Acquiescence
Member
Ive always been fond of quaint and relaxing video games, where combat isnt the focus and stats or objectives are tossed aside in favour of soaking in the atmosphere, taking in the sights and exploring to your hearts content. Which is why it pains me to see the My Summer Vacation series denied any kind of localisation outside of East Asia ever since its conception. I know its a quintessentially Japanese franchise lacking in mainstream appeal, but come on, theres a fair few Japanophiles out there in the world and the niche market exists, so theres definitely some measure of commercial viability to be had in bringing this series over. Plus its not like games steeped in Japanese culture havent been able to find a Western audience before.
For the uninitiated who are just now finding out about Boku no Natsuyasumi, theyre described as a nostalgic adventure where youre cast as a child (the characters differ each game) spending his summer holiday in some rural or coastal area, left to while away the days frolicking about in carefree abandon. The in-game clock is always ticking, and how you choose to spend your time is up to you, with an array of activities to engage in. Not too dissimilar to something like Animal Crossing really, but more story orientated. Once the 31th day has been reached, the holiday is over and the game ends. Graphically, the polygonal character models are a bit wonky looking in their art style, but the gorgeous hand-painted backgrounds are hugely reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli flick. Just look how picturesque these games are
Boku no Natsuyasumi (PS1)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 (PS3)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 4 (PSP)
It seems like an appeal to Sony for the series to be localised is futile by this stage, made all the more frustrating by the fact that the developer, Millennium Kitchen, have had their eShop game Attack of the Friday Monsters localised by Level5, a game that's aesthetically identical to BnN. I actually bought a 3DS partially so that I could play it, and it was excellent (until all that guff involving aliens crept in towards the end anyway), so the desire to see the titles theyre more known for released here burns greater than ever.
So yeah, are there any other Gaffers itching to play these titles? Or any of you who understand the language and have played them - I'd be eager to hear your thoughts.
And just a couple of questions for those more in the know
Is there any point in importing My Summer Vacation 3 on the PS3 if I dont know a lick of Japanese? I know I can play it due to the region-free coding, but if its a dialogue-heavy game and theres no fan translation around then its pretty pointless right?
Is the series done with? I noticed that the last instalment came out in 2009 for the PSP, and since then Millennium Kitchen have only worked on Attack of the Friday Monsters, which of course was 3DS exclusive, so its not looking good. Id love for there to be a PS4 entry announced, and then maybe through a bit of community power we can have a hope in hell of convincing Sony to give the series a chance outside of Japan.
For the uninitiated who are just now finding out about Boku no Natsuyasumi, theyre described as a nostalgic adventure where youre cast as a child (the characters differ each game) spending his summer holiday in some rural or coastal area, left to while away the days frolicking about in carefree abandon. The in-game clock is always ticking, and how you choose to spend your time is up to you, with an array of activities to engage in. Not too dissimilar to something like Animal Crossing really, but more story orientated. Once the 31th day has been reached, the holiday is over and the game ends. Graphically, the polygonal character models are a bit wonky looking in their art style, but the gorgeous hand-painted backgrounds are hugely reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli flick. Just look how picturesque these games are
Boku no Natsuyasumi (PS1)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 (PS3)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 4 (PSP)
It seems like an appeal to Sony for the series to be localised is futile by this stage, made all the more frustrating by the fact that the developer, Millennium Kitchen, have had their eShop game Attack of the Friday Monsters localised by Level5, a game that's aesthetically identical to BnN. I actually bought a 3DS partially so that I could play it, and it was excellent (until all that guff involving aliens crept in towards the end anyway), so the desire to see the titles theyre more known for released here burns greater than ever.
So yeah, are there any other Gaffers itching to play these titles? Or any of you who understand the language and have played them - I'd be eager to hear your thoughts.
And just a couple of questions for those more in the know
Is there any point in importing My Summer Vacation 3 on the PS3 if I dont know a lick of Japanese? I know I can play it due to the region-free coding, but if its a dialogue-heavy game and theres no fan translation around then its pretty pointless right?
Is the series done with? I noticed that the last instalment came out in 2009 for the PSP, and since then Millennium Kitchen have only worked on Attack of the Friday Monsters, which of course was 3DS exclusive, so its not looking good. Id love for there to be a PS4 entry announced, and then maybe through a bit of community power we can have a hope in hell of convincing Sony to give the series a chance outside of Japan.