Nusakana is an entirely non-linear and pretty much open world RPG with an insanely good bossa nova-ish soundtrack, made completely with custom assets and with tons of content & replay value, all in an extremely ambitious RPG Maker project that looks nothing like you'd expect out of a RPG Maker game. In this game, our silent protagonist finds himself in the exotic island of Nusakana for a year long vacation, where he connects with the peculiar culture of its inhabitants, encounters all kinds of bizarre creatures and beings and discovers the mysteries of the island with the help of a load of different cute fish girls.
Gameplay: Nusakana can be very unforgiving and slow paced at first, at least on the classic difficulty (aka the "way the game is meant to be experienced" difficulty). The game is built almost completely around time management, and its importance is made very obvious at the very beginning of the game where you must decide on whether you want to explore the island (which is overwhelming enough at first and then becomes even larger once new time-gated areas open up), take part in time-consuming events scattered around or build up money to keep yourself supplied with items and stronger equipment (the weapon system where you have unique skills for the different weapon categories is really cool in particular) through hunting, fishing and gathering quests. The enemies in the harder but more rewarding hunting quests can be brutal, and as such, require preparation (you'll definitely want to find some partners as soon as possible) and also some consideration as you'll end up losing time and/or resources as you search for the right creature only to end up being vastly underpowered. The turn-based combat system is very quick and fun to go through, especially once you get two or three partners with all sorts of unique abilities, passive or active, to make combat even more varied. The animated portraits of your character and your primary party member during battles is a really nice touch too and makes them a bit more lively and fun to look at (just look at the way Kat sits on your head or Mica stands on your shoulders!). The protagonist doesn't start with any skills until relatively later on, and as such, combat isn't very engaging at the start especially due to the aforementioned difficulty. There's also a fishing mini-game that is integral for certain quests and events, but you can ignore it elsewhere if you don't find it fun, like me.
Eventually the time management becomes less harsh once you find optional skills for your partners that lets them control weather (allowing you to take on weather-specific events freely and with ease, unlike a certain quest early on involving a thunderstorm) and you won't need to take on hunting quests after amassing enough money, letting you enjoy a bit more freedom. About the time limit of one year of in-game time, you don't have to worry about it at all, as you have tons of time to relax and enjoy the game as much as you want. For reference, I finished the game with three or so months of in-game time after 70 hours of gameplay, and it will surely take you way more than that in multiple playthroughs to see all content and/or get all achievements.
Story/writing: Being a completely non-linear game, the story also follows the same kind of logic and is mostly left for the player to piece together except for the final stretch/climax. While it all seems simple at first, the stakes are significantly raised later on as the mysteries surrounding the island are uncovered and everything goes into a much deeper direction than you'd expect. Character-wise, the writing for the 19 or so potential party members (or more appropriately, friends) is spectacular. No matter how generic and archetypal they might seem initially, it's impossible to not like any of them once you get to know them better through their events or quests. Some of their interactions with the protagonist feel very personal too and after enough time spent together you can even pick your favorite girl to marry, each one with their unique epilogue scenes. The different characters all have optional events you can find where they interact with each other in all manners of ways, giving some extra depth to them.
Music: Combining jazz and bossa nova, the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal and of extremely high quality, solidifying the tropical and exotic feel the game wants to convey.
Technicalities: There are some technical negatives to be found, some of them existing only thanks to the RPG Maker engine itself as far as I know. Summing them up: The game's native resolution is too low, forcing huge letterboxes on all sides in fullscreen; Similarly, screenshots taken are of very low quality and resolution and the game might crash when taking a screenshot in fullscreen; There are more typos than you'd expect and some weirdly flowing dialog at times (some of it is endearing though) but I feel like most of them got fixed throughout the years as past reviews make it seem like they were much worse. All in all, I'd say none of those issues are serious or *too* annoying, and it's worth sitting through them even if it takes some patience. I also want to point out that an issue that caused tons of lag in certain areas like the sea fishing zones seemingly got fixed since the last time I played, which is really nice.
In conclusion, Nusakana is a stellar experience and a true hidden gem that deserves love from anyone who enjoys unique (J)RPGs, interesting settings or cute girls in spades or any possible combination of those. Definitely get it, even if not on sale, as this game is absolutely worth your time and money. If you can get past the initial slow and harsh pace, this game will become an experience that will stick with you.
