• You use an Adblocker to hide advertisements. This type of program makes it difficult to keep this website up and running, since displaying advertisements is the only way to pay for hosting. Would you like to make an exception for this site? We promise that you will not be bothered by the advertisements.
  • Get upgrade the account to (Anti-ads Super Silver or Gold, Titanium - LifeTime for free and no yearly!) ----> "Click".
  • Check out: DKS-Discord
  • Forum - DKS is an English speaking community. If you reply to a thread using non-English languages(French/Spanish/etc), staff will review your post and may delete it.
Forum - DKS

[Official Review] Summer In Mara [Nintendo Switch]

Summer-in-mara.jpg
Review code provided by the developers (Thank you!)

Introduction/Story


Summer in Mara introduces us to Koa, a young girl that was abandoned at a young age and rescued by Yaya, an old fish lady.

Koa now lives with Yaya on a remote island and Yaya acts as her paternal figure.

Eau2j8jU8AAyg7C.jpg

At the beginning of the game, we are given a few tasks that introduce us to the game's main mechanics such as cutting down trees, fishing, that kind of thing...

Meanwhile, we see Koa interact with Yaya and we get to know them both a bit better.

After we have completed all tasks Yaya leaves in search of provisions, we are told we cannot go with her and we are left on our own.

puca9c267dad0305d1a6308d2a0cf1c39c-1583952303-8941843-screenshot-original.png

Later Yaya fails to return home and we embark on our journey to find her.

----------------------------------------------

The game's introduction is fairly well made, a bit slow but it made me wanna keep playing, in a way it reminds me of the introduction sequence in The Legend Of Zelda Twilight Princess in the sense that it has you do a few tasks and introduces you to important characters before you get to actually go outside the village and play the rest of the game.

EapbvIyU4AE-JQV.jpg

Throughout your journey, you'll find out more about Koa and Yaya. What happened to Yaya? Why was Koa abandoned? it's up to you to find out

The World

The world of summer in mara is composed of many different islands in which you will find all kinds of people, fish people, humans, cat people...

Eazwd5rUEAAoWgr.jpg

I must say I really like the character design, it is rather charming.

The world is pretty big for an indie game and also really pretty, I must say that despite the game's lower resolution on Nintendo Switch I still think the game world is breathtaking.

The Gameplay

"Too many fetch quests?"

In Summer in Mara, you will visit different islands, craft, farm, mine, chop down trees, fish, gather sunken treasure...

it is, in general, a pretty laid back experience, those things are fine but MENU navigation isn't intuitive and I had a lot of trouble with it, the UI can be confusing and buttons don't do what you expect them to do sometimes.

EaqIGCKUYAACcJ5.jpg

It is also worth mentioning that many times I got lost because there's no clear indicator of where to go, there are no markers on the map either.

One common complaint I see is that the game has you participate in too many "fetch quests", I haven't played the game for too long but I can already say that is indeed true.

puca9c267dad0305d1a6308d2a0cf1c39c-1583952293-9441537-screenshot-default.jpg

But I must be used to it from playing so many JRPGs because this doesn't bother me as much.

The Graphics

puca9c267dad0305d1a6308d2a0cf1c39c-1583952337-1868803-screenshot-original.png

As stated before the game runs at a lower resolution on Nintendo Switch but performance-wise it is pretty decent, the world is beautiful, the characters look nice and are really stylized, I have even called the game world breathtaking.

puca9c267dad0305d1a6308d2a0cf1c39c-1583952326-1157240-screenshot-original.pngEau8WyvVcAAOOEP.jpgEaqIGCGUcAA9mUl.jpg

The game also features really well-animated cutscenes which are a nice touch and welcome addition.

The Music




Really fitting even though some may think it is generic, it gives me vibes of discovery, adventure and makes me feel joy.



Score

Music 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Story: 7/10

Overall (Not an average)

8/10

Despite its many flaws I am so far enjoying Summer In Mara.
 
Last edited by a moderator: