Ren'Py - Harem Hotel [v0.18.2] [Runey]

Probably one of the best stories ever in a adult VN.
To get the boring stuff out of the way, girls are good looking, scenes are great too (especially the new stuff). For people who've played the older versions, the character models have come a far way. They used to be a bit on the generic side, slightly low poly but not they feel way more reasonable. And when I mean reasonable I mean like 'human' proportion realistic. Girls arn't crazy busty or have ridiculous hip-waist-bust ratios and its a good thing in more ways than 1. This kind of detail is what sets what I think is the core underlying idea that Runey has built this game around.

Honestly this is some of the best writing I have seen. Harem Hotel (HH) starts you off pretty simple. You are a standard MC who's thrown into a situation surrounded by girls. When you meet the women for the first time, it seems like they follow a basic trope/archetype. But quite quickly this changes. Each girl actually gets a solid piece of character development and some of them get a really strong backstory.
*Thematic spoilers ahead*
But where HH is different from other games, or even regular stories is that Runey seems to be REALLY good at managing how characters interact together. Characters outside of their crazy sex drives are believable and consistent. Theres never a moment that I felt like, "Oh what just happened? That wasn't very [character_name] of her." Even as characters grow and change, they actually act accordingly. Most games would give a character a arch and story beat containing some character shift. But in HH, characters change and remain changed.

During group story events, characters interact with each other in a believable way, and I think a lot of care has been put in to how these stories play out. Yes, theres some 'But we love the MC so we'll throw are differences aside' trope. But theres enough personality written into how characters start to build relationships with each other ASIDE from the MC. A lot of harem games and even stories really fail to add this bit of realism. People who arn't in a harem who live in a dorm or in close proximity together eventually come around to be friends (assuming they stay long enough). Theres a bunch of small (and i wish there was more) story beats that happen without the MC that show characters that might of started off on the wrong foot are at the end of the day 'decent' people. From rivals to bully/victim conflicts, characters won't let those things define who they are, they still have a multi-dimension personality and seeing it play out, and have conflicts resolve realistically was some of the best things that happen during the story.

And we haven't even gone into the world building. I found the background world that HH is part of so interesting. So many other games just say 'dont think too hard, its a porn game'. But I have to point out how much work has gone into making this world feel grounded in its own rules. Technology and magic both feel believable. There's limits and neither magic or tech feels like its doing something too insane. (And I hope it remains like this). The most powerful magic wielding character actually has to hide behind a facade of mystery. Mainly because the most powerful part of their magic is a ruse. I thought this was such a great touch, that even though the power in itself is still magic, its not some world breaking power. Tech on the other hand is a bit more advanced but its not anything super new.

World conflict is another part of world building that really helps with getting invested into the story line. Theres a conflict between elves and humans and then humans and androids. Like Detroit: Become Human and the elf conflict in The Witcher 2, I think Runey does a stellar job painting us to have an expectation and then flipping it. If you've played The Witcher 2 (wow congratz), you'll know that I'm talking about the elf and human conflict. Elves are done in a similar way, where the are undoubtedly better for the world. But in the current state, those who are free have failed to adapt and make peace. Free elves outside of your group are violence obsessed, and the humans who support them are blind to their nature. I think this is the most twitter-woke but also touches grass idea I've seen to date. The largest faction of elves are so aggressive they are willing to fight a obvious losing battle than to try and broker peace with parts of the world that don't want to enslave them. (id go into this more but i forgot this is a review and not an analysis for yt.)


Runey clearly draws a lot of inspiration from films that explore 'AI so advanced do you consider it human' and incorporates it well. There's a bit of Detroit: Become Human, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and Transcendance going on and it put a smile on my face. For these themes, even tho they are wildly popular, I really like how this is my personal first time thinking about it differently - in the perspective of 1st a owner, then a love interest. Games don't often take advantage that some of the interaction gets to be chosen by 'you' the player rather than just a character. And I think maybe I'm giving Runey too much credit here, (since this is a VN and choices arn't real) that I still feel to some extent that my interaction with a AI/android-based love interest is more first-person and personal than it should of been. When you watch or play the movies and games mentioned earlier, theres always some level of disconnect, because as limited as VN choices are, they are more powerful than films and games that currently explore this idea.

Now the game isn't 'perfect'. I don't think any game is. But this will probably be my only review I write on this entire website. This game goes so much farther into character, story, worldbuilding than any other game i've played in the VN genre. Its incredible how much has been done here while remaining fap-able. Seriously, its really good. 5* cause I don't see another game coming close.

Negative stuff because I didn't know where to write it.
This shouldn't be addressed in this game, BUT I really wish I could see what happens in a world where Runey had enough time/dev power to write out a game like this with more player options with consequences. This is a ridiculous ask, but I can't help but think of it. I wish sometimes the story would continue but if you made a choice that you could see the impact it had later (no loss in number of scenes, more like who does it).

Intractability, I wish a few more things in the hotel were intractable with. Eventually money is meaningless and I wish there were some visual changes that the player could buy or something. Furniture, wallpaper, etc. Early on its really nice but I feel as if this portion has been abandoned as the rest of the game has progressed.

Android character being too annoying to grind scenes with. I don't like how the Android character has to get reverted to the original form even after you've unlocked and asked for perma outfit changes. And I don't like how theres no option to have the android 'default' to a certain look for scenes. This wouldn't be a problem you are at the point where the android is making choices. BUT having to go through the same question each time gets really tedious. There should be a QoL change for this. Later, this is especially strange when their role of maid forces a part of them to change outside of JUST the outfit.
On the android topic, I hope the android story gets fleshed out a bit more. Especially including other androids and how that works out. (pls no irobot ending).

And yeah I think thats it. I have no idea why I wrote a review this long. Great game. 9/10, closer to an 8 than a 10. (somehow better story than fallout 4)

Love this game, perfect game just to sit back and have some fun, girls are cute story is wholesome and you love all the characters excited to see how the elf story further develops, updates are big and the renders and animations are awesome too. Keep up the good work.

This game is great, I really mean it but I dont think its old player friendly, recent updates have been adding content and remastering scenes at the beginning/middle of the game, which is great, but if you want to see them you have to play it again from the beginning and it's not exactly a short game, hours re-reading the same history, and you can't just skip it to watch the scenes because the story might have changed and you would miss it, then having spent so many hours reading and paying attention to the story would cease to matter and you would basically waste your time.
In the end, who am I kidding? I will play it from the beginning one last time with the hope that they don't add new things AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, if they are going to do it wait until you have practically finished the game, that way it will be worth replaying it for the final version.
Not everyone has all the time in the world to play.
Also, the story starts to get boring, sometimes I even got very sleepy reading it.

this game is really great. there is a long story but it holds up and is not too redundant. There are a lot of possibilities with a large choice of characters, with many different sex scenes.
The only negative point that I would find is the cash flow and the clothes of the girls which could be more numerous.

EDIT: Runey has reached out to me and been wonderfully open about considering my suggestions and opinions.
In the end, I've realized that my hatred of characters such as Vanessa and criticisms of the politics/lorebuilding come more from a personal perspective than from a fair criticism of Runey's writing skill. Although it may be fair to say that the author (especially with games in-progress like most of the ones on F95) should pander to some extent to the audience's desires, I personally believe that Runey should continue creating in the way that he wants - unless he goes completely off the rails someday (which I doubt).
I still firmly stand by my negative opinions, but I will temper that criticism with the understanding that we can simply agree to disagree.
Let it be known that I have no issues with the author nor his game in a broader sense.
As a result, I have changed my rating from 3 stars to 4, which I believe is fair.
Thanks to everyone that liked my rating and supported me.
DDD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harem Hotel started out as a decent harem fantasy story.

Then it became a more fleshed out, three dimensional dive into the backstory of the heroines. It was wonderful to be able to see them as more human and vulnerable, as most of us are.

More recently, it's become a mess.

Though politics/ideologies were previously well-managed in previous versions, now it's become less and less enjoyable to read scenes where those things are involved. I had to sit through a side character's political rant for several paragraphs in a scene where I was DROPPING OFF COFFEE for the heroine. I had to sit through a similar "moral lecture" in a elvish history lesson that I was forced into in a scene where the MAIN HEROINE of the event barely got any character growth.

It was enough that I sat there for a few minutes thinking, "Really...?"

I don't care what the creator's actual political opinions are, but the way it's being implemented in the game has sucked it dry of any fun, especially for the affected main heroine's scenes. The previous, more simple methods of implementation served the game far better.

A warning to potential players: the game has also developed a sense of dread and melancholy. Again, I'm not criticizing the developer's story direction choice - it's his decision, but events have recently become heavier and less about good ol' sex and corruption and more about racial conflict and emotional trauma.

The other, unaffected heroines/events are absolutely stunning and well-written. Would have been 5 stars otherwise.

Me starting Harem Hotel: "Oh yeah, I know what this is all about. Sex and debauchery!"

Me finishing Harem Hotel's main girl content: "I MUST HELP THEM ALL SUCCEED IN LIFE."

That is truly the magic of Harem Hotel. Sure, there's that rauchy and wild training aspect to the game that's a whole lot of fun to get into, but holy crap, the characters are awesome.

They turned the most promiscuous girls into the people you want to protect and care for. They have reasons for who they are. That's some skillful writing to turn an almost pure trope into a full fledged person.

That's probably the last thing I could expect from a game called Harem Hotel that has a sex dungeon.

You might be asking me "How'd they do it?"

I guess they must have just kept updating it. Since like 2018? It's been content added on top of content, and it shows. Sometimes the aging shows as a result. The skeleton of the game isn't the most intuitive. There's grindy parts to the game that detracts from the HOURS of content behind the soft wall of grind. Then it's also sort of hard to ensure you have all the points needed during special events for some scenes. The music could use a shuffle and maybe some direction. I appreciate that there are options though.

Despite that, the skeleton is carrying a ton of meat in this game. There is a CRAZY amount of content in this game. Especially H-scenes. I mean, if you want to that porn game experience, it's here.

But let me take you back to the girls. These girls may all start off a certain type, but damn do they evolve into complex human beings with real emotions and backstory.

So much so, that I'm still floored by the transformation.


What they're going through is very well done. There are times where it's shockingly well done. To the point where it will easily outshine other similar stories that aren't hit with the stigma of an "adult VN."

For something so absurd as a "Harem Hotel" to be so very human and wholesome... It's a honestly amazing.

Even the side girls are top notch. I'm sure there's TONS of request to have one of them become a main girl. They're like... fantastic toppings if the main girls are ice cream. I don't really know what I'm doing with that analogy.

And don't get me started with that lore. At first, I had a vague excuse to run a Harem, later, I had world politics, corporations, AI technology, slavery, and magical beings all rolled up into a package that legitimately works and adds to experience. Nearly all the girl's stories will be affected by the lore somehow, some way.

As for the MC? Well, he's just an all around kind dude with a glorious dick. A trope for sure, but one where he plays the role of being a rock in their lives more than telling them what to do. This makes the Harem experience absolutely quality. He's not there to rule over them, but rather, plays the role of a gardener. He's just making sure they get what they need when they need it. And if that means they need to leave to truly succeed, he'll support it. Truly a great way to make the generic MC play out.

Maybe somewhere in the future, there will be a tighter and better directed Harem Hotel by Runey. Runey certainly has gotten much better over time, so there's no question the next project will be great.

But as for what's here now, it's fabulous and worth the experience.

1 of the best HS games I ever played! it's been 3 years since I played this :3, such a good time.
The story is great, a lot of historical stuffs, gonna blow my mind.
The girls are beautiful, cute.
And many more things that I love.

A game that's capable of making you care for the characters while also giving you plenty of fap moments. Game is still under development but has enough content for literal days of play time. There's no sign of development stopping any time soon as the developer appears to be very dedicated to their project.

I've been around on this site for a while now, and though I don't post all that frequently even I have to admit that some of the things I've said in the past might have been a bit overly critical. Harsh even.

With that in mind I decided to write at least one positive thing somewhere on this site. That in turn got me thinking about what games featured here actually deserve some praise...

So let me just say it now, loud and clear:
This game is in my opinion hands down the best game on F95zone.

GFX:
For a game made with Honey Select characters, it's got some of the best graphics around. There's only 1 other game on the site that makes the girls look better imo, but we're not talking about that one here, so I'll give it 5/5 for the graphics.

Animations & H-scenes: Again, another 5 out 5.
Most of them are silky smooth and well shot. Sure there's a couple older ones that don't quite meet the quality standards of the scenes in more recent updates, but Runey is doing an amazing job here and keeps getting better at it over time. Also, there's a ton of them and most of the scenes are replayable which is a huge plus in my book.

Characters, plot, story: 4.5 out of 5. There's a wide variety of main casters and side characters to choose from (or choose all of) and each of them comes off as their own unique individual (even the clones/twins are very different). The plot is a little hammy/cheesy at points, but all in all it serves it's purpose well enough.

Harem Hotel is one of those games that you clearly see get better over time just by playing it.

I was easily disarmed by the title alone. I was expending something so simply named to be "simple" and it's anything but simple as the updates rolled in.

Characters begin showing massive amounts of depth. Characters become conflicted, have conflict, and have far more realistic resolutions than anyone would naturally expect. You will end up caring about many of the many girls, if not all of them.

In addition to that, at this point, there's a deeper lore of Elves, conspiracies, and even Geo-politics.

Sure, the beginning is rather grindy, but once the ball starts rolling, it's easily hours worth of engaging content.

I suppose the world of Harem Hotel is at an interesting point in time.

"Save the Maid, save the world."
"The little Maid that could."

Of course, It's also still a porn game, so there's tons of lewd stuff to do also. And as we all know how these games work, the MC's dick/choices will be of utmost importance.

Yet, regardless of the type of game this is, it's considerably more heartfelt and better written than many published books out there. Runey should be proud of that.

The game has a fuckton of content and nice writing. The dev also clearly puts some thought into the composition of the lewd images. The training aspect of it is nicely realised, and the characters are varied enough to make training each one fun. It's my favorite game on here.

Step 1: Lower expectation with horny title.
Step 2: Have surprisingly interesting characters and story, with light management game play and good UI.
Step 3: ?????
Step 4: Profit, or at least a pretty good game.

The game is very elaborated. Story is detailed and for a game that is still on 0.13.2 has a lot of content. The interface and general movement could have been better, but nothing that will ruin your game experience. The art is great and the scenes are well animated, but I felt lack of freedom when it came to these, since there's no camera angle chance possibility for people who has other position preferences.

Hands down, the best H-Game I've ever played. With so many detailed reviews already I doubt there's much I could add, but I felt my contribution to the rating needed to be made.

Lin is best girl, ever.

v0.13.2 Public

A hotel/harem management game sounds really good, but the interface and the early game grind is extremely painful. Basically each day you buy something or upgrade your hotel, then check with all the characters to see if you can advance their storyline, and then repeat this over and over. It became a bit of a chore rather fast.

Played this off and on since early versions. The cast is adorable. There are a good number of animations and scenes for each character. 90% of the cast is very attractive.

Please support this project.
It gives the feels in a happy way, while staying sexy throughout.

I love this game. It has been a really rewarding story that lets you wonder about different aspects of the game world. The characters have tremendously more personality than most games of the genre. You remember key details, and even quirks about them, when sometimes other games meld their girls together into one.

Overall:
This game has a ton of play time, a very likable and diverse cast of characters, and it incorporates fun story telling in a developed world.

Can't wait to see more.

Girls are a bit too submissive and lots of sex scenes but nice game.
Best character are Moon and Felicity (she is a bitch but I like it).
Good backstory on all main character. Ashley is a bit annoying because of her breeding thing...

I've been a fan of Harem Hotel for most of the time in which I've played H games. It felt like a breath of fresh air when I found it, a real cut above the rest of the competition. The girls were cute, the animations seemed cutting edge and it was mostly lacking in filler.

Anyway, I'm not sure whether I've changed, or Harem Hotel changed at this point. I'll admit that it seems like other games have caught up in the animation department at this point. I've seen several games with as good or better animations and while Harem Hotel is still among the top, that's not enough in and of itself anymore. It's very possible that my familiarity has bred contempt. If I had to guess though, I'd guess that it's just started giving me genre whiplash.

Not every H game needs to be a happy-go-lucky romp where you bang happy well-adjusted girls eager for cock. However, once an H game establishes the sort of flavor it aims to deliver, it's really rough when it deviates. Harem Hotel generally provided silly, slice-of-life type scenes. You wandered around the hotel and approached the girls going about their days for some sexy fun. It was lighthearted and silly most of the time; things went wrong comedically, not emotionally or mentally. The girls had small problems with available solutions.

That... has not been the case in the more recent updates. Worse yet, the story has shown us a lot of the world recently as well and frankly... it's about a demon invasion short of a hellscape. It's distopian to such an extreme, it's kinda broken my suspension of disbelief as to how we hadn't noticed earlier.

Now, I don't mind distopias, whether in H games or otherwise. They can provide great backdrops for interesting stories. They're places where normal has been so completely skewed so as to make anything seem if not reasonable, then possible. However, when I walked into the door of the Harem Hotel, I wasn't presented with a distopia. Until recently, it was just a world with a little slavery problem, which was mostly out of sight. The sudden change to in-your-face awful has kinda soured my entire experience with the game to be honest.

It feels like half the cast is on the edge of a breakdown for one reason or another, which is a massive change from the happy-go-lucky fun that was the first seventy percent or so of the story. It just leaves me sitting here with my dick out wondering if we can get back to the porn anytime soon.

The story is good, don't get me wrong. The characters are interesting and more than skin-deep, but the tone is dark and getting darker. I'm too invested to give it up at this point, and I'm looking forward to how it all ends. Just let that missing star serve as something of a warning: Harem Hotel isn't just a story about a harem of waifu.

I hope by the time the game draws to a close that I'll be able to add the star back. I think having the story actually resolve instead of pausing in the midst of misery will help a lot. Until that point, I recommend this game, just be aware that some waifu were harmed in the making of this game.

[After playing v0.13.2 Public]

Great game, probably for what I've seen it's one of the biggest out there, incredible how many girls and options there are. Sex scenes are nicely done, art is fine (specially the girls) and storywise well, there's a bit of everything. Some aspects are great and even deep and there's also many filling and characters you won't like that much (and sort of sadly you have to advance in everything). I would recommend using Lain's Mod because if not is far too easy to miss many things and get stuck (or maybe I lack the patience), but if you like the challenge you can try it raw. Some grinding elements can be a bit too much for some, anyway.