I think it’s important to give everyone the possibility to have their own opinion so I will not try to argue about how you see the game.
I just think it is interesting to see how different the expectations of this game can be for many people.
Seems like you expected a real simulation of a hotel.
For my part as this is done by RenPy in the first place I expected a Visual Novel.
After checking a little I saw that the character design was really to my liking and that it has animations and not only static images. So I gave the game and chance and tried it. I did not expect much but was presently surprised. I like the characters that are so different to each other, the story and the animations. I personally even think that it really is open world as I am not forced to play it in a super strict order like A – B – C- D…. nothing variable.
And there is a lot of optional things (comparable to side quest) I can do or ignore. That also counts to open world for me.
So if I replay it I have the possibility to start to progress with other character first. But in the end it still is a visual novel were I need the progress of other characters later on so the whole story connects.
If I use Lord of the Rings as an example. There are many story lines working in parallel but at some time they need to merge as different story lines merge again and separate at some points again. So its like I can read any chapter in any order that I want but before I start with the 2nd book I have to finish all the chapters of Book 1 or the book 2 will make no sense. So for a story driven game it is really difficult to be complete open world. Most open world games do not have a real story or they just fake it. There is in most cases one red line for story you can follow that is really braindead and short and the most fun content are in the side quests that do not matter if you find/do them or not and in most cases they do not connect with each other to prevent any discrepancy. They only exist to provide some story content and then EXP so you can progress the main quest. A good example is Elder Scrolls Oblivion were the main quest was really boring and needed only 4-6h if you hurried and ignored all side quests.
Looks like the name of Runeys game raised your expectations for a Hotel Simulator or in this case you were expecting a brother simulator. Maybe I also would have been fooled and started with wrong expectations if Runey had used Unity. But with Renpy I was sure to get a Visual Novel and I personally am happy with it.
By the way I would love to have a Brother Simulator by Runey were we focus on earning money, hiring stuff, expanding the Brother/Hotel to earn even more and hire more new Stuff. Runey is awesome in creating many different and cute types of girls. Hire them, Buy them, Hunt them, Trade them. The universe Runey created here would really fit this kind of game.
At least I can dream about it that he does something like this after he is finishes with Harem Hotel. But as it currently is, I hope the next game is a long way in the future and we get many more updated for HH.
I just refreshed the page. I didn't expect someone would reply with reasonable comments.
I was looking for a visual novel too, just like you. So I guess you can say I did have my own expectations for the game stories. But after 5 hours of gaming, I start getting annoyed that whenever I want to progress the story, it just says, "I should raise someone's friendship." And it got worse the later the game is.
I like your Lord of the Rings and Elder Scrolls Oblivion references. And I understand how difficult it is. I wasn't rushing the gameplay. I did play some of the side-quest content you mentioned to keep myself focused. That's why I still rate it 2 stars.
And one of the things you mentioned is the boring main quest in the Elder Scrolls Oblivion. But that's also the thing. You do have the option to speed run the Elder Scrolls if you don't want to play side quests. You can't do the same in HH. What if a guy in the future decides to play merely for the story? Would it be his fault to view HH in this way? But the game focuses on the story the most, doesn't it? By the way, I wasn't here only for the story. I knew there would be girls I had to deal with. I remember that I played the game once in 2019. That's why I think the content of this game is unbalanced now.
My complaints are mostly about stories and pacing. I had no idea how possibly the dev can explain why Lin was an actual slave to humans for 300 years and she's fucking MC with all love in 30 days, and a virgin by the way. I didn't think too much because the game was still early. But in the late game, dev clearly wants to give us serious contents.
The dev even said this yesterday: "And yeah, I try not to make MC think for you, I want the player to hold their own opinions and let the characters express themselves so the player can experience what they experience. Show not tell is an important rule in storywriting, so I try to show the effects of this culture."
Once again, the inconsistencies bother me a lot. It's just painful. I don't want to think because the story structure is fragile. It doesn't mean the story structure has to be perfect, but the early game and the late game are not coherent at all. And since the dev wants us to be serious in the late game. Out of respect, I have to be serious. But the loopholes are everywhere. I genuinely felt tricked.
I respect that you enjoyed the game. Good. But it's really not for me.
I'm not really asking for hotel contents. It's simply because a guy said this to me: "How do you complain about pacing in a sandbox game?" I was surprised. So I just go with: "If this is a sandbox game, where is the blah blah blah." I don't really hate this game, it just disappoints me. And it also bothers me when someone is trying to argue with me without any sense, even asking me to create a game on my own.
I do agree that kind of game would be cool too. And I remember there is a Japanese simulator game about monsters that look like what you described. You can look for them! Thank you, sincerely.
Sorry for omitting some of your comments earlier. I am really tired right now. I might edit more after I wake up.
Edit: I woke up. I think that's pretty much all. Try not to reply to me because I know I'm giving people here a negative mood. If you understand me, thank you, and don't reply. If anything, PM me. I really hate being a bad guy.
