VN - Others - Completed - Summer Ice Cream [Final] [Spicy Marmalade Studio]

  1. 3.00 star(s)

    sanahtlig

    A parody of moege tropes marred by moderate issues that significantly detract from the experience.

    The game is about a depressed male protagonist who takes a trip to the countryside looking for a girlfriend and/or a harem. What he ends up getting is:

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    It's a decent concept that is marred by poor presentation. Male and female pronouns are used interchangeably throughout, creating constant confusion about whether the person being referred to is the male protagonist or one of the girls. Surprisingly, the grammar is otherwise decent, and the scenes are generally understandable; my guess is that we're looking at a relatively high fidelity MTL from a language like Spanish that is grammatically similar to English. System-wise, the skip read text feature doesn't work at all, you can't save at decision points (only before or after), and there's long hardcoded pauses between visual transitions that skip all text doesn't skip, making replaying to trace the paths you missed somewhat tedious.

    Other than the technical and presentation issues, the game doesn't really evoke strong feelings both due to the premise and the very brief time spent with the characters (literally just a few days). On the other hand, the game subverts the standard moe game tropes and generally manages to stay interesting (though simplistic), which is more than can be said about a great many JVNs and their derivatives.

    The game is mostly linear, with minor branching that leads to one or two optional H-scenes with each heroine (some of the scenes are mutually exclusive and can't be viewed in a single playthrough). Due to the linearity and the system issues that frustrate backtracking, there's not much value to doing more than a single playthrough. Choose a girl, get her H-scene, and play through to the end once for the best experience.
  2. 2.00 star(s)

    dunnodoncare

    I don't want to be too negative here, so what I want to convey, is that this is not at a level where I would buy it. It needs work.

    Positive:
    - Attention to visual detail; More than one character POV; I like the inner world descriptions, even if they are simplistic; Tag diversity; Good H-scenes quantity, and their dialogue is OK (it's better than endless "Aaaah's")

    Neutral:
    - It has standard VN options; BGV exists; I didn't find out how to save on choices; "OST" didn't offend my ears; More commonplace devices than I care to count; Visuals are what you see, but the backgrounds are nice.

    Negative:
    - Writing needs a lot of work; English level could be improved; Characters have pre-established relations, but that's the best I can come up with, they are very weak overall (they should at least have some flair, quirks); Story is rushed, has no connection points other than "it's summer vacation"; Events get more and more surreal; Interactions have little context; The truth or dare section was interrupted 10(?) times; Self-centered teenagers and insipid backstory drama. I could go on.

    Score: 4/10. It's a western VN so I can't go too hard on it, they need to be promoted, not destroyed. Basically, proofreading and improving writing basics, would make this sellable as a VN. As porn, it already works, why not try it?