VN - Ren'Py - Summer Heat [v0.6] [Naughty Fox Games]

The game has a very very promising start, I give 5 stars for a future prospectus, I hope the dev doesn't get lost as the story progresses, but if the prologue promises so well, I think we won't be disappointed by the rest of the game.

Story seems interesting, renders look great. Designs look great too. Yeah its a short so who knows how things unfold but so far im liking it. The dialog is rough though, english is clearly not the devs first language but by no means does that kill the game though it may distract you.

The game is good, but considering it's been in development for 2.5-3 years, there's barely any content.

I downloaded it for the first time this afternoon and barely got more than 2 hours worth of content and only 2 full sex scenes (plus a couple teases or oral). That's honestly a pretty shameful amount of content for how long this game has been in development.

What is there is quite good. The renders are beautiful, the animation is smooth (when the dev decides to animate instead of just doing a slideshow) and the writing is at least serviceable, if not quite good by adult game standards. But I just can't justify giving this more than a 4 star rating with how little content is in this game right now. (I wish I could give it a 3.5, but I'll round up because the visuals are very impressive)

Maybe once it's complete, I'd happily give it a 5, but there are too many games out there with molasses-slow developments that end up unfinished and abandoned, so until the dev proves this isn't one such case, I'm not likely going to increase my score from 4

Currently one of the best AVNs in development.
The models are top notch, the physics too.
And, by god, it doesn't take place on a college campus.
A huge plus is that the girls are well written-- if you can get me actually interested in wanting to F someone that doesn't exist, you win the AVN Awards.

Possibly one of the most anticipated updates on this site after Being a DIK, seriously. That's quite an accomplishment, so good on you, authors\devs.

Ignore hatred on these reviews. I was looking at the "preferences" of the one star raters. They're just mad that there's no "NTR" in this and that it doesn't have any shit manga references in it. Carry on with the good stuff.

One of the best games on this site. All of the MG's and even the Sag are very beautiful and we will see with time how the story progresses. The devs are doing a good job with setting the mood before jumping into scenes. Really going to enjoy this in the future!

There literally is nothing expect really Good renders, god awful pacing and no plot... You are some nice looking walking Dildo, these horny sluts will throw at you for no reason and you cant do shit because remember? You're a Dildo... They dont have WILL.

Graphics 10/10 - Fantastic renders. Summer Heat has the most attractive girls out of any 3dcg game I have played. There's usually just one or two girls in a 3dcg game that I actually find attractive but I genuinely love the look of all of the main girls. There is also a huge variety of angles. Masterfully done all around.

Plot/Characters 8/10 - Great dialogue, the flow of conversation felt good and never pulled me out of the game. Each of the main girls are interesting in there own way. I'm holding out hope for harem options to come in the future. The MC is great too. I really wish more games would have a faceless protagonist. It 100% adds to the immersion for me.

Negatives - This are mostly subjective but there are a few critiques I have. First is the lack of any music and a lot of dead quiet moments. Second is the potential lack of harem options. Even if it was limited to only 2 or 3 girls that would raise this to my all time favorite 3dcg VN. That's just my taste though, others might disagree.

Art

Visuals: The visuals are great, the facial expressions especially are some of the best I've ever seen.
Animations: Definitely good, not the most memorable but nothing bad at all.

Writing

Dialogue: I have really high standards for writing and as a result, I tend to skip the dialogue in most games after realizing how bad it is. I can't really recall playing any games with half decent writing until this one.
This game's dialogue writing is fantastic. It mostly avoids everything I hate in games: flowery narration, needlessly long sentences, constantly telling the pc's inner thoughts, pointlessly revealing other character's inner thoughts/pov, Life is Strange level unbelievable personalities, etc. Please keep this up!
Story: Can't say much since it's only at 0.5, but it certainly has me intrigued. I really like the slow pacing so far and the romance scenes have perfect build up.
Characters: The characters are very good. They have strong but believable personalities with good variety. So far, I'm invested in almost all of them.

Naughty Fox Games seems to be built different, looking forward for more updates!

[v0.5.1] HQ AVN, next to HQ renders (and beautiful girls), good UI, nice story, nice gameplay, also much attention has been given to sound design, and makes this VN stand out, really adding to the immersion. E.g. the snoring of Mike etc, excellent! Ambience sound of the mansion (airco and/or traffic sounds?) is relatively a bit loud though I think.
It's nice you can control the ambience sound volume level (next to bgm & sfx).

Also some nice sex sfx, although the 'gagging' sound isn't much convincing.

Story (believability) wise some things could have been better I think (a bit of nitpicking here perhaps, but see below).


Other than that, very enjoyable, 4.5 stars.

Some suggestions
[UI] have a big nice Save/Load heading, because I accidentally overwrote my save on multiple occasions, intending to load;
[UI] it seems a bit inconsistent that your first Ember photos go into your phone's gallery and everything after goes into the game's Gallery. Wouldn't it be nicer to have them all accessible through the Ember app and/or phone's gallery? (O/c images should still be full-screenable.)

I will keep it short and straight.

Characters feel like they are alive. Renders are brilliantly done. Sex scenes are passionate and creative. Usually I skip through VN's(don't mind me) but this time, I stopped and never skipped most of the story, cause the renders are so well done.

It's actually moving, not stuck. I feel like I am summer camping or some shit man, legit got pulled into this thing. Best way to enjoy this game is to fully relax, take a good drink, sit down, turn the lights off.

Camera's are well placed allowing you to cherish your character, which they deserve to be, as these are like truly beautiful models man.

really like where the developer is going with this game as a whole, if this game ends early, I will be truly disappointed.

This deserves even more light than it's currently getting.

This game is already amazing. Could be one of the top ones ever once it gets more content. I really cant wait for more. Everything about it is top tier. Great renders, girls, story. Interactive parts as well

"All that glitters is not gold", my dudes.
Yeah, this VN has hot, juicy and really sweet renders. But that's all. The story is nothing special — just a bunch of teens are going to the summer camp. There is a slight glimpse of the mystery like "woah uh-huh why did they move their camp to their house" but this barely gets unfolded through the story.
Two things that turned me off: definitely-not-a-dadlandlord camp owner and MC. Yeah, I got it, camp owner should be annoying as fuck to build up that kinda-incest atmosphere with his wife. But, uhhhh, that didn't worked on me, sorry.
Waited so long for an update to try that game. Such a disappointment.

This game as of v0.5.1 is incredible. It has very, very few cons and is a very well-rounded game. Models are incredible, characters are nicely fleshed out, the writing is cheesy enough to be wholesome without going overboard.

The story's pace has been well done so far as well. I am looking forward to more updates!

Graphics 10/10 - Fantastic renders. Summer Heat has the most attractive girls out of any 3dcg game I have played. There's usually just one or two girls in a 3dcg game that I actually find attractive but I genuinely love the look of all of the main girls. There is also a huge variety of angles. Masterfully done all around.

Plot/Characters 8/10 - Great dialogue, the flow of conversation felt good and never pulled me out of the game. Each of the main girls are interesting in there own way. I'm holding out hope for harem options to come in the future. The MC is great too. I really wish more games would have a faceless protagonist. It 100% adds to the immersion for me.

Negatives - This are mostly subjective but there are a few critiques I have. First is the lack of any music and a lot of dead quiet moments. Second is the potential lack of harem options. Even if it was limited to only 2 or 3 girls that would raise this to my all time favorite 3dcg VN. That's just my taste though, others might disagree.

The models are excellent, choices are relevant (minus the sexting app opening choice), and it appears to be well coded. Miller is a tool and doesn't offer any explanation to what his malfunction is and what the f*** he's up to. There are plenty of opportunities and H-scenes are excellent. So you might be asking why 4 stars? Well to be honest this is easily 4.5/5 stars, but it reeks of the more choices the MC makes, the more girls he gets with, the more screwed he'll be in the end. The story obviously wants you to make choices that'll lead the MC more and more into depravity with less and less likelihood of him coming out on top with all the ladies.

No this reeks of "if you sleep with everyone, you'll end up with no one." Which can be fun in itself but I'll be more interested in what endings are possible from this and how many are good versus how many are bad. And the story is very intriguing. So much so that I instantly got drawn in the moment Miller acted the dick, got pulled over by the cops, and then suggested the MC not speak to the police. What the f***? Why? What the hell is happening in this town and how is the MC getting caught up in this? Welp, now I gotta know. So yeah, this has my attention and I'm looking forward to where this VN is going.

Nice work dev. This is easily one of the best VNs in the past year. If you nail the ending, I'll gladly give this 5/5. I wish you all the best of luck. If you like this VN give the dev your support, write a review and remember, you got this for free, maybe kick back so cash when and if you can.

I am intrigued with the direction of the story. I like the plot so far - and can imagine it going various directions. The women are gorgeous - although I'd like some more realistic sized breasts or small titted girls! The summer camp setting for late teens shouldn't work but it does so far, and they mysteries abound with the host and hostess. Looking forward to the continuation. Thanks for your great work.

v0.5

Really great game, the kind that sets the AVN genre apart from just watching animated porn. The H scenes are grounded in the story and the characters; they're not just hot (though they are that), they're erotic and intimate. Do the girls throw themselves at you a little more quickly than they would in real life? Sure, but I don't mind that at all, and it doesn't take me out of it. I love little true-to-life details like Cassie getting a hair in her mouth. I'm loving the subtle mystery element, can't wait to see what comes next.

Usually, I can't be bothered to write a review, but I enjoyed Summer Heat, and I appreciate the developer's work and ambition on the project, so here's a 'proper' one:


PROS:

- Finally, a developer who understands how crucial the 'visual' part of a 'visual novel' truly is. The renders and animations are used as the primary vehicle for storytelling, successfully replacing long text paragraphs. You can understand character motivations and reactions by their facial expressions or mannerisms. It's a sort of a big deal, considering how many developers release smut games with bad writing but make no effort to use the other strenghts of the medium to their advantage.

- The visuals themselves are top-notch, arguably the best in the biz for now. Impressive render work and animations with very high attention to detail, seen even in the UI. Subpar renders or animations are few and far in-between.

- I liked the implementation of music and different ambient sounds. They are used to complement the visuals and open up every scene, but in a way that mostly makes sense. There's no monotonous royalty-free/elevator music playing from start to finish. It's a quiet game.

- The characters are distinctive. Even those presented in a negative light are sympathetic enough without becoming an annoyance.

- There's a somewhat subtle brooding feeling and creepiness to the story, which I liked, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea.


CONS:

- The writing is a hit-and-miss. It gets the job done and works well enough for telling the story, but it's generally uninspired. There's no engrish or similar hilarity, which is always a plus.

- There was a lack of player choice a few times in the story where there should have been.

- And finally, the big one - slow updates. Two years of development have passed, with only one in-game day of content released. It's safe to say there won't be a completed tag soon, if ever.


Overall, the game is a top-tier 3DCG title and a must-play.
5/5

The game have good writing, the CG is so good, It's one of the best VN I Have played, and I dont like VN that much and with that being said this game made me wanting to play more VN, the only downside is the lack of content, the game have so little, but I will wait for how long it takes because this game is so good

The Verdict
S+ renders and animations and an eerie, intriguing storyline holding it all up. Feels like this game is just getting started, but there is already enough here to make it a must-play.

The Good

• A top candidate for the highest visual quality on this site. The game just looks beautiful.
• There is an addicting eeriness to the main storyline so far that I hope the developers can keep up here. This game has a ton of narrative potential if it stays the course with the thriller direction we've seen so far.
• Did I already mention how pretty this game is? Well, the girls are GORGEOUS. No trace of uncanny valley here at all. Each potential LI here is just stunning.

The Bad

• This barely feels like a fair criticism at the moment, but you'll rip through what is here pretty fast. I'm reviewing this at v0.5.1 partially on potential (you absolutely should play what's here now, it's that good) but A LOT of content still needs to come out for this one to land the plane.