I don’t know if I’ve ever played a video game quite like Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid. Imagine a JPRG where the young hero who’s supposed to embark on an epic adventure to save the kingdom doesn’t actually embark, and instead just spends a month fishing, exploring caves, and resurrecting the town festival. That’s this game.

But that’s not to say there’s no adventure to be had. On the contrary, Natsu-Mon is all about finding your adventures where you are. You play as Satoru, a young boy whose parents run a traveling circus. The circus runs into some issues in scenic Yomogi Town, so Satoru is left in the care of an innkeeper while his parents attempt to resolve those issues. With nothing more than his childhood curiosity and a school assignment to guide him, Satoru sets out to make this an August to remember.

And how does he do that? By exploring. By talking to people. By basically just running around until something catches his eye. Gameplay is mostly centered around total childhood freedom—the kind few kids have anymore, at least where I live.

Occasionally, the game gives Satoru specific tasks to complete. He may wake up, for example, and find himself invited to accompany friends to a specific location. These provide scripted moments that help prevent Natsu-Mon from feeling completely aimless. For the most part, however, how Satoru spends his day is up to the player. There are always bugs and fish to catch, all of which are documented in his notebook.

There are coins and treasures to find (were 20th-century Japanese homeowners really this cool with kids traipsing across their rooftops?). There are paid jobs to accept. There are ghost girls to…wait. Ghost girls?

Part of what makes Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid so endearing is that it expertly captures the wonder of being a kid. Did that little girl by the tree just vanish into thin air? Is she a ghost? Well, unless someone has a better explanation, she has to be. Let’s play games with her and find out!

Natsu-Mon provides bigger goals, too. One of your first tasks is to climb some specific buildings. Your stamina meter, however, won’t let you get close. So, you have a month to increase the meter and figure out how to get to the top of those structures. What a great goal that is. I recall my own childhood when a friend and I decided to hop the barbed-wire security of a radio tower and climb to the top. Did we make it? Of course not. Our stamina meters weren’t high enough. And it was also quite scary. And stupid. But we tried. Memory achieved!

Satoru has to uncover and complete all of these tasks over the course of a full day. They begin with breakfast and a morning exercise session (provided he was home in time for a good night’s sleep the day before).

Then, he’s free to roam until supper when he’s automatically located and returned home. He then gets the evening to wrap things up, but has to be home by 10:00 if he doesn’t want to oversleep the next day. This was annoying at first, as the game didn’t provide a clock; you have to buy that yourself once you make enough money. Maybe the point was to miss your bedtime, but I preferred to just hang around the inn until weariness took over. Even with the clock, it sometimes wasn’t worth abandoning my current task to complete the long journey home in time for bed, even with the ability to take the bus.

The length of the days can be adjusted to suit your playstyle. You can get more done by making the days last longer, but the adventures lose their sense of urgency. You also lose replayability that way. Tear through the game on short days, and you’ll be more likely to play again, making different decisions on how you spend your time. Shorter days, however, also make it more difficult to complete certain assignments and jobs, which can be frustrating (especially those that require precise movements).

This is especially true of the tasks that require platforming or reaching far-off locations. The game’s open world is colorful and nicely detailed, but getting around can sometimes prove difficult. This is largely due to somewhat clunky controls, especially when platforming is in the mix. And because Satoru can climb nearly anything, he’ll often start climbing things you don’t want him to.

Natsu-Mon also doesn’t do a great job of guiding you on your tasks, or even helping you figure out how to go to bed. Random exploration was very fun at the beginning, but by the time you’re approaching the end of August, a little more help on how to get things done would’ve been appreciated. A fortune-telling circus member eventually shows up to help, and you may even locate a mystical port-a-pot to help you get home in an instant. Still, expect some gaming sessions to be more productive than others. Maybe that’s a development decision—you can’t expect to complete a childhood’s worth of adventures in a month, right? Especially when there’s already a DLC adventure to embark on.

Also, it forces you to talk to people, and that’s one of the game’s greatest strengths. Almost every person you meet has something to contribute. Even better, their individual quirks (and Satoru’s response to them) make them fun to engage with. The conversations are a joy to experience, even if you are oddly forced to select every dialogue option before leaving them. And, like in real life, you never know which conversation will end up shaping the course of your summer.

These all combine to create a chill, Animal Crossing-type experience that will make older gamers wistful. It affected me a bit differently, as I had these types of days in my childhood. I explored creek bridges in search of black snakes. I climbed abandoned grain silos. I never hopped on a box car and rode it 30 miles into a neighboring town before disembarking and calling my dad for a ride home, but I have a buddy who did.

Rather, Natsu-Mon makes me wistful for an environment where kids still have this type of freedom (or even just desire it). I imagine that’s why the game was made, as that sense of wonder and curiosity is deeply woven into its core. That makes it a game worth experiencing, provided childhood adventures haven’t lost their appeal. Who needs to go fight God on some interstellar plane when there’s a lighthouse to climb literally right there?

The post Review: Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

Once you hit a certain age, life gets so busy. You tend to see it all. Work takes up more of your life than you’d expect. Arranging time to hang out with friends can get tougher. It’s part of why some probably seek out a cozy life sim or two, so they can at least virtually enjoy some downtime. With Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid, Millennium Kitchen and Toybox present an experience that perfectly recreates that summer vacation experience. It really is like you’re 10 again, life is new and fresh, you have total freedom, and only new, pleasant, positive experiences await you.

Satoru is a circus kid. I mean, not literally. His parents are letting him decide his own path. But the two of them are a part of a circus, and the three of them set up shop with coworkers at Yomogi Town for a show. While Satoru’s parents and crew work out some details related to the show and debt, he — and by extension the player — have the whole summer ahead of them to explore the town, meet the locals, engage in peaceful activities, take on challenges like bug catching, fishing, fundraising, solving mysteries, and summer homework. While there are recommended quests and you’ll eventually take on tasks that increase your stamina for climbing power, it’s up to you to do what makes you happy.

Almost immediately after getting into Natsu-Mon, a player is given the freedom to do whatever they’d like. After initially talking with your family, the owner of the Guesthouse Ashitaba where you’re staying, and fellow circus troupe members… you’re free. I ended up catching 10 bugs to boost my stamina by one, met the local kids and agreed to help them with their first mystery, then got home in time for dinner. After that, I met more of the people staying at Ashitaba, talked to the Shrine Dude, relit lanterns, then fell asleep. The next day, I took a look at my map to see who I hadn’t met yet, talked to more locals, and looked into doing some fishing to help the circus with some debt. 

You’re never gated off while playing Natsu-Mon, and it’s refreshing. I felt like as long as I kept being curious and exploring, I’d get to see new things, meet new people, and savor these delightful moments. Especially since it’s so easy to earn Stickers to increase the Stamina gauge for climbing and dashing via things like Big Adventures quests or Flatfoot Files with the Yomogi Town kids. And recounting said activities in the diary for summer school homework is a great way to keep track of everything you’ve done.

Which also ties in to another amazing thing about Natsu-Mon: the localization. I think it’s one of the most charming, cozy, funny, creative, and curious scripts in a Switch life sim. The lines Satoru has, including the choices you can make for his responses, are fantastic. The reactions of other characters are so personable and feel real. This is one of those games where you want to talk to every NPC, as well as do so as often as possible, so you can see what they’ll say next. I will definitely eventually replay it again, so I can relive certain moments, like the summer festival and see experience certain interactions again.

The only time Natsu-Mon doesn’t delight is that sometimes this life sim can feel more awkward than cozy. For example, you might occasionally happen upon a challenge or task that involves Satoru engaging in some light parkouring or platforming. Lighting the shrine lanterns is a perfect example. As good as the game is, it doesn’t lend itself well to precise jumping. It also can be so freeform that, before you find your bearings, you might not immediately know where to go and what to do. On the very first day, I found myself flummoxed when it came to figuring out how to actually go to bed. Especially since the game just warned that if I stayed up late, I would miss morning exercises! I also found myself wasting time the first day trying to find a way to fish, with it not happening for me until my second day began. Also, while bug catching does involve a helpful circle around potential catches within range, I sometimes didn’t feel like I was catching the critter I intended to if multiple ones were around. 

Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid launched at a time when I really needed it, and that made me appreciate this cozy life sim even more. The older we get, the rarer it is to enjoy weeks of freedom, discovery, and joy. I get so caught up in work, especially around summer events when there are events back-to-back. Millennium Kitchen and Toybox really captured the magic of a peaceful summer where you can live at your own pace. Everything is new and an adventure. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating.

Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid will be available for the Nintendo Switch and PC on August 6, 2024. A demo is available on the Switch.

The post Review: Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid Cozy Life Sim Sparks Joy appeared first on Siliconera.

Once you hit a certain age, life gets so busy. You tend to see it all. Work takes up more of your life than you’d expect. Arranging time to hang out with friends can get tougher. It’s part of why some probably seek out a cozy life sim or two, so they can at least virtually enjoy some downtime. With Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid, Millennium Kitchen and Toybox present an experience that perfectly recreates that summer vacation experience. It really is like you’re 10 again, life is new and fresh, you have total freedom, and only new, pleasant, positive experiences await you.

Satoru is a circus kid. I mean, not literally. His parents are letting him decide his own path. But the two of them are a part of a circus, and the three of them set up shop with coworkers at Yomogi Town for a show. While Satoru’s parents and crew work out some details related to the show and debt, he — and by extension the player — have the whole summer ahead of them to explore the town, meet the locals, engage in peaceful activities, take on challenges like bug catching, fishing, fundraising, solving mysteries, and summer homework. While there are recommended quests and you’ll eventually take on tasks that increase your stamina for climbing power, it’s up to you to do what makes you happy.

Almost immediately after getting into Natsu-Mon, a player is given the freedom to do whatever they’d like. After initially talking with your family, the owner of the Guesthouse Ashitaba where you’re staying, and fellow circus troupe members… you’re free. I ended up catching 10 bugs to boost my stamina by one, met the local kids and agreed to help them with their first mystery, then got home in time for dinner. After that, I met more of the people staying at Ashitaba, talked to the Shrine Dude, relit lanterns, then fell asleep. The next day, I took a look at my map to see who I hadn’t met yet, talked to more locals, and looked into doing some fishing to help the circus with some debt. 

You’re never gated off while playing Natsu-Mon, and it’s refreshing. I felt like as long as I kept being curious and exploring, I’d get to see new things, meet new people, and savor these delightful moments. Especially since it’s so easy to earn Stickers to increase the Stamina gauge for climbing and dashing via things like Big Adventures quests or Flatfoot Files with the Yomogi Town kids. And recounting said activities in the diary for summer school homework is a great way to keep track of everything you’ve done.

Which also ties in to another amazing thing about Natsu-Mon: the localization. I think it’s one of the most charming, cozy, funny, creative, and curious scripts in a Switch life sim. The lines Satoru has, including the choices you can make for his responses, are fantastic. The reactions of other characters are so personable and feel real. This is one of those games where you want to talk to every NPC, as well as do so as often as possible, so you can see what they’ll say next. I will definitely eventually replay it again, so I can relive certain moments, like the summer festival and see experience certain interactions again.

The only time Natsu-Mon doesn’t delight is that sometimes this life sim can feel more awkward than cozy. For example, you might occasionally happen upon a challenge or task that involves Satoru engaging in some light parkouring or platforming. Lighting the shrine lanterns is a perfect example. As good as the game is, it doesn’t lend itself well to precise jumping. It also can be so freeform that, before you find your bearings, you might not immediately know where to go and what to do. On the very first day, I found myself flummoxed when it came to figuring out how to actually go to bed. Especially since the game just warned that if I stayed up late, I would miss morning exercises! I also found myself wasting time the first day trying to find a way to fish, with it not happening for me until my second day began. Also, while bug catching does involve a helpful circle around potential catches within range, I sometimes didn’t feel like I was catching the critter I intended to if multiple ones were around. 

Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid launched at a time when I really needed it, and that made me appreciate this cozy life sim even more. The older we get, the rarer it is to enjoy weeks of freedom, discovery, and joy. I get so caught up in work, especially around summer events when there are events back-to-back. Millennium Kitchen and Toybox really captured the magic of a peaceful summer where you can live at your own pace. Everything is new and an adventure. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating.

Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid will be available for the Nintendo Switch and PC on August 6, 2024. A demo is available on the Switch.

The post Review: Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid Cozy Life Sim Sparks Joy appeared first on Siliconera.