Ren'Py - Harem Residence [v0.12] [Vendena]

Let me premise this by reminding prospective players that this is still early in development. That, and I found this game by happy accident.
That said, what we do get is actually very good.

The characters, while 'standard', aren't tropey and stand on their own pretty well. If anything, the game leans, and leans well, into creating a very 'harmonious' harem fueled largely in part to the bold shamelessness of many of its heroines.... which is honestly pretty refreshing. The harem is less the MC's idea(or even initial desire) and more of the heroines forming it on their own centered around the MC. They're all quite likable and have great character interactions.... though, they are kinda nuts.
Likewise, bc the cast is fairly large, stories and plots are smartly handled in 'groups' based on the proximity of their relationships to us, the MC. Eg: housemates, coworkers, friends, etc.

The game's presentation is simple, but well done with a very 'classic' VN feel.

Same with the UI. It lacks style and could use some polish, but is functional and to the point without too much clutter.
Hopefully, future builds will improve/polish the look.

The writing, minor gramnar gripes aside, is genuinely good and funny without being over the top or bland. It has a 'familar' feel to it yet isn't stale so make of that as you will.

The MC, who is important bc he is 'us', is very 'go with the flow' but not blank. He's just a normal guy who has a penchant for being a little too eager to help girls in trouble.

One bad habit in games like these is giving the MC too much personality, which this game avoids.
Rather, HR takes the Ethan Winters from RE7/8 approach to creating a defined yet open SI MC.
It's not as popular a thing in Western mainstream gaming, but for a roleplaying, harem loving dork like me? It's perfect.

Nothing feels too grindy either. Sure things take time and effirt to build up, but the payoff's there and you definitely feel it.

Verdict?
4.8/5 due to its still in development lack of polish. It's got a LOT of potential though and comes highly recommended to at least give a try.

This game is what some would call "mid."

The writing is alright, not enough to really be romantic but more than neccessary for just a sex game. The sex scenes are not great but I mostly play for the story or love interest so it doesn't matter to me. Character are stereotypical but not complete tropes and character design is okay but nothing unique. Render quality is slightly above average and the 2d backgrounds aren't jarring. I really dislike sandboxes but as long as it's not grindy I can look past it.

This game is simply okay. Nothing stunning or that hasn't been done before.

Kinetic novel disguised with sandbox.
Can't reject LI.
Unavoidable lesbian, girls fucking each other's with strap-on with and without mc presence.
Awfull sex scenes.
Less than average game with a free for all arrangements of LI, they going behind mc back, no agency whatsoever, not worth sex scenes, bad sandbox . Average plot

Loving your work!

But a review is hardly constructive with just praise huh?
If I have to pick on something, it would be the english grammar. I have only noticed a few wording errors, and it does not bother me... but I do recommend getting an editor to look over things at a later date.

I'd volunteer myself but I'm not familiar with the software.

Regardless, I am eager for the next release so thank you... and good luck! I'll be watching closely!

Honestly, excluding the sex scenes this game is passable. Not great, but not bad. It hides the fact that it's a kinetic novel with a sandbox that is 100% unnecessary; it's just a way to waste your time and disguise that you don't have any actual choices here. You have zero control over who becomes a LI, what content you see, and zero agency over the MC's behavior.

Unfortunately, when you combine the sex scenes it becomes absolutely terrible. I'm not just saying that because there are no animations, either. There just isn't any effort put into the scenes at all. There are laughably few renders for each sex scene(it's koikatsu, stop being so stingy), and if that's not bad enough, the dev feels some strange need to have 5+ lines of "MNAHH HAHH MWAHH ANNHHHH" for every render. If you can't make animations, you need something else to make up for it. Either really good text and/or a lot of still-renders that take advantage of not having to make passable animations. I kept playing with the hopes this dev would improve in some way and it just never happens. You'll spend hours skipping time, navigating the sandbox, and checking the guide every 5 seconds just to get rewarded with a shitty 3-4 still-rendered sex scene where the dev thinks it's reasonable to just repeat moans over and over and over and over and over while you stare at the same generic koikatsu render.

No idea how this one is so highly rated, but if you're here for the 18+ portion of the game, just leave now. It's not worth it.

Ok learn from this, you put 5-6 questions at the start asking about the age, events, content and characters over 18. I get it, one of the questions was misleading and usually the answers are all affirmative to enter the game.
I've done it 3 times because of this and the WORST part was the annoying sound at the end of those questions.

Edit: (Now it's only two standard questions easy to read still have that jingle but it's alright changed my review to 4 stars)

Never thought I would be so into this game, but here I am with a 5 stars review~

I will keep it short. The girls are cute with unique personality and backstory while don't belong to any obnoxious personality tropes. The H isn't out of nowhere. The story is solid. There is no unfavorable tag.

Overall, literal gem. Wish devs lots of luck and looking towards for more~

"Harem Residence"(0.06) it title self explain MC get property fill it with women to become it sex toy.. story is simple go direct to the point, have basic build upgrade for property(which is needed for MC further it pursue of happiness with the lady... at begining grind for cash is slow(Dev add cheat LOVE it) so no Blueball game..

Graphic remind me of Kotkatsu game, can be improve with more animation but also DEV need more fund or support on patreon.. i say if you play game for free what to complaint is OKAY

Music/sex sound is not missing is okay cannot complaint not perfect but hey! is available..

Wish on this game... 1)not be abandone 2)deep down my heart wish Dev in good continuum health 3)Sleep sex(MC already been violated by Female)? panty collection Fetish or can be use to sell(as another source income) or sniff ? 4) wish more support for Dev in patreon.

A relatively new game with a lot of content already.
Simple story but very cute models and decent mechanics. Extremely promising, keep up the good work!
The Ayase, Kasumi and Sanae combination scenes are really nice. Looking forward to some more Otome content.

Why theres always forced sex in these games would much better if you have a choice to decline femdom and kinetic novel tag r missing if there where there i wouldnt download it 1 star for this if you had a choice i would give 5

Wonderful game. I'm very surprised that this is as unknown as it is. Definitely going to be a big hit in the future given it receives consistent updates.

It's very easy to see that the dev's put a ton of work into making everything look neat. The renders are consistent, the plot, while overused, is executed good enough, the girls are varied and have character, the UI elements are crisp and on point.

Honestly got nothing negative to say. Sure, there's some content missing with many of the girls, but considering how much there is to do with at such an early stage you can't really complain.

This game has a little bit of everything, and it was literally just released. There are already hours of content, and many more to be added. This is a game to definitely look out for! I'll be following every update because I can't wait to see what instore next!

For an initial release, the game has a LOT of content. It is also all mostly good content. There is more than enough to make it worth checking out at this stage.

The girls are all pretty fun, with some having more unique looks that I haven't seen used in other Koikatsu games. And there are a lot of girls! Most of them feel very well fleshed out for an intitial release. The H content is good. I wish it was animated, instead its a couple stills per H scene. But there is music and sex noises, which personally helps me with H scenes that are not animated.

I am slightly concerned about just how many girls there are so early. Its a blessing and a curse - I love the variety and I enjoy most of them. But there are so many girls to make content for, it will be a real challenge to update enough that people get enough content with their favorite girl.

Lots of potential here. It is a strong start for the game, will definitely be watching and likely supporting depending on their update cycles. Had a hard time choosing 4 or 5 stars, but decided to go for 5 because of my optimism for this project, plus the dev using a takodachi avatar. WAH!

Firts upload of the game gave me many hours of fun and lewd game play, incredible!

The story, not so original but done in a very good way. The LIs are different but all very sexy and lewd. The sex with is amazing, and there's a lot of it! Very fappable must I admit! The graphics are good, well not so original, but very enjoyable. No animations during sex, but I didn't miss that. There's a lot of action instead.

So all in all, a clear 5* from me. Keep up the good work Dev ! Waiting, eagerly, for next installment.