RPGM - Completed - My Special Summer Vacation 2 [v1.02] [Osanagocoronokimini]

It's not their first game and yet I wonder why nothing is improved by pre-render the main cast sprite.
I guess the dev thought the slow loading of real 2D model would add to the anticipation.

The setting is nice, the mini-game break the monotonous pace, with inclusion of time also add to the illusion that hide the game as scene viewer and many setting option also change small detail on the overall story.

But it's neither great nor immersive.
Character is just that, a glamorize archetype with no distinct personality.
"Oh you already unlock 2 of the available position? Back being a background character I go."

An interesting story, a dynamic plot, well-developed characters, and high-quality graphics. This game has none of the above. Although the idea of the game could be really interesting if it was realized. I'd like to give this game one star, but I'll add one more for the beautiful sunflower fields. Because blooming sunflower fields are almost the only advantage of this empty game.

Conceptually: 4 stars. It seems like it's a lot of fun and it ticks a lot of my own personal boxes. I love the way you can customize every LI in the game.

Reality: 1 star. Game is SOOOOOO slow. And I don't mean it's a slow burn (I actually prefer those), I mean it is buggy as hell. Want to walk left? Press left. Wait twenty seconds. Didn't work? Press left again. Wait twenty more seconds. Yay I moved left one square! Now let's interact with that LI. Press spacebar. Wait twenty seconds. Hey, it worked, the dialogue window opened! It's blank, but it opened. Oh ok, here comes the text. One. Letter. At. A. Time. Regardless. Of. What. Speed. Setting. You. Have. It. Set. To. Ok, I read the dialogue. Press spacebar. Wait twenty seconds. Didn't work. Press spacebar. Wait twenty seconds. Oh good it closed. Now press the X in the upper right-hand corner to close this game and promptly delete it lest you accidentally try to play it again.

The best possible description for this game is "Ok?" But only if you REALLY like it's themes, if not, it leans heavily on the side of the question mark.

Because that's all it is. Every mechanic, every tiny part of it feels okay, but not a single damn thing feels like it was seen as important. Nothing is outstanding, nothing is exceptional. It's all "ok", but the end result isn't, which is why I added the question mark.

Case and point, the puppet system. There are a significant number of women you can sleep with, but... they all feel the same, because there's only a few positions. But why did they even bother with a puppet system, if you can't play with it? The sex scenes are basically just animations, but the same animation with varying size of assets and different dialogue. Your biggest contribution to the scene is how fast do you want to move. After the scene is done, you just move on. No letting you go a second shot, unless the scene in question was pre-pathed to do that. Just... passionless.

I would rate it 3 starts, because it might still be someones thing. But the thing is, it's so close to being my kind of thing that it's bothering me. Beyond how bland everything is, two other things bothered me enough to make it 1 star.

First, the light system. I don't know how it's supposed to work, but it feels blinding. Day time makes some areas feel like someone set the gamma on my monitor to levels higher than possible, while darker moments are so dark that I can't even turn down my brightness to fix the bright areas.

Second is the weirdest. Dick size. Why is there even a dick size option, when it doesn't make any sense? The MC's dick looks like it's 2.5 inches with maximum size, but the xray cam shows that he is nearly hitting the cervix. Like... I can see why it's a separate cam and not direct xray, it wouldn't be accurate at all.

I don't know why this one bothers me so much, but it does. If the option is there, make it look like it's working, because it sure as hell didn't feel like it was. I don't exactly care about the small MC trope, but I am annoyed by the tiny dick thing. I'm significantly more annoyed when it's so inconsistent that it makes the vaginas act the opposite of a time machine in a British TV show.

A very good game, I really enjoyed it and I only leave some points in which I see certain problems, nothing more.

To begin with, time passes too quickly and that forces you to often do actions without thinking too much about it. And even if you are given the option to make time pass much more slowly, this is of absolutely no use.

You don't feel like you develop any bond with the characters, there aren't many dialogues and in the end they always end up repeating the same dialogues after each action, you don't really see an evolution between the dynamics of the characters.

Apart from this I really liked it, if it had been polished more it would have been a very very good game and it is also worth trying, I recommend it.

I'd say the game has big potential to be a masterpiece, but the execution is a bit flawed.

I enjoy almost every moment playing this game. This reminds me of golden age of RPGM game where the gameplay is simple yet fun and there are a lot of secret to find out through interaction or exploration. All characters are also easy to distinguish through their personalities and gimmicks. In result, the characters are easy to remember and left decent impact when you have to left them in the end of the game.

Now what's flawed from the game?

1. The pacing is too fast. There are almost zero relationship development between MC and the characters.
2. Time proceeds too fast (even after you make the time slower). I hate this dev for always making the game with this shitty mechanics, it feels like you have to hurry when playing the game.
3. Same face syndrome. If not because of their personality, you won't be able to distinguish character face between each others. It's really lazy design.
4. Rigid animation. It's been years and their animation hasn't improved that much lol. It looks like you're fucking robot instead of normal human being.

Despite all of its flaws, the game still enjoyable for me. I don't know why but I have weakness to these theme. Especially where you have to explore the town to personally say goodbye to each characters. That moment where you whistle your friends and no one's coming hits pretty hard. Only to be surprised by the ending A. Damn, it's like cheap copy of Persona 4. Really heartwarming. If only they develop characters personality and story better, then it would be one of those game you keep recommend!

Solid 4/5.

Pinnacle of what an RPGM game should be. Gameplay is enjoyable enough to keep you entertained as you progress through the story and combined with the in game character editor it surly has you set on whatever fetish gets you going.