All of these aspects help in creating both a believable and surreal experience that keeps you invested. Instead, it’s more interested in creating a believable atmosphere in the moment to moment story telling. Everlasting Summer does not force itself in trying to make a concise moral statement. The story is quite existential, but it doesn’t become overtly metaphysical or navel gazing, despite the subject matter’s inherent philosophical implications. The dialogue is usually quite casual and flows naturally from scene to scene with minimal contrivance to its events. Such naturalistic narrations are without high prose, yet they work in molding the surreality of the situation to feel more plausible and grounds the unreal world in a palpable, human reality. The writing describes emotions through the mechanisms of biology that try to wrestle control over the rational mind. There are still certain story elements that stay the same regardless of your choices, so the game’s story manages to stay cohesive, even with its differing paths. Due to the multiple branching paths, the plot itself is slightly fragmented. You might need a walkthrough after the initial experience, if you want to complete Everlasting Summer.
However, the choices and their ramifications are not always clear, which makes parts of the game’s multiple choices a matter of trial and error. The first time can be played blind, as there are no true premature ”dead end” paths that require reloading. It isn’t presented like a cop-out either.Īll choices have an effect in Everlasting Summer, with the most notable being the secretly tracked relationship scores that affect what endings you can unlock. While that’s rather cliché, it’s still a message that doesn’t hurt to repeat.
Like in other stories contemplating the meaning of it all, the answer comes back to love and friendship. Even if the events and feelings were pure conjecture of a writer pretending, they do hit a chord of true longing for purpose and dreams of a life worth living. The story feels genuine, as if it were a personal one. Even when the sounds are stock and the loops are easily noticeable, it doesn’t detract from the overall experience. From the serene sounds of nature, to the glistening afterglow of a rainy forest, to the bustle of a canteen, the sounds create their intended atmosphere perfectly. Your time at the summer camp consists of eating, hiking, dancing, swimming, playing cards, sports and other summer activities that bring back nostalgia of days gone by. Surprisingly, these activities have nothing to do with the gulags or the execution of political dissidents. Other non-conspicuous characters are there to make the camp feel like it’s not actually trapped in a literal purgatory.Īs the days go by, you and the pioneers partake in various camp activities.
You share most of the time in the camp with other young pioneers such as Ulyana (Bolshevik Pippi Longstocking), Slavya (a straight-edge blonde), Lena (a demure bookworm, and full on trash waifu bait), and Alisa (a tsundere who may or may not be part of the Red Guard). Its inhabitants are outwardly friendly and seemingly oblivious, but this outward posterior leaves questions ones you’d rather not ask, lest you break the fragile, pleasant illusion you are now stuck in. The camp seems to be otherwise normal (minus the whole communist and time traveling thing). The realm is replaced by the scorching rays of the sun, a secluded countryside, and an era in history that’s long gone. In other words, it’s a typical afternoon in modern Russia, right? The previous dreary winter scenes of a hollow city fade. He gets transported back in time by a red bus into a communist youth camp.
Everlasting Summer is a personal tale of a reclusive Russian protagonist reminiscing over his life and failures.