Frosty Kiss (2015):

Frosty Kiss (2015):

“It's been a year since Seymon returned from "Sovyonok" and met the girls from the camp in the real world. But it's New Year at hand! And it needs to be celebrated!”

Well, I reviewed a non-canon sequel to Katawa Shoujo, so I might as well do the same for Everlasting Summer. I can't really recommend it, but here I go. Seymon returns from the magic bus that found him back in the USSR. The same girls are there, except for one. Miku the Japanese girl has been replaced by Masha the Russian. I don't know why. Maybe Miku only existed on the magic bus.

Most of the girls retain their original personalities. Slavya has short hair. Ulyana is still the wild child. I guess that makes her my favorite. This novel involves him starting a romance with one (and only one.) of them. Which one is up to the player. Playtime is reportedly very short. Only about an hour for a full play-through.

Unlike the first game, this non-canon sequel was made by 2Chance Projects, not the aptly named Soviet Games. It's a very short game designed specifically for New Year's 2015. That said, it's okay for what it is, but doesn't bother developing the characters. Frosty Kiss assumes you played Everlasting Summer, plops you in modern Russia, and gets right to the romance...it's very Russian that way.

Speaking of Russian, a final word of warning. When you download this game from Steam, you have to manually set the language from Russian to English, rather than downloading a separate English release, as with Everlasting Summer. I had to re-install it, while searching for an English version, because I thought I downloaded the wrong language version. But, after Googling the problem, I discovered the language settings are in the game's main menu.

Like Katawa's side-story, I can only recommend it if you liked the original game. Except unlike Summer's Clover, Frosty Kiss doesn't add much, and is mostly characters commenting on the last game and the new year. Give it a look, if you're interested. Make sure you play Everlasting Summer first. I can't really recommend it on its own. Otherwise, you'll have no idea what's going on.

Everlasting Summer (2013):

Everlasting Summer (2013):

“Everlasting Summer is a visual novel that tells the story of a man living in modern Russia who finds himself mysteriously transported to a summer camp somewhere in the Soviet Union.”

A lonely modern Russian kid named Seymon goes to the bus station one day. When he wakes up, he finds himself mysteriously transported to the Soviet Union in a pioneer camp. Think Soviet Scouts! Within the pioneer camp, there's a number of different girls you can pursue, including Alisa, Lena, Ulyana (the party animal.), Miku, (A Japanese girl.) and Slavya. Each girl has 2 endings good and bad. There are also “secret endings” I've heard about where you can discover a nuclear shelter in the camp, or discover evil clones.

There's even an ending where you make a robot cat girl, who will be available to pursue next game. I've never gotten that far. As far as I know, each girl has 2 endings. One where you stay in the USSR and lead a good life. Or one where you find your way back, but something bad happens! (Lena's version has Seymon kill himself.) It's a unique game. Heavy on sci-fi, and alternate realities. I'd say give it a try, if you can stomach the sappy USSR nostalgia! The game was originally released in Russia only in 2006. The 2013 version is the English release.

SUPERMAN: RED SON (2020):

SUPERMAN: RED SON (2020):

“What if baby Kal-El's rocket landed, not in Kansas, but in the Soviet Union? That is the premise of this Elseworld's tale from DC Comics.”

There's a lot going on here. This is an alternate world based on the 2003 comic by Mark Millar where Superman was raised in the USSR. He kills Stalin after he finds out about the gulags. He beats back capitalist Bizzaro created by the US with Lex Luthor. He defeats the Green Lanterns as they are recruited in the Cold War, and single-handedly wins the Korean War for the Communists.

So, in this world, Kal-El is still the same person. He still cares about helping people, only he believes the Soviet system is the way to do so. Even with his vast power, and big heart, he finds that he can't control people the way he'd like to in the name of equality. He fights Batman over this. In this version, Batman survives the gulag.

To add to the list of heroes making a cameo, he courts Wonder Woman on a diplomacy mission. Eventually, she withdraws when she finds out that with the help of Brainiac, he's been turning people into robots to make them more agreeable. Superman discovers that the villain soon can't be trusted. This leads to a showdown between Brainiac and US President Lex Luthor.

All-in-all, this is a fantastic showcase for a DC what-if scenario. The comic is a bit more detailed, but I highly recommend this one for a watch, however you can. It really shows the ability of comics and animation to transport us to other worlds. Plus, I like Jason Isaac's faux Russian accent. In Soviet Russia, Superman cartoon watches you!



READ MY SUPERMAN:RED SON COMIC REVIEW HERE: https://bit.ly/2XmZ4xg