VN - Ren'Py - Harem Hotel [v0.18.1] [Runey]

Version reviewed: v0.12

Abstract
This game features a main character (the player) who has just recently inherited a hotel with a highly skilled assistant and a slave that will help him to build his own harem of girls. Great graphics, great background music selection, fluid storywriting, lacking a bit of direction recently (since v0.11), huge download, no official android version anymore (for those who care, I don't).

The whole playthrough occurs from the perspective of the faceless player, so hereinafter I will refer to him as "you". The progression through the game is split in (non-repeatable) "events" and (repeatable) scenes where you train your girls into several fetishes, becoming sexually experienced (and dependent of you), and making them more submissive and obedient. Some events or scenes are hidden and require characters to have been trained to a certain point to unlock, making sexual training/expertise the way in which characters rise their stats. Also, the developer issues updates rather often.

Review
I've been playing this game since v0.04 and found it refreshing and promising. As soon as the player move into the hotel (first playable scene) he starts engaging with a set of vulnerable and troubled girls that soon will become part of his harem by means of grooming, caring, pampering, and, of course, sex, which I think is (or was) the core of the game.

During the first releases the events were rather short, making the playthrough very dynamic. Its naive nature make the game wholesome and aligned with an idyllic reality, so all minor inconsistencies with human psyche and the real-world references were easy to bypass. It was extremely easy to do a readers pact and get immersed in the game. The quality of the graphics wasn't as great as they are now, so I can say there have been some major improvements over time.

In this game, life is bitch and you're to the rescue. Some, if not all of the characters have been into some dark sht (often more than what one can handle, hence they being in need of belonging and a parental figure) and, as in real life, soon you learn that there are many shades of gray between black and white and there is more to a person than what meets the eye. Consequently, although in the beginning one quickly picks a favorite, the storytelling plays with one's emotions and soon makes the player fond of all characters. I think this is a feature most people will love of the game.

However, there are three reasons why I am not granting 5 stars to this game. First and foremost, the events have substantially grown in length and sometimes become a bit tiresome to read (storywriting-wise, too many words for little advance in the story). Second, is Elves, which to me is starting to become a "drop it" reason, specially to those who, like me, like learning about human history. Last, but not least, the sexual components of the visual novel seem either exhausted or under-exploited and doesn't appear to be a core-component in the self-discovery process of the characters.

I have the impression that, since the past three updates, the game has turned into an Elvish history master-class with annoying moral lectures on how bad slavery is (elves are slaves and, legally, you own some). Suddenly, slaves are everywhere and become the bread and butter of the events, even altering the background of non-elvish characters, quickly becoming tiresome. Rather than taking advantage of a great opportunity for social criticism, (which must be done with elegance, in a subtle way), we are introduced a species of life-lasting dumb people, clearly inferior to humans according to canon and story, but with dialogues that desperately try to convince otherwise. Dumb or not, slaves built empires and great nations (Egyptian, Roman, Spanish, British, and even the USA was built with the blood of slaves), but that greatness is nowhere to be seen. Even though the game has a strong bias towards the social environment of the slave period in Southern USA, and an educated player will quickly find that the storywriter is following USA's political agenda rather than pursuing a deep understanding of the history of slavery to enrich their writing rather than it look like one species is taking a capitalist-centered advantage of another species of retards. The same could be said about AI/robots (for Sci-Fi fans), and ancient civilizations, but those are minor details.

It is yet to be seen what the new update brings us, though.

Conclusion
If you are looking for a pack of heartbreaking stories with wholesome endings and a pinch of lewdness on top, this game/visual-novel is great for you. However, if you're looking for a highly interactive game or realistic situations with strong foundations, then just give this one a try but do not expect to meet your expectations.

This was one of the first adult games I have ever downloaded. This is a phenomenal game. I appreciate all the hard work that has been put into it. I have downloaded a few more games but few compare to this one. This is a staple that I just keep coming back to. Just well done!

I played and abandoned this game months ago. I couldn't tell what was going on or what was the next step in game for a given character. The MOD really helped! Sometimes you need to wait 4-5 in game days for the next event to occur.
I played through version 12 and found the game VERY enjoyable. Quite an in depth (sometimes too much depth) story and the animations are very well done (even if this game isn't my preferred style).
EXCELLENT Game!

I played 12.4v and wasn't upgrading from another version.

Pro
I greatly enjoyed the amount of thought put behind the characters. Yes, you are ultimately going to sticking holes like a golf course's flagpole but there is an cohesive reason. There is plenty of "porn logic" but it's not "lemon stealing whores" level.

Some stories developed the character a lot more than I thought was possible like Lin.
The extra sauce of the game is that characters interact with each other in scenes following other person's story. At times, you need to progress other characters stories to continue another. But if you like multiple characters, then you naturally met the requirements. Sometimes I was surprised that a character mentioned something in another story.

The loop of going through the doors to talk or just having an event forced on you is surprisingly good. I kept playing along to see the story of characters and got surprised at times. There are some characters I don't care about (Ashley) but the dialogue is good enough to keep me reading. The smart thing about the game is that you don't have to explore every character if you don't want to.

The art is pretty good to me. There is a consistent anime style that isn't off putting.

Con
Like any project of age, there are clearly parts of the game that are underbaked like the bondage section or even visiting the hotel sections. The bondage section feel like it doesn't really fit with the game. You basically just pick what sex position you want and you watch. They good scenes, but don't feel like they are part of the game.

Interacting with the girls outside of their events feel oddly flat. I never felt like I learn something new about them taking them out to coffee. The scene in the tea shop can be quite good but still feel disconnected from the rest of their story.

I don't think the game is harmed from these things since the main pull of the game is clearly the events and stories. Also, the game still uses those settings. It's just that going to those places "yourself" is not very deep.

Neutral
As others pointed out, there is a large amount of exploration about slavery in the later parts. On one hand, exploring it allows for more character development such as Lin and Kali. But the problem is that the story still rests on "porn logic" and trying to explain how slavery works raises a lot more questions than it answers.

There is definitely a tone shift from the earlier part of the game. It is to the point where I feel like it's a entirely different game. It's pretty sudden shift into this mode and I think that's there the issues people have start.

I am not really sure if we really needed a deep dive into the world of Harem Hotel. Honestly, it didn't seem like the game was even created with that in mind.

I don't feel too negative about this inclusion because it does expand on the story of characters that is more interesting to me than the questions raised by the world building.

Conclusion
I wasn't really expecting much for a porn game with anime visuals. But there is a good reason why this is among the highest rated in on this website. It's a great game and showcased that porn games don't have to be poorly written.

Honestly one of the best games here, it has more content than most games and its still not finished, animated sex scenes, great characters with awesome development, they really feel like real people, but also know how to get the sex done, all in all a really great game

Great game. I love most characters. More Kate! Make her a main girl - or something close, please!
Writing great, scenes great, management not annoying. Got no complaints.
The variety you put in is nice, too. I thought how am I supposed to get that much money, but it sure is possible.

I don't fully understand the hype around this game given such high ratings, but having thought about it I think that's mainly just because this game isn't super appealing to me. In terms of the NSFW aspects, the game is great. Quality art, attractive characters, and decent writing. For me though the game just feels shallow as there's little narrative or challenge to the game.

This is a review most won't like but meh.

Pros
The concept is interesting and while it doesn't break any new ground, it gives it an unique enough spin
Writing is for the most part engaging and entertaining
Characterarc have satisfying payoffs
Graphics are among the better Honey Select offerings.

Cons
The writing has gotten preachy and indignant
Every character gets tied up in a moral crusade that feels completely off in the setting
Some characters come off as intensely unlikeable for long stretches of the game until their arcs resolve, reducing the motivation to actually resolve said arcs.
The latest update drops a twist that makes absolutely no sense and serves only to further the silly agenda the dev has

All in all, the game was better a year or two ago. So much potential and so many good things absolutely wasted because the dev decided to turn Harem Hotel into a politics-simulator and refuses to even consider criticism.

Good story. Long game. Lots of repeatable actions. Good number of characters. Easy to progress story line. At no point did I feel lost as to what I was supposed to do next. I very much enjoyed playing through the story (couple of times so far) and am looking forward to future updates.

This was my first game, i hadnt even found knew about f95 when i first played it. Its is definetly one fo the best games in my memory cause its silly but serious at the same time and does pretty well at not giving cringe.

If you play it for the first time the game is a 5, girls look good, theya re different, well written, interface is good and has pretty good looking asses which Daz cant deliver.

For a first playthough what the game delivers is quit close to what the game promises and with the perks described above that makes the game keep interesting for hours and hours..

Thsi review i write it in my second, i havent plaed for almost 2 years i think and after that time i was expecting Emma and Felicity story to continue, i found out that it didnt. Since it had an incest tag, i also expected Lucia and Kali to continue, i dont remember ecxactly but it was short before, still short after all this time.

Kate had almost nothing before, still has kind of the same.

Overall i found the wait dissapointing. The game is still awesome if its the first time, but once you see the main events of the story take place which can be until 0.9 or so, the rest becomes quite repetitive.

I would give it a 5 until v.09 or so, i dont remember which version i played, and 2,5 from there to 0.12.4

One of my favorite games on this site. The girls are all different enough to make you want to play through their stories. Even the the side girls are interesting. The story is better than you would expect for a game called harem hotel. Would absolutely recommend it.

What a lovely game that was! Spent 34 or so hours on it and looking forward for more! I've gone through the main content and have "most" stats maxed I think. Great and likable characters. I have a few reservation about some of the side characters still, but that may yet change! Very nice that the different music options are available. Impressive amount of content too!

I am reviewing an in progress game, please understand features I reflect on may be different in the build you play.
I am reviewing build 0.12.4
I have some history with adult VN's, but I haven't played the more recent hits.
I am playing on PC.
I used a money cheat early on in my first (only so far) playthrough.

Pros

The writing is well done. I don't necessarily love every story beat for each guest/employee in the hotel, but the personalities of the characters are distinct and interesting. There is character growth in abundance, and the relationships and actions of the characters are noticeably influenced by the player.

Player choice is important, and the results of your choices are seen throughout the game.

The 'Plot' is great, the work the dev puts into the characterization and writing gets the player engaged with the characters, which makes the 'Plot' that much more impactful/effective. There is great diversity in fetishes among the different characters, and the player has a lot of choice in outfits, scenes, and activities.

The game is balanced well between stick and carrot. The player does need to put work in with the game, but rewards are drip fed at a good pace and keep the player engaged with the work and reward. This gives it a 'One More Turn' feeling: some nights I think I went a whole hour over intended quit time just 'One More Day'ing' myself. Addictive, fun gameplay loop that rewards the player at a good pace.

Cons

The backgrounds and things that fill them stand out to me as the biggest weak point to the game thus far. There are some good settings (Dungeon, Kali's room, Kitchen), but many (Ashley's room, Maria's room, PC's room, Maid rooms) are bland, flatly coloured, and uniformly lit. The backgrounds are what keep me from screenshotting my favourite scenes. Some more personality in the room for each guest (streamer stuff in Maria's room, some lived-in ness to the PC's room, make Ashley super messy or something) would really spice it up. This also applies to things like food; stock items from the modelling program make lots of appearances and stick out more than they should (pizza anyone?)

There's a lot of stats, and it seems like at some point the player needs to decide if they're focusing on a couple of guests or going for a general, more shallow playthrough including more of the guests. I had difficulty figuring out how high certain stats need to go, or whether I was wasting my time doing certain activities when I should be optimizing someone/something else.

Some player choice (at this point) seems to be fake. When . Would be nice if the player action mattered here (and a few other places) but maybe this is in progress (or maybe it did address the choice and I read the dialogue wrong?).

There could be some more diversity to the women themselves. Different body types besides young, skinny and white-ish (are Elves considered white or not? idk. Maria's a little darker as well). A thicker woman (Ellen is closest to this?) or two as well could add some flavour too.

Noteworthies

Time goes by a bit quickly, some activities take all day and unless you're playing optimally (increasing stats) for the characters/scenes you want, you'll miss certain things. Almost a negative, but it gives incentive to replay with strategies in mind and variety in those replays.

I used a money cheat and didn't have to balance my cashflow. Prioritizing cashflow conflicts with time spent doing stats management, and I had enough trouble with that already. Some items seem expensive for how money moves in this game, and the bar (the place to really get money coming in) has not engaged me like the rest of the game. Hopefully there's more to do with the bar/cashflow later.

Game takes forever to boot. I can do a cold PC start to desktop faster than this game wants to load up.

Could do a bit more with Ellen or another (even slightly older than the other guests) woman in the MILF'y/Mommy sort of way that isn't currently on much display (this is personal taste showing).

Music is ok, not bad. Not too much by way of sound effects for a lot of the game. Not a con for me, I'm usually listening to something else. Could be a con for others.

The Slavery storyline seems to be controversial among players. I enjoyed it.

Conclusion
This game has great bones in its body, but the flesh needs some massaging at the hot springs to really perfect the experience. I fully recommend this game. This is a great effort and I'm very excited for the future of this game and Runey's future projects. Great work Runey!

Definitely one of the best porn games available right now. Allows you a lot of freedom with how you progress while still presenting a cohesive story. Honestly wasn't expecting to get this invested in a porn game world but the writing does get you hooked, making the game easily playable even if you aren't looking to relieve yourself. Only things I would say need improvement are maybe a hint system to figure out how to progress in the main story for each girl, had to look for a guide cause some content is gated till other main storylines are completed, though with good reason. Hoping the dev team expands and we can see larger updates and keep up the great work!

Man, it's easy to get attached to the girls here. It has a progress tracker for each character. Nice story especially, lin, Android, Ashley and Maria. Kali best girl, also love the twins. I hope the game gets another update soon, I can't wait to continue all the stories here, especially since the Floor 1 character will have continuations in v0.12.4.

Dveloper is consistent with content style. Ton of story and content to play. ∞ nuts. On serius note if you looking for game that you can get lost in play this. If you finish it wait a year or few months and there will be whole new story branch. Please support developer if you can!

i really love the Game ,one of these Gems where u come for the Porn and stay for the Story ...
i hope the Sanctuary Elves and Sidegirls get some more content
More Upgrades for the Hotel(new Etage)/Sancturary/Bar...maybe a Stripclub,a ChildrensDaycare/School dont know a Poolarea or a Garden

after Hospitalevent with Maria (i hope there is a way to make that Bitch of a Doc suffer somehow) she avoides the Dungeon i hope she get better with the next Update,same for our Android i hope she get better soon (maybe with the Upgrades from Kalis Dad's Firma it sounded she can get pregnant with them)

for the Story i hope for a real Big Happy End and many Pregnant Woman, maybe the MC goes in Politics and make self new Rights possible for Elves/HalfElves/selfawareAndroids
preferable legalize Polygamy so he can Mary all his Girls at once

or he use the connection that the Android have to all other Droids have and just Takeover the Continent ,like the Guards for the Owlclan

keep up the great work Runey,so much potential in this Game..no better Work of Art

Art: 5/5 - Cute anime characters. You can find your next waifus here
Music: 4/5 - It's OK
Sound: 0/5: I don't know why but I couldn't hear any sound effects
Story: 5/5 - The story is very very good. Must read!
Animation: 4/5 - The animation is a little bit awkward. But still very hot.
Gameplay: Simple gameplay. Not very grindy. Easy to unlock lewd scenes. The downside is not every lewd scene has a replay option

Overall: Definitely a good game to play. Adding sound effects would make the game much better

I just completed a quest with my Android friend and she got very philosophical about life and death and it was beautiful. Acting Lessons made me cry and now this game did too. Thank you and keep up the amazing work. You inspire me. Girls play these naughty games too and I love this one.

Maybe I'm alone here but I think Harem Hotel is spending way too much time world building. Usually I love when a game takes the time to flesh out the universe the story takes place in but it's becoming less and less interesting when we have multiple long ass exposition dumps every single update.

I also don't think we need to have an elf turn to the MC and explain everything that happens. For example, when Lin gets treated like a dog, she turns to the MC and say something like "this happened because these type of people see us as pets" but it just felt unnecessary. Given the amount of history lessons we've had at this point, the player should be able to piece together why a human is treating an elf like a dog.

I used to look forward to this game updating but now it feels like all I'm waiting for is more history lessons on something we already know so much about. I think Runey should consider world building through real conversations instead of just having somebody talk at the MC for 20 minutes. For example, instead of going to the museum (again) with Vanessa just for her to primarily teach us about different revolutionary leaders, we could've just had the actually revolutionary leader tell us about it through a series of dialogue options. That's just an example but the point I want to make is that being talked at is boring. Please make it more of a conversation.

I'm going to take a break from this game and wait a few updates before I pick it up again. I'm really interested in Androids story so I hope that'll make some progress by the time I get back into this.