Heart of Summer

Rich volume w/several routes of romances. Roughly 1st half: select romanceable girl, 2nd half: suspense. Comedic and serious story. Unique good anime artwork. Fewer stills for the length. Fair price.
前半部分はコメディ系学園生活で攻略ヒロイン決定、後半部分は各ヒロインごとのサスペンスという感じの構成。話は結構長めで、さらに後半では各キャラクターの特異な展開が広がるので、全体的なボリュームは結構多い。話の長さのわりにスチルが少なめだったのはちょっと残念だったかな。それでも一見印象よりははるかに遊べる内容だと感じた。
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I was kind of mind blown by how much I enjoyed this game. Ended up playing all the routes and managed to stumble on several bad ends as well. Here's my spoiler-free review on the game. The long and short of it.
THE SHORT OF IT
A very solid indie visual novel with great story. Consider buying if you like these positive factors in a visual novel:
Strongest points
-Very good story (some routes are pure cinema)
-Multiple genres = every route is VASTLY different (for example there are routes that focus on areas like horror or mafia)
-Great balance of humor and serious tones (Genuinely funny humor without sacrificing any serious elements)
-Important and meaningful choices (There are numerous "daily life choices" but also choices with heavy consequences. You can clearly feel the weight and impact of your choices, especially on certain routes)
THE LONG OF IT
You live a relaxed delinquent's life in a new school, but very soon find yourself in all kinds of ridiculous and chaotic situations. Sometimes it might be extorting the school newspaper club to protect your privacy. Sometimes it's you getting threatened by literal mafia. Or it could be cheating at anything and everything just to get your way at school. From learning to skateboard just to impress some girls to solving a serial abduction incident. Anything goes. Your daily life suddenly gets bombarded with all kinds of trouble, and sometimes that trouble might even prove to be the very end of your blissful summer days...
The game is a multi-genre experience. It mixes a relatively normal school life (if you can call it that) with a strong variety of wild genres that aren't usually explored in the visual novel industry, such as occult secret society, Italian mafia and even emos (yes, emos). On top of being a romance visual novel, it also explores (or rather dives deep into) genres like mystery, thriller and even horror depending on your choices in-game.
The genres are usually teased before choosing a route, so you might get an idea what you are getting into. However, the game has a tendency to keep you on your toes. Don't be surprised if you end up in way crazier shenanigans than what you imagined.
The game has an excellent balance of humor and serious tones. The story has a nice "flow" kind of feel to it, where you bounce between regular daily life and all kinds of chaotic and crazy shenanigans. It isn't nonstop comedy; the end result is a surprisingly immersive and naturally flowing story. Every route has a fulfilling story arc, and each route is VASTLY different.
As for characters, they are colorful and full of personality. Figuring out some of the characters' motives and behavior can be crucial and it adds a little extra depth to the story to figure out. I found every route immersive and some of them are very engaging with the choices presented to the player. Some of the routes are a little longer than others, and depending on the route/genre, also the consequences of your choices may vary greatly.
All in all a very solid visual novel experience with great humor and surprisingly deep and thought provoking story. The story really is the strongest suit of the game, and it manages to have 5 different genres packed in one.
Great game, can recommend.

A surprisingly well-written date sim. There is an interesting mix between anime and western romcom tropes, which results in an unexpectedly realistic-feeling characters. They're exaggerated, for sure, but they do feel like people you could actually meet in real life while still being entertaining to read about. The dialogues and banter are quite funny too.
On the technical side, the game feels very low-budget, the UI could definitely be more polished and I wish there were more choices, but, overall, a solid experience.

My goodness what a game! I remember stumbling onto this game and putting it onto my list because why not, I was not expecting to be on the edge of my seat in the second act and being so immersed! I love the characters and the premise of the story. What I thought was just a regular romance visual goes to including some horror out of nowhere for myself was a u turn and awesome what the heck moment for myself! I highly recommend this and hope the developer continues to make more!

Heart of Summer is the perfect game if you want to live your best high school romance life without actually going through the awkwardness of high school. It’s like your dream prom, except with more dialogue choices and fewer embarrassing moments (well, mostly). The art is stunning, the characters are ridiculously cute, and somehow, your choices actually matter — it’s like you’re in control of your own cheesy rom-com!

>First day at new school
>Get humiliated infront of all the girls
>No accomodation for me
>Have to sleepover at JackDonald's and forced to survive on 200 yen
It can only get better from here

Funny, captivating and most of all ICONIC. A breath of fresh air in the current over-saturated market of visual novels. The game has something for everybody. The multi-layered story keeps me coming back. The characters, not only archetypal representations of our age, but also the shadows underlying it. The author blends various pop-culture and old-school references within the narrative making the gameplay highly rewarding. Very original style.