Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid Review (breadfan)
A 'Breath of the Wild' moment for 'Boku no Natsuyasumi' games.
It's liberating when you're free to go anywhere, explore at your own pace, do your tasks as you see fit and in any order you like. Whether seeking new fishing spots or gathering collectibles on top of the roofs, it's all up to you. You can spend the whole in-game day doing these smaller things and no one would stop and handhold you to a next story related goal.
Climbing is also in. Anything you see can be climbed on.
In terms of freedom to explore the dev team was clearly inspired by BotW. In terms of visual style and overall level of polish it is closer to Wind Waker. The visuals are not as detailed as previous Natsuyasumi games, which had hand-drawn 2D backgrounds, but all the interactivity of the world and freedom of exploration easily makes up for it.
One of the main gameplay features, that separates Natsu-mon from the crowd, is that this is one those games where every day you spend in this world is tied to the in-game calendar. You are living your day from 7am to 10pm, and once it's over it's over. It was your day and that's how you decided to live it.
You have about 11 hours of daylight activity which can be spend on exploring the island to its fullest and then about 4 hours in the evening when you'll be restricted and won't be able to stray too far from the guest house where you pass a summer.
Some may not like that you have to keep in mind that your hours are finite, and there's only so much you can do during the day. But that's part of the game's design and the story, as you're spending a last month of summer in these places.
Think Pikmin where you have to take care of gathering fruits, battling enemies and discover new locations all in a timely manner. You have to plan and prioritize. It's not that stressful in Natsu-mon though, because it generally goes in a much more relaxed pace. But still, you have a clock ticking away with every route you take and every small activity that might get you sidetracked.
And pretty much every day is a busy day here: be it some events popping up at different locations that you can attend, trying to catch rare bugs/fish and donating to a museum, investigating a local Edo period castle, climbing on some high spots in town or taking a hiking route into the mountains. Every day is filled with something new and exciting for a 10 year old boy.
All in all, not only can I recommend Natsu-mon to every Boku no Natsuyasumi fan out there, but I can finally recommend it to pretty much anyone who just likes chill and cozy games with the emphasis on exploration and collecting. And surprisingly this game can even be thought provoking at some times.
Millennium Kitchen outdid themselves this time around, effectively pulling themselves out of this niche genre. They made something that still carries these inherently unique qualities of the series and at the same time appeals to a much broader audience this time.
In short: brilliant game. If you liked Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker, Pikmin, Psychonauts - get this game, it's worth it.