Mothergamer Plays Biomutant

 Biomutant looked like an interesting game to me and appeared to hit all the right notes with me in regards to my love of open world role playing games. The premise of the story being set in a post apocalypse world centering around a tree of life that is being poisoned by creatures known as world eaters I found intriguing. The opening scene from Biomutant is beautiful and sets the scene for the adventure. The menu allows you to set up your character creation. The animal creatures look very cute and I chose one that looked like a cute red panda. This is also where you can choose the job class you want to play as. There are melee classes like Dead-Eye and a mage type class like Psi-Freak Class. I personally chose Dead Eye because I liked fighting with swords and pistols which gave a nice mix of close and ranged combat. 

My Dead-Eye character. 

Right from the start, you see how big the world of Biomutant is. The map is huge and you have to explore to unlock all the areas. There is fast travel in the game which helps a lot. I do wish that each area would tell you what level you should be because sometimes I would run into enemies that were a much higher level than me and I would have to run away. Level grinding isn't so bad because there are plenty of places to explore. There are also branching paths to the story with side quests such as tribal factions fighting each other and you can choose which faction to join and capture outposts. Combat itself is a lot of fun with special melee moves and magic powers like ice spikes. 

Having fun with the combat with moves like Wicked Wolf.

There's all kinds of gadgets you can use to get around certain areas that are too dangerous to walk through like a field rampant with oil pollution. This required a very cool giant mech which let me walk through unharmed. There's also a cool water bike that gets you through the water safely since the main character can't swim. I discovered that the hard way and died pretty quickly. All the tools add a little extra fun to the game, but the giant mech was my favorite. 

Giant mech time! 

There are also cute animal mounts that look very soft and fluffy. You can summon them at any time and it makes exploring new areas a lot faster. There's several different biomes in Biomutant with their own unique landscapes. There are a lot of beautiful vistas which shows the contrast between the polluted areas and bursts of beauty really well. There's crafting in the game as well so you can upgrade your weapons and armor. You can find materials in places you explore and you can also buy items from shops in the outposts which is convenient. There are a lot of options so you can tailor your job class build to your play style. 

Taking in a beautiful view. 

The main story is you have to fight the four world eaters that are chewing on the branches of the world tree. These are epic boss fights that require you to gather materials and parts for a vehicle or tool where you can use five small creatures to launch at the world eater to distract it and get some hits in. There's definitely a learning curve with some of the world eaters and it's not always obvious what you're supposed to do so I died a lot until I figured out the patterns. This is where Biomutant shows some things that are not so great like wild camera angles that block your view so you have to run around until the camera resets. This got really frustrating especially with the world eater fights. Other than that, the fights are fun. I just wish they had addressed the camera issues.

Fighting a world eater. 

The range of enemies, the exploration, and the combat are great. The story itself is interesting, but there are parts where the pacing feels a little tedious and repetitive. There are puzzles that are simple, but they're very much the same so I got a little tired of constantly solving them and sometimes the reward was not worth it. Biomutant isn't a bad game and I did enjoy it. However, there are things that definitely need work in regards to the pacing, the camera angles, and quest bugs and game crashes of which there were quite a few. The ending to the story itself is rather abrupt and not really satisfying. It feels like it runs out of steam which is unfortunate because Biomutant is ambitious and there's a lot of great things in it, but the flaws keep it from reaching the potential it could have had. For me it was fun to play through once, but I don't see myself going back and replaying it. It's a good one and done adventure.

Adventure done! 

*Biomutant is available to play on the following platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Doraemon Story Of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom Review

 I really enjoyed the first Doraemon Story of Seasons game so I was delighted to see there was a sequel with Friends of the Great Kingdom. The story starts with Noby, Doraemon, and friends on their Summer vacation. Noby has an argument with his parents over the fact that he hasn't finished his homework so he decides it's a perfect time for him and all his friends to take a trip in a rocket ship to another planet to play which is a very Noby thing to do. 

Noby admires the stars.

Everyone thinks the planet is uninhabited and they can have fun exploring until they find an injured boy. They patch him up and the boy introduces himself as Lumis and offers to show them around the planet. 

Everyone meets Lumis.

As Lumis shows them around, eventually they come to a farm and Lumis offers for them to stay and work on the farm during the Summer. This gives a good introduction to the farming tutorial and how the game menu works. This also shows where Friends of the Great Kingdom improved some things such as Noby being able to choose a friend to help with the farm work. The AI is pretty good as the friend helps with watering plants, taking care of animals, and foraging. It eases a lot of the time crunch too in the game and allows an easier time of managing your daily activities. 

Noby and friends learn about farming.

There are the usual fun things to do from the first game like fishing, catching bugs, and chatting with the townspeople. The artwork like the first game is in the same beautiful style looking like watercolor paintings. There are different cutscenes with the people Noby meets as well as requests for different items from them that you can fulfill for rewards. There is mining and woodcutting too so that you can expand the farmhouse and the animal buildings. The game also added an extra room in the farmhouse that you can decorate however you wish which adds another fun layer to the game. 

The artwork is lovely. 

Farming and exploring aren't the only things to do. There are festival events during each season like a Summer watermelon smashing contest. These are a great time and there are trophies you get if you win that can be displayed in your house. It also gives you plenty of time to talk with the townspeople and increase friendship with them. 

Watermelon smashing contest! 

That's not to say the game is not without its flaws. The full thirty day calendar can make things feel like they drag a little. Sometimes, it's very easy to get lost on the map and I found myself getting turned around. Once you get Doraemon's fast travel door it makes things a lot easier. The energy bar drains really quickly which can be frustrating because in the beginning the only way to work around this is to have Noby take a nap for a couple of hours. Later, when you unlock cooking you can make some meals that replenish his energy, but that adds another bit of frustration because you have to buy cooking utensils and you have to experiment with cooking because you don't have recipes. You can buy some from one of the shops, but you have to have made the dish at least once in order to make it. There were times when I got so irritated by it that I just bought dishes from the local diner. 

Other than that, the game is wonderful with its whimsical charm with a relaxing musical soundtrack that lets you just chill and vibe at your own pace. It's a nice addition to the Doraemon Story of Seasons crossover and a lovely farming sim. 

Enjoying the beautiful view. 

*Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS5, and steam

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Fault STP Lightkravte

 *Note: I received a free Nintendo Switch game code for my honest review of the game. 

I have never played any of the games in the Fault series. Lightkravte is my first one and is described as a prequel to the series set five year before the first game which is a good introduction to the series and the Fault universe. The story introduces us to Khaji who is the son of a fruit farmer. Khaji explains all about the hierarchy and society of the kingdom of Rughzenahide. It's interesting, but it's also a bit dry. The game itself has a lore dictionary and I found myself looking up a lot of the terms used because otherwise it could be very confusing. 

Meeting Khaji for the first time. 

Khaji does not want to be a fruit farmer. All he wants is to be a portrait painter. The problem with that is Khaji doesn't have raw talent. He's been trying to learn and paint for two years and he has not improved at all. The way the kingdom is run is that at a certain point young people like Khaji have to take a vocational aptitude test that decrees what job they'll be doing for the rest of their life and Khaji's has basically told him he should stick to fruit farming. Khaji refuses to believe this and tries to find a way to improve his painting and become a painter like he wants. 

Khaji dreams of being a painter. 

The artwork for Lightkravte is beautiful and the facial expressions for each character is well animated. The fact that you can shift the camera angles so you can see different viewpoints of the art in each scene is a very cool effect. Forest areas and the cityscape are well done and really make this visual novel stand out. 

A beautiful forest area. 

I'll be honest. The first two hours of Lightkravte are rather boring. While I understand that it's to introduce the lore, world building, and explain how things work in Khaji's home country, most of it could have been pared down by a lot so we could get to the story faster. The story itself is interesting and I liked Khaji. I felt he could be very stubborn, but I also understood his frustration at everyone telling him that he couldn't be a painter and being rather rude and dismissive of him telling him he should give up. Not everyone felt that way however as shown with Khaji's relationship with his dad. His dad is matter of fact, but kind and supportive of him. I liked the conversations with Khaji's dad the best because it showed how caring their relationship was and that his dad gave him space when he needed it. 

Khaji's dad gives him life advice. 

Khaji also has some great friends that encourage and support him. One of them could be described as more of a frenemy, but they also support Khaji in their own way telling him the full truth even if he may not want to hear it. It's interesting to see how each friend is different in their support of Khaji, but it's not one sided. Khaji matures as the story progresses and realizes that he wants to be supportive of his friends. As he tries to find a solution to his painting skills, Khaji starts to grow as a person and understands that he wants to not only bring joy to his friends, but comfort with his art. It's a lovely emotional moment that really shows how far Khaji has come from the beginning of the story. 

Khaji supports a friend. 

There's a wonderful emotional moment at the end of the story as Khaji shows his answer and solution to his desire to paint portraits. It's a great ending to the story showing how far Khaji has come. I definitely liked the second half of the game better because once the story got going, it was pretty good. As visual novels go, I enjoyed the artwork, the characters, and the themes of friendship and determination. Lightkravte does a great job of introducing the Fault universe and once you get through the first two hours of dry reading, it tells an interesting story. 

A beautiful shot of the kingdom. 

*Fault STP Lightkravte is available to play on the following platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we play game and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Dragon Quest Treasures

 Right away Dragon Quest Treasures reels me in with one of my favorite characters from Dragon Quest XI, Erik when he was a child and his sister Mia is with him too. This is long before the events of Dragon Quest XI and has nothing to do with that story, but as spinoffs go the game is well done with a lighthearted and joyful adventure with the twins. The story starts with Erik and Mia on a Viking marauder ship talking about how they're going to find their own legendary treasure. Erik and Mia find a captured talking flying pig and flying cat on the ship and free them. Things happen and Erik and Mia fall through a portal to another dimension with their new friends and that's when their adventure truly begins.

Erik and Mia ready for adventure!

The world of Draconia is colorful, vast, and a lot of fun to explore. Draconia is a world where dragons turned peoples memories and hopes into treasures. The dragons are long gone, but their bodies make up the various floating islands of Draconia. It's actually pretty cool and the various regions are beautiful with places like green meadows with mountains or a Winter wonderland. You can play as Erik or Mia in the game and it doesn't matter who you choose, they have the same fight style and magic. I personally went with Mia. The main goal is to find the seven legendary Dragon Stones, but it's not the only thing to do. One of the other major things to do is to build your own treasure base to store all the loot you find on your adventure. This also helps fund restoring the magical trains that allow you to travel to the different islands. 

Of course the twins need help doing this and this introduces a mechanic in the game that I really enjoyed, recruiting monsters to join your treasure hunting team. Luckily, there are tons of monsters in each region ready to be recruited. It's pretty simple with an item called the Buddy Bullet which you fire at them with a slingshot weapon called a catapult. Sometimes it takes a few tries with the Buddy Bullet, but once it succeeds the monster joins you. When you get back to your base you talk to an NPC there and they will show you a list of potential recruits of monsters who want to join you. You have to pay the monster's hiring fee which can range from a certain amount of money to a specific item. Once you do that, the monsters are happy to join and help you on your treasure hunting journey.

A monster joins the team!

Each monster has different abilities that help you explore the areas. You can get to hard to reach heights with a flying monster or slip under small entrances with stealth with different monsters. The monsters also help you battle enemies with their skills. It makes exploring and boss battles a good time as you try out different monster team setups. 

Monsters can do lots of things.

You can have three monsters in your party so I liked getting to try out different team setups and seeing what worked for me best with each area. There are also monster medals which can be equipped like armor because the medals have different stat boosts like higher defense, more magic points, or stronger attack abilities. There are mini quests you can do as well which reward you with special items, treasure, and sometimes story related items. The user interface menu is easy to use which makes things easier to navigate.

Nicely laid out menu and team. 

All the treasure you find on your travels gets appraised the moment you return to your base. The treasures get stored in your base and there are plinths that you can display your treasures on. This leads to those displayed treasures sometimes getting polished which increases their monetary value. Some treasures are more valuable than others with things like priceless treasures which increases the overall quality of your treasure vault and base. 

Treasure appraisal done!

Your treasure isn't always safe however with other treasure gangs coming for you out in the wilds or to your base directly. When they come to your base this plays out like a capture the flag minigame. You battle the other team and when you defeat them this also increases the value of your treasure vault and also levels up the strength of your entire team. The battles aren't terribly challenging, but they're a lot of fun. 

Victory!

Overall the story in Dragon Quest Treasures isn't terribly serious and is very much a fun romp in a different dimension giving Erik and Mia a good story that is charming because of the way they're written as well as the myriad of interesting characters they meet along the way. It's a cute fairy tale that celebrates just having a great time and the spirit of adventure. I really enjoyed the game because of all that charm and the story itself is well done which made for a fantastic time. 

What a fun adventure!

*Dragon Quest Treasures is available to play on the Nintendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance High School, Love, and Cryptids

 Note* I received a Nintendo Switch code for the game for my honest review. Thank you to Rocket Adrift for the game code.

When I read the description of Raptor Boyfriend I was intrigued and amused. A high school romance dating sim set in 1997 in a town called Ladle that has magic creatures referred to as Cryptids and three of those romance options are a Velociraptor, a Fae, and a Bigfoot. What also caught my eye was the artwork because it was colorful, stylish, and really well done. 

As soon as you start the story you're introduced to the main character Stella who has moved to the small town of Ladle her last year of high school. Stella mentions she has been to Ladle before when she was a kid going to Summer camp and about how she had so much fun and that the town has magic creatures called Cryptids. Stella also brings up the fact that she hadn't been back to Ladle in a long time and she's a bit nervous about school. I liked Stella instantly because I recognized a bit of myself in her. I graduated from high school in 1995 so I'm older than Stella by a couple years, but I was that shy awkward kid too so I could understand the anxiety of meeting new people and not knowing anyone. 

We meet Stella for the first time. 

The gameplay is pretty typical of visual novels. It's broken down into seven chapters that you read through and click on to the next page. The story is well thought out as you have moments where you have to choose a response for Stella and how you answer will affect how the other characters interact with her. Stella's first day of school introduces the three love interests and again I was impressed with the comic book art style. The first person Stella meets is the Velociraptor, Robert.

Robert the Velociraptor appears.

Robert is a funny and friendly jock type. He also likes to do silly pranks. I found myself laughing at his antics because I was friends with a guy like Robert in high school. He was always really easy going, liked to make people laugh, and he was a good guy. Robert is the first love interest that is introduced to Stella and they have some pretty interesting dialogue that shows Robert is more than what he appears and that he has some deep insight into things about himself. 

After that, we meet the second love interest Taylor who is a Bigfoot. I was surprised at the reveal that Stella and Taylor knew each other from before when they were kids because Taylor's parents ran the Summer camp that Stella went to. Taylor is definitely cute and he's very much the quiet, brooding musician type. However, there is a gentle warmth to Taylor I found really endearing. The fact that he and Stella had a shared history together definitely added a great layer to their story. 

Taylor shows up.

Finally, we meet Day who is a magical Fae and honestly I thought Day was beautiful. In fact, she was the first romance I chose on the first playthrough of the game. Day is smart, witty, and she's a talented artist. There's a lot of layers to her showing some of the insecurities she struggles with and how she handles that around Stella. I loved their interactions with each other because they were relatable and charming. 

Meeting Day for the first time. 

To get the story going, you have to choose one of your potential love interests to call on the phone at home. This gives you some insights into who they are and will also give you an idea about their feelings. I went for Day the first time through and I really liked her romance a lot because Day was so genuine as she talked about her passion for art and how she wanted to leave Ladle and see more of the world and learn more about herself. She also showed herself to be this incredibly thoughtful, loving person. She was also fun and funny which made me like her even more. 

Chatting with Day on the phone. 

While you do have moments with your love interest, you also get to know the other two characters a bit more as the story progresses. There's of course the high school angst which brought up memories of being that age and how serious everything felt at times, but then also remembering the fun times with your friends and silly things you would do goofing off because you were kids. It ties everything in the story together nicely and it shows overall that each character has things they're struggling with and it makes them all the more endearing. 

Everyone in the car!

I liked all of the romances and seeing the different endings for each, but Day was my favorite. That initial awkwardness of Stella and Day liking each other, but trying to figure out those feelings was beautifully done with care for both characters. The moments alone with Day having those conversations I loved the best because I got to see more of who Day was and was becoming as a person with each chapter and the affection she had for Stella showed through all of it. 

Day and Stella have a conversation.

When I got to the end of the story and the big romance moment with Day, I could not stop smiling. It was sweet, wholesome, and just a beautiful moment. I also loved the fact that there was a bit more after the credits with a bit of a time jump and showing Stella and Day together, having fun and being in the moment with each other. It wraps everything up in the best way. I did play through two more times to get the story arcs with Robert and Taylor and I enjoyed theirs also because I got to see more of who they were in their moments, but Day is still my favorite. 

Raptor Boyfriend isn't very long as I finished it in about three hours, but it's charming and wonderful. The story is good and the characters are definitely memorable with a great art style and a lot of nineties references that brought back some great memories. If you like dating sim romance novels, definitely check this one out because it's fantastic.

A beautiful moment with Day. 

*Raptor Boyfriend A High School Romance is available on the following: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Xbox, Steam, itch.io

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

A Space For The Unbound, A Beautiful Journey

 *Note: I received a game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio for the game code and thank you for creating such a powerful and beautiful game. 

*Trigger warning: A Space for the Unbound shows and discusses mental health: depression, anxiety, and suicide. These are very serious and heavy topics in the game and we will be going over it in this review with some spoilers. 

A Space for the Unbound is a slice of life adventure story set in Indonesia in the nineties that talks about depression and anxiety. The game starts with introducing the main character of Atma who seems to be having a dream about chatting with a young girl named Nirmala about her story she's writing. Immediately I noticed the beautiful pixel art of the game. The colors are vibrant which work really well with the art. I liked the interaction between Atma and Nirmala because you could really see how close they are as friends. 

Atma and Nirmala in their basecamp. 

Atma wakes up in a classroom with his girlfriend Raya who is very sweet. I found myself smiling as Raya talked to Atma about making a bucket list of things they want to do together before graduating. Raya tells Atma they should do all these things right away and suggests skipping the rest of the school day. This starts the game with playing as Atma figuring out how to sneak by the teachers and meet up with Raya. 

Atma and Raya together. 

You can keep track of everything you do in a red book that shows the bucket list and as you complete each thing, it gets checked off. The book also has a map of the town as well as a list of all the collectibles Atma can find.

Keeping track of the bucket list. 

There's another cute feature in the game which is all the cats in town. You can pet the cats and you can choose among a list of three names to give them which is adorable and I made sure I named and petted every single cat. It's a lovely thing that brought so much joy just being able to hang out with all the cats. 

Atma pets a cute kitty. 

Atma and Raya wander around town doing different things and meeting up with all the various supporting characters in the story. They're having fun together and Atma starts to notice some things about Raya and around town that don't seem right. Raya has a supernatural power she can use and she does show Atma with the adorably named Cat Island who is surprised, but takes it in stride. 

Raya and Atma on Cat Island. 

The red book Atma carries with him is special because it is magical and allows Atma to have the ability to space dive which means he can go into someone's mind and see their memories when certain conditions are met. It's a specific memory that shows something the person is struggling with or trying to overcome. It's up to Atma to solve a unique puzzle in these memories that helps the person by changing something in the real world or gives a clue about the person so that Atma can help them. Each inner mind world looks pretty cool and interesting with the art style showing that character's personality. That's another thing I love about the game too. The music throughout the game is beautiful and captures the mood of each chapter and scene perfectly. 

Atma in someone's memory. 

Besides the main story, there are side quests you can do as well such as beating the high score in Future Fighter which is Atma's favorite game or collecting bottlecaps around town. Future Fighter is a lot of fun and brought up nostalgic memories for me of playing games in the arcade with my friends when I was a kid. It's a nice break from the main story and while it took me quite a few tries, I did beat the high score eventually; a fun thing to cross off the bucket list. 

Future Fighter is so much fun. 

Atma is really likeable and I appreciated his kind heart and concern for Raya especially as he navigated through the fact that he wasn't sure which things were dreams or memories as they blurred together. The more Raya uses her power, the more unstable things around town become. Each chapter reveals a bit more in the story as Atma tries to figure out what is going on and finds out the truth about terrible things Raya went through. 

I'm grateful that the developers of the game had a warning about the heavy topics discussing mental health with depression, anxiety, and suicide because the story in A Space for the Unbound while beautiful is also heartbreaking in places. Atma seeing Raya's memories of being bullied and struggling with feeling like she was enough, feeling like everything was just a pointless endeavor, absolutely resonated with me. It moved me to tears because I have been where Raya is; on the edge of the abyss wondering if it's all worth it and fighting to go on. The earnestness with which this game discusses these things made me feel seen in such a thoughtful and gentle way. That means everything to me because so many times we're told not to talk about mental health and here in A Space for the Unbound it's talked about in such a beautiful open and honest way showing that it is okay to talk about it and that it's important because we need that love and support in order to move forward.

By the end of the story I was sobbing because it wrecked me in the best way. The gentleness of Atma really shines through as he tells Raya how much he loves her and supports her. It perfectly showed all it takes is just one person to care and be there when we need it most. One of my favorite lines in the game is something Atma says, "Don't worry, in the storm you'll find your sunrise." because it shows that even in our darkest moments of despair there is always a little bit of hope and light. In a way, A Space for the Unbound is a love story. It's a story about loving ourselves, even the parts of us that we feel are hard to love and that the people who truly care about us love all of us too and will be there with us every step of the way with patience, love, and kindness. It's a beautiful journey and I'm so grateful I got a chance to play it. It's a wonderful indie gem and I loved all of it.

Beautiful words of wisdom from Atma. 

*A Space for the Unbound is available on: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Playstation 5

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

 

Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation, A Fun Summer Adventure

 *Note: I received a free code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Neos Corporation for the game code. 

I love Shin-chan and if you've ever read the manga or seen the anime you know it's fun, silly, and also sweet showing the importance of family and friends. I was instantly drawn in by the concept of this game because it looked cute and fun. The official name of the game is Shin-chan: Me and the professor on Summer Vacation - The Endless Seven Day Journey. That's quite a mouthful, but it gives you a hint about what to expect in the game. 

The game starts with five year old Shinnosuke Nohara "Shin-chan" getting ready for a week long trip to visit his mother's childhood friend in a rural town called Assou a play on the real city of Aso. When the family arrives at their destination a mad scientist named Dr. Akuno approaches them and gives Shin a camera that prints illustrations rather than photos. This seems a little odd, but they don't think anything of it until the next day Dr. Akuno shows up with a dinosaur he claims he extracted with time travel in order to wreak havoc. This is the right amount of interesting and silly for a Shin-chan game and the rather calm reaction from the family makes it even funnier. 

Shin-chan is ready for the Summer. 

The first day lets Shin introduce himself to everyone and explore the village a little bit. The game also explains some of the controls and how Shin's camera works. I really liked the camera because you can take a look at the pictures that Shin took in his room and it looks like a very cool picture diary. It's also a neat way to save your game. The illustrations are cute and whimsical, adding a fun way to track things you've done in the game. 

Picture diary of adventures!

Summer Vacation is very much a chill, relaxing experience because getting to play as Shin who is a five year old kid shows that joy of enjoying the Summer and getting to be a kid. The days are about 30 minutes and then you get about 5-10 minutes of night where you can talk to the other characters before Shin has to go to bed. There are quite a few places for Shin to wander and he can do a variety of things such as fishing, catching bugs, or one of my favorites taking pictures with the camera for the local newspaper. The game definitely celebrates that sheer joy that kids have of just getting to be kids during Summer vacation and having fun. At the end of the week, Dr. Akuno shows up and uses his time travel abilities to reset the week, hence the endless Summer aspect of it which keeps things going until the main story is resolved. 

Shin does a little night fishing. 

There are side quests Shin can do as well in the form of doing favors for people in the village like watering crops on a farm, delivering a specific type of herbs to a grocery store owner, or catching a variety of fish for someone. I found it was easier to just pick one or two things to do each day so Shin could wander to his heart's content. I really liked watering crops on the farm because then you could harvest them and those were part of some side quests too. The rewards for the quests gives Shin some cute badges, stickers, and really colorful trading cards. 

Ready to water the crops!

Another thing that amused me was the morning stretches. Every morning, Shin and his family do morning exercise and all the characters in the game join. There's a cheerful fun song and as the story progresses, there are more noticeable characters and dinosaurs added. It's cute and hilarious and put a smile on my face every time. 

Morning exercise time!

My absolute favorite thing in the game however was Dinosaur Showdown. Shin can befriend the kids from the village and play this game with them. It feels very much like a fighting card game and it is such a blast to play. You can get different dino cards when you buy a snack called Chocobi from the grocery store. Then you get to use these cards to play the game with the local kids. It's very easy to follow akin to Rock, Paper, Scissors and you can even compete in a Dinosaur Showdown tournament. The designs for the various dinosaurs are colorful and the battles aren't long so it keeps your attention. I got really hooked on this minigame and strived to collect all the dino cards. 

Dinosaur Showdown is fun! 

There are of course the usual Shin-chan jokes with Shin mishearing things adults say and a few innuendo jokes which if you're familiar with the series itself is a big part of the humor. Some are hit or miss, but I found myself chuckling a lot at most of them. The best part of the game is there's no hurry. You can take your time and enjoy everything. The artwork for the game itself is beautiful. I found myself just stopping to admire the surrounding areas with beautiful, bright flowers or the clear sparkling river. The music and ambient sound for the game is lovely too and together it creates such a relaxing mood and allows you to appreciate everything the game offers. 

Wow, those are some pretty flowers! 

Shin-chan is definitely all about the laid back vibes and it delivers that perfectly. The overall main story itself isn't very long; I finished it in about eight hours. You can play through again with everything you've collected and get things you may have missed. The game was a delight to play and just like the Shin-chan series it shows the importance of family, friends, and enjoying each day as it comes. 

Shin enjoys a rainbow. 

*Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Steam

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer