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News Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid localization coming to Nintendo Switch and Steam on August 6th (UPDATE: demo out now)

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I'm giving Hilltop like 90% of the credit for this for translating Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 and willing it into existence.
 
Amazing news! Dated for August fittingly. No more copycats like Shinchan or Dordogne, now it's time to try the real thing!
 
I'm happy to see this coming west. The physical game collector in me is disappointed it's digital only though, but I'm optimistic that Limited Run Games may do a physical print for it eventually, since they did for the first Boku no Natsuyasumi Shin-chan game.
 
Oh wow, the localization is releasing so soon !! Can't wait !

9-Volt said:
Amazing news! Dated for August fittingly. No more copycats like Shinchan or Dordogne, now it's time to try the real thing!
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Yeah, Shinchan was cool but it still was different because it was adapting an existing IP.

And Attack of the Friday Monsters which got localized on the 3DS was also a very different beast. So glad we're finally getting the actual real thing in the west.
 
Dunban said:
They own the original Boku no Natsuyasumi or My Summer Vacation series. This is Natsu-mon.
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What's the chance of that series coming to Switch and to the west?

I'm looking forward to this game, tho I still have to finish the Shin Chan one.
 
After learning of Boku no Natsuyasumi over a decade ago, I'm excited to see a related entry finally officially localized. I saw Natsu-Mon on store shelves in Osaka last year and considered picking it up for fun and as part of my Japanese studies but it was hard to find many reviews or impressions online at the time. I'll be really eager and curious to see folks' impressions of the localized release. I think it's fantastic this series is finally seeing a more mainline entry released. I really enjoyed Attack of the Friday Monsters, thank you @MaitreWakou for mentioning it because I totally forgot it was a Millennium Kitchen game.
 
Apenknul said:
Yeah, but no offence, but we do get MLB the Show and Lego Horizon on Switch, which are Sony games aswell.
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Sure, but MLB going cross platform was MLB’s mandate and Lego Horizon is for a franchise Sony actually actively cares about.

When was the last BokuNatsu release, like 2009? I doubt anyone in a decision making capacity at Sony knows what it even is.

You’re not wrong: the chance is not absolutely zero. But it’s about as close to zero as it could possibly be.
 
Derachi said:
Sure, but MLB going cross platform was MLB’s mandate and Lego Horizon is for a franchise Sony actually actively cares about.

When was the last BokuNatsu release, like 2009? I doubt anyone in a decision making capacity at Sony knows what it even is.

You’re not wrong: the chance is not absolutely zero. But it’s about as close to zero as it could possibly be.
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I feel in the future Sony might ease up on IP management. Some might return to their creators, Boku no Natsuyasumi or Wild Arms for instance. They're no use to Sony, I doubt they have plans to return any legacy ip in the future.

Two of Sony series that Sony didn't completely own have already appeared on Nintendo systems: PoPoLoCrois and the recent Tombi. Maybe it's time for the series that Sony do own.
 
9-Volt said:
I feel in the future Sony might ease up on IP management. Some might return to their creators, Boku no Natsuyasumi or Wild Arms for instance. They're no use to Sony, I doubt they have plans to return any legacy ip in the future.

Two of Sony series that Sony didn't completely own have already appeared on Nintendo systems: PoPoLoCrois and the recent Tombi. Maybe it's time for the series that Sony do own.
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I’d actively support this! Or if Sony really wanted to hold onto the IP, maybe allow indies or third parties to use legacy Sony IP if they wanted, and then let them release those games everywhere. I’d love a new BokuNatsu, Patapon, Locoroco, Parappa etc on Switch.
 
Derachi said:
I’d actively support this! Or if Sony really wanted to hold onto the IP, maybe allow indies or third parties to use legacy Sony IP if they wanted, and then let them release those games everywhere. I’d love a new BokuNatsu, Patapon, Locoroco, Parappa etc on Switch.
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I've said this for years, Hell we sort of had a taste of that; they let Annapurna release Journey and Flower on mobile and PC, same for The Unfinished Swan.

They also have Aniplex who could publish the JP IPs. Like just allow Millenium Kitchen to port the PS3 Summer Vacation game to Switch, or Clap Hanz to port the PS3 version of Hot Shots/Everybody's Golf World Invitational to Switch, and Aniplex can publish them worldwide. Artdink's Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden Mysteries on PS3 absolutely should come over as well. Imagine if fucking AFRIKA/Hakuna Matata got ported. That'd be sick. * wishful thinking *
 
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9-Volt said:
I feel in the future Sony might ease up on IP management. Some might return to their creators, Boku no Natsuyasumi or Wild Arms for instance. They're no use to Sony, I doubt they have plans to return any legacy ip in the future.

Two of Sony series that Sony didn't completely own have already appeared on Nintendo systems: PoPoLoCrois and the recent Tombi. Maybe it's time for the series that Sony do own.
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I think if Sony was willing to do that Armed Fantasia wouldn't need to exist. They've tried reaching out to Sony before.
 
Dunban said:
I think if Sony was willing to do that Armed Fantasia wouldn't need to exist. They've tried reaching out to Sony before.
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First, they are not media.vision, creator studio who still exist today. I don't think Sony would have helped individual creators in any way. That would cause media.vision to object the situation.

Second, Sony is changing now. They no longer as possessive for their IP's as they were before. If anything is to change, it'll happen in the future.
 
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Ok guys the game is SO charming and chilling...reviewing it right now,.does anyone wants to give me a little bit of a background abour this VS Shin-chan (I should review shortly after)?
 
I bought it with dlc. I like how open world this is. Can't play much yet but I know what I do this weekend. I'll be playing this and Heist 2.
 
I really really like this game. Open world works great. I saw someone somewhere complaining that this doesn't have the 2d backgrounds like the predesessors but it wouldn't work. This game is like mini BotW in many ways (mostly exploration). You couldn't make it work with 2d backgrounds.

Environment design is great all around. Towns and surroundings feels very realistic in their design. Characters are great and they have their own things to do and scheludes which varies as the game goes on.

I think the game looks good in many ways. It' s very clean looking and the environments are very detailed. I like the artstyle. Only problem with the game is framerate. I noticed that the framerate started to get bad as I played a little longer session yesterday and I tried to reboot the game. It helped. Keep this in mind if you play this game. Hope they patch this. It's far from perfect either way, but for me it's alright and I'm pretty sensitive with the framerates. This game mostly doesn't need the perfect framerate. Still, as I said, hope they can patch it to be better. Game is also on Steam if the framerate is a problem. Although I don't know how good that version is.

In many ways this game is like made for me. Atmosphere is great. Environments are so good that this feels like it's own real world where I can become absorbed in. Explorarion is the main gameplay here and that is something I usually enjoy most in games. All the little thing to find and do. Story and characters are interesting and the game is very relaxed all around This game is like a vacation from your life. This is my goty and I really recommend this if any of my description intrigue you. It's a niche game by most standards, but I really hope this is successful in todays cozy games boom.
 
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Discokuningas said:
I really really like this game. Open world works great. I saw someone somewhere complaining that this doesn't have the 2d backgrounds like the predesessors but it wouldn't work. This game is like mini BotW in many ways (mostly exploration). You couldn't make it work with 2d backgrounds.

Environment design is great all around. Towns and surroundings feels very realistic in their design. Characters are great and they have their own thing to do and scheludes which varies as the game goes on.

I think the game looks good in many ways. It' s very clean looking and the environments are very detailed. I like the artstyle. Only problem with the game is framerate. I noticed that the framerate started to get bad as I played a little longer session yesterday and I tried to reboot the game. It helped. Keep this in mind if you play this game. Hope they patch this. It's far from perfect either way, but for me it's alright and I'm pretty sensitive with the framerates. This game mostly doesn't need the perfect framerate. Still, as I said, hope they can patch it to be better. Game is also on Steam if the framerate is a problem. Although I don't know how good that version is.

In many ways this game is like made for me. Atmosphere is great. Environments are so good that this feels like it's own real world where I can become absorbed in. Explorarion is the main gameplay here and that is something I usually enjoy most in games. All the little thing to find and do. Story and characters are interesting and the game is very relaxed all around This game is like a vacation from your life. This is my goty and I really recommend this if any of my description intrigue you. It's a niche game by most standards, but I really hope this is successful in todays cozy games boom.
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Yes it’s soooo goood!

I was one of those people not impressed with the lack of awesome 2D backgrounds, but what a worthy trade off!

I described it to a friend as basically Breath of the (Animal) Crossing.

People are sleeping on this game big time.
 
I Score it 8 out of 10 that for my standard is very very good
I agree with the last few posts that this game is so charming, relaxing, hooking, well written, well designer and even built around solid values in terms of messaging
Such a refreshing approach in nowadays serious/mature/competitive landscape

Now I am curious to compare it to Shin-chan games I have yet to try
 
Aostia82 said:
I Score it 8 out of 10 that for my standard is very very good
I agree with the last few posts that this game is so charming, relaxing, hooking, well written, well designer and even built around solid values in terms of messaging
Such a refreshing approach in nowadays serious/mature/competitive landscape

Now I am curious to compare it to Shin-chan games I have yet to try
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I think the Shin Chan game is a lot more simple by design, so perhaps save it for a rainy day as it may not fare too well straight after Natsu… but saying that, the 2D backgrounds are phenomenal so it definitely has a magic that no 3D game can really touch.
 
Finally played the demo of this, and I think I may not have done as much as I could have one the first day (I spent most of the time exploring the house, so I barely set foot outside, lol), but it seems neat…though I immediately lost a ton of interest upon learning that cooking fish is a feature. Fishing is already bad enough (though tolerable to an extent if presented in an abstract enough way, like in Animal Crossing) but I’m used to that being thrown into pretty much any game, sadly, but fishing and killing the fish you catch to be eaten is where I can no longer tolerate it in a game. Is this a required feature to complete the game, or is it purely optional with nothing of importance locked behind it?
 
I want to support the devs of this game but I also favor physical releases.

Hopefully they announce plans along those lines! 🤞
 
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I got this game on a whim after trying the demo and this is just a really chill and sweet time. Don't have a lot of time for more freeform gaming right now but playing a day or two at a time is quite relaxing. I think some of the bathing stuff is a bit weird and while I know that's more acceptable in japan, I don't know I got kind of grossed out. It feels like a game where a sequel could be really amazing if they ever make one, a very charming 7/10.
 
PuppyPrincex said:
I got this game on a whim after trying the demo and this is just a really chill and sweet time. Don't have a lot of time for more freeform gaming right now but playing a day or two at a time is quite relaxing. I think some of the bathing stuff is a bit weird and while I know that's more acceptable in japan, I don't know I got kind of grossed out. It feels like a game where a sequel could be really amazing if they ever make one, a very charming 7/10.
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What about bathing? I don't get it.
 
Tye said:
Finally played the demo of this, and I think I may not have done as much as I could have one the first day (I spent most of the time exploring the house, so I barely set foot outside, lol), but it seems neat…though I immediately lost a ton of interest upon learning that cooking fish is a feature. Fishing is already bad enough (though tolerable to an extent if presented in an abstract enough way, like in Animal Crossing) but I’m used to that being thrown into pretty much any game, sadly, but fishing and killing the fish you catch to be eaten is where I can no longer tolerate it in a game. Is this a required feature to complete the game, or is it purely optional with nothing of importance locked behind it?
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I'd be interested to know this, too. Thanks for bringing it up, Tye.

I'm glad to hear folks have been having such a wonderful time with the game.
 
Discokuningas said:
What about bathing? I don't get it.
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THere's scenes of like the kid (Forget default name) bathing with his family. I know it's just a cultural thing, I just find it a bit weird to have him bathe with adults at his age. I also know similar scenes are in other games by Milennium Kitchen, so I'm not surprised by them, it just feels wrong to me.
 
PuppyPrincex said:
THere's scenes of like the kid (Forget default name) bathing with his family. I know it's just a cultural thing, I just find it a bit weird to have him bathe with adults at his age. I also know similar scenes are in other games by Milennium Kitchen, so I'm not surprised by them, it just feels wrong to me.
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You gotta reject that forced societal/cultural belief that there’s something wrong with being nude. There’s nothing wrong or even inherently sexual about the naked human body, regardless of age or who you’re with, and some cultures are, fortunately, less hung up over that than others in some contexts, especially when it comes to something as benign as bathing.
 
My sister when she saw the scene in My Neighbor Totoro, she yelled at me, to get into the living room, asked me "What the hell I was showing her children", thought I was showing something pedophilic, when it was just a father bathing with their children, and I told her that's really common in Japan and other countries, and she didn't care, it was "weird".

Part of me wonders if it was because it was a guy doing it, given some... other things my sister reacted towards me about (I won't get into it, since not appropriate for this thread, but needless to say my sister downplayed some issues I ran into).

I remember there was a scene of a woman who took in a kid on Zetman, that was bathing with him, and I had to explain to my mother that isn't uncommon at that age, and she, on the other hand, wasn't bothered by that.

Two entirely different reactions to similar scenes. I don't know why people can be closed minded to that, and I'm not saying you were PuppyPrincex, just that Japan is hardly the only country where bathing with your family happens beyond just early childhood. So it's a case of cultural difference that we should really understand there's nothing wrong with it. Same with nudity not being inherently sexual.
 
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I'm not saying it's inherently sexual or particuarly disturbing just that it gave me pause. I'm also just in general more sensitive to this stuff due to prior bad experiences with men but I understand that that's my problem and not something I should force on other people.
For other thoughts on the game, I find it maybe a bit too mechanically deep for a game built on the simplicity of childhood, though I do like the freedom granted in it and how you can pretty much do whatever you want. I find the detective club endlessly charming and a really fun addition to the world, and I find fishing fun and simple though I wish I understood it more. I'm generally split on games down the middle of liking really gamey video games and really believable games, and I feel I'd maybe prefer some of the other Milennium Kitchen games if I ever got around to playing them as they lean less towards being gamey. BokuNastu4 on PSP seems especially interesting to me, so I hope it will be translated one day.
 
PuppyPrincex said:
THere's scenes of like the kid (Forget default name) bathing with his family. I know it's just a cultural thing, I just find it a bit weird to have him bathe with adults at his age. I also know similar scenes are in other games by Milennium Kitchen, so I'm not surprised by them, it just feels wrong to me.
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Ok. Thats not any problem where I am from. In Finland being nude is nothing special in these situations. I still go to sauna with my daugters. Oldest is 10. Usually it stops somewhere around puperty. They just start wanting their privacy. But usually women go still together to saunas regardless of age. And of course same with men. What I think is that the americans (and maybe some others) are different here, not the rest. And I underline, there's nothing even remotely sexual in these situations.
 
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PuppyPrincex said:
For other thoughts on the game, I find it maybe a bit too mechanically deep for a game built on the simplicity of childhood, though I do like the freedom granted in it and how you can pretty much do whatever you want.
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The fact that they "BOTW-ified' the series annoys me a bit.

You're supposed to be a regular kid in country-side Japan, but here I am jumping around mountains and flying around with a glider.

I already had gripes with the next entry in the Story of Seasons series because the last trailer revealed it will be like that too, jumping around and flying with a glider, and I thought that would just be immersion breaking. And this game just reinforces that feeling I have.

I wish this game kept the fixed camera too like the previous games. They were beautiful shots. They only use those for interiors now, and it looks great.
 
MaitreWakou said:
The fact that they "BOTW-ified' the series annoys me a bit.

You're supposed to be a regular kid in country-side Japan, but here I am jumping around mountains and flying around with a glider.

I already had gripes with the next entry in the Story of Seasons series because the last trailer revealed it will be like that too, jumping around and flying with a glider, and I thought that would just be immersion breaking. And this game just reinforces that feeling I have.

I wish this game kept the fixed camera too like the previous games. They were beautiful shots. They only use those for interiors now, and it looks great.
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Yeah as much as I like Breath of the Wild as its own thing (and kind of feel like it's not what I like Zelda for, with TotK being more of the same but worse for me) I'm just kind of sick of how popular it is as it feels like a lot of Japanese game series are just putting in BoTW style gliders and open world traversal even if it doesn't fit the core style of the game. I honestly got pretty thrown by the glider and it's why I'm taking a break from the game. I'm hoping the Shiro and the Coal Town game coming out in English later this year is more my speed, though I hope they one day make the Shin-Chan on the Moon game that was thrown around during the pithcing of a Shin-chan BokuNatsu. I'm mixed on the fixed camera, I like games that have it as it feels unique and special in a game landscape that's largely moved on from it as a stylistic relic (a thought that i feel is unwarranted, I've seen cool pitches for horror games using fixed camera angels from security cameras), and seeing screen shots of other millenium kitchen games it feels like they have a unique beauty to them. I wouldn't say that I'm a fan of the series or developer yet, but I'm at least intrigued. I also hope that as we move further away from Breath of the Wild, that games try to copy it less and less, keeping in mind that these games probalby would have been greenlit like 2-3 years after BOTW came out.

Discokuningas said:
Ok. Thats not any problem where I am from. In Finland being nude is nothing special in these situations. I still go to sauna with my daugters. Oldest is 10. Usually it stops somewhere around puperty. They just start wanting their privacy. But usually women go still together to saunas regardless of age. And of course same with men. What I think is that the americans (and maybe some others) are different here, not the rest. And I underline, there's nothing even remotely sexual in these situations.
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I mean I'm not a yank, and I do see where you're coming from, I don't know I just like have an irrational fear of men and the scenes just felt wrong to me, but at the same time it feels wrong when other people aren't scared of men to me, so who am I to judge. I am glad that that is a good experience for you and I am glad that it works out well for everyone.
 
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Finished my play-through a couple days ago. The BotW-ification of the genre went... pretty okay, I think? It probably helps that there pretty much are no guides for the game, so exploring and just doing stuff feels natural. I set the time to go slowly and pretty much played every day the same way: Talk to everyone, then pick a place on the map and mess around there. Running around somewhat mindlessly, catching bugs, climbing stuff, digging up fossils... Y'know, whatever. Every day usually had some interesting new dialog or an event, and at some point you can get optional hints to point you towards stuff if you need it, so it didn't get too stale at any point. Having all that extra time did let me aaaaaalmost 100% a lot of stuff without using NG+, only being about 3 bugs away from all 200.

Something really fun is just picking out all the signs-of-the-times by taking place distinctly in 1999. Though they obscure direct cultural references, there's plenty of stuff to catch and point at being discussed by the adults and older kids from games, movies, and politics. Helps make an already warm, nostalgic setting feel even more familiar, even as someone who didn't grow up in Japan if that's a concern for anyone. For stuff I didn't really get, it's basically just what being a kid is like anyway, with sometimes stuff adults talk about going way over your head.

During an event, she mentions she bought a game console. "The one that came out last year. That manager was in the TV ad..."

If you can name a console that came out in 1998, you can be 100% sure that means that Junko is a Dreamcast owner. It's even easy to pinpoint the ad she's referring to.



All in all, a pretty good way to burn 50-55 hours. I'm not sure about jumping into NG+ right away to catch the last few things I missed, but it's not impossible that I'll return some time.

Tye said:
Finally played the demo of this, and I think I may not have done as much as I could have one the first day (I spent most of the time exploring the house, so I barely set foot outside, lol), but it seems neat…though I immediately lost a ton of interest upon learning that cooking fish is a feature. Fishing is already bad enough (though tolerable to an extent if presented in an abstract enough way, like in Animal Crossing) but I’m used to that being thrown into pretty much any game, sadly, but fishing and killing the fish you catch to be eaten is where I can no longer tolerate it in a game. Is this a required feature to complete the game, or is it purely optional with nothing of importance locked behind it?
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I only did a few I had on hand while talking to the lady before dinner, but I was never required to do so. Not much of anything is "required" to do in this. I also don't think any specific endings are fishing related, either.
 
Quoted by: Tye
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MaitreWakou said:
The fact that they "BOTW-ified' the series annoys me a bit.

You're supposed to be a regular kid in country-side Japan, but here I am jumping around mountains and flying around with a glider.
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You’re not a regular kid in this game though. You’re part of a circus troupe.

Also as a BOTW hater, I get what you mean, but… in this case you get the best of both worlds. Shin Chan carrying on the original games legacy and then something new and experimental.
 
JODO51 said:
You’re not a regular kid in this game though. You’re part of a circus troupe.
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That's what I kept repeating myself in the beginning, and that would be fine if you could just climb trees and stuff like that, but then you can just go on the tallest mountain and jump.

It's cool they experimented and went bigger, but it lost a lot of charm imo by doing so. Yeah thankfully Shin Chan is much more traditional.
 
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batfax said:
I only did a few I had on hand while talking to the lady before dinner, but I was never required to do so. Not much of anything is "required" to do in this. I also don't think any specific endings are fishing related, either.
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So it’s not required for 100%, either?
 
Tye said:
So it’s not required for 100%, either?
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It's a tracked thing in your notebook, so technically it is... but I don't think any endings are tied to 100%ing the game at all. It's just there to do. There are specific things you do that affect the ending, and catching or cooking fish just isn't one of them.
 
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