This was a really important game in my life!
In a way chibig games for a time prevented my depression of happening during the pandemic!
So this games as a special place in my heart!
In a way chibig games for a time prevented my depression of happening during the pandemic!
So this games as a special place in my heart!
My first Chibig-game! It's absolutely amazing! Just wish I could do "more" with it.
Pretty chill game
Apparently spending a summer in Mara means endlessly running back and forth providing items for townspeople, pirates and fishy people who are all incapable of doing anything. The vibe is chill and it's an easy crafting/farming game to pick up from time-to-time, but the constant fetch quests means you can only really play an hour per sitting before the boredom starts creeping in...
I was sold a farming and crafting game by the store description, but what I got was a fetch quest game with endless running back and forth.
One of my favorite games of all time. Beautiful story that covers themes of grief, love, community, and environmentalism. By the end of the game Mara and your island start to feel like a virtual home. The amount of fetch quests you need to complete to experience the whole story is egregious, which is the only reason I don't give this 5 stars.
A friend said that they'd really loved this so I played far enough to get off the island, but I think this one just isn't for me.
This review contains spoilers
Summer in Mara is a strange game that works very well. I haven't felt this strong of an emotional connection to a game's story or characters since playing through Night in the Woods.
It's strange in the sense that it feels like a children's game, while touching on some very important and complex issues very immediately in the story. Even as an adult, I had difficulty controlling my emotions as I processed themes of [spoiler] losing family, building a community, cruelty in the world and the violent resistance that colonialist climate change necessitates. [/spoiler]
The controls, mechanics and quest design are incredibly elementary. While the game often refers to farming simulation, it is definitely an adventure story where these other mechanics are more incidental to the adventure, than being it's focus. I was never quite sure who this game was for.
The game is based entirely on fetch quests, which is no slight to the game as that is absolutely integral to Summer in Mara. A line that I held on to in this game delivered by the protagonists' family member early in the game was that [spoiler] "this world runs on the cooperation between people." [/spoiler]
Cooperation between people is the thesis and driving force behind why the protagonist is growing corn to feed chickens and harvest their eggs to bake a pie. It's the reason why she is exhausting herself and dedicating her life to building a community among everyone she meets. Absent of external threats to the world, no other video game has really directed and encouraged me to simply help fellow people around you, nor have the world reciprocate this behaviour when I have both demonstrated that mutual aid is the economic system we should be striving for.
In order to do perform this in Summer in Mara, you get to do fun things! The protagonist runs and jumps around, grows and waters crops, drives and upgrades a boat, builds a pen for pigs, feeds and pets animals, hit rocks for crafting materials, goes fishing, dives in the ocean, cooks meals and talks with interesting characters.
The music in the game is absolutely wonderful and properly attuned to the moments in the game and characters you're talking to. There are some odd cues for the music, as every conversation starts a theme song that is a few minutes long and enjoyable, but will be interrupted by talking to another NPC. Other times, there's just the ambience of the ocean and the world that makes me long to hear another one of those incredible songs.
A technical problem I faced in the game was finding NPCs to return items to as the map indicated the wrong locations to me. The main issue I took with the game was that it should be considered an adventure game rather than a farming simulator. Treating it like a Stardew Valley, Farm Together or something similar potentially leads to too much grinding. Quest items then stack and throw the pace of the game off, as you stand there telling an NPC you're going to find them something, then immediately explain that you found or farmed said items. I'm either desperately trying to manage a farm, or overwhelmed with how many resources I have in my inventory - despite the game only making minor requests at times for a very little bit of these throughout the entire game.
When the story completes, there is an endgame mission that [spoiler] encourages to player to continue the farming, fishing and diving cycle of the game. However, without anything else remaining in the narrative, the epilogue falls flat and almost undermines the thesis of the game. [/spoiler]
In the end, I strongly feel that Summer in Mara is an absolute gem and very surprising to me. I was taken aback that treating game mechanics as a chore is an approach that will definitely lead to a negative experience with the game. However, overall, I was impressed with how this game unfolded and am appreciative to have such a great experience that I can't forget.
It's strange in the sense that it feels like a children's game, while touching on some very important and complex issues very immediately in the story. Even as an adult, I had difficulty controlling my emotions as I processed themes of [spoiler] losing family, building a community, cruelty in the world and the violent resistance that colonialist climate change necessitates. [/spoiler]
The controls, mechanics and quest design are incredibly elementary. While the game often refers to farming simulation, it is definitely an adventure story where these other mechanics are more incidental to the adventure, than being it's focus. I was never quite sure who this game was for.
The game is based entirely on fetch quests, which is no slight to the game as that is absolutely integral to Summer in Mara. A line that I held on to in this game delivered by the protagonists' family member early in the game was that [spoiler] "this world runs on the cooperation between people." [/spoiler]
Cooperation between people is the thesis and driving force behind why the protagonist is growing corn to feed chickens and harvest their eggs to bake a pie. It's the reason why she is exhausting herself and dedicating her life to building a community among everyone she meets. Absent of external threats to the world, no other video game has really directed and encouraged me to simply help fellow people around you, nor have the world reciprocate this behaviour when I have both demonstrated that mutual aid is the economic system we should be striving for.
In order to do perform this in Summer in Mara, you get to do fun things! The protagonist runs and jumps around, grows and waters crops, drives and upgrades a boat, builds a pen for pigs, feeds and pets animals, hit rocks for crafting materials, goes fishing, dives in the ocean, cooks meals and talks with interesting characters.
The music in the game is absolutely wonderful and properly attuned to the moments in the game and characters you're talking to. There are some odd cues for the music, as every conversation starts a theme song that is a few minutes long and enjoyable, but will be interrupted by talking to another NPC. Other times, there's just the ambience of the ocean and the world that makes me long to hear another one of those incredible songs.
A technical problem I faced in the game was finding NPCs to return items to as the map indicated the wrong locations to me. The main issue I took with the game was that it should be considered an adventure game rather than a farming simulator. Treating it like a Stardew Valley, Farm Together or something similar potentially leads to too much grinding. Quest items then stack and throw the pace of the game off, as you stand there telling an NPC you're going to find them something, then immediately explain that you found or farmed said items. I'm either desperately trying to manage a farm, or overwhelmed with how many resources I have in my inventory - despite the game only making minor requests at times for a very little bit of these throughout the entire game.
When the story completes, there is an endgame mission that [spoiler] encourages to player to continue the farming, fishing and diving cycle of the game. However, without anything else remaining in the narrative, the epilogue falls flat and almost undermines the thesis of the game. [/spoiler]
In the end, I strongly feel that Summer in Mara is an absolute gem and very surprising to me. I was taken aback that treating game mechanics as a chore is an approach that will definitely lead to a negative experience with the game. However, overall, I was impressed with how this game unfolded and am appreciative to have such a great experience that I can't forget.
Sadly not enjoyable. Although the game has a lot of charm, and the intro animations and visual novel character art for it are absolutely stunning and evocative, the game and mechanics leave a lot to be desired. Simple quests have you running around gathering basic items, or crafting items. Basically a lot of busywork and chores.
On top of this, the dialogue and characters are quite simple, and the actual activities you do in game are very shallow. On the starting island, I came to a point twice where the game's objective sheet said, "Something interesting will happen soon!" And it was frustrating. Like, why can't that interesting thing happen NOW? Why do I have to wait and fill my own time while I'm supposing to be enjoying myself with interesting adventures and explorations.
Everything also just takes slightly too long as well. Chopping a tree? That's three clicks of a button, followed by clicking to pick up all the items. Planting veggies? Multiple clicks again. Building things? First, run across the island to your house with the workshop, then enter the menu, then enter a second menu, and then click the nondescript "accept" button. It's like the game mechanics themselves added to the busywork.
Beyond that, the game just feels a bit unpolished. This is coming from someone who is usually pretty forgiving of indie games, and someone who accepts a lot of jank if the overall experience is fun. The world of Summer in Mara itself looks serviceable, but a lot of the details feel a bit barren. The player's model feels like a plastic action figure, with very simple walk animations. Most animations seem very plain as well, with no weight behind them.
It looks like a game that was someone's college portfolio, or a demo made in Unity, rather than something that was properly polished for a full release. Maybe that reflects a slim budget, which is at least understandable. And given the scale of the game - with multiple islands to explore and lots of various mechanics, simplistic as they are - there is certainly a lot of game here for people who really vibe with it. But I did not. My favorite part of the game should not be the animated movie at the intro.
I would recommend this game to children most particularly. For every complaint I just gave, none of that would matter at all to them. It would be perfect for someone who enjoys games like Minecraft, but may not be old enough for something like Stardew Valley. I'd also recommend this for people who might be new to survival/farming sims in general, as the cute story and visuals are at least entertaining for all of the busywork. But for anyone looking for a more in-depth experience, or who don't really want to waste their time on what amounts to a fairly simple game, then they would be advised to try something else.
On top of this, the dialogue and characters are quite simple, and the actual activities you do in game are very shallow. On the starting island, I came to a point twice where the game's objective sheet said, "Something interesting will happen soon!" And it was frustrating. Like, why can't that interesting thing happen NOW? Why do I have to wait and fill my own time while I'm supposing to be enjoying myself with interesting adventures and explorations.
Everything also just takes slightly too long as well. Chopping a tree? That's three clicks of a button, followed by clicking to pick up all the items. Planting veggies? Multiple clicks again. Building things? First, run across the island to your house with the workshop, then enter the menu, then enter a second menu, and then click the nondescript "accept" button. It's like the game mechanics themselves added to the busywork.
Beyond that, the game just feels a bit unpolished. This is coming from someone who is usually pretty forgiving of indie games, and someone who accepts a lot of jank if the overall experience is fun. The world of Summer in Mara itself looks serviceable, but a lot of the details feel a bit barren. The player's model feels like a plastic action figure, with very simple walk animations. Most animations seem very plain as well, with no weight behind them.
It looks like a game that was someone's college portfolio, or a demo made in Unity, rather than something that was properly polished for a full release. Maybe that reflects a slim budget, which is at least understandable. And given the scale of the game - with multiple islands to explore and lots of various mechanics, simplistic as they are - there is certainly a lot of game here for people who really vibe with it. But I did not. My favorite part of the game should not be the animated movie at the intro.
I would recommend this game to children most particularly. For every complaint I just gave, none of that would matter at all to them. It would be perfect for someone who enjoys games like Minecraft, but may not be old enough for something like Stardew Valley. I'd also recommend this for people who might be new to survival/farming sims in general, as the cute story and visuals are at least entertaining for all of the busywork. But for anyone looking for a more in-depth experience, or who don't really want to waste their time on what amounts to a fairly simple game, then they would be advised to try something else.
The intention and concept is there, but the end result is just not very good.
kind of annoying to play