Summer Daze: Tilly's Tale

I want to preface this review by saying I'm a huge fan of the Cole's work and always have been. Every game they make is fun and appeals to my adventure game roots. Quest for Glory will forever be one of the greatest series ever made and Hero-U original was also exceptional. I write this review to give my honest feelings having just completed my first playthrough of Summer Daze. It's to give others a sense of my experience as a long time fan so they can decide whether to try this game or not. If the Cole's are reading this, which they probably are, please don't stop making games! I'm just being honest. Summer Daze was on hold for what seemed like years. There were previews for ages but we never knew when the game would actually be released, if ever. When I discovered it was finally being released today I set my alarm to be among the first buyers. I want to support the Cole's work and I don't regret my purchase. Overall I have to give a thumbs down, sorry. Here are my pros and cons:...

[b]Summer Daze[/b] is an interactive story set in the world of [b]Quest For Glory[/b] and [b]Hero-U[/b] (check out [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/python777/recommended/375440/]my review here[/url]). If you're looking for an experience similar to these two games, I have to disappoint you. This is no point-and-click adventure game, nor is it an RPG. Basically, all you do is talk to people and try to convince them to help you with the organization of the Harvest Festival. Of course there are some references to the aforementioned games. The protagonist, Lilly, is the adopted daughter of the healer from Quest For Glory I. Then there's minotaurs, Kattas, a couple of characters from [b]Hero-U[/b]... And of course the typical Cole humor is back as well. The story is rather short, but after two play-throughs, I can only assume there's probably a dozen different endings. It's a shame there are no achievements (yet?) because usually those give you a pretty good idea what to try next. The voi...

I'll preface this by saying Quest for Glory is one of my favorite gaming series of all time (even my screen name is in part a nod to it). I also really loved Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption when that was released years ago and noted that I got that same feeling playing it as an adult as I got playing the original Quest for Glory series as a kid. I knew Summer Daze was completely different so I went into it with an open mind. Overall, well it was okay. I liked the narration and I enjoyed hearing everything through the Coles' voice (figuratively speaking). Overall though it seemed pretty half baked at times, kind of like an extra lite version of Rogue to Redemption. The gameplay completely revolves around making choices, but the choices are extremely limited and seem to have little impact on outcomes. As an example, your character can study/prepare for the two tests you take during the game, but it didn't seem to matter whether I did well or not. It would have been nice to have been a...

To begin with the positives, the voice acting and dialogue are fun, and the setting and the basic premise are enjoyable. However, the vagueness of the game's systems left it feeling deeply unsatisfying. I don't expect every decision a player makes in a choice-based VN to be a fully informed one (in fact, some of the things I most like about the genre are inferring the characters' personalities based on their responses and being surprised by the consequences of past choices way down the line), but there's a difference between making decisions based on limited information and trial-and-error gameplay. With no indication of where the characters are at any given time, their responses giving you very little to work with, and the days blending together into a series of brief conversations cut short, I really wonder if the player is meant to constantly save and reload to find the optimal paths. I don't expect visible stats in a VN (although a date indicator at least could have seriously help...

The reason I'm recommending this game is that it is a perfectly fine visual novel so far. I think there have been a large amount of negative reviews stemming from fans of the Coles' other works who don't understand that 'clicking through text' is an entire game genre that a very particular audience likes. I've played enough Visual Novels to see that this one is of a very high quality, especially in terms of the voice acting. At the same time, I can 100% see why many people would just... not like visual novels, period. I don't know what to say, they chose a very, very niche genre for a game, and their RPG fans didn't care for it. It's very normal, but it doesn't mean the game is bad for a VN audience.

This game came exactly as advertised. It's not QFG, nor is it Hero U. However, if my meagre contribution helps fund the next big Cole project then I'm happy to pay it and enjoy some gnome humor while waiting for Hero U2: 'Enry the 'Ermit Emerges* *working title, the Coles will come up with something better

Big fan of the Quest For Glory games as well as Hero U. This game was totally different from those games, which is fine. But as either a stand-alone or a spin-off game, it just doesn't hold-up at the current price point. Played through the first game so fast, like about an hour (once subtracting time for restarting when it crashed a few times), till it felt more like a demo for a larger game to come. Will probably reply a few more times, but after that I don't see myself coming back to it. Graphics are cute, the trademark puns are back in full force and pretty pun-ny, and the voice acting is great. But as a complete game, it really left me wanting for more. So I guess it's time for another run through of Hero-U to satiate me. Hahaha!

Honestly, I wish there was a middle review button. I gave it a thumbs up because there are way more pros than cons... but I feel unsatisfied. If this was a game demo instead of a complete game - PERFECT! If this was a $5.00 game, I'd be able to give it a certain, no doubt THUMBS UP. Like many other reviewers here, I am a long time fan of the Coles - thirty plus years. I love the Quest for Glory games and play them often. I adore Hero-U! It's an amazing game that leaves me aching for more. Every time I finish playing these games, I am depressed because I'm done but happy that I have them to play in the first place. Given this fact, one can imagine how excited I was for this game. I know it's a graphic novel type and not meant to be a full game like Hero-U, but when I finished the game, I was still like WHAT? it's over already? I was surprised since the development of the game took a really long time. Fans of Hero-U and Quest for Glory waited for years. True, I know nothing of game deve...

Having played the original Quest for Glory series in the 1990s & Hero-U in more recent years, I was very much looking forward to playing another game in the same vein. But in every other dialogue between Tilly & another character, I get stuck on one line of text. If I then click on the Fast Forward button at top right, the game crashes. How can I play a game if it constantly crashes? Now I feel I've wasted good money.

This game comes straight from the heart. The characters are amiable and inspired me to reflect on my own character, the one outside the game. The voice acting and artwork, top-notch. I only wish there was more of it. Please spread the word and promote these great artists!