VN - Ren'Py - Summer Heat [v0.5.1] [Naughty Fox Games]

UPDATE: Played through the 0.5 - my rating of 3/5 remains the same.

All of my previous points still stand - the game looks amazing*, has well-done UI and SFX, and writing is clear of any obvious mistakes.

Unfortunately, this is still a chore to play through. The dialogue is "meh" at best, the characters feel far too acquainted with MC despite extremely short time-frame (less than 24 in-game hours), and we're adding more characters that aren't properly fleshed out.

We got a second-ever full-on sex scene, but it felt extremely awkward to me, having almost no "sex appeal". We got a couple new characters that have almost no bearing on the plot. We got a new "mysterious" bad guy that has absolutely no bearing on what's going on.

And, lastly, we have the final scene of the update (starring Mia) that left me completely befuddled as to why it happened. She suddenly jumped weeks into the future of her relationship with MC and gave him a handjob and a blowjob. What.

Overall, I cannot fully recommend this game. Not yet.

* Pretty much all images in the 0.5 are compressed a little too hard and that leaves some character models (especially the face and neck area) looking oddly blurry and sometimes even blocky. Really odd choice for a game that has clearly talented artists behind it.

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Reviewed version: 0.4.1

Let me be absolutely clear: the audio-visual design of Summer Heat is excellent. Very much in the top-of-the-line category with titles such as City of the Broken Dreamers, Dreamland or ACQUAINTED. Beautiful renders, easy to use GUI, and overall polish in this department. Also, props for error-free writing - it's obvious that the text was proofread by someone knowledgeable.

That being said, the rest of this visual novel is... subpar, to put it simply. Why? Let me explain.

Characters. Oh my sweet Lord, it feels as if the devs decided to "draw 25" rather than use non-cliche, memorable LI's (or even side characters) in the story.

We've got: the "shy and obviously-in-love" childhood friend, the "trust me, bro" best friend, the "edgy and mysterious" girl who almost instantly warms up to MC despite her "long-standing trauma", the "(...) and they were roommates (...)" girls with one being "cheerful and bubbly" and the other not. Sure, we get to know them better during the "playground" section, but it's far from perfect or enough.

Then again, the MC is inoffensive (he's neither clueless nor genuinely interesting), the "art camp" couple has some intrigue brewing (but there's not enough focus on them so I can't tell how it's going to play out) and the "car lady" is absolutely unequivocally fire (don't @ me).

One thing that bugs me and combines the two aforementioned points: Why in the hell all female characters look at the MC so... suggestively? There's this constant "smirk" on their faces that looks jarring and makes me feel at little uneasy as a player/viewer.

The next "meh" part of the game - Pacing. I don't know what the plan is, but after four "major" updates and thousands of renders we barely progressed in the single day. That makes me skeptical/worried about how long this game will be developed for. I get that perfection takes time, but some people will simply forget about the title if it takes years to complete.

Combine it with two "okay-ish" teasing scenes and one (admittedly top-notch) sex scene and you have a slow-burn mess that doesn't yet know which way to progress. Is there something more behind the cold facade of the husband? Is the camp actually a mysterious "hunting ground"? And what the fuck is that "ugly" girl doing there?

Just wait a couple more months. Maybe then we'll know more. Or maybe we'll just get another hour of... summer heat(stroke).

Goddamn this game is so frikking perfect in every possible way man, the graphics on everything are beautiful, specially on the girls, the plot is gold and the lewd scenes are hot as fuck. The only thing that i could possibly vote it down for is the months it takes to update and the few hours it takes me to finish it.

[v0.4.1]
This has just become one of my favorites, though it might be a little premature to rave about it.

The four main girls so far (and caitlynn too!) are very hot and fairly distinct looking, though personally if it were my game I might want to make sophie and bree a little more distinct since they are going to be next to eachother all the time in game..... unless we later learn that they are sisters or something, because they kinda look like you just color swapped them.

The renders are very good quality, and there are already a decent number of animations that are also of quite good quality.

The dialogue is nice, sometimes a little juvenile or awkward maybe but it had some of the nice and endearing romance aspects that I find a lot of games lack. The atmosphere of this game is so far quite happy and bubbly, but there is an anxious undercurrent that suggests that there may be a darker plot at hand. Again, we'll have to see what comes of it.

At this stage all that can be said is to try it out. There is one sex scene in the game already (not with a main girl) but there's definitely eye candy enough to keep you entertained throughout.

Summer Heat was a game I had not heard of at all but quickly became one of my favorites once trying it. High quality renders caught my eye but the writing soon proved to be excellent as well. The love interests won me over almost immediately and secured a spot as some of my favorite girls from any game. The sex content is fairly slow, but the girls are just so lovable that I'm willing to wait. Sharp writing with some good humor and the promise of drama to come. This is for sure a game to follow.

Now this was 1 hell of a welcome surprise.
Definitely has the potential to be 1 of the best AVN.

The story is interesting & engaging but what enticed me the most was the characters.The models are gorgeous & their expressions resonate fabulously.I found each & every 1 of them to be alluring & am looking forwards to their respective storylines.

I'm also quite pleased with the MC for not being neither an edgelord nor a Beta which helps to give a realistic facade that i found to be really appealing indeed.

Congrats to the dev for creating this beauty & not to mention the amount of polish that went into this is worth the respect

Written as of version: 0.4.1

Warmhearted

That’s the word, which I associate with this game. Imo all female characters are likeable. Speed of getting most women in bed is rather slow for porn game (MC can’t have sex with most of them yet afik), with lots of teasing. When MC is flirting, girls are often flirting back, usually in almost innocent and creative ways. It genuinely reminds me of young adulthood adventures. Something that I value a lot and wish that anybody could experience, if not irl, at least by playing games. The devs recreated that kind of “tension” in so far the best way that I know.

Game is also quite slow paced in regard to story. Most of the story content looks like building the setting and supporting the experience. Not many important things happened yet or the player is left in the dark about it (or at least I’m).

Graphically the game is beautiful, as expected from an S tier game.

Minuses:
Low amount of porn content
The game is quite short

The character models are amazing. Girls are attracted not only by their shapes, but also by their eyes. Each has its own story. They are unique.

Separately, it is worth noting the setting of the camera, high-quality rendering, work with light. The game was made by a person who understands how it should work.

The phone and dating app are very well designed. It's fun.

Upd.0.5: A year later, this is a completely different game. The characters have lost their individuality and want to jump on the main character literally. And get into his pants. They become intrusive. And yet there are very few sex scenes for a year of waiting. Too many unnecessary renders and empty dialogues. The feeling of being in the game also disappeared after the developer decided to add a third-person view.

More than a year of development but the plot is still on the first day. This is just ridiculous. In the morning we hardly know the girls. In the evening we kiss in the pool with two of them. Getting a blowjob from someone else. Another handjob from one. It's horrible!

You have no choice. It's just an illusion. The dating app has degenerated to the point where you just choose one option from one. Disappointment.
This game had a lot of potential.

For what's there already, i just can't give less than 5 stars.
Summer Heat has nice renders, quality in writing and displaying what needs to be seen, and the models as mentioned before, are quiet stunning.
I'm personally looking forward to the pregnancy and horror tags (especially the horror tag), and it would've been absolutely great to see a ntr tag there as well (combined with the horror tag), but i guess you just can't have the cake and eat it too.
I hope the devs keep up the good work and i wish them the best in doing so.
Can't wait for future updates.

best game I've played. Characters are great, perfect design, and has a simple but good enough plot. Shame I'll have to wait for the new update, but I really liked that the game felt streamlined enough that I didn't have to skip text which I usually do.

TLDR: Great renders, good sound and good interactions, You'll enjoy it.

In detail, the gameplay is great, it has both free-roaming content when needed and VN gameplay without the hassle of trying figure out which room is where.

The quality of the renders are great, all the female love interests are expressive, with all the assets available for attraction. The game progression with interaction with each of them is not forced, it flows naturally.
Quality, sound, renders all 5 Stars!!

The game is relatively new and since this is the first attempt for the devs, great job, and content is growing, so, waiting for more.

This is perfectly perfect. so much potential. It been so long i never fall so fast. love everything in this game love the ambient sound. The music playing some events. (perfect suited)
Character movement, Facial expression, Background, POV from MC, they looks so good looks realistic. sweet girls in game looks very gorgeous and attractiveness and different from other games. Male looks handsome too. quality renders.

I kinda scared about horror tag. how it's gonna be!

Review of 0.4.1. So this is a great story. The writing is great and the girls look amazing as fuck. Every girl looks just great and they are varied. The story is great but a slow burn. This is not bad to me it feels really realistic. I love that like in DIK this is a VN and then some Freeplay mixed in between.

Now why I only gave it 4 stars is that there is not much sex and with that I mean one scene and with not a main girl. So, yeah that was a bit sad but in the future with more content then this will be a 5/5 for sure.

Summer Heat probably best AVN game of 2022 in my opinion.
The stunning graphics component and attention to detail-the backgrounds and other, a good story and dialogues, lively well-written characters and soothing music set up an extremely pleasant feeling.
The bar set by the author is extremely high, I hope he will stick to it.
Dev definitely deserves support and the highest praise for this amazing game.

Amazing the quality of the game. I like the story it has and where it takes place. I like that there is no sex in the first scene, that the story unfolds. I hope that this creator receives a lot of support to continue enjoying this wonder.

Review of 0.4.1. Not a huge amount of content yet, but what is here is excellent. High-quality renders and mostly appealing character designs combined with good writing and humour. Falls a little into the "all these hot women are instantly super attracted to the MC" trope, but that's not really a trope I mind - your mileage may vary.

Gameplay is similar to the template laid down by Being A Dik, with visual novel sections broken up by "Freeplay" sections where the character can explore a little, talk to people, and access dating & chat apps on their phone. This is by no means a complaint - it's an excellent format and executed well here. More VN's doing this format well is a great thing, imo.

I find there's something about Kate's design that visually doesn't quite work for me, though I couldn't really say what and that might just be me.

Otherwise the only real negative is that there's simply not much here yet. I look forward to seeing Summer Heat develop and add more content!

Where to start... this is from version 4.1 so pretty early on in development, but this game is very well made.

The graphics are phenomenal, very good looking models, the music is well done and the gameplay is polished to near perfection. I can't say anything bad about it, except that it makes me want to play more of it because it ends too soon.

In my opinion this is one of the most promising AVN games I have played in the last year, and I have played quite a few. Maybe the style and model proportions are not be to everyones liking, but I would advise anyone who enjoys these type of games to at least try it just for the visuals.

Eagerly awaiting future updates. Best of luck to the devs. Fantastic.

Best graphics and really like the eye contact almost everywhere and girls are very hot. I hope there will be harem option.
It would be perfect with more interactivity, but still one of the best game here.

Really good so far!
I like the school/college setting and the characters are nice.
Can't say much about the story because it's not developed enough, a few mysteries here and there but not many conflicts. And I prefer realistic stories, so this is a plus.
Not many lewd scenes yet, but the main one is great, the animations, renders, dialogues, scene...
The only weird thing to me is that multiple girls have the same "fuck me" eyes. But that's just a small detail
Tons of potential, hope this one works out til the end

Looks promising to me, I like the girls, the humor. In general aspects I think it has potential, the plot is in early stages now but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into something dark. I think it has future.

Great girls interesting story for this type of game I can see a lot of promise. It is in its early stages so cant say much more but I'm looking forward to playing future updates. Like the girls personality's so much that i don't want to be a jerk to any of them which might be hard in future updates.