VN - Ren'Py - Summer Scent [v0.6.6a Steam] [The Naughty Captain]

This is actually the whole reason why I even started looking into these sorts of games. For better or for worse, I found another outlet, haha. Summer Scent is fabulous and engaging all the way through so far. Each character definitely feels more real than not, and that's super cool.

v0.6.1
Summary:
The game talks about MC who falls in love with his sister(Eve) and her best friend(Cassie) (maybe more characters in the future).

Extraordinary aspects of the game:
The story and the number of branches of the paths you can take in the relationship with the characters.

What is good:
Almost everything, especially that there are Sub and Dom paths for MC’s sister and her best friend and for the MC too(SO BE DAMN WARNED). The harem path was built quite well too, with is really hard to do in a realistic environment.

*From 0.6.1 The characters started to blink while idle, don’t think that I haven’t noticed.

What is bad:
Idk.

What can be made better:

My opinion:
Amazing game with few issues, a realistic story with a good build-up that is not too short and not too long. Realistic reasons for an incest relationship to start, with are almost a traumatic experience that clears a misunderstanding with a brought feeling of guilt in the MC that returns the feeling of trust in the sister that manifested into love.

Almost all of the choices in this game matter, which is surprising as every different choice can take you to new content or shove you into a completely different direction in the storyline. My suggestion is to try to play most of the paths as there is a hidden dialog about the characters and it will create a different perspective of the story for you.

The paths I played: Love Eve, Love Cassie, SubLove Eve, SubDouble(I Less enjoyed it for the dom action and more for the understanding of Cassie's character.), Harem, NoOne(Better than I thought, similar to Kelly Path though), Kelly.

This is an amazing game with a great story that I suggest to all from the bottom of my non-existent heart.

If you want more reviews/recommendation check out my list [Link]

I've tried this game with two prejudices: I don't really like incest, and I don't really like games with school setting.
I was afraid this was a game a little bit "childish" for my tastes.
On the contrary, I've played one of BEST written games on the site. The psichological depth of the characters is astonishing for an erotic game.
The background of the story with all the pain on Eve for the rumors of previous years, Cassie's shyness and calm, Kelly's pain and therapy, are really displayed like in an Emmy TV serie. I don't know, programs like Lost or Lie To Me have come to my mind (I have to see 13 Reasons Why, but I guess it would be a even better comparation, given the reviews).
The different paths are an other really good idea, it allows the players "explore" all own sides: dark, romantic, dominating, and so on... At the moment, I've explored just the "throuple and meet Kelly path", but I look forward to try other paths, 'cause I guess it's not only "different lewd scenes", but I guess it will be just an emotionally different experience.
One last thing: the way to reach the threesome path. Just in "Acting Lesson" I saw a realistic way to "justify emotionally" the building of a "couple made by three people". I thought it was nearly impossible to build it better, but this game's dev has REALLY succeded in.
Wow, I really guess this is a too underrated game, personally I insert it at least in my top three.
I hope in other games like this one (with older characters, around 30's, it would be PERFECT).

Good game until you get the nearly forced very dark ending.

Pros

• Good renders and visuals
• Good character models
• Character models have realistic body proportions
• Good story
• Good writing (except for the dark ending)
• Good character development
• Realistic incest content

Cons

• It's way too easy to get the very dark ending. You'd have to follow an exact guide and do everything perfectly in order to avoid it.
• Cassie's breasts looks like she's had implants and don't look natural
• Only two relationships are really developed in the game, your sister and her best friend
• No animation
• Few lewd scenes

The very dark ending ruined the game for me. I was having a good time with it until that happened. It is very difficult to avoid this ending.

I feel that the author destroyed his own game by making the very dark ending the default. You have to make all choices perfectly like the author wants you to in order to avoid it (many decisions are unclear as to their effects and results)!

It is really unfortunate that the author chose this direction. I really have no desire to play any further versions of this game and I can't recommend it unless you use a detailed walkthrough to avoid the bad ending.

As of Version:0.5.5

PROS

• Model's looks OK
• It's not the same old story.

CONS

• All the main character's are unlikable, including the MC.
• Scenes aren't great.
• Model's look OK.
• Choice's are meaningless to the story (which is always bad).

CONCLUSION

Honestly don't understand how the rating is so high. Can't imagine trying this again, even as a time filler.

A very interesting story is revealed in this game. There aren't many games like this with meaning. The only thing to note is that Kessi's eyes are completely black. It's not pretty. The white of the eyes is not visible. It's like she's a dead body

I really enjoyed the start to this game.

• I like the renders and how the girls do not look like the same 3d model but with different hair
• I like the MC's model too as not the overly buff jock but more of an average joe
• The story is a bit linear, but I'm okay with that...I mean it's a VN and I expect that.
• After the initial play-through (not that long), I did the Skip to rapidly go through the choices of Submission/Domination path, Love/Love path, Submission/Love path. It was nice to see the different outcomes depending on the choices you make. I was pleased that there was significant differences.
• I focused on one attribute as much as possible, so I don't know if I would have received some scenes if I had for instance chosen a balance between Love/Submission versus going 90% Love or 90% submission.
• The incest patch is sort of required otherwise the story doesn't make much sense. Thus the author/dev sort of locked themselves in that way.
• If memory serves, these are all still images...no animations, even for the sex/sexy scenes. FYI.

OVERALL:
I'm looking forward to how this story progresses. It's worth checking out, imo.

Here are my thoughts after playing v0.5.5

I liked:
-Eve and Cassie
-great renders
-nice story
-hot sex scenes
-the players choices matters on how the story goes
-no forced/unavoidable sex scenes with the MC

I did not like:
-it is advisable to have a walkthrough if you want to get to the ending that you want
-the MC is so stupid for being so gullible and believing the rumors. But it's the story so what I do?
-Eve not wanting to report the incident to the police is so frustrating, but then again, it's how the story goes

It's an interesting story and the things that I did not like are jsut minor things and is dependent on each player but all in all, it's a great game and story. 5 stars.

I love it man . the bad ending was a cock block for me and since I watched it I'm not motivated enough to complete the branches . BUT everything else is just perfect . I love both the girls and like the guy he has a good personality and the story is beautiful

The models are rather good, but even 18 year old girls all have saggy tits. That's usual in such games, but still is a shame.

The story is rich with psychological details, so it's generally fun to play. But some choices are very limited: often the most reasonable and effective things to do aren't there. And making a reasonable innocent choice, like choosing to speak to Eve in the shop on Day3, leads to horrible painful early ending on Day 5.

So on Day 5 the protagonist feels helpless, not being able to tell Cassie obvious things, not having any idea that an innocent choice 2 days ago destroyed their life.

Those limited choices and their unexpected long-term results are the reasons I give it only 4 stars. Otherwise it would be a very good game.

Even though some scenes seem a bit forced and clumsy (like interrogation and blaming a guy who basically just did what the girls wanted, not even given better choices).

So it's not 5 stars for sure. Even though the immersive story, the amount of content and the work put in various routes are impressive.

v0.5.5

Holy hell, I wasn't expecting such a good story. I honestly gave up even waiting for anything naughty to happen (even though the girls are totally adorable) and just wanted to know where the story was going. Next update please!!

Review as of v0.5.5

Renders: They're really nice. Shadows and mood lighting to fit the scenes were great and the characters (for the most part) feel real. Though I do think the MC looks ugly / weird and I hate every render that shows his face, which fortunately for me is rare. There are no animations so far, which I'm fine with since most games don't really do it well enough to make it worth it. I think Eve and Kelly are gorgeous and very well rendered, while Cassie just looks pretty good, but the game declares Cassie as being the hottest one. The expressions that Eve gives is so real and well done.

Story: Story progression is great, and I like the fact that there's I think 6 completely different routes to take so far which really changes your perspective on the characters and seems to change the romance portion dramatically as well, including some really strange ones I wouldn't dare get into. The only problem with that is when you have that much variation, it can often take forever to develop a good length game with enough story and lewd content to satisfy most players of this genres without having to start over and choose different routes which I imagine the majority of players (including myself) aren't really into doing as we usually just want to move on to the next story / game. So far though, the game does seem like it'll be an ideal length given the current story progression and version number if that's anything to go by. I imagine not having to create animations helped a lot in saving time with getting the content completed. I do feel like the overall story plot is somewhat predictable and the lack of options to influence it or at least let us think we can influence it makes it a bit frustrating.
Gameplay: This is where the review gets kind of ugly and where the dev and I can't agree on. There has been a lot of mentions and complaints on at least 1 issue which the dev has acknowledged and refused to correct. Having choice triggers and point requirements in games to allow certain routes to be taken and the better routes being more difficult than others is quite typical of any good VN game. However, where this game goes wrong is how blind and limited some of the choices are during the first playthrough. It literally feels like a coin flip on some of the trigger decisions (referring mainly to the unadvertised harem / throuple route). You would either need to backtrack on a lot of decisions to make sure you got the ideal result or deal with the very dark ending that no one expects to get. There's one in particular that really upset me because both decisions felt like good ones and I feel like the game wanted me to choose one over the other which was essentially a trap and there was no way of knowing what major impact it would have until much later in the game (lingerie shop choice... choose Cassie for harem or you'll regret it). In order to get the harem route, you have to cheat, there's no choice about it (I know cuz I tried everything to find a way around it), even though the game punishes you for it and dev in the comments section claims you deserve it when there's no better way of getting that harem route. Aside from that, the lack of text box and white text on nearly white background which happens a lot was annoying, ended up having to "Shift+A" and increase font size to maximum in order to improve readability. I don't know why we can't just have the text box as an option, or add thick font shadowing / text size options to counter this simple issue.

Writing: Written in a non-native language, so it's not expected to be perfect, although still pretty good overall, considering. The writing did start out a bit robotic and with a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes, but it does quickly improve as the game progresses. There's still some grammar and spelling mistakes even in the last game day, but it's a lot more subtle and I imagine it'll remain consistent like that from now on, which I'm happy with. The dev does occasionally add rarely used words in the script which is appreciated as I love learning / practicing words like that. I only wish more devs would do this.

Sounds / Music: Non existent, which I'm personally ok with.

Menu / UI: Menu is customized and clean of any features that don't do anything like sound options. There's a picture gallery which I'm sure some ppl appreciate, but no scene gallery by default, luckily there's a mod to correct that (although, as of writing this, the mod is kind of broken and the walkthrough leads the player down a very bad path due mainly to that lingerie store decision). There's an optional stats display while playing which is appreciated. Unfortunately, there's a forced 25 second intro warning dialog each time you load the game and you cannot skip it which obviously is very annoying.

Overall: I think the game is alright. I think if the dev could just listen to the criticisms and make the minor changes needed to dramatically improve gameplay experience, the amount of positive attention and popularity would likely increase a lot more. I also think the game's description could include a harem tag or throuple tag unless the dev has plans to kill that option later in the game (the mere mention of harem would boost playerbase). As it stands right now though, there's no way this game will make it into my top 10 favs list.

EDIT: I would also like to point out that to anyone who objects to this review, I'd appreciate it if you could at least show respect for the review as this took a lot of time to write and I meant every word with the best of intentions. There's no need for fans to insult me over my opinions and honesty. This community represses enough ppl with conflicting opinions. To anyone else, thanks for reading it.

Really really good. I specifically like the childhood friend. Good art, good writing. No over-the-top ridiculous anatomics (apart maybe from MC dick size). I naturally went on a dual path on first try and ran into a bad ending. Used the walkthrough to get to the dual ending. It was heartwarming and truly wonderful. Next I used the walkthrough for the sublove path. Nice lewd scenes, but I felt bad about it, kind of guilty, after seeing the much happier dual ending. ... (Will definitely not try any less cuddly path.)

Btw, one of the few adult games that I saw so far where the (face of the) male MC is on display a lot without me finding this face obnoxious. It seems that often the artists will put much less effort into the male MC, and in particular the facial expressions, than into the potential love interests. So usually I prefer games without visible MC, but in this case the MC did not only not annoy me, I think his depiction improved the game. (I think this is the only game where I have this feeling.)

BTW, the game uses "childhood friend" to avoid the usual incest-restrictions of some websites. I personally am not into incest, and was happy that the text works well if you take "childhood friend" literally. (E.g., consistent use of "your father") . Unfortunately the story itself is then not soo convincing

V0.5.5 Eve & Cassie Love Route Patched

This VN and this route are by far the best polyamorous romance I’ve seen on the site. It’s a slow burn, the first full sex doesn’t happen until day 5, but the emotional roller coaster leading you to that point is intense. Playing with the patch just amplifies the emotion as the MC and Eve wrestle with doubt and remorse due to the forbidden nature of their love. At the same time they also have to deal with their guilt over the betrayal of Cassie, Eve’s best friend and the MC’s highschool crush, but Cassie has her own agenda.

There are currently 15 separate paths (individual romance, combinations of love and submission, and some neutral paths) with a number of bad ends possible. To successfully get to day five in this route required a rigid adherence to the essential walkthrough. Many of the routes have strong elements of dominance and submission. One unfinished route may lead to a larger harem, but this is not confirmed as of this version.

Models are attractive and realistically proportioned (aside from the obligatory MC supersize) and renders are generally high quality. Gains or losses in stats can be displayed as they happen but are not tallied. The MC in the love route is not a douche or a sociopath and shows emotional growth over the course of the VN. Choices are meaningful and can completely change the trajectory of the story.

This is not a quick fap fest. This is a story to immerse yourself in, with two well realized female characters to fall in love with.

WOW! First off - to me writing, story, and immersion are most critical in an AVN. Renders, scenes, branching, and animations are tools to enhance the experience.

With that said - I have to say the Naughty Captain's writing ranks in the top five of all AVNs I have played. The conversations are fantastic, the "thinking" of the MC adds depth and actual emotion, and the personality changes that occur (via dialog) as you make different choices is awesome. With 15 branches thus far (and i have played through 10 as of this review) the fact that each feels unique is due in large part to the writing. Each branch thus far is a unique story.

I went in not knowing anything about this game so when i hit the "bad" ending my first playthrough it was a punch in the gut. It was very emotional but just solidified to me that The Naughty Captain knows how to create that connection to his characters. Not many AVNs can bring that.

Beyond the story that Naughty Captain has woven, the renders, environments, and scenes all compliment the story and again just help ramp up the investment in the characters. You can see the evolution of NC's skills as the story progresses and by the end of the current update it is solid work. Based on a recent dev log, NC is redoing some of the early chapters which will only enhance this experience.

For those interested in a great story and excellent visuals, I highly recommend Summer Scent.

absolutly excelent game so far. i am very curious about comming updates.

That Charakters are really beautiful and well written. The Storytelling is extraordinary. Just some words do confuse me, like there wouldn't be some "Teens" to use those word, but might be, because I am no native english speaker.

i wish the text was little bigger or even adjustible.

I downloaded this game with low expectations, figuring I'd read the dialogs in diagonal and get to the good parts quickly, and Alt-F4 when I'm bored. Well, as of v0.5.5, I can say I was very surprised by this game's story and dialogues. I basically stayed for the whole ride until the inevitable "To be continued". Sometimes you get so jaded by H-games you think you know what you'll experience ahead of time. I underestimated this title, and I strongly recommend you try it. It only gets better story-wise as you go forward.

This game is extremely immersive and overall excellent.

The plot setup is pretty straightforward and nothing majorly exciting, but it becomes really engaging after the first few scenes- this isn't a VN you can judge on the first 20 minutes. After time, some unique plot points start appearing that make the game exciting to play because of the tension and suspense that they add. It's the kind of plot that lets you have a meaningful role in the game world, which is always fun to have.

The characters are so well fleshed out and have a lot of depth. There's a lot of nuance to the way that they think, feel, and understand themselves- the introspection and self awareness is pretty awesome to see. The character development is really well-paced and nothing ever feels artificial or forced. The MC is initially oblivious and it can take a little longer for him to "wake up" due to your choices, but it feels really good when it starts because of the satisfying development.

Romance is often tricky in VNs because of balancing pace and sex scenes, but this one managed to do it perfectly. A lot happens in a short space of time, but it feels natural and believable. It's not stereotypical either- there's some extra nuance to the relationship dynamics that makes it feel more grounded instead of just a "feel-good" kind of thing.

Graphics are great and the environment renders had a lot of effort put into them, they were really nice to look at too.

v0.5.5
What a wonderful VN... so creative and expressive. Character-development succeeds magnificently through story and finely-detailed and emotional dialogue.
The LI choices seem obviously 2D at first but the 3rd dimension is added and another unexpected choice which is brave and touching. Lovely work!

it is the first time i felt empathy towards game characters particularly Kelly. Also the graphics are impressive plus lots of humour in dialogue but also very deep convevrsations. i respect that this is not a fuck game but it kinda shows the type of person you are based on the endings. i would call a psychological test with rewards or punishments