VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Secret Summer [v1.0 Epilogue] [SuperWriter]

Story: 3.5/5
I enjoyed the story. There was one or two surprises otherwise the rest of it was what you would expect. I liked the different personalities the main love interests had, I believe I would be able to tell them apart without any visual queues.

Models: 3.5/5
All the love interests had well made models even though Coral's face was not my type.

Sex scenes: 1.5/5
The pornographic value was really low. Maybe 2 pictures I liked. This game leans more towards smut than porn. The amount of sex scenes was low as well and the content in each sex scene was also low. Several times the story talks about you having had sex but the game never shows it. For instance Leanne mentions having used all three holes but there was no anal scene.

Total rating 3/5 but I am giving +1 for harem option.

I really liked this game. Liked the ending too, even if some are a bit rushed, like Nora ending..i mean what happened with the mafia treatening us in the new bakery shop? anyway i like the game this dev made .every of them so far are very good. Hope next chapter of Secret summer still will be developed.
Recommended

Review for version: 1.0 Epilogue

Despite having a bit of a backlog when it comes to AIF titles, I had to play this immediately after seeing it was made by the Picture Perfect devs.

This novel takes place over the course of a summer, ten months after the MC's parents divorced. The MC (nameable) has followed his father, rather than staying with his mother and sisters. This decision severely strained his relationship with his youngest sister and has deeply saddened his mother. It turns out that the MC did not have a real choice in the matter and his decision was for the benefit of the girls. Getting a chance to return home under the pretense of closing a business deal for his father's company, the MC convinces his father to allow him to do so. It is, at this point, you meet the women in this story.

Norah, the MC's mother, is a southern girl born and raised. Respectful and loving, she sees the best in people which can make her a tad naive but never stupid. She loves to bake but shows signs of sadness when she returns home from work at a local bakery. Being a born and raised southern boy myself, I really liked Norah's portrayal. Too often, southern characters are portrayed as redneck hicks in media, so seeing her depiction was a welcome sight. Needless to say, she was my first choice when it came to picking a LI to pursue for my first run.

Coral is the MC's youngest sister. She loves playing videogames and the two of them were creating their own when the MC left. Feeling betrayed and abandoned, she responded to his departure with hatred and contempt.

Zoe is the MC's older sister. She is an aspiring lawye. So-much-so that she has put a social life on the back burner to pursue that goal. When not pursuing her law degree, she runs a relationship blog.

Leanne is the MC's oldest sister. She no longer lives with her mother and sisters. She once pursued a career as a dancer but her failure to enter a school of dance had her give up on that goal. She shows signs of depression but tries to maintain a cheerful personality around others. Years earlier, she caught the MC peeking on her in the shower and, assuming he would grow tired of it in time, made a deal with him that he could peep on her if he wouldn't do it with the other girls in the house.

Last is Irene. Irene is the MC's step-mother. She is sent to accompany the MC to help close the deal his father tasked him with. The MC dislikes her and blames her for his parents' divorce.

This is a bit of a story heavy title so it is hard to speak about a character's route without spoiling anything, so I will try to generalize things, rather than do an in-depth review of it.

The writing is top notch. I found quite a few grammatical errors but nothing major. Wrong spelling of words that wouldn't trigger a spellchecker (his instead of this or peek instead of peak) and the occasional double word ("and and I" for example). The characters are believable and different without feeling forced.

The renders are top-notch. The characters all look very detailed, even one-off characters that you don't meet again. They are, probably, among the most realistic characters I've seen in a visual novel. Freckles, wrinkles, etc.look realistic and, for me, the eyes are wonderful. Eyes are one of the first things I notice when it comes to a character model.

If you've played Picture Perfect, then you'll be happy to see cameos of all the girls from that novel. Paris, Sasha, Miracle, Sabrina and the first three's mother all appear and have dialogue with the characters in this novel. They don't feel shoehorned in like a lot of crossovers do in VNs.

For audio, I cannot provide any input as I mute games when I play them.

In Norah's route, I experienced showering, kissing, handjobs, blowjobs and vaginal intercourse. They discuss anal while watching a show together and it seemed Norah was interested in it but I didn't get any scenes for it in my playthrough. I was happy with her story and how it ended. Didn't feel rushed or incomplete to me. It took me around eight to ten hours to play through it.

I really enjoyed this title, as well as this dev's other completed title, Picture Perfect. Like PP, Secret Summer will stay on my tablet for future playthroughs.

v1.0 BETA - Has some spoilers.

The game started nicely, the plot-related issues were well handled, there was a good feeling of progression, albeit a little rushed for my tastes, but we had time to know and like each of the characters.
The girls were distinct and pretty and for the most part of it had good developments, but the lack of scenes was once again monumental. Adding to that, I still don't understand why there has been no addition of animations, the game is quite short and probably has no more than 15 scenes, why not animate them to improve the quality?
Now, when the game began the "ending" phase it all went to hell, whatever pacing the game had, it went out of the window, stuff just kept happening left and right, plot lines just got solved just for the sake of the game needing them closed to be able to end, characters changing their behaviour from night to day, really, we literally had no time to comprehend what was going on, there were time skips that technically gave the game a time progression, yes, but all we got was pretty much "It's been X amount of time and Y girl and me fucked a lot", using time skips as a writing device with the only purpose of saying "time passed and stuff happened" royally suck, it actually makes you feel as if nothing had happened at all, we literally click twice or thrice and a month went on, LMAO, use the whole summer dude, you literally have three months as a time frame to develop the story, but we only get to see like 7 days of it, the rest were narrative time skips with the purpose of cementing relationship progress we don't get to witness.
I'd also like to add that it felt like the "harem" was artificial. There was barely any proper harem stuff going on aside from the almost subconscious knowledge that all female components of the family were involved in a relationship with the brother, and some chatter of the "lmao we're boning our brother, so funi" kind.
It's important to both start and end in a good note, and this game missed really hard on the ending part of it.
Once again, a game from this dev feels as if it came to it's conclusion at the point the game was actually beginning to flesh itself out.
As an ending note, while I do agree it's nice to have cameos of other characters here and there, specially when the games share a common universe, I do believe there were too many appearances of PP's characters, though that's entirely my taste.

If I could rate it 2.5/5, I would, because it truly feels halfway there.

This game started out great, but starts to drag on in the middle and the endings are bad.

Story: The overarching plot is bad. Basically you could split each character's path into a separate game and it would hardly affect anything; there should be more connection between the storylines since they are supposed to be family.
Each individual path is all right though. They serve the character's personality well enough. However, if you do not like crossovers with other games, then most of the paths will not be enjoyable as most of them depend on character's from other games helping the MC and LI.

Endings: Bad. Most of the endings are abrupt, rushed, and one ended on a cliffhanger. Some characters only have 1 sex scene in the entire game.

Graphics: Great

Version 1.0 beta
Edit: After the epilogue release I stand by this review

Honestly if I could rate this 2.5/5 I would

I enjoyed the game up until it started ending, would probably have given it a 4.5/5

As much as I hated the devs previous VN solely for the end being "Pick an ending", I would have actually preferred this game have it if not just for providing at least some amount of clarity to the endings.

Skimmed through the entire game once from the beginning after I got to the abrupt "This is the end of the game" screen, nothing seems to have changed, or at least, have changed in a way that caused the text skip function to pause, except for one word that I assume was because I picked a different order in a select all section.

As it is, the ending starts at a seemingly random point and just goes through random scenes that don't seem to be in any specific order with each girl seperately, pretty much not mentioning the other girls, despite being tagged as a harem game.

There was maybe one short scene right at where I assume the endings start and a static image like 300-400 lines before the game ended that even hinted at anything being a harem after the endings started, everything else seemed to be just a random girls solo ending playing out one at a time for the entirety of the 1.0 update.

Every single one of the girls endings feels like it was only halfway thought out, there's not really any closure, and in at least one case, you're in the middle of one dialogue train and the next click you're on someone elses ending for some god knows why reason.

Girls look okay and had decent personalities to them for the most part, save for one of them all of a sudden mid ending

v0.15

I have to say, I didn't expect to like this VN as much as I do.

Characters/models

• Norah - She's relatively cute, I dig the redhead thing, decent body. I don't much care for her personality. I think the concept is great, but it was poorly-executed as she is mostly annoying when audible. I get that she's southern - although not sure how she's the only person in the family who is - but the drawl is just not my thing. Additionally, it is not believable even for a second that MC's dad would've ever put his dick in her, let alone consented to multiple children. They're completely incompatible.
• Coral - I really like this girl. She's got a believable personality as the younger sister dynamic goes. She is apprehensive, defensive, and introverted, yet it's all a façade. I think the character development there is top notch. She's OK-looking as far as her model, but her face could do with some polishing up and some of her expressions make her look uglier. In fact, that last statement applies to the mom as well.
• Zoe - Her character/role start off strong, with an immediate presence that is both cautious and pseudo-authoritative. You can tell she aims to make the MC responsible. Her character model is sexy, though clearly the dev is going for the girl-next-door look. I think she should have a bigger part in the story, and her relationship with the MC should involve some manipulation and corruption.
• Irene - Beautiful model. Great breasts, easily the best in the game. They seem the most true to life. She has a good complexion as well, and her face matches her age. Obviously, a woman in her 40s would not likely be as toned and overall as youthful as she appears, but that's splitting hairs. Her personality is interesting; she goes from being cold and indifferent toward the MC to pursuing an active romance with him, from what seems like a single event unfolding that causes her to somehow see him in a completely different light. Combined with a newfound disdain for her husband, it is believable that the MC would seem appealing and that it would be easier for her to let her guard down with a familiar person who shares her romantic ambition.
• Leanne - She's mostly unimaginative in terms of the character model's appearance. The way her personality is written is good, as it exhibits the sister with the least inhibition and the most willingness, while also having a slight air of mystery.

Visuals:

• I think there are mostly enough single frames in each scene to where it doesn't feel like they get recycled, but there are definitely some exceptions where it's actually distracting that the same frame is reused.
• One thing I couldn't put my finger on, initially, that I think is a step backward in this VN is the lack of mouth movement in relation to dialog. You're just supposed to read their words and *know* when they're talking, but most devs will make the mouth open etc so we know when a given character is speaking. It would obviously take a lot of re-working to incorporate this, so I have no expectations.
  • Branching off of this - and it is somewhat typical in VNs, but I try to call attention to it anyway - when a character is undressing, their body and hands stay in the same position, and the next frame simply removes an article of clothing. This requires the player to rely heavily on their imagination of the time between when we know the clothing is about to come off and the actual reveal. This goes hand in hand with animations; the anticipation, the act of removal, and the reveal can all be captured together (and in my opinion, should be).
• More work could have gone into unique physical traits for the models. The mom seems to be the most unique, in having pubic hair, but they're all generally slender women with a tamed hourglass figure. I really want to see a dev have the balls and creativity to make a family of this size contain a super short/tall sister, or one with braces, or one with enormous thighs for no reason, a giant ass, or maybe no ass.
• No animations! Huge loss of potential without even so much as a bunch of single frames in a montage to simulate an animation in the same way many other devs will do. I try not to judge too harshly in this arena, as I have no clue what it takes to make an animation compared to a still frame, but as an enjoyer or VNs, I always half-expect there to be some effort there.
• Although the visuals in general are decent (character models aside, as there is an evident focus there), this VN does suffer from inferior water appearance issues such as droplets on the skin appearing more like boils. I imagine this is one of the tougher tasks for an animator to take on, as most VNs seem to suffer from some form of inaccurate representation of water drops on skin in shower scenes, rivers/lakes/oceans/pools, etc.
• Carl looks like a hobo, or like Kid Rock is his idol.
• I don't think it would've been that hard to incorporate add'l outfits for the girls, yet they seem to be in the same one from scene to scene. Even if we ignore the hygienic concerns of wearing the same outfit everyday, it makes them a bit boring.

Story:

• Excellent story. Really, one of the better ones out there in terms of its premise and execution. The mashup of sibling personalities is a good one, and well done. It could tease the line of being too cheesy/corny, or engaging in too much or too little sibling rivalry, but it doesn't. It achieves a good balance, which I appreciate.
• I really enjoy the MC's inner monologue; it's never dull or prone to droning on for too long. I think it's just the right amount, and is relatable in most situations.
• I also really enjoy the diversity in the grammatical areas like adjectives and verbs. I'm a bit of a grammar geek, in that respect, as I really enjoy seeing use of words that don't seem to be common among other writers. There's something about reading about
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  that really brings it home for me. You can tell in these moments it wasn't just about sounding clever, it was about finding the words to evoke a stimulation beyond a mental one.
• Dev made an interesting decision in there being no real connection between MC's transition from one scene/character to the next most of the time; he goes from visiting his sister
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  to meeting up with another one, or from being alone with his mom at home to being out with his stepmom. I don't think this is a negative, it's just an interesting observation. A good writer can distract you from these holes in the story by intriguing you right away on the next scene, and that happens more often than not in this story.
• I find most of the characters have just enough backstory for the player to use their imagination to fill in most of the blanks. You are tempted to invest in each of them, for different reasons. I would say the exception to this is the sister who takes herself too seriously. I think she isn't present in the overall story enough.
• I think there ought to be more lewd content, overall. There are often times where the MC makes a reference to whomever is in front of him, brushing up against his crotch or he catches a view, etc. There are even scenes
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  where MC is alone with
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  New couples bone every chance they get when there's that much pent up sexual tension.
• Adding to my comments about Norah's character from above, I really find myself quite easily bored and skipping pretty much any dialog with her.
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  ; it's just not enticing or enriching to the story. This is obviously subjective, and in my opinion her character not really being believable in combination with having to read and envision her southern drawl makes it pretty unbearable for me. If she were unexpectedly vulgar, or she were undeniably hotter than Irene, the case could be made that putting up with it all is worth it. But she's predictable and not particularly lewd.
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  . Yet, as the player, you can't avoid the scene - or any scene for that matter. On the contrary: you must earn points to see the scenes you want, and it seems you're forced to see the ones you don't.
• There's no indication when "XYZ will remember that" as to what the nature of potential consequence is. Is it good? Bad? Does it lock you out of things you might want to see with that character? This is a VN element I've never cared for, except when the time is taken to clearly explain the logic used in the game, so there are no surprises and the player has full control.

I eagerly await any updates, though I'm not sure how intriguing the story can really get from here, as most elements and relationships seem fully formed at this point.

I really like the idea of incest:
- Having a sister show you her body and then having a relationship with her.
- Exist another second sister who discovers it and "joins in" (even witnesses the other sister's events).

But at a certain point you are able to have a relationship with your whole family and no one cares or is shocked. It all happens so fast. It would have been nice to have exploited the former more and gradually introduce someone else.

Now it's like midlife crisis, where nothing makes sense anymore.

Okay. Here's my review of Secret Summer.
Great writing. Not very meany errors, at least in the English version.
The characters are realistic, for the most part. The women are not overly endowed. The MC does have a little too much cock, but that's just my opinion. I prefer more realistic proportions on anyone.

I would have given this a higher rating, but there is only one problem.
The magic dick that so many games have. Just once I'd like to see a game where a character says she can't have kids for one reason or another, so they end up adopting. Or, the MC impregnates a surrogate while the woman is in the room or something.
Instead, she has sex with the MC once or twice and magically becomes pregnant. But, once again, that is just my opinion. Many others have different likes and dislikes.

Great story in the making, characters are well designed, Sadly No music which i'll admit makes going through scenes a little dull as music usually can add to the emotion of a scene is chosen correctly.. facial animations could also do with being enhanced a bit more instead of then avatars sitting with a blank expression for the majority of the scenes.. But on the plus sides.. writing is high quality english and no need to interpret what was intended or what it should have said, The character relationships seem pretty well done, even if a bit horn doggy at times.. I havent played ANY of the previous titles so my review is of what i've experienced in this title alone thus far.. The artwork for the title banner is impressive and is fitting of a movie worthy poster. Like that very much.. it should be incorporated into the games opening title screen instead of the current image tbh.. Story wise it does seem slightly limited in its scope but given its limited to a 'summer' break it was to be expected, you actually care about some of the main characters which is a welcome addition as well.. looking forward to see where this goes

the game is very good I liked the plot the characters are coolly made the environment is also super done and the game is made conscientiously and this means the developer loves his game success to him and a lot of fans to him and great health

v0.13


I like that the game does without typical features like corruption, lesbian or the like. The story doesn't win any prizes but it's ok, the graphics are good.

However, there are a few things about this game that bother me quite a bit, so I find that some character developments do not really seem believable. The stepmother hates you at the beginning a few days later she suddenly loves you, similar with Coral (little sister). I also wish, especially for the stepmom, that there would be a more evil/dominat route (I mean what are stepmoms for, if not to be dominated? )

But the reason why there is no such route is easy to make out. It's the MC! I mean SuperWriter has a tendency to make his MCs soft as pudding anyway, but this MC tops it all.

Constantly you behave submissive and apologetic. Your sisters treat you like their little dog? Nobody cares! Your stepmom treats him like shit?! Be kind to her! And of course he is the family maid for the whole family! Man up guy!

Moreover he is sooooo desperate! His sister lets him see her naked, but he's not allowed to touch (himself) or do anything at all. He just sits there like a desperate cuck and watches his naked sister. Who the hell is going to go for such a sick blue balls deal? Honestly it sounds just so illogical to me?! It almost borders on torture. The only thing missing is that he watches while someone has fun with his sister. No idea what the dev was thinking. No man with a little self-worth would do such a thing!

Furthermore there are no choices the player can take. Its basically kinetic.

BUT I really like that the relationships are in some cases pre established. Always thought that makes more sense!

So overall pretty average AVN. Some good and some bad things (especially the MC sucks). Sad, because it had potential for more!

Secret Summer [v0.12] [SuperWriter]

I recently had the opportunity to play "Secret Summer," and I have mixed feelings about it. Let's dive into what worked, what didn't, and what left me feeling perplexed in this adult game.

First, I must commend the game's visual aspects. The artwork and visuals are truly impressive. The character designs are detailed, and the scenes are beautifully rendered. If I were to evaluate the game solely based on aesthetics, it would undoubtedly earn top marks. However, a great game requires more than just good looks.

Now, onto the story, or rather, the lack of a compelling one. "Secret Summer" seems to mistake a flimsy excuse for a plot as an actual story. It's a mishmash of clichés and contrived situations that had me rolling my eyes so frequently I was worried they might pop out of my head. The writing feels amateurish at best, with cringe-worthy dialogue that had me cringing harder than I ever thought possible. The attempts at humor often fall flat and feel forced, while the attempts at emotional depth are, regrettably, laughable. I found it challenging to genuinely care about any of the characters or their so-called "emotional journeys."

Speaking of characters, they're as one-dimensional as cardboard cutouts. These characters are essentially walking, talking stereotypes, and any attempts at character development appear half-hearted. The protagonist embodies the qualities of every uninteresting lead character you've ever come across, and the supporting cast doesn't fare much better. Their motivations and actions often left me perplexed, and I frequently wondered why I should invest any time in their stories.

Now, let's discuss the adult content, which is, after all, a central aspect of the game. It's as gratuitous and tasteless as it gets. The scenes feel poorly integrated into the story, resembling cheap, disconnected fan service rather than anything meaningful or titillating. It's almost as if the developers tossed in explicit content for the sake of it, without giving any thought to how it fits into the overall experience.

In conclusion, "Secret Summer" is a game that leaves much to be desired. While it boasts visually appealing elements, it falls flat in nearly every other aspect. The story is underwhelming, the characters lack depth, and the adult content feels like an afterthought. If you're seeking a meaningful, engaging, or even remotely enjoyable adult game, I'd advise looking elsewhere. "Secret Summer" represents a missed opportunity and, in my view, an underwhelming addition to the genre.

The best game so far from SuperWriter, it has a nice story, likable MC, lovable characters with interesting personalities although a bit cliché, but that is expected, gorgeous models, and of course excellent writing.

Can't wait for the future updates, keep up the good work.

A w nderfull game, so far it has a very good story and the models there are all so beautiful, caring and unique.
But the best is after my new PC and no saves anymore, it will be a real pleasure to start from scratch again. And cant wait to see how the story go forward and what this thing called father deserved .

Thx for the realy good time SuperWriter and good luck with your other games "hardly can´t wait to play the further like this one". And stay healthy!

5/5 Overall
4/5 Renders
5/5 Hotness
4/5 Story
Really like the game actually I loved the games which have incest in them, story is really great but I think the step-mother character was little rushed,but love the bigger sister storyline and second bigger sister(nichole) storyline really interesting hope to see more of her really loved the game thanks.

Here is my review for Secret Summer [v0.12]
This Game's dope and it just came to my Favourite list.
It contains:-
1. HOT MILFS!!!
2. NETORI!!!
3. Harem
4. Plot
5. Beautiful Renders, Characters
6. Good Writing
7. Has many fetishes
8. Incest!!!
The only thing I find annoying is the flash at the Menu screen whenever the game opens.
It does not have background music and I don't think it matters to me anyway.
His other games are also good, check them out too.

Consider sharing your review of this game after playing it that would help the game and the players who haven't played this game.

This is the second game by SuperWriter that i play and the quality is still very high.
The story is quite the classic of the harem games where the protagonist reconnects with girls from the past and by helping them gets rewarded in ways that you know very well.
There is good variety between the various characters (all gorgeous of course), both aesthetically and behaviourally so you're almost certain to find something for your tastes (if not interested in having a harem).
As a side note if you want to be sure to not miss anything it is advised to use a walkthrough.
Talking about the renders i have to admit my total ignorance in the matter, but i think they're very good and of high quality.
Lastly bonus points because the dev actually interacts with his fans on this forum and listens to their suggestions (if they're compatible with his vision obviously).

Positives -

• Nice looking renders
• Realistic but sexy models

Negatives -

• Everything else....
• The story/dialogue are extremely cringe enduing. It feels so forced.
• The MC is just a complete idiot and extremely awkward.
• The sex scenes feel very dated.

I quit playing this game so many times. I picked it back up again when I have nothing else to play and then remember why I quit in the first place. It just feels so awkward to play. The characters seem cool, but the dialogue makes them all feel like androids. No person talks (or thinks) like that.

I quite liked this one, I thought it was going to be cliché as all hell based on the premise but it was actually quite entertaining and unique.

The characters especially, are praise-worthy in my opinion. They all feel different from the usual stereotypes that are associated with their roles in the story and they all have clear goals and differing (and sometimes clashing) personalities.

The only thing that irritated me was whenever the message "You don't have enough points for X" appeared, because it was either a case of it being a (at least in my view) random choice that I had guessed wrong or I was left completely clueless as to what I'd done wrong. It was quite frustrating having to go back and redo choices mostly at random until I found the one I needed to be different.

Other than that, positively smashing.