Sickly Days and Summer Traces Review Summary

Stunning art and plentiful high-quality CGs with a charming sister character, but the shallow gameplay, bland story, and grindy achievements hold it back.

High quality and plentiful CGs: Players consistently mention the abundant number of CGs and their high quality, noting the variety, beauty, and detailed artwork. The CG content is seen as a major strength of the game.

Sister character is cute: Many reviews highlight the sister character as sweet, adorable, and charming, with a caring and proactive personality that adds to the game's warmth. Her voice acting and design are also frequently praised.

Art style is excellent: The art style is frequently praised as top-tier, exquisite, and beautiful, with detailed and appealing visuals that enhance the overall experience. The uncensored content is also seen as a positive feature.

Overall game is enjoyable: Reviews describe the game as fun, well-made, and recommended, with good mechanics and content that justify its price. Some note it is better than certain online criticisms suggest.

Free DLCs are included: Reviewers appreciate that all five DLCs are provided for free, making the game feel complete and adding value without extra cost. This is highlighted as a generous and positive aspect.

Gameplay lacks depth and engagement: The RPG elements are shallow, and the gameplay is described as boring, simple, or lacking interactive elements. Some players find the mechanics frustrating or uncomfortable, leading to a dull experience.

Story is plain and mediocre: The story is criticized as bland, unremarkable, and lacking interesting twists or dramatic moments. Multiple reviewers find it mediocre and not engaging enough for story-focused players.

Achievements are a tedious grind: Collecting all achievements and CGs is time-consuming, requiring multiple playthroughs, save-loading, and grinding. The process is considered troublesome and inconvenient by many players.

True ending requires excessive save-scumming: Achieving the true ending is extremely difficult and demands many save/load attempts and precise stats. The final ending conditions are strict, and random events can force game overs without constant saving.

Patch required for playability: The game is considered unplayable without a patch, which is needed to access full content and CG options. Applying the patch is difficult to figure out, and the download speed from the official site is very slow.

Moe-style visual novel: Players consistently describe the game as a moe-style adult visual novel with frequent CG scenes and limited interaction. Some note it includes RPG or simulation elements, but the core experience is reading.

Multiple endings by choices: The game features multiple endings determined by player choices, ranging from three to four endings including a true ending. Dialog choices influence the story's direction significantly.

RPG-style gameplay elements: Several reviews mention RPG-style gameplay mechanics, including item interaction and typical RPG elements. These add depth beyond a pure visual novel experience.

Care for sister mechanics: Players manage the sister's stamina and mood by talking, accompanying, and caring for her, prioritizing her needs and happiness. Random tiredness or sickness adds unpredictability.

Stamina management system: The game includes a stamina bar that limits actions, with events requiring different amounts of stamina. Weekly stamina checks and management are central to gameplay.

Game crashes after first chapter: The game experienced a crash immediately after the dialogue in the first chapter completed, interrupting gameplay. This indicates a stability issue early in the game.

Bug blocks save loading: A bug prevents players from loading their saved games, which can force them to restart progress. This is a critical issue affecting game continuity.

Steam Deck launch issues: The game cannot be launched or played properly on Steam Deck, limiting accessibility for handheld users. This is a compatibility problem.

Slow patch download speed: Downloading the patch took two days due to slow internet speed, which is likely a network issue rather than a game flaw. This is an external factor affecting player experience.

Strongly recommended overall: The game receives strong recommendations from many reviewers who rate it highly or advise buying without hesitation. This reflects broad satisfaction among the player base.

Recommended for imouto fans: Multiple reviewers strongly recommend the game to fans of imouto (little sister) characters and sister-themed visual novels. The positive reception highlights its appeal to this specific audience.

Patch required for full experience: Many reviewers emphasize that installing the official patch is crucial for the complete experience, often noting it unlocks uncensored content. Some humorously suggest playing with the patch from the start.

Not recommended for some audiences: The game is not recommended for players who dislike hidden content, tedious mechanics, strong conflicts, or are uncomfortable with blood-related sibling romance. These caveats help set appropriate expectations.

Buy on discount: Many reviewers recommend waiting for a sale or buying at a discount, indicating that the full price might not be justified for all players. Frequent discounts make this approach practical.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $7.00.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Story completion: 6.0h.

Player reports express immediate enjoyment, particularly of the event-driven pacing and intimate dialogue, with no clear indication that fun is delayed.

Sister-Complex Moe Enthusiast: Focuses on character charm and emotional comfort, likely skipping non-H scenes and collecting CGs. Motivation: To enjoy the adorable sister character and the wholesome, calming daily interactions. Stance: buy.

Adult-Content Pragmatist: Skips or skims story, seeks out all H-scenes, appreciates variety in outfits and actions. Motivation: To access high-quality, plentiful adult scenes without needing a deep or engaging plot. Stance: buy.

Story-Seeking Critic: Pays close attention to narrative, reads all text, values thematic weight and character development over gameplay. Motivation: To experience a compelling, emotionally complex story with meaningful character arcs. Stance: sale.

External guides: The predominant user complaint is that the game heavily depends on external guides (wiki tax) for achieving proper endings, understanding complex mechanics, and discovering hidden content. Players consistently report that without guides, the game becomes frustrating or unplayable, indicating a significant lack of in-game guidance.

All DLCs are free: The game provides all its DLC content for free, either as free updates or included in the base package. This applies to all five DLCs and is considered more generous than the DL site version which charges separately.

Adult content with patches: The game is adult-oriented with uncensored content, but much of it requires applying a separate H patch to access. Without the patch, the game lacks significant content or feels like a different game.

Large amount of content: The base game is content-rich, containing 60-70+ CGs including variations, many HCG scenes, and a large volume of events. This makes the game feel substantial despite its short playtime.

Low price and good value: The game is sold at a low price point, especially during sales, and is cheaper than the DL site version. Reviewers feel the game is well worth its price.

Game has achievements and bonuses: The game includes Steam achievements, trading cards, backgrounds, cloud saves, and collectibles. These features add replay value and bonus content for players.