Boku no Natsuyasumi 2: Umi no Bouken-hen
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2: Umi no Bouken-hen is the sequel to Boku no Natsuyasumi and has a similar concept. The nine-year-old city boy Boku once again spends his summer vacation in the countryside in 1975. It is a alternate universe sequel where the character spends his vacation with his family in a different location, but still meets many characters from the first game. The sequel is set in a Japanese southern coastal town on the tropical Izu Peninsula where his aunt and uncle have a bed and breakfast. The game consists of fixed screen, pre-rendered environments with 3D models and a cinematic camera with a different viewpoint for each scene. Boku's vacation only lasts 31 days, but the player is free to choose how to spend his time as it is presented as a sandbox environment. It is possible to seek quests and help the people in town to solve their problems, but he can also choose to ride his bike anywhere, go bughunting, spend time fishing, dive into the ocean, launch a rocket, go on walk, play hide and seek, or play a mini-game of beetle wrestling. Many scenes offer interaction for the sake of exploration, with no further purpose. Time advances when a new scene is entered, so it is not possible to complete all content in a single playthrough.
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Reminders and memories of the day to day we live by, and grow by ^w^ Nothing more and nothing less!!!
Don't get me wrong, I think Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 is a very cute little game, but that's pretty much all it is. You can fish, catch bugs, swim, and explore parts of this island, talking with its inhabitants and getting to know them better until they completely open up to you. The stories are all super well written, and they are all common enough in real life that I'm sure players will at least connect with one of them. But that being said, neither the stories nor the character developments are truly remarkable or groundbreaking.
Where this game excels is in its vibes; its presentation perfectly conveys what being a kid in Japan circa 1970 would have been like, and it reflects Japanese culture quite well, featuring tons of their unique traditions. It's a time capsule on video game format, and it does a fantastic job being that.
That being said, looking back, I don't think the 17 or so hours I put into the game were really worth it; there's just so many games to play and so little time that, as cute as Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 was, It just didn't quite rock my world. It also didn't help the fact that the pace is quite slow and there are days in which there's nothing particularly interesting to do.
I'd say, try it for yourself. It's a very unique experience, and I'm sure some people would fall in love with its small yet cozy world. Maybe you'd like it more than I did; just don't get your expectations as high as I did.