Summer in Mara

This is my review on itch, I will post it here too because this great game deserve it: 30-04-2022 I finished this amazing game today. I loved it... for the most part. There are 3 different kind of game in Summer in Mara: 1. Manage your island (this is awesome, lot of things to do in a day, lot's to build, you can decide what you want to upgrade to make your life easier for the most part (of course there are some items that you need to build)). 2. Discover the world as an explorer with your boat (this is the best part. I loved every island of Mara). 3. Fetch quests with awesome characters (this is the weak spot of Summer in Mara... you do meet a lot of great characters and that's good, but they also only ask you to go to do things for them (collect stuff for the most part)). I still think this game deserve 9/10, the awesome music and artstyle, the really great animated shorts, every good part of this game deserve a 10 so the bad part is really a minor thing (as it also push you to explore more and the game does reward you for exploring). I'm glad I played it and I will suggest this to all my friends.

The ideology of this game is a little simplistic: industrious people are portrayed as totally evil and citizens as completely altruistic. The industrious types want to strip mine everything and the citizens get magical boat fuel out of the ground already refined. When they want to create something out of metal they tap tap on a rock and get magically refined metal. They never throw their garbage in the sea either. Once you get past this, it's a very good and relaxing game, except for the fishing mini-game. The music is excellent, the art is nice, but the graphics are fuzzy. The whole game is made up of fetch quests, but at least there is some crafting involved with the quests. I despise fishing mini-games and the one in this game is just as horrible as the rest. It's ironic that the way to get a better fishing rod and make it easier is to endure the punishment of the fishing game.

it is an interesting game but, i had to start over, because i did one tiny mistake. i destroyed the well, before i could build a new one. it does not help that there is only 1 save file. it is a game that i intend to play more. it is interesting that the movies is separate from the ingame graphics.

Summer in Mara has a lot of potential but it didn't take long for me to lose interest. I could accept the NPCs were all cardboard cut-outs. I also didn't mind the buildings that could not be entered but were simply UIs to conduct dialogue and fulfill quests. I'll list the rest as follows: Pros: Discovering new islands and collecting crated animals from the ocean. Fairly simple interface for crafting and cooking. Tools auto-select when you need it. Crops do not NEED watered, it just speeds up their growth. Cons: UI is clunky and too deep. Trying to quickly find quests you're doing takes too long. Planting crops requires a deep dive into the inventory panel just to select the seeds. Watering is a pain in the rear as the bucket starts emptying as soon as you fill it. Fishing mini-game is limited to three tries which makes it more frustration than it's worth. Even after all that I was willing to play along--that is until the offerings to the so-called gods kept happening. This game has a level of spiritualism that I am not okay with, and it's not optional.

its fairly relaxing but its not your typical rpg style game