Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid

[i]I made a video version of this review if you'd like to see gameplay along with my words:[/i] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjRzZcwZedY My summer hasn’t been all that great. My mother had a stroke in June and it changed both of our lives forever. So, during the stress of hopping to different hospitals and figuring out how to become a caretaker for my now paralyzed mother, I really needed an escape. So I trawled through the depths of the steam summer sale and Natsu-Mon 20th Century Summer Kid caught my eye. Satoru’s summer seemed a lot more appealing. His family and friends are members of the Mirage Circus Troupe and have come to Yomogi town to set up a circus for the month of August. Satoru doesn’t have to stress much about that yet though, for now he’s just there to enjoy the summer of 1999. Kyoko runs the guest house where you’ll be staying and it’s such a charming little place. The details of this location alone are like a microcosm of what I love about this game. The spotted wallpaper with cracks in the walls from wear and tear give it this sense that it’s been very lived in. Even the wooden beams themselves aren’t perfectly straight, there are little imperfections everywhere you look. Clearly a number of guests have been in these halls throughout the years. Indoor locations have these fixed camera angles that really show off the set dressing and each room is thought out as if somebody actually had to live there. The cluttered little laundry section with different detergents, rags, and various other colorful containers. The kitchen right next to it with it’s little spice rack, utensils, and cooking stains. Even the washing machine has a little rust on it. These are details that are so important to the vibe this game is painting but most people might not register them. And I mean fair enough, I’m excited over a washing machine! I would bet your brain notices though. This care and attention to detail expands FAR outside of Guest House Ashitaba as well. Natsu-mon isn’t just a charming little fixed angle game. It takes a ton of inspiration from Breath of the Wild. Reframing the exploration loop of that game through the eyes of a 10 year old boy instead of a seasoned adventurer. Finding cool bugs, neat rocks, and climbing up a hill because there has to be SOMETHING interesting at the top makes SO much more sense when we’re playing as young Satoru here. The game DOES have a time limit although it is a little customizable. You can choose slow, normal or fast days. Normal being about 30 minutes for a day. Your day is set up like this: You wake up and eat breakfast, do your day, have dinner, and you can explore in the evening or just fast forward to bed time where you fill out your little journal for the day. For the sheer amount of things you can get up to in this game I think a time limit is important. It teaches you not to get too hung up on things and enjoy as much as you can in your 31 days. Thankfully there’s a new game plus if you’d like to do anything you missed as well as several endings depending on what thing you focus on the most! Once we’re let loose on Yomogi you’ll see a bunch of critters jumping and flying around. A big part of this game is catching bugs and fish. You can pick up cinder blocks and find bugs underneath em, spreading honey on trees will attract bugs as well. It’s very addicting hunting for them. When you catch something a few neat things happen. It’ll be added to your journal where you get a cute crayon drawing of whatever critter you caught and a little fact about them. And it’ll also be added to your encyclopedia and the tank or bug box. From there you can get a close up view of the bug and get another fact about them! It feeds into that exploration loop really well because every time you find an interesting location like a foggy forest or a hidden alcove you’ll have your head on a swivel looking for unique critters to grab! And thankfully you can tell the ones you haven’t caught yet by that clear circle that appears so you won’t have to keep catching ones to realize you already caught it. This really helps later in the game when you’re hunting for the really rare ones or trying to fill out your encyclopedia! There are over 200 bugs to catch including a few rare ones you can submit to the museum! As someone who adores Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley for their museum sections this was a great surprise. There are rare fossils, bugs and fish they’d like you to catch and when you do you’ll get some money and get to check it out in it’s display! Just as the guesthouse felt lived in, so does this town. From the shopping center crammed with interesting wares to the more abandoned parts of the area. Overgrowth tangling to things that were of use a long time ago, now forgotten or at least in disrepair. It’s just a great world to hang out in. Everything has this sense of movement. Trees will drop leaves that may be carried away by the breeze. Vines attached to buildings will sway gently. Dust will kick up in certain areas. Unnecessary details like a corded light in the attic swaying gently add so much charm. It’s a world that just never feels static, no matter where you go and I’d stop to admire that sometimes. [had to cut section of review] Bugs and fish aren’t the only life in Yomogi though, there’s a ton of unique and fun people to chat with and get to know. And you guessed it! When you first meet a new person they get a cute sketch in your journal. They’ll have their own little stories happening throughout the month that you can choose to follow by chatting with them. Here’s a few of my favorites. [i]Nagase is this quiet and burly man who is a performer in the circus troupe. He can be a man of few words but when he does talk it never fails to make me smile. Ryoko is this bubbly alternative lady who always seems to be doing somebody elses job. She has a great attitude about it though and is a really cheery presence in the town. And finally Doc Shibuya who heads up the ‘Summer Break Research Project Research Center’ and Detective Agency. I won’t say too much about her but I loved her story line and learning more about her.[/i] There’s this quest where you follow Junko up a hill at night and she gives this speech about how the towns lights are lighting up somebody’s life. This romantic view at peoples lives really hit me. There are so many people in the world and they are valuable, full beings with things they are striving for. I just think it’s a sweet sentiment. And deep down I think that’s what this game is about. The fleeting connections you’ll make in life. The interesting people who come and go and the conversations that you’ll think back upon. Wishing you got to know them better, wishing you could see them again but more importantly just hoping they’re doing okay. So much of this game is tinged with this wistful nostalgia. They immerse you in this childlike slice of life aesthetic but the game is narrated by an older version of Satoru. He’ll occasionally comment on things he wished he said or did but then you’ll just carry on catching bugs and getting distracted by new discoveries. No time to focus on what could have been, let’s live in the moment! For this recommendation I’ve really focused on the atmosphere, aesthetics, and general vibes because that’s what hit for me the strongest. However there are plenty of things I’ve avoided talking about or showing and I’d love for you to discover them for yourself. This game is all about discovery and I’d hate to rob that from you. I started this recommendation because I was in a pretty bad pit of depression and this game really comforted me during it. Whatever you’re going through, even if it’s not as life changing as my summer, I hope this game can bring you comfort as well when you need it. It’s a great distraction when things are stressful and a gentle reminder to value the connections you do have and take some time to enjoy the world you inhabit.

This might be the most perfect cozy game I’ve ever played. Charming art, whimsical characters, plenty to do and plenty to discover. Just a very, very delightful time exploring and collecting things

I got 100% achievements and don't hate the game afterwards so I'd say it's pretty great. Really fun, cute, amusing characters. I want another one. A normal playthrough will probably take you like 15-20 hours. If you have whatever Pokemon induced brain trauma I have, it'll last you much longer and you'll be happy about it.

It seems like this didn't get much attention at release but it's pretty cool. You play a ten year old boy who comes to a small country town for summer vacation with his circus troupe family. The game takes place over the month of August and you get free rein each day to explore, collect stuff, talk to people, and find/solve quests from morning till late night. You can speed up or slow down the in-game clock at any time if missing time-sensitive content makes you anxious, but I've found the normal setting to be a good pace where I'm getting everything done that I want and always have one or two new things to get to the next day. The vibe is like Animal Crossing, but more structured, which is really working for me. There's a good mix of scripted events and quests (and even new game mechanics) that open up over time. Characters have a lot of dialogue. Almost everything you do is marked with a cute hand drawn diary entry (you pick a caption and sticker for each one). There's a larger story that plays out over the month as well. It seems like a normal speed playthrough is going to take ~25-30 hours.

サトルくんかわいい(*´ω`*)

This is one of those rare games you pick up without expecting much, only to realize once the credits roll that it will linger with you for a long time. Satoru’s Summer is the cozy, positive vision of childhood; simple days where your worries were limited to school projects and enjoying summer to the fullest. This game captures that feeling in a way few others can. The game manages to shift your perspective in such a subtle way that I only noticed it once the credits started to roll. At first, you approach it like any other adventure game, trying to complete objectives and find secondary tasks. But the more you play, the more you start to act like a kid again. You stop thinking, "How much can I accomplish in a day?" and instead start asking, "What seems fun today?" or "That looks like a fun place to explore." This is a unique and special experience. If you are looking for a cozy game to help you relax, this is the one for you.

I bought this on Switch when it first came out in Japanese. I'm still only halfway through the game (playing on slowest time setting). I bought it for sale on PC a while back, with the DLC. I wanted to finish it on Switch before starting it on PC, but the low frame rate was depressing and deterred me from continuing. I recently decided to try [b]copying the save files from my Switch, and it works!! No decryption or conversion needed.[/b] Yay!! Now I can continue playing it on the PC instead. At full resolution and frame rate. I'm a big fan of the Boku no Natsuyasumi (My Summer Vacation) series by the same creator. So I had to get this game. There are almost no other similar games. Anyway, my incomplete pros and cons (for now): [b]Pros:[/b] - Bright, colorful, simple, clean visuals. - Interesting, fun, cute, likable characters. Personally, I like the character designs. - Free exploration. - Nice world, nice immersive atmosphere. - Nice music, although it only plays during important scenes. - Lots of things to do. - One of VERY few games of its kind, ie. games set in modern Japan, games about nostalgia, games about everyday life. - Mostly voiced, but not fully. More than many other games. - Japanese voices are very nice. [b]Cons:[/b] - I think this game would've been better if it wasn't open world. The world is a little too big with a lot of empty space. Too much time spent running back and forth. Boku Natsu maps were more compressed and thus more optimized. - The open world is very obviously heavily influenced by Breath of the Wild, especially the item collection presentation and gliding. I think this takes away from the immersion. - Some characters obviously share the same archetype. I'm assuming this was for Switch optimization purposes because the game runs pretty badly on the Switch. - I'd strongly prefer character creation for open world games, but I forgave this game because there aren't any games like it. - Some people have complained the protagonist is so agile that it feels like playing a ninja and detracts from the nostalgic summer vacation feel. I sort of agree. - Some people don't like the character designs, but I do. - I generally dislike stamina systems. - Not fully voiced. But there's a lot of dialogue. - Maybe I'm not playing properly, but it feels like the way time passes constantly in this game makes me feel like I need to rush to get stuff done each day. I'm pretty certain this wasn't as much of an issue in Boku Natsu, because in that series time only passes when you change screens. But I guess if you don't care about getting stuff done then you can just play at your own pace anyway.

I can't think of a better game to play during Summer (or at any time of the year, really). If there's a game that made me feel nostalgic of my childhood Summers this is the one. Relaxed, cute, fun, with rich interactions and a big map to explore and discover. I can't recommend it enough.

I wish I lived in a little Japanese town catching bugs and fish all day

Really doesn't nail the atmosphere it needed to in order to make it good. Gameplay is mostly wandering around looking for collectables-- that's fine as completionist content, but there's barely anything else to do. Visuals are cheap and bad (they even reuse the same model for multiple NPCs), controls are bad, cutscenes are bad, quests are bad (mostly just "go here multiple days" or "follow this person")