead. In the case of some of the girls early on, you had no choice on whether to pursue them or not, and when you did drug them and have them unconscious, you couldn't actually fuck them either. There is little emotional payoff/catharsis with your girlfriend and maid being murdered.

The models are unattractive in my opinion. On top of that, there's poor renders and inadequate grammar/punctuation. The overall experience has been underwhelming.

Excellent game! It's rare a game that let the player choose the mc personality, in which the mc actions being evil or good, don't lead to a game over or short ending. It's a very dark theme but nonetheless the story don't lost his track and continue being interesting.

This game is fantastic if you're into dark themes with nothing held back. It is definitely not for the light of heart (murder, graphic violence, lots of rape), but easily the best game of its kind on this site.

This game is enjoyable when you want to explore darker themes. The quality continues to improve with each release, and each release is quite large. The frequency of updates is quite fast compared to some other games. Looking forward to more.

This was a tough one because it's definitely capable of higher, it's a good game at it's core. The content can be delightfully dark and hits taboos other games abandon the second the first complainer shows up. Lets give it some awesome credit for that, borderline standing ovation. While I find the renders a tad generic, they're good and the sex scenes are pay offs.

So on a first playthrough it's probably more like a 4.

The issue is, as it lacks a walkthrough (or even gallery IIRC), and the dev has mentioned it should be played more than once... it needs to be ranked on replayability as well. It definitely is not as strong there.
Making a game be replayed because you had to guess to try and get the content you wanted on the first go through, with no guidance, or having to play the 'make a save at every choice' minigame, is a 2 star experience at best.

So that's why I land at a 3.
It's a 4 star game but, lacking guideance or ways to see previous content, with an expectation of replayability that just isn't as strong on later runs, it becomes a 2 star on those later runs and ends with an average of 3.

Absolute thriller of a game. Dark content like punching women in the face, explicit rape and murder, kidnapping girls etc, that other games are scared to touch. And it's all based on meaningful player choice. Depending on what you choose, the whole game may change in later days for you. It's so engrossing to dive into this game & the darkness within all.

I only wish it was a full-time sandbox world. But it's a VN style game, multiple choices and multiple paths.

This is a phenomenal dark VN. One of the very rare VN that got me hooked from beginning to end (of 0.4).

The plot is very dark which is in my opinion a very welcome bowl of fresh air compared to the endless list of "rainbows and butterflies" VNs out there. I salute the dev for taking the initiative to do something different.

You can choose to be the evilest remorseless MC or play as a nice and caring dude. Evil path is 100% optionnal you won't see anything you don't wanna see.

Renders are good. Not the best I've seen but 100% enjoyable.

Strongly recommanding this one.

Blackheart series is mz one of the most favourite games now. Not only you got to expirience violence, but you can actually drive someone to suicide or just murder kids around after rapung them!!!! I love it

Great game. Finally some one that knows can focus on actual dark fetishes. Someone that is not scared to make a game that breaks the rules. This game is for those that are twisted. The renders are beginner level but are getting better, and guess what the developer is a beginner. The story is pretty good. The best thing is for a game so early in development it has a lot of content.

As of the current version. This is a good VN. I highly recommend it
PROS
Story
Characters
CONS
Some writing issues here and there
Overall
I was not liking this at first. But once the story started unfolding, I was hooked. Plot twists are bountiful in this one. So, if you like a straight forward story, this isn't for you. Writing in some places is off, but it isn't distracting. Good luck to the dev with this project. Looking forward to where this rollercoaster of a VN goes in the future

This is the first negative review I'm leaving on this site. I was going to just rant in the comments, but no; this is not a V.1 or a V.2. This game has been in development long enough to judge where it's been, and there's more than enough content to weigh it by its merits or lack thereof. There is so much I love about this. There is an actual storyline, a large cast that isn't just there to bang and add to an ever-expanding harem, strong, graphic violence around every corner, the and the overall feel and ambience in the game's tone. All of that is just wonderful. Right up my alley. The renders are good enough as well. Nothing spectacular, but nothing eye-searing as well. They get the job done at the weakest points, and at their best, they're pretty inspired.

It isn't proofread for shit, however. Bizarre mistakes in the dialogue and prose are just left there. Enough that it's not an occasional annoyance, it's a constant feature of the game. But screw that; compared to my major problem with this game, poor editing is nothing. It doesn't even register.

For a 0.3, this is a long title. A LOT of shit happens, and you make a good deal of choices along the way (kudos to the dev(s) on this aspect as well. They may not give a shit about revising their work for typos and misspellings, but there is a clear care put into delivering a serious amount of content in every update. It's impressive and respectable). There is supposed to be a good path and an evil path. It's specifically stated. Multiple times. You can be a choir boy, or you can be a demon. In actuality, that is a complete lie. On both routes, the MC is the same person, no matter your choice. Sure, you can commit atrocities in this game, undoubtedly. If the game presents a choice and says, one of these is normal, and the other INCREASES EVIL, or even INCREASES EVIL TIMES 2!, then you can pick the evil option and that action is carried out.

But instead of the main character basking in the afterglow of awfulness, or just not caring, or like Paige, having a gay old time being a piece of shit, he's a whining, pitiful, sobbing, remorseful little bitch. I hate this main character. More than any other main character from any AVN that I can recall. He complains and screams and cries about how sorry he is, how much he wishes he hadn't done that very bad thing I just told him to do. He does this with EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. CHOICE. Every last one. All of them. I can not stress this enough. Never has a game given me the option to do bad things, and then forced me to drag the MC, kicking and screaming every step of the way, to commit that bad act.

"Hey, MC, that woman is inebriated and has passed out. Grab her boobies!"

"No, I don't want to! This is wrong! I hate myself, I want to die, I don't care how good her tits feel, I'm such a monster, please kill me now!" MC grabs the boobies. "I will never forgive myself. How could I have done such a thing?! What did she do to deserve that? Why could I not have taken her out to dinner and a movie and helped her file her taxes before requesting a written form of consent to touch her chest? This is the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone, and I am responsible for it. Please God, give me colon cancer, right now!"

Many awful things happen in this game. A lot of characters are already dead in my so-called Evil Route, and in my Good Route 90% of them are still kicking. A good deal of this is because I made it happen. Your choices do matter. And I have enjoyed none of them. Because I've been saddled with this pathetic fucking cretin the entire time. I kept my mouth shut for the first two chapters. I understand the idea of slowly corrupting the main character. I didn't like it; if I'm choosing to indulge in the fantasy of doing something terrible, I'd like to just be able to enjoy it. I am not a horrible person, I don't need to be reminded that these things are repugnant. That's the point of fantasy. It's not real. But slow-burn corruption is a thing, and I get it.

But when I've picked EVIL X 2 every chance I've gotten, like twenty times, and the main character is STILL having an existential crisis and wanting to kill himself, the developer has done a shit job at portraying corruption. A complete shit job.

'Okay, you creep, we get it. He's a good guy, so just play your Good Route and enjoy that,' I hear some of you saying. Fine. Look, I enjoy villains, but a good hero can be great too.

Except you can't. Because on the Good Route, when you've made zero evil choices, (and I mean ZERO), no groping, no raping, no blackmail, minimal violence and kidnapping (excepting where the story requires it to move the plot forward or as the lesser of two evils) he still randomly acts like a psychopath! He still threatens to rape and kill some dude's wife, or promises to kidnap a chick's family members and beat them to death in front of her! Completely unnecessary in both circumstances.

You have a choice in how the story unfolds. You have no choice in how the character develops.

He's not evil. He's not good. He's just a mentally ill, gross, hysterical, bi-polar li'l cunt. No matter what you do.

If the main character was actually a different person by now depending on the routes, I'd rate this a 4 or 5. Seriously. Interesting, unique stories, meaningful choices (at least as far as characters living or dying or being in a coma) and a dark, violent tone. Good stuff.

But this fucking main character, man. Boo.

Updated review v.0.5:

The game had a big rewrite and is now much more connected, sex scenes has evolved and overall feel of the game is great. Updated my score to 5/5

Spoiler: Old 4 star review

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