VN - Ren'Py - Summer's Gone [S1 Steam + DLC] [Oceanlab]

tldr: came her to fap, not to feel.

I've been recently exploring some games from here, and honestly some of them were pretty ok, some of them were great, but they all came down to simple fucking. Just like any non-ambitious porn some plot was there, but its like non-relevant at all and you should just click through it, and mostly thats what I did - skipped most of the dialogs as they bored me. Even games like BareWitness which initially got me impressed with 'a story' and the characters turned out to be quite naive and stupid, as it went really fast to harems/threeways etc and the characters stories got somewhat ignored.

Then Summer's Gone happened. When I started it I was expecting another porn game but damn was I in for a surprise. I haven't even noticed that on my first playthrough I spent like 4 hours reading through the dialogs, line by line. I got attached to characters, to the story, to each characters side-story (which might be super important for the main story), started looking for some secrets, things that are left for the player to discover. Goddamn this game got me good. And when I've seen the S1 end credits I felt super empty and devastated. I had this kind of feeling before after finishing a game, but it was always a serious PC/PS5 game, which was almost famous for it's plot and writing - never an AVN though.

I sincerely recommend playing Summer's Gone, the only disadvantage of playing it is waiting for the next chapters. And since I've finished it 2 days ago I constantly check any of the sources for some news regarding Season 2. The wait is gonna kill me, I need to continue the path of my LI cause damn that story got me good.

Go play it guys! This shit will mentally wreck you but you gonna love every second of it.

I've just finished Chapter 1. This game is a true gem. A true diamond. The storyline is excellent. The visuals are perfect. The soundtrack is excellent. If there is a Nobel Prize for gaming then this game deserves them all because its the greatest game I have ever played. What a memorable experience.
10/10.

Hyped for more to come. this game has so much potential and i love the pacing of the story without blindly letting the MC fuck every girl i hope that the game will keep expanding on its story. keep going Ocean

This game floored me. While the graphics are pretty good, the story is amazing. I don't even know how to describe it without robbing people of the chance to play it themselves.

I actually went out and bought it, and I am salivating waiting for the next installment.

The game is was great, i can get behind the idea of the reworks first because things were subpar after you learned alot and you wanted to have a streamlined product, without a dip in quality . That integrity, wanting your game to be a good experience, without giving to demands of "faster updates" and focusing on what needs to be done, so when you are finished, it's something to be proud of.

Now if you take shit out of it afterwards, in another "remake", just so you can sell you product, you sold youself in the process. While i can also respect wanting to earn money, i cannot justify compromising what you should stand for.

great story.. not all VN is always having sex all time is quite nice change of pace..

I also like the character backstory peeling one by one that being told slowly, because every person have their own pain to heal & not all will like an open book, it will takes time to trust & to mshare..
the question is who will be heal or will be permanently broken?

overall good game & to slowly enjoy

keep the good work oceanlab dev, hope we all can learn to heal our pain & have a happy live

Once a good game ruined by rework because for some reason dev felt to rework the game when it wasnt even finished. Good scenes were cut thatembody certain characters and shows their personality. The new stories are wonky because dev tried so hard to converge SG and WiaB into one universe, removed some adult scenes for whatever reason prolly want to make it streamable, also dev keeps adding eyecandy characters that have no importance to the game, almost everyone look alike because apparently every girl is a super hot model.

Worst of all, dev nerfed Bellas unstable anger issues and unpredictability. What made her so compatible with the MC is her unhinged personality where the people avoids her and the MC is the only one to challenge her authority now she's not that borderline psycho. Imagine removing the core trait of your best girl just to make her another bland character. Smh.
To other devs. Please dont rework your game until you finish it first. Reworks are supposed to be polishes only done after its complete not when the story hasnt even reach its middle part.

This is gonna be a highly controversial review, as the AVN is a cult classic, but this is my opinion and I stand by it.

Pros:
1) The best lighting work in the genre. When the MC closed the curtains on his window and said that he wasn't ready, it was high art.
2) Very good camera work to complement the above.
3) The premise is quite interesting and mysterious. I got really curious what exactly happened to Summer and expected the MC to feel the same.

Cons:
1) The MC. Damn, I hate this guy. When his attempt to save Vic from her accident turned out rather lame, I was okay. I was like, he's going through some stuff, no wonder he lacks resolve. When he took her wallet and left the scene I was like, what the hell are you doing, man? The cops need your info! The victim needs her ID! Then Nami made him do the sensible thing and return the stuff he took. During the visit, he was a complete A-hole, and the only options were: a) to be a moron, b) to be a c***, c) be silent. I chose the last one, despite the walkthrough mod telling me to do otherwise. I purposefully failed my MC. Then, at school, he abandoned his friends for no reason, yet later those people tried to tell him how much they understand him and want to help him. The guy who they barely met. This was where I understood that the whole plot would go pandering to this ba***rd's moody edgelord persona and dropped the game. I mean, yeah, he's going through some shit, but we all have some shit in us, yet the rule is simple: whatever eats you from the inside, you don't let others suffer because of it. The opposite is how monsters are born. And the MC is a burden to poor Nami, I don't understand how she puts up with him. I'm supposed to like the person I'm playing as, and when I want to kick him in the ribs instead, that's a no-go for any game, and especially for an AVN.
2) The awesome premise is underused. As above; I wanted the MC to investigate Summer's disappearance, but he… doesn't do a thing, just moans about it every time. Pretty annoying.
3) Other characters. As mentioned above, these super nice people really want to get into the MC's problems and be his personal free physicians despite knowing him for a day and him never giving them any motivation to do so. Artificial tools for the plotline.
4) LIs. Before I played I'd heard that there were tons of girls, and, true enough, they looked very hot on the screenshots, even though I'm not a fan of such body proportions. As I was contemplating whether to drop the game, I Iooked through some spoilers to find out if I should give the game another chance for the girls. It turned out that half of the current content was given to Bella (who I'd never choose as she is a bully who bullied Nami), and another half was divided between Nami and Mila, with all the other LIs being basically extras. That's just… sad.
5) MC being impotent. Yet another interesting fact I learned from spoilers after playing. Well, I just don't see how the girlfriend's disappearance (many years ago, when they were kids!) made his condition this bad for this many years. Well, it would make sense if someone raped and ate her alive in front of him, but we don't have any info on anything of the sort happening. She just… disappeared. While that's a tragedy, it isn't monstrous enough to damage an individual this much. Something mystical taking place would further stimulate his curiosity to try and find out what really happened. This many years later, I fully expect the MC to have recovered and to be actively researching the reasons behind her disappearance, not letting his angst completely absorb him, doing nothing to find her, and becoming a nuisance to everybody around him.

So, we have an MC whom I hate, a bully with a ton of screentime, an interesting premise that the dev failed to use to keep me involved, side characters who all want to please the MC, and no actual sex to motivate me to soldier through all of it.

2 stars - one for the lighting, and one for the premise.

This game elicits such a polarizing conflict within myself that it has forced me to write my first ever review on here. I've played a LOT of AVNs over the past several years varying between the most popular story-tellers, and the less popular purely-erotic AVNs. I wouldn't exactly call myself an expert critic, but I can confidently say I have a pretty good understanding of what a good AVN can offer. With that said, here's what I have to say about this one:

The Good

1. The renders are top-notch and rival (if not surpass) the renders of most highly praised AVNs.
2. I didn't start playing this game until Ch 5, so I'm completely unaware of the depth this game "lost" through the years that many other longtime fans have mentioned. With the most recent update being my first experience, I still believe this game's story stands as one of the top narratives I have witnessed. The dialogue is captivating in such a way that I never found myself clicking mindlessly through boring conversations. The characters seemed to be actually talking to each other rather than simply talking at each other which is a big problem I've seen in a lot of other AVNs.

The Bad

• There's MANY LIs, but there are only 2 (Bella and Nami) that you can really pursue at the moment. There are 2 others (Vic and Milla) that can you get a decent amount of dialogue and choices with, but they are greatly overshadowed by Bella and Nami. If you aren't into the bitchy but secretly affectionate type, or the quirky, practically-forbidden childhood friend type, then you will be sorely disappointed by this game.

The Ugly?

• While this one has been beat to death already, I feel it's very important to emphasize that when people say this is a slow burn, it is a SLOW burn. This aspect is something I can appreciate, but it definitely is not for everyone. The total lack of sex scenes is what steered me away from this game a long time ago, so I wasn't totally blindsided when I finally took a chance and played it. However, if you end up loving the other things this game has to offer, this part can make you question whether this game is worth keeping up with (especially when we consider the lengthy development time for this game).

All-in-all, if you're a sucker for top-tier renders and engaging dialogue, this game is an absolute masterpiece. That is, as long as you are willing to put up with waiting a LONG time for some lewd scenes or even the slightest romantic interaction with your favorite LI. I loved it, but I can see how it might not for everyone.

Nothing else in the AVN world quite compares to how Summer's Gone makes me feel. Is it perfect? No. No AVN is perfect, and Summer's Gone has its share of flaws, but they don't detract from the mood and atmosphere the story brings. Is this going to take an extremely long time to complete? Yes, it is. Very, very long. It could potentially be in the 10-15 year realm, possibly longer.

So why should you try it out? Once you give it a whirl and play through the content, you'll understand why SG has such a loyal following and why all the naysayers always return. If I could describe SG, it would be something like an ASMR AVN. When you're following the story and getting lost in the renders, and that perfect Vesky/The Intangible song hits, you'll understand what I mean. There's just no other AVN with as much potential as Summer's Gone.

Remember, if you end up loving SG and Ocean's work in general as much as I do, always try to show some support through Patreon, Steam, etc.

I loved the story and characters. The characters are well-developed and relatable, making the experience deeply engaging. The choices I made felt meaningful, impacting the direction of the story and character arcs. The art style and music perfectly complement the game, enhancing the overall experience. I'm eagerly awaiting the next update and can't wait to see where the developers take us next!

Great story, great renders, great characters and great game.
This is a masterpiece of a game, when you come for the porn and you stay for the story, you then know you are in for a treat. Even with no porn I kept playing it and never once got bored. Truly one of the best ever VNs.

Slow burn, excellent character development, can be funny times. The amount of paths that you can take to some of the love interests gives this game a nice replayable quality while you wait for updates.

Terrible rework. I just don’t recognize the game that I’ve been donating for several years. Everything has changed and not for the better. Yes, the quality of the renders is great, but everything else is an inflated bubble. The latest update is like a slap in the face. A lot of Bella’s fans have left .Soon, Sasha’s fans will understand that they are simply being milked while Ocean continues to drag out content with Sasha. At the time of writing this review, the number of patreons has dropped to 1303. With such decisions, the second season will be the last nail in the coffin.

The problem is neither the absence of lewd scenes nor the MC's impotence. If you are really depressed or traumatized, it's only natural. The problem is that this game fails in delivering the very things it promises to do: relationships and world building.
There are a billion LIs, but only two (Bella and Nami) are decently explored. You have two or three conversations with two or three other LIs (Mila, Victoria, Zara), and all the others are ??? N/A. Without taking into account that some of them are just pretty face, big boobs with no personality whatsoever.

This game has been reworked a thousand times and what was once an "interesting" MC has been watered down into something undistinguished. A lot of scenes have been cut. After 5 years I don't even know what the plot is nor where the game is going, except for the obvious overcoming the trauma and start living life again. 25 episodes planned? lol.

Yeah the renders are the best, but that's it. And the English is almost as bad as mine.

I went into this game with very high expectations and they were beat. The visuals are absolutley stunning from the renders to animations all great. I really loved the "cinematic" animations inbetween each update. The music choice was above average and very fitting for the game.

It is a very slow burn but is 100% worth it, the relationship building is incredible especially with Bella. I felt intrigued by the story throughout the whole game. The character designs are amazing as well a couple very unique looks and all with very in depth and interesting backstory.

All in all I give the game 5/5 it is exactly what it is trying to be and if people need fast lewds this is not the game for them but for people who want the story and emotional backround that builds into lewds this is one of the best games for it.

Wow, it´s like reading the first 30 pages of a below average novel, while glancing at a swimsuit calendar between pages.

The dev can make beautiful looking renders of girls in revealing clothes, I will give him that. That´s about it.

Perhaps Wattpad would be a better platform?

This game was amazing a few years ago... but with every update the dev goes back and ruins everything that was good about it… now it is just horrible. I wish I could play older versions of this game.

When this game just released it was really good. The dev probably was in some dark place and MC line had some depth to it. You believed that MC is depressed and needs help. But now it is just a dumb cheesy sitcom. There are no likeable characters in it at all.

• With every update each previous chapter becomes smaller, planer, with less choices and in general more boring.
• Your choices do not affect anything – whatever you do you will always end up on the same spot.
• Most dialogues do not make sense now. The dev treats you like you are an idiot all the time.
• There were a lot of likeable girls in this game... but now every one is very repulsive.
• If you follow the dev on patreon you will see that he is a horrible lazy person that treats everyone around him like shit.
• You have to wait for a year to get 1-2 hour of boring content... in that time the dev does things nobody cares about and neglects the plot.

There is really no reason to play this VN anymore. There're so many great games here... but you will have hard time to find them because pieces of shit like this are getting overhyped.

The balls on this guy. I have to ask myself...what kind of guy creates an adult game where the MC is asexual (and thus impotent)? He's basically giving the middle finger to everyone who plays the game and two middle fingers to those who pay him for such a ridiculous scenario. It's like developing a mine site for gold and you decide to bring a wet noodle for a tool instead of a pickaxe. The balls. The sheer arrogance.

The dev is a good writer, the quality of his renders are amazing and he creates smoking LIs. His talent, however, is sadly wasted on this project. Five years of development (or so I've read, the exact number hardly matters) and the game has barely passed the middle school level of content. When will it actually become an adult game...you know, with actual adult content? MC is still asexual (complete with wet noodle) and little progress seems to have been made despite all of the women throwing themselves at him (the women are using porn logic apparently, even though the rest of the game isn't).

One of the LIs practically humps his leg like a dog in heat while begging for sex. She'd do almost anything for a hard dick (including giving him a beating if that would somehow help). MC is so uninterested he won't even touch her to give her some relief...she'd have been better off humping a tree or fire hydrant by herself, at least she could've kept a bit of her dignity that way. Oh, but he's such a great guy the women all keep throwing themselves at him. LOL!

It's a big joke and the dev is laughing all the way to the bank. A big part of the problem is that most devs can only make money for these types of games via the Patreon route, and this business model is deeply flawed. This business model encourages devs to dangle carrots in front of people who have money for as long as possible. It's walking a fine line...keep them interested and engaged but don't give them everything they want and let them get too satisfied. Hopefully the market for adult games grows to the point it becomes mainstream on Steam and other platforms so we see less of this bullshit.

A deeper part of the problem is the generally widespread puritanical mindset that instills shame and fear of sex and intimacy. So, many developers and authors decide to minimize sex in order to maximize the potential fanbase. Few things are more natural and vital than sex yet it continues to be demonized. Even violence and killing seem to be more accepted in the mainstream than nudity and sex. Wake up people.

Anyway, TLDR, you can have all the talent in the world but if you don't produce adult content for an adult game you get 1 star by default. DNF/default/forfeit. We can only imagine what the dev could've actually produced with those five wasted years (but not wasted financially...with passively aggressively tweaking the noses of Patrons and leeches alike as an added bonus) if he actually spent them making an adult game.

If anyone wants to argue if the years were wasted I reply...where's the beef? Where's the content? What does he have to show for all of that hard work (other than money)? There's no substance, it's all smoke and mirrors. No steak, all sizzle (with a side of wet noodle). I'm sure, in another five years, it'll actually be an adult game. Right?

This game even did not try to hook players by cheap lewd content it could provide in many situations. Its hard to find one good point that sells this game to me. It just has this charm that even when I am not completly sure what I see it makes it seem interesting. I don't get why we call our roommate a cheeto.. but propably because I didn't put enaugh attention into this story. I would like to change how we name her. Just little thing I find annoying in this story. Besides that love interests are damn hot. If not hot like demi gods then like goddesses. I can hardly find a potential love interest that isn't attractive. By giving Mc impotance they really did him dirty but at least in this way it gave him and Us a reason why there can be deeper, not sexual connection between Mc and his love interests.
Of course Mc needs to behave like emo, but look like younger Henry Cavill. Its obvious why. Just look at him. No wonder why girls jump on him like horny kittens. At least some of them. The more interesting girls aren't easy to sleep with and this game have its way to show it.

As a VN this title is top notch. As an eroge/fap material. It has almost nothing to offer. Bunch of pretty girls and nice tits from time to time. Some kissing too.
So if you are after a fap material. This isn't the game for you... yet. It is just full of teasing and hot moments but nothing else but when Mc gets his dick back in working condition... hm.. hm... I can only guess that there will be a lot of action. Broken hearts and lewd animations. Can't wait for season 2 to see it happen.