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

I've been following this game since as long as I can remember from the very beggining and I'm glad I came across it since, for me it's one of best VN in terms of this type of content that I ever seen. Story building is amazing and im glad it came focused in building all the characters main's and side of stories first and slowly but steady always leaving us guessing what secrets are there still to be revealed. It's so awesome how all the characters are connected by their past or horrible experiences in life and progression is unique since all of them have different personalities. The models are so beautiful and every single one of them detailed and I hope it keeps this way.

In terms of adult content there's none for now and im glad the creators are doing the plans slowly for that since in reality everything needs a good story to back everything up and characters need to know each other first and thats what happens in real life. If people expect sex scenes right away there's a ton of games out there that jump right into it which ends in rushed completion and in something that you will never remember or comeback for the expererience.

Soundtrack also it's been improving since day one and the tracks are awesome they really stick in your ear and they complement the story and its really well adapted.

For now everything as been awesome with this game I love it and im always anxious and excited everytime it has an update. Im glad it takes it's own time, improvements are nice and steady too and I hope you guys keep up the amazing work that has been made till now. No rushed story or decisions which im glad and that's the way to go to make a VN that makes anyone come back for even for just a few more renders of story.

Thank you for making this amazing masterpiece I'm really excited to see what the future holds for all the characters and the mysteries that they shown us even if a glimpse and see where all they're ambitions are gonna take them .

Keep up the good work as always and keep it amazing like it has been so far

Renders -
Industry standard, not much to add.
Game looks incredible.

Dialogue -
It's good some characters have nice banter and personality,
Others are more flat, having a big roster of actors is understandable.

Satisfaction -
Despite being a slow story you have your pick of LIs that are very cute and most people have immersion. Cheeto and Bella are the fan favorite for a reason.

Fetishes -
Yes, blue balls.

The best visual novel I've ever played. Everything is just top-notch, from the script to the visuals to the plot. We need to see more of these games made with real emotion and heart, they're just so much more engaging and fun than your average shit made by ren´py. Really hope this game inspires more like it. I've not subscribed to any Patreon before, but this game convinced me to. Easily 5/5 stars.
P.S: (Where it Began is also extraordinarily well made, though I find the emotional aspect of Summer's Gone resonates with me more)

This game has ruined other games for me. What a delightful game this is. Intriguing storyline, great characters, has everything from humor to romance to emotion, i just love it. Cant wait for next release.

I like the story, we are far from the glorious MC who has everything going for him, but more of a character tormented by a past that prevents him from moving forward.

The render and animations are of very good quality.

The game is currently at a very different level in terms of render quality, there are only two or three games close to the render quality of this game, and I mostly play the games for the story and render quality.

Render quality ✭✭✭✭✭ 5 stars - renders not only look good to you, but also make you feel like you're there

Story ✭✭✭✭ 4 stars - The only reason it's 4 stars is because it's not finished yet, the current state of the story is progressing really well.

MC or Protagonist ✭✭✭✭ 4 stars - A Protagonist trying to be a better version of himself, trying to fix both, even though he doesn't have a very good life and personality, and trying to help the people around him while doing this.

Character design ✭✭✭✭✭ 5 stars - There are unique beautiful, tough, cool or sweet characters that you cannot see in most games, and one of the most beautiful points is that he not only focused on female characters, but also designed the main character we play in a unique and appropriate manner.

(Chapter 4.5)

One of the best visual novels I've ever played. After SG you start looking for something similar.. it's like finishing reading a good book.

Beautiful girls with non-default models, and in general, the graphics and visual of the game are simply at the cosmic level.

A wonderful story with many theories that are interesting to read and discuss. The characters are also interesting, each with their own character and purpose. MC is also atypical for avn, it is interesting to observe how it changes.

The game also has a great soundtracks, it is clear that Ocean is directly bothering with this. (A couple of tracks will definitely go into your playlist)

AVN that's slowly going nowhere.

The story is based around the MC's trauma and erectile dysfunction but the writing around it is jarring when you get thrown a sexy psychologist and stepsister thing into the mix. Next thing, they throw in a basketball storyline...

There's way too many female characters and at this point, you're still not sure which ones are actually love interests or which ones you can have sex with. The best female character so far is the bitchy cunt one Bella.

Renders are pretty good with improvements to the quality and fixing up chapter 1 and the models.

But there's no real sex scenes and after 4 chapters, it's going nowhere fast.

No bitches? That would be the case so far in Summer's Gone. Although there's no sexual content yet, the story is pretty entertaining. The renders are extremely cinematic and some of the best I've ever seen. So far, I've enjoyed playing it but the addition of new characters when old ones haven't been developed at all is really dumb. Especially since I've already made up my mind. Team Nami and Bella!

Wow, that story is good. Beautiful girls, all of them. And an interesting story. I didn't even miss, the missing sex scenes. Yeh okay lots of tits, which is nice too.

I watched this, and have to say I read a lot of the text, often I just skip most of it, to watch were it is going.

I wonder if you can have more girls, in the end, or if you have to choose some, we will see in the next update.

I was expecting yet another generic game with beautiful female character models. But I was positively surprised by an engaging and addictive story, charismatic characters and a quality that makes it almost impossible to stop playing.

Summer's Gone definitely one of best games here when we are talking about quality of artwork and designs , it's really gorgeous that sometimes I would like stare just at some scenes for a while without nothing more .

It's smart that game focuses on relationships and story , I prefer this to lewd scenes .
Characters are adorable and amazing, dialogues are well written and I like the comedic elements very much , it make games more enjoyable.
Summer's Gone without a doubt is one of my favorites.

Really good game.
Very believable story, realistic personalities, sexy people, and a lot of power play.
Not enough sex, but all is done in a way that makes you trust the developer - too much was invested to throw this away.
the sister story is not for everyone, but its a side story... and she's pretty.

Superb game. It's the first one that has the whole "slow burn" thing done in the right way, because in other famous games they just withold sex without any kind of realism or good taste. Here the game focuses in the relationship building, and dev does it in the right way, we can see the characters starting to bond and to be closer to each other. Characters conversations have a meaning in the story, a purpose, so the player becomes imersed and engaged on what is being said. The player can see the character development starting to happen and the result is that sex will be a natural thing in the future, when it happens. Here, MC starts to get closer and the KISS comes first as should be, the game is so well written that a kiss has impact...And the kiss doesnt come from nowhere, theres building, tension, the characters get closer to each other and all...You will not see what this game offers in any other game here, and all of this without becoming boring or a snore fest. All the girls have their own personality, their own "voices", their own way to interact and talk. The game dont has any sex content yet (ch.4.5), but dont let this stop you from playing, i usually hate slow burn games because they lack quality, but this one is different..it feels natural.
Other thing, MC here is a well balanced one, i'm not saying he is perfect (and im glad he isnt) , but we dont see this kind of MC very often.

Review of version 4.5 Beta.

I will start this review by saying right away that, as of this update, the game has no sexual content. The biggest mischief the characters can get up to is kissing, groping and grinding on one another. This is not a problem for me at all as I don't play these games for the sex, but I feel obligated to mention this for those of you who either focus on lewd content or require copious amounts of it in order to keep following the story. If you fall into one of those two categories, you should probably wait for a few more updates. If, on the other hand, you are primarily interested in romance, deep characterization and emotional payoff, Summer's Gone is as good as it gets.

The game makes it very clear from the very first render you see that its primary focus is worldbuilding and character development. And I'm very glad that it stays unapologetically true to that to the very end because these are things Summer's Gone does exceptionally well.

The game features a large cast of diverse characters and takes its time introducing us to them, slowly building them up as unique, fleshed out individuals with their own quirks and personalities, goals and ambitions, hopes and fears. Some of them may seem at first glance like a rehash of classic tropes, but as we get to know them on a deeper level, we uncover whole new layers of depth and nuance to them which calls into question or straight-up upends what we thought we knew about them, forcing us to reevaluate our perspective. This applies to Bella in particular, and, to a lesser degree, Nami. They are at this point the most developed of the love interests but that's not to say that the other girls are uninteresting. Most of them simply haven't had the screen time to be able to compete with the other two on an equal footing.

I can't talk about the characters and not mention the MC - not least because whether you're able to enjoy the game will largely depend on how you feel about him.

Summer's Gone's protagonist is not your typical AVN hunk - meaning a total personality and charisma vacuum who nonetheless attracts women like a cow pie attracts flies. He's a flawed, bitter and cynical guy, living in the shadow of a traumatic event from years ago. Stoic and seemingly emotionless, he's definitely not someone who would be winning over strangers at a party. When he's not sitting quietly with a surly expression on his face, he's snarky, occasionally insensitive and calculating, often thinking ahead and planning his moves with a singular goal in mind: how to manipulate others into doing something advantageous to him or that would give him leverage over them.
But he's not a bad guy - when he does the things above, it's often to protect those he cares about or with a bigger picture in mind. And when the consequences of his actions catch up with him, he doesn't try to weasel his way out but owns up to it and accepts the consequences. He's also aware how out of line he is at times and is actively trying to get better.

I personally find the MC very relatable and enjoyable to play as. His irreverent behavior at times reminded me of plaything through Mass Effect as a renegade Shephard, giving me some good chuckles, even if he's sometimes unneccessarily jerky to people who care about him - and whom he cares about as well.

Turning to the visual aspect of the characters, I gotta say that this game has some of the most stunning models I have seen. Beautiful faces, perfect figures, curves in all the right places, very impressive backsides... yep, there may be no sex here yet, but Summer's Gone is already a feast for the eyes. Fans of voluptuous blondes will be particularly pleased as many of the girls fall into this category.

Another strong point of the game is its outstanding production values. Stunning visuals, a varied and appropriate soundtrack selected to fit the mood of each scene (and there are some genuinely good songs there), competent shot framing and scene composition, excellent use of lighting, great attention to detail, like, for example, the vibrant, bustling backgrounds in the images, or how the characters regularly change their clothes, hairstyles etc. Those building blocks coalesce to form a world that really feels alive.

And last but not least, something that, as far as I can tell, really sets Summer's Gone apart from other games out there: the use of animated cutscenes during pivotal moments. Even the tracks that play during those are carefully chosen to fit that particular scene, and synchronized to completement what we see on the screen.

If I were to complain about anything, I'd mention two things.

The first one is the inconsistent, changing body proportions of some of the characters. Mila is the most obvious example of this, but she's not the only one: some of the other girls' busts got much bigger between some chapters, and it's quite jarring to me - especially since none of them really needed it. Mila looks great in Chapter 3 (and 2, which has yet to be remade), but her bust is over the top in 1 and 4/4.5.
Don't get me wrong, I love a nice pair of boobs as much as the next guy, but they need to look realistic. I hope this gets toned down, or at least is made fully consistent.

The second thing I'm going to talk about is not a problem per se at this point, but a potential issue further down the line: namely, the size of the cast. If I'm not mistaken, at this point there are no fewer than about a dozen main love interests planned for the game, with the possibility of more being added. It's good that the game has a large variety of love interests, but from a writing perspective, giving that many characters enough screen time, development and meaningful arcs is a tall order. And this does not even consider the side characters.

You can kind of see this happening already: for example, we can already get major breakthroughs in the MC's relationship with Nami or Bella, but I still couldn't tell you much about Sasha or Sonya (both of whom are listed as main LIs). And while you can have Nami and Bella (or whoever else you're interested in) take a back seat for a while, that means breaking the momentum of their paths and forcing the players into long scenes and interactions with characters they may not be interested in pursuing. Unless there are strong story-related reasons for this, it could become a problem.

Time will tell how this pans out. Ultimately, I'm not rating the game based on how it may go in the future, but as it is now. And what it is is a compelling, touching and entertaining piece of digital art with a lot of thought and love put into it. One that I thoroughly recommend to those looking for romance-focused VNs, and one that I will be eagerly following and supporting myself.

Edited to specify the review was for the 4.5 Beta version.

So I played this game again after a long time and I must say that to my surprise it feels much better and more natural, and by this I mean the rework in the first chapters, before this there was something that took me out of the game and that was the "college" it felt very artificial the whole environment seemed like a high school or a school for adults, but now the atmosphere is much better and not only with the college but in general everything feels much more natural in the game dialogue is better, the interactions between the characters too, everything is much better

And what can be said about this game that is not already known, the renders are superb, the characters are great and most of them don't feel cliche, the music is very good, it doesn't have sex scenes yet but for me that doesn't its a problem i play these games for the story mostly if i wanted a quick fap i watch porn and thats it

If I had to say something that I don't like, that would be the mc's dialogue at the beginning of the game, it's very edgy especially in the car accident scene, but other than that it's a great game and a must play if you're a fan of the AVNs

Excelent game with an amazing storyline. It's not just a lewd game, it tells a story with a difficult topic: depression, in a very well developed environment. All the characters are grea making difficult to choose between them.

Among the best visuals, a compelling story line, good character representation, and for one not the usual:
"young mal, lost his father, inherited money/family/MILF and sister".... although that can be fun, but not 300 times, kinda

Damn, This if probably the best story based adult game ever, i have played plenty of games but seriously this feels like this is on it's own league.

Pros
Wonderful story (will be dark for some but it becomes completely different depending on choices)
Feels like a high grade cinematic arts
Choices truly matter
Very lovable characters

Cons
Probably because they can't afford it, it takes longer for updates.


P.S. this game doesn't have much sex content yet while i am posting this review

If not the best, definitely among the top 3 VNs for me. The characters and the story telling are the heroes. You feel the interactions with the characters like you're immersed in the story yourself. As an MC, you care for the people around and truly feel that they care for you. The story progression is beautiful and engaging. Strongly recommended!!!!!