Summer In Mara Review
Release Date: June 16th, 2020
Developer: Chibig
Platform: Switch (Reviewed), PC, PS4, Xbox One
Price: $24.99
Summer In Mara introduces Chibig's new game in a line of stellar titles the studio has delivered in the past few years such as Deiland and Ankora that also have an emphasis on farming and relaxation. Summer In Mara is no exception to all of these things as Chibig has what may possibly be my favorite game from them yet, and it's a perfect fit on Nintendo Switch. While far from perfect, Summer In Mara has a constant sense of serenity from the moment you begin from its stunning opening animation to the soothing music that plays throughout, with your screen in both handheld and TV mode bestowing a wonderful art style that complements the 3D world around it in a tasteful and colorful way.
Playing as Koa, an eleven year old girl that lives by herself on an island in the sea of Mara with the occasional visit from her grandmother, Yaya Haku, you'll be taking care of the island as you wonder about a mysterious door that has been locked by guardians for a very long time. The premise is vague but the sense of adventure is grand and uncovering mysteries the more and more you go and meeting tons of characters along the way make for a wonderful time that's as jovial as it is colorful. You'll be farming as much as you are adventuring, so everything feels balanced, but the game also doesn't force you to do anything right away, and while there are day and night cycles, there's no penalty for doing things at certain times or whenever you'd like. The game can be played entirely the way you see fit, which makes the environment of Summer In Mara stress-free as you can happily go at your own pace and explore at your leisure. While the game is extremely easy to pick up and is able to do a lot by saying a little, you're given a rapid-fire tutorial in the beginning that can feel a little tedious and irksome as you're just so excited to see the world of Mara, so at first players will be learning how to quickly craft an axe, chopping down a tree with it, then a hoe, planting and harvesting seeds with it, then a hammer, mining minerals and the like, so on and so forth all rather quickly. You'll also be doing fetch quests in-between to gather resources to craft with each respective tool and understanding the fundamentals of what each is used for and how to utilize them. After the first hour, things begin to open up once you've learned how to craft certain things needed to get the boat up and running and sailing the seas.
The way crafting and farming work is incredibly easy and adds to the stress-free nature of Summer In Mara. While sometimes finding resources can take a while due to being sporadically placed, it's the spaces in-between each objective that are filled with more to see and collect that keep things feeling full. Mind you there aren't collectables in the traditional sense, and while there are special items such as eight pieces of clothing and backpacks to change Koa's outfit to your liking, as well as other key items pertinent to the story, the things you'll be collecting are mainly resources for the things you'll craft. Crafting can be done in a home location where you'll be granted a few different options, such as Tools, Workshop, Kitchen, and Sleep. As you learn recipes you'll be able to craft them in their respective categories and it'll let you know the resources you need to craft each one. Most of what I've gathered had fairly modest requirements for whatever it was I needed to craft, so it never felt like a chore to gather the resources at all, and just about any island you went to would have what you were looking for, with some exceptions to keep each with its own identity, of course. This adds to Summer In Mara's insistence of being a relaxed space for the player to be in, void of any frustrations. Any issues that would arise within Summer In Mara wasn't necessary from the way the game itself, but some of the more technical aspects of it. Sometimes jumping felt delayed with slight input lag, and occasional frame drops would occur in the bigger areas, though nothing beyond that including the two mentioned scenarios were egregious enough to make the game feel cumbersome, and instead just felt like little quirks that would arise from time to time. Summer In Mara is otherwise stable and looks great in both TV and handheld mode, running equally great on both, providing a crisp image (though draw distance could be better in the game) where the colors and art really pop no matter where you're playing it.
There's a simplicity to Summer In Mara that makes it cathartic compared to other games of that nature thank to a lack of penalties. While these types of calming exploration games and farming sims aren't the type to be difficult, there's an element of frustration to it when you put it down for a while or maybe go and do other things. Crops wither, relationships with townsfolk deteriorate, and changes of seasons can ruin any plans you may have had for certain festivities. Depending on the type of game, sometimes you have a shop to run as well that, if neglected, can cause for some less than satisfying results. At points it can feel like these games eventually turn on you for not dedicating your life to it and quite literally creating a second life, where most things may be in real time or accelerated, but done in a realistic manner that insists you live in its world no different from your character. It can be laborious and discouraging, but Summer In Mara does none of this. It respects the player's time and the luxury of playing a game to escape reality and be free in a world devoid of worry and consequence. You can explore as much as you want and while you do have a stamina meter as well as a hunger bar, these reaching zero simply take you back to a "safe spot" where you can regroup and venture out. Food is incredibly easy to find and make, and inventories seem virtually infinite, so there's never a sense of worry when traversing through the seas and venturing out to the various islands Mara has to offer.
Summer In Mara is an absolute treat on the Switch, providing an escape into multiple islands and meeting many characters along the way that make the world more vibrant. From its cute and appealing art to soothing compositions from island to island between day and night, Summer In Mara feels like a genuine vacation with a stress-free environment that allows you to play at your own pace. What feels like a combination of Yonder, RIME, My Time at Portia, and Zelda: Wind Waker, with a hint of Moana, Summer In Mara still stands out as it has you sailing throughout a sea of emotions as you venture from island to island each with their own feel, and with the added element of farming on top of the exploration in a very intuitive way and clean user interface, the game consistently feels like a treat to play. Though I wish there were more collectables, what Summer In Mara does accomplish it does well, and its entire premise and philosophy to game design comes down to one word: serenity.
PROS:
Great art and a clean, minimal user interface
The relaxing music complements the serene environments of every island you visit
Heartwarming, charming, and great for anyone looking into a relaxing and free world to explore and immerse yourself in.
CONS:
In-game animations are stiff on occasion
Occasional frame drops in the more populated areas, though nothing too bad.
Some sections of menus don't allow for D-Pad or Thumbstick interchangeably
A big thank you to Chibig for providing us a copy of Summer In Mara for the purposes of this review.