Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid review

Many of Japan's biggest games have been open world-ized, but I wouldn't have expected the next to be—*checks notes*—summer vacation adventures. Sony's Boku no Natsuyasumi («My Summer Holiday») series was a life sim trailblazer in the early 2000s, and now there's Natsu-Mon: an enjoyable adventure giving a seldom-known subgenre new life. As a longtime devotee of the Sony games, I welcome the change rather than demand purity. It still isn't getting old strolling through a virtual sunflower field, even if I've done it enough times to be a seed farmer. 

What is it? A charming open-world adventure set in a remote Japanese town during summer 1999
Release date August 6, 2024
Expect to pay $39.99/£39.99
Developer Toybox/Millennium Kitchen
Publisher Spike Chunsoft
Reviewed on Threadripper 3960X, RTX 3060 Ti, 64GB RAM; Steam Deck
Multiplayer No
Steam Deck Not Verified
Link: Steam 

Natsu-Mon is the latest spiritual follow-up from Natsuyasumi creator Kaz Ayabe, who's been returning to spearhead new version for other publishers—you may recall 2022's Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation—but unlike the Sony games, they finally get English localizations. Natsu-Mon was originally released on Nintendo Switch last year, and besides now being in a language we can understand, also has an adequately powered-up PC port.

Given its heritage, Natsu-Mon sticks close to the structure Boku no Natsuyasumi hit on 24 years ago: play as a little boy in Japan in a bygone decade, and spend all 31 days of August (a brief but typical summer break for Japanese schoolkids) in the remote countryside. The big difference is that while previous games featured static painted backgrounds and glorious tank controls, Natsu-Mon shifts to a fully 3D open map. Home base is the tiny town of Yomogi, surrounded by a neighboring town, mountain, and all manner of hills and grassland. Said little boy Satoru is the son of managers of a traveling circus troupe, and inevitably helps put on regular shows for the town.

B