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

Definitely up there with the best AVNs I've played! The game is a slow burn, but the story and characters make up for it. Bella is amazing! The renders are some of the best I've seen and the music is great. The board game was the only part that felt a bit tedious and unnecessary. Can't wait to see how this game unfolds!

Pros: Bella... .

The best looking renders in any vn i played, story is good, Bella's and mc path from hate to love is amazing so far (ep 4.5).

The build up is amazing i dont really care about sex scenes tbh.

Cons: dev is making 2 games at the same time so we might not see the end of this story sadly, (32 episodes or something planned btw) i hope im wrong tho.

BUT the game is great, so far my top 3 for sure might be even better for me than Badik in the future with the phone added and stuff...

This is my first review of a game on this site, so that might say something, have a nice day.

The renders are really good, and the plot is pretty nice but a very slow burn haha
the characters are also pretty well made.
And the choices you have have great variation of personalities

Waiting for the next update

Very great slow burn!
Sasha is the best AVN model in all industry

Only bad thing is this AVN is MC

I love the choice that affect the story It's kinda like witcher 3 things
The story are very good and so easily to got hooked in
The Render are one of the best in this kind of games

I really feel the MC though he's not the same as me but we gone through kinda same shit and I can truly understand him to be like that but sometimes I feel MC is too much if he's always wannabe sasuke like that in real he'll have no society or no friends. He doesn't need to act like a dick or the time

MC have a weird unnatural grey skintone too and a little bit ugly and his dick isn't work so no sex. I'm okay with no sex but sometime it's annoy me

And yes it's really hard to choose someone because I really feel all of the main character but I feel like if I go with one it will hurt other so I have to keep it neutral

I hope I have someone like Nami in my real life and my mental state will not be like this

Thanks for a really great story!

The game has the best rendering among the 3D games I have played. Animation scenes are like movies. Dev should make a netflix series. The intensity of emotion and intimacy in the scenes are high. That's why you don't feel the lack of sex scenes. The girls' personalities are written well, but for now there aren't many scenes with the others except for two or three girls. This is the only con of the game.

Another great game.

There are obviously flaws in the current version:
- no real sex scene. I get that the story building requires it, but it is on the verge of becoming "no sex for the sake of principle" if it goes on a bit longer.
- there is a clear focus on some girls; while I like the concerned girls, and it's not a bother for me, it could be for someone who is less into them.
- music/sound design is weird by moments. When it's in, it's good. But suddenly it can stop or be missing, and it becomes weird. I'd prefer consistent yes or no about music rather than the "good yes and weird no" feeling it gives currently.
- at some point, you play a rpg. That part of the chapter it happens in seems just a way for the dev to use/make SF images. It felt too long; it felt too disconnected from the main story and all in all, it felt useless. That's the -1 star. In the long run, when the game is complete, if it remains a "one time mistake" the -1 star will go. But if it repeats, it's a true mistake from my point of view. A shorter thing, sure OR something to help discover MC personality/shape it, sure. But here, it was almost choiceless and without relation to the real mc and the girls with whom he plays that SF-boardgame. Besides, main criticism would be that ... it's a board game. Not a roleplay game. So it feels very weird to have images of MC&girls when all they do is play a game with little tokens and figurines.

Other than that:
- the story is good. I have a hard time to connect with it because that kind of ptsd is like lightyears away from my personal life and story and it seems to be something I never had to feel nor like how I would have reacted but I assume it is realistic, and some people have reacted like MC. So I accept it even if I don't understand it at all. I understand it theoretically but not with my guts if you want.
- the girls are mostly beautiful. I like the general proportions of all, and they are very varied in shapes and forms.
- some girls give a real sensation of mystery. I like it a lot and expect the story to provide information WITHOUT retcon or bad "because she was batman all along" kind of back-on-feet moments. I do not need a super complex explanation, but there should be an explanation at least believable for those moments!
- Girls have true personalities, and it shows a lot. That's one of the best point in this game. Bella, Sasha, Vanessa, Zara, they are uniques and feel real.

I really hope this game continues in that general direction, because I like it very much. I expect it to go full 5 stars when completed because I think the "SF images" were a one-time mistake and not something the author (who is very good i think) would repeat, or if he does, he would do in a better way.

A very interesting story with some characters that are written great and make you want to know them more. The main character starts off in a dark place and embarks on a journey that definitely makes you want to be a part of it. The writer focuses mainly on the story and the design of the characters and less on the sex scenes at this stage, but it will definitely be interesting to see how it will progress in more advanced stages of the story, the situation will have to improve significantly in terms of story compared to sex scenes although for now in terms of building the basis of the plot and getting to know the main characters at the expense of the scenes Works great.

Have played alot of games on here, and I judge the game based off factors such as writing quality, art quality, story line and character quality (MC and LI's).

This is the only game, to me, that has a 5 out of 5 rating for each of the catagories.

Ocean's writing is so high level compared to most dev's, where he's able to create an amazing story based off a simple plot. The subtle connections between each characters, paired with the overarching mysterious theme of "summers gone", really invests you into the story, and makes you want to follow each character to seen if their backstory has any connection.

Paired with his amazing art, render quality and animations, creates what is in my opinion the best story driven game out there in the VN world.

Master piece from Oceanlab.

The only game here that has compelled me to give a rating.

One of, if not the best story driven games on here. The story is a slow burn, but that is totally ok when the renders are this good. You will constantly have plenty of Tits and Ass to look at...

Writing is top notch.
Story does a good job with some tough themes - Handicap, mental issues... This is an amazing job. Looking forward to the next update... hopefully it keeps the same intentional story line.

We have plenty of - if it moves, it gets fucked. This is a solid change.

Summer's Gone doesn't go straight to the lewd content. Few games can afford that, and it's one of them. The MC is a broken man, and even surrounded by an incredible amount of nip slips and gorgeous women, his mind is not focused on peeking or taking advantage on them. Because he's broken, truly and deeply. And it takes far more than exposing the boobs to heal that. And when it's consistently done, with the right pace for dialogs, and some lewd rendering for the player to keep him or her entertained, then it's working: it's truly a visual novel, and not just skippable content between the sex scenes.

Well it's not at all what i expected but there's something about this game. It's filled with this immense sense of nostalgia and constantly hitting you in the feels. Goes without saying that the art is top tier. However, its the kinda game you should if you could play once its done or at least in large update chunks.

this game just hits diffrent i get so caught up in the story, normal i just skip ahead to see the booba. ehm i mean. but in this one i just have to stop up and take my time to read everything and just enjoy the beauti of the game. i played through all the paths and the romance and i just got to say its amazing. i used to support on patreon but i can afford it anymore so i hadd to cop it here. all im saying if i still could i would! and if you can you should. anyway play this game its breath taking.. i would give it 6/5 stars

Must Play. Don't skip the texts and then you will realize the value. The character development is superb and because of the story telling you will endear the characters. The visuals, animations are among the best. The only downside I can list if I try is the sort of (i don't know the term for it) playing a game inside the game/story like a rpg game that characters play which is not bad but I would prefer if the actual story moved forward.

I love this AVN so much or particularly one single girl in it that i got betrayed and backstabbed in the in the fun and ehalthy waifu wars we used to have here before most of my buddies got banned! the story as been reworked or redone 3 times already, i hope for a continuation since my love for this particular LI is basically all running in my head! does that makes me crazy? yes, but i found a weird and stupid family of crazy here and in the end you feel ashamed by them revolted by their choices and hurt by their idiocy... i guess it makes it a sort of real family!

that is the power of this AVN up to this point, an amazing comunity mainly the off topic group and fucking hell Sasha looks amazing... the rest of the girls are also ok i guess!

The renderings are the only good things about this game, the story is boring, annoying. The game has nothing in these almost 4 years, just text and more text (better to read a book), just a Hedge here and there.
One of the most boring and tedious games I have played. A shame that it has beautiful girls in such a bad game.
As much as I like a slow burn, but it gets to a point where it's no longer possible, it's impossible to play something so boring.

It's a masterpiece, really. The story is engaging and has lots of hidden details, which are linked to the previous game (Where it all began). The scenery is absolutely beautiful. Seriously, these shots are really well directed, and the graphics are fantastic too.
Thanks a lot for this game. I hope I can save some money to buy this one and help the project continue.

This is my experience with both Oceanlab games
I can write thousands of sentences in which I am praising this game
This was really the best game I have ever played (over hundreds of gameplays).
Game physiology: 100 out of 100
Writing: 100 out of 100, like 99% of games, it is not full of unattractive texts, instead, it writes the meaning of the speaker with a combination of short and attractive text and excellent physiology.
Model: 100 out of 100
Rendering: 100 out of 100
Bugs in rendering: No bugs
Tension: 100 out of 100, so a sex with models is more fun than thousands of other games
Animation: 100 out of 100
Characterization: 100 out of 100
MC's appearance and personality: 100 out of 100
Gameplay appeal: 100 out of 100
Etc

Usually i don't review AVNs, in fact, this is my first, and for a good reason.

• Renders

Top tier, consistent quality throughout the whole game, good looking models (not only the girls unlike in many other AVNs), the best CGIs i've seen so far, and i've played many AVNs, detailed backgrounds, high amount of background characters so it doesn't feel like lifeless street/building.

• Characters

Each with their own personality and problems, good looking and unique. The girls are very likable, not just sex dolls, they are real (as real as possible, considering that this is a game). No one behaves like a total cringe bag, which is a huge plus for me. A little too big breasts for Mila and Vic IMO, but it's okay as long as they are the way they are. And there is variety in body types, not everyone has huge tits, which is good. Bella and Nami are perfect examples. Jeff is a classic buddy aka probably the future best friend for MC, i like Jeff. I'd even want to be able to get him with Nami on non-Nami route. Dipshit Sai looks fine too, a classic asshole but at the same time he's the dude that could exist IRL, speaking from personal experience. MC has kinda dead inside personality, PTSD and panic attacks, cold and shows little emotions, which resonates with me personally. But despite all of that the MC is not a whiny dweeb, which is another plus for me.

• Story

Well written, life-like dialogues, i believe that's how 'normal' people interact with each other. The whole Summer trauma hits me. It's a horrible experience losing the loved ones, even worse not knowing what happened to them, MC's behavior and dead inside appearance is totally understandable.
The story is written well, and in my case, it's written too well. What i mean is as of now i'm in the similar state of mind as MC. Sometimes the story indirectly reminds me of my own traumatic experience, PTSD from living in shitty environment and domestic violence, panic attacks, trust issues and so on, i'm sure a lot of people suffer from similar issues, not just me. The fact that the game makes me feel such strong emotions is good and bad at the same time, but in the end i'd say it's a good thing. It means that author knows what he is doing, he knows how to hook the player and i respect that.

Can't say anything about music because i prefer listening to my own music, but maybe i'll replay the game with in-game music and edit the review in the future.
I'm not too picky about grammars in AVNs, partly because i'm not a native English speaker. This game, as far as i can tell, has a good grammar, text makes sense, easy to read and understand.
No NSFW content for now, but it doesn't bother me, i prefer a good, reasonably developing story more than generic horny teenager story.

This game is total ass. I mean there is a lot of ass in it. I mean, there are a lot of asses in the game.

Renders are excellent and there are a lot of asses. There is no sex content yet, but there are a lot of asses. There are many good looking and interesting ladies in here, of course with nice asses. Dialogue is well written, so it's an easy read, especially with a nice ass in the back. MC is likeable (even though he's sometimes an ass, which makes sense story wise). I like that there are male characters in game that aren't all complete asses or creeps, like in many other games. There is also decent music in gam that goes well with all the asses. Game has decent amount of content and it's all about MC adapting to his old self and building relationships, friendly and those with nice asses.

Looking forward to more ass content, hopefully more Sasha and Ayua and option to romance them. And ofc more Cheeto.

Downside is, updates are slow. I think this will be one of those that I'll have to wait for game to be finished before I play it again.

You are missing out on good story telling, relationship building, and awesome renders if you are not enjoying this VN. just get it, trust me you won't regret. Very nice story, music, and setting. I enjoy it and hope it keeps on giving. Goodluck to the dev!