With that in mind, let’s take a look at Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid from developer Millennium Kitchen and publisher Spike Chunsoft. You may have heard of Millennium Kitchen as the creators of Boku no Natsuyasumi (translation – My Summer Vacation), the cult classic series that Natsu-Mon is clearly inspired by. These games rarely make it to Western shores, though they are definitely becoming more popular. In Natsu-Mon, you play Satoru, a boy who has come to Yomogi Town with his parents for the month of August. His family owns a small travelling circus which isn’t doing the greatest and they’ll be packing up and leaving again at the end of the month, but Satoru is in grade school and the nuances of his situation don’t entirely register.
Your job in Natsu-Mon is to explore Yomogi Town and the surrounding area. There are castles, caves, beaches and more in this small town and you’ll traipse through all of them looking for people to talk to, bugs to catch, and hidden items to find. There’s more than a smattering of Animal Crossing mixed in here and the art style is noticeably more like Doraemon Story of Seasons (review here) than Boku no Natsuyasumi, but the vibe is heavy on Japanese culture and the feel if the game is unique to Natsu-Mon itself.
20th Century Summer Kid is key here because this game takes place before the turn of the millennium and the distinct lack of technology in the game’s story is refreshing and noticeable. No kids watching TV, using tablets, or zoning out on video games here. The entire game has a very 80s vibe to it and the wholesome nature of the gameplay is refreshing to say the least. Satoru is a bit of a rule-breaker for sure, but he’s good natured and doesn’t get into a whole lot of trouble. He’s a pretty tough and independent kid too, and some of the things he manages to do will have you wondering where all the adults are.
Getting down to the mechanics, Natsu-Mon is surprisingly robust. Starting with the release date in August coinciding with the actual gameplay (clever, that), your time with Satoru means summer studying. Fortunately, a local teacher has given you a summer study set to get the most out of your month in town, including a bug catching kit, a fishing pole, a journal and crayons to record your adventures, and a few other goodies. There’s a heck of a lot going on here so settle in because Satoru is one busy kid!
Once the introductory sequences are over, you’ll leave the home you’re staying in, a sort of bed and breakfast, and wander around town. Initially, you’re given a few tasks to complete but no real direction in how to complete them. The ZL button will bring up a menu of all the tasks you can complete and any specific details. There are four sections, Big Adventures, Little Adventures, and two others which unlock later, the Flatfoot Files and your Fortune of the Day. Big Adventures will earn you a sticker, which doesn’t sound like much but it actually adds to your stamina, allowing you to run for longer and climb higher before you fall. Completing Big Adventures is integral to progressing in Natsu-Mon. Little Adventures add to the story but don’t get you stickers. You still won’t want to ignore them though as many of them generate income for you and anything that can help out the circus is important. Your initial goal is to make 30,000 yen by August 15th and you’ll definitely have to maximize your efforts to achieve it!
The “+” button shows your overall town map and a calendar, along with quick access to a number of settings including save and load. The “-“ button is far more useful however, allowing you to zoom in on a map of the area with labels and images of various townsfolk and their locations. It shows your position as well, allowing you to orient yourself as the town and environs are quite large and easy to get lost in and you can put down marker flags on this menu which show up in-game, allowing you to easily find your way. The task menu also lets you flag tasks which show up on this map.
Once you’re oriented and know what you want to do first, make sure you talk to the citizens of Yomogi Town. They’ll often have additional tasks for you or other information that opens up new possibilities and you don’t want to miss anything that can get your revenue stream going. Catching bugs will definitely help, as will catching fish and fishing is quite easy, even if finding rare fish is a bit tougher. Even climbing up things and exploring can be useful as Satoru is an excellent climber. The climbing mechanics are extremely reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so expect to be able to climb almost anything and damn the realism. The same goes for what’s off-limits. Basically anything that you can get away with is fair game so ignore all those fences and do not enter signs and see what you can figure out! It’s important to note that it doesn’t matter what height you fall from in Natsu-Mon…you won’t die. Falling from a particularly high height gives you the shakes for a minute, but the kind of jumps you’ll be making would kill any normal human so suspend your disbelief and just have fun!
There’s also a day/night cycle in Natsu-Mon, one that may frustrate players at first. You have to go to bed by 10 PM every night or you’ll wake up late and lose time the next day. At 6 PM, one of the circus members comes and gets you no matter where you are so there’s a constant timer counting down while you’re trying to find your way, catch bugs, and do other things. After dinner, you can only visit the immediate town area and you’ve only got 4 hours to do it in. Time moves remarkably fast in the game so you’ll really have to focus. There are three settings for time in the menu system however, Relaxed, Normal and Rapid. The default Normal feels kind of fast and Rapid is just ridiculous so until you’ve got a feel for the game, stick to Relaxed! There are plenty of other options too but Passage of Time is definitely an important one.
Eventually you’ll meet a group of detectives and solve mysteries with them. A fortune teller also pops into town and helps you by suggesting where to go and when during the day, streamlining your gameplay even further after a few days. Fortunes allow you to catch important meetings or townsfolk that are only in certain places at certain times. They might also recommend you visit places you may have overlooked. With all these directions to get pulled in, it’s hard to keep track of everything you have to do in Natsu-Mon and time rapidly spirals away as you swim, fish, climb, chat, and play everywhere you can get to. Eventually you’ll even end up climbing mountains and sneaking into factories to accomplish your goals.
Along the way you’ll also pick up a ton of stuff. Empty bottles, “diamonds”, little crabs, and all sorts of other weird things can be sold at the local store to help you make money. Between helping people and selling all your loot, you’ll have plenty of money in no time, but you’ll have to spend some of it to get things like a clock (so you can check the time and not stay out too late), an acorn shooter to stun fish and shoot targets, and even honey to spread on trees to attract the rare bugs you’ll need to catch to complete the museum exhibits. Think Animal Crossing with a time limit instead of leisurely wandering about indefinitely and you’ll be on the right track.
The circus doesn’t play a big part in the game immediately but you’ll notice early on that there are some distinct references to what you may have to do in terms of helping out the circus aside from raising cash. It’ll take some time to get there though and the days feel both short and long as you try to get everything possible accomplished and also wonder what’s going to happen next. Eventually you’ll end up helping to run the circus as well (some long days there!) and you’ll even get to decide on acts and costumes! The longer you play, the more compelling the gameplay loop becomes in Natsu-Mon and you’ll quickly become entranced by Yomogi Town and the unique cast of characters wandering about its streets, beaches, and mountains.
Natsu-Mon is a pretty game as well, with a distinctly Japanese flair and cartoonish, over-exaggerated designs that appeal to the kind in all of us. With only a couple of clothing options, there’s limited customization, but the fun journal coloring and sticker options are clever and the reactions of the people you talk to are hilarious. It’s a welcoming, relaxing game that pushes you a bit more than other slice of life games with hard limits on your time, but the visuals, while fairly simplistic, definitely trend towards purposely stylized and it works well. There are occasional infrequent visual glitches here and there, but they don’t seem to have any impact on gameplay and considering how robust your exploration gets, you never get stuck in any corners or anything with the game’s excellent collision detection.
Audio is particularly good in Natsu-Mon as well and while the dialogue (when there is dialogue) is in spoken Japanese, the voice acting is excellent. Sound effects are extremely effective as well and even with a 2.1 setup, the insect noises and other background sounds seem like surround sound with the Switch docked. The music is subtle and enjoyable as well, shifting here and there with activities and time of day. Overall, the soundscape cleverly complements gameplay and visuals to create an immersive experience.
There’s also DLC for Natsu-Mon available at launch but it was not included with this review copy of the game. Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid: Broadcast Over Sunset will run you an extra $15 but it adds a new island to explore, more critters to catch, and a dungeon with some new mechanics. It’s a shame this wasn’t just added to the main release considering you can buy it at launch but it looks like a fairly robust DLC so it might be worth your time to check out.
While there are plenty more things to cover in Natsu-Mon, including mini-games, hidden items, time-sensitive activities and more, the best part about the game is finding them all out for yourself. This is a game that heavily rewards exploration and diligence and you’ll enjoy every minute of it, even if you’re not heavily into the relaxing slice-of-life style of gaming. Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid is a joy to play and well-designed with the biggest frustration being that you can’t do everything you want to do in a day without breaks. It’s tough to hang up the bug catching net and rest when all you want to do is catch a few more to reach your goal and that’s the mark of a solid title. At $40, you’re going to get a lot out of Natsu-Mon and you’re going to have a great summer doing it! Oh yeah, and definitely use the port-a-potty!
This review is based on a digital copy of Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and played equally well in both. Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid is also available for PC on Steam.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.