!!! while the tl;dr version will be spoiler free, the longer review might have spoilers !!!
TL:DR
Positives:
- great art (although there was one aspect that threw me off at the beginning, but it grew on me)
- Smooth and small animations (uncensored nudity, but no real H scenes)
- Big breasts
- The story
- The characters (albeit that one of them has this cliche arc)
- the minigames (I believe I spend more time in the minigames than in the actual game)
Neutral:
- Music (nothing really special)
- The length of the actual game and ending (this one requires some explanation, which will be in the long review below)
Negatives:
- Nothing really bad about this game
Longer review:
I made sure I played the whole trilogy before starting to write the reviews. Desert Island was the game that I discovered at first and in the store I saw that this dev had already published 3 games in the Oppaidius series, so I of course started at the beginning. Comparing the art of Summer Trouble to the later installments, this one had more of a robust art style. The only thing that first kinda threw me off is that Serafina kinda had a jaw line like giga chad. However, it kinda grew on me eventually as she was still beautifully drawn and I definitely could see the skill of the artist in several shots (e.g. shopping ass shot, that one was really well done). I also like the smoothness of the small animations in this game. Smoother than most H games I played. However its good to note that the artist improved their skills over the years with the later installments.
Summer Trouble has the best story of the three in my opinion. It actually has some drama in it, unlike the other games, which are only humouristic. I did hear some complaints about the humour not being funny (OK boomer), in some reviews. It did make me chuckle a couple of times. I think the story has a good pace and is enjoyable. The ending (yes ending, NOT endings, which I will come to later) did make me feel for the MC, which is a good thing as good stories should do that to the reader.
The characters themselves are in my opinion written more believable as a real human being than most H games I have player. They just feel more human, however some cliche's are still used. Like Jimmy, the best friend perv, which is at this point so common in any kind of manga or hentai. And the MC is the shut-in (a VERY common combination). The best character arc is Serafina, and she is the best part of this game, as it should. As she is the centre of the game.
There are minigames in this game, 3 to be exact. 1 bigger one not related to the story and 2 small ones related to the story. The bigger one is poker and you have to score points and go through levels. I believe I spend more time in this minigame than the actual VN. Partly due that I tried to finish the minigame in my first run and you dont have many tokens. But since I am a fan of poker, i spend hours trying to succeed. I eventually gave up and finished the VN, only to see that the more endings you get, the more tokens for the minigame you will receive. And with the max amount of tokens, its easier to finish. The other two minigames are a mash button event and a click reaction event.
Now the music, well its not something I will remember, so meh its ok.
The only gripe I had with Summer Trouble is that its kinda short (ALTHOUGH. it kinda works for the story, ya know short but sweet). The dev says there are 5 different endings but to me they were all the same except for a small difference. The worst ending is Serafina leaving you a note, and the best ending is still her leaving but in person. The other ending are just which hand you use groping her breasts. The aspect of the endings being the same, while being said to be different, would have been a negative about this game, if it weren't for the story. It is supposed to be a drama, while everybody hopes for an ULTRA ending, where "they all live happily ever after". I think the fact that the dev chose not to let Serafina stay, no matter what actually compliments the drama part of the whole story. IRL sometimes no matter what you do, you still wont have that ULTRA ending and have to let people go, no matter what. So I think this decision is what makes the story so good, but just the fact that I was expecting 5 different endings but got 2 with just minor differences is what put the ending in neutral and the story in the positive.
Anyway, so all in all, its a good VN.
