The theme for this review bundle is ‘summer’. ‘Cuttlebone’ (trip to the beach to gather pet food), ‘Summer House’ (a tale involving alcohol and murder), ‘Sophie’ (holidays and bad endings) and ‘The Dandelion Girl’ (the girl from the future) all feature.
Inami: This way we get to go to the beach and also get free cuttlebone. Win-win.
Title: Cuttlebone
Developer: Kuroonehalf
Length: 20 min
Price: Free
Adult Content: None
Original Language: English
Version Language: English
Genres: Slice of Life
Relative Rating: 2/5
Overall Rating: 4/10
Key Positive Points: Backgrounds, interface design
Key Negative Points: Filler episode plot
The Other Girl… why does that sound so familiar?
Title: Summer House
Developer: Carrollesque
Length: 20 min
Price: Free
Adult Content: None
Original Language: English
Version Language: English
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Relative Rating: 2/5
Overall Rating: 3/10
Key Positive Points: Dark story
Key Negative Points: No sprites, crashes, some parts not fully explained
I think my summer is ending here. As well as my life.
Title: Sophie
Developer: Didules
Length: 10 min
Price: Free
Adult Content: None
Original Language: French
Version Language: English
Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
Relative Rating: 1/5
Overall Rating: 2/10
Key Positive Points: A number of CGs
Key Negative Points: Too many bad endings, choice outcomes unconnected, plot goes nowhere
You know, the day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you.
Title: The Dandelion Girl
Developer: /jp/ project
Length: 30 min
Price: Free
Adult Content: None
Original Language: English
Version Language: English
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relative Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
Key Positive Points: Good story, large extras section
Key Negative Points: More time needed to associate with characters
Time to talk about instant bad end choices. Sophie featured a number of choices. They were as simple as, for example, choosing to go to the supermarket or not. However, the outcomes are absurd. In one instance, saying something slightly different to one character caused a completely unknown man to appear and stab the protagonist to death. If these bad ends are to be included, it must be obvious as to why a certain choice led to the end. Warnings and hints should also be presented in the preceeding story to guide towards the correct decision. Most of the time, it is not even worth including an alternative ending if they are not of a reasonable length; the choice point can just be made to progress as a natural part of the story.