The summer has officially dwindled away, but the yearning for the dog days remain. Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid encapsulates this pure sentimentality (or perhaps a longing) of rural 90s summertime recreation. A game filled with exploration and novelty–a birth between The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s expansiveness and Animal Crossing‘s chillness–Kaz Ayabe of Millennium Kitchen crafted yet again another nostalgic experience. After all, it was Ayabe behind the famed Boku no Natsuyasumi series.
The game was released worldwide outside of Japan in August of 2024. It can be played on PC, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch.
Wakey wakey, rise and shine!
A small family travels to Yomogi Town in rural Japan to join up with a circus troupe. They are worried about having enough funds and the proper licensing to do so, however. Their 10 year-old son, player character Satoru, promises to help them with accruing money. However, on the second day of the game, the parents suddenly disappear, and Satoru is left in the care of the rest of the troupe and Kyoko, the town’s innkeeper.
Natsu-Mon is set in the sunny month of August, taking place over a period of 31 days. Satoru is left to his own devices catching bugs, chatting up townsfolk of both friendly and suspicious natures, discovering new geography, solving local mysteries, and climbing up anything imaginable. Perhaps one day, Satoru will have enough stamina to climb to the tippy top of the circus tent.
A main feature of the game is that Satoru has this special summertime school project where he documents each day with a journal. He draws pictures and writes descriptions (e.g., “First bug caught this summer!”). The player can add a cute stamp to it too. The drawings are adorable and you can choose the length and detail of the journal entries.
There’s 31 days of summer vacation . . .
Players are able to gain more stamina and hand tools easily, but Satoru’s only true limitation is time. There is a day-to-night cycle and the player should be in bed by 10pm. The time, however, can only be known if you find the watch. Otherwise, you will be shut down a bit Stardew Valley-style without the on-screen fainting.
Players can catch hundreds of bugs, reel in fish, adding them to a personal collection or offering your findings to the museum like in Animal Crossing. Or, Satoru can give certain catches to Kyoko in order to make specific seafood recipes. Satoru can ride the bus, sell bottles and sea shells for money, and take on little side quests such as figuring out why the shrine path mysteriously went dark or filling out an insect encyclopedia for the town’s reporter. It is a certainly relaxing, low-key experience for those searching for this kind of game. I think I would enjoy playing Natsu-Mon while on a long train ride or flight.
For the Type-A personalities out there, do not fret. Natsu-Mon does offer little goals to meet, and players get cool stickers for achieving them. Goals include catching ten different species of bugs, or trying to climb up the clock tower, for example. You can also determine how fast each day goes. Players can change the setting to make time fly by faster, if you would like more of a challenge. Players can leave it on normal or make the game more “relaxed,” with much longer daylight in-game hours. I personally think that “normal” works fine. Yomogi Town and surrounding areas are big, but not that big, so I believe that players can manage doing most everything within a simple month. If not, it creates further replayability.
A world of wonder and whimsy
Stylistically, the game looks whimsical and fun! Natsu-Mon features colorful, detailed 3D environments with a cartoony approach. Each and every character looks unique and animated, making the world feel alive alongside its countryside aesthetic.
The music was composed by Hideki Sakamoto and Ryo Shirasawa, integrating beautifully with the visual design and makes players feel at ease.
The biggest issue with the game is the myriad of translation errors. Natsu-Mon is probably best played in its original Japanese language, as aligned with the handful of voice-acting scattered throughout the game. Fortunately, Natsu-Mon is not plot-centered, so it can get by alright with translation issues here and there . . . but it’s quite enigmatic. You have to play close attention and use contextual clues to figure a lot of it out. I do find a bit of humor in it though.
Final thoughts
Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid might not top the beloved Boku no Natsuyasumi games, but regardless it offers lots of replayability and a sense of warm, childlike sentimentality. I think I would have adored this title during the pandemic situation. Or times where I longed to be in the outdoors myself. It is very much a combat-less, open Zelda game and a hodgepodge of those highly acclaimed life simulations.
I truly recommend this game for fans of explorative adventures like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, or those just looking to reminisce on the good old days, both real and imagined.
