Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 (My Summer Holiday 3) - PS3

[Balderak]

OK, I have only just scratched the surface of this one. If anyone has played Boko no Natsuyasumi 2 on the PS2, you'll know what to expect. Basically you play a young boy who is spending his summer break at his aunt and uncle's farm. There you can do what you want - collect butterlies and insects, go swimming, skim stones, play rope jump, go sledging down a grassy hill on a piece of cardboard and generally mess about.

As you explore the areas around the farm, you will meet various people, which triggers certain events. Early in the game you can find a clock, which helps you keep track of the time. Get to your bed by 11pm or you will miss your morning exercise. There are also 50 bottle tops to collect. These are hidden about the place.

I went onto the Japanese PS3 store and downloaded a bunch of T-Shirts which you can wear. There are some nice designs and even a Amazon.jp T-Shirt.

So far I've found 3 bottle tops and caught a few insects. I think it's possible to mount the insects and even play a game of Beetle sumo with your captured beetles. As I explore more, I'll post back.

There is a lot of Japanese, but so far, it hasn't spoiled the fun. It looks lovely and is very relaxing.

Here's the official page in case you want to look at screens or check out movie: http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/bokunatsu3/

[Balderak]

Explored some more today. After having breakfast with my family, I went down to the river to have a good old root about and caught a few butterflies with my net. If you are near insects that you haven?t come across before, they have a small ?new? above their heads. I also found a fishing pole on the way.

When I got to the water?s edge, I dived straight in. I mentioned hidden bottle caps in my last post, and in Boku 2, if you collected these (there were about 14 of them) you could spend longer underwater. Not sure if it?s the same here, but as there are 50 of them scattered about, I?m pretty sure the same thing will apply. Anyway, I swam with the colourful fish and eventually found a pier where I climbed out and settled down to a bit of fishing. There are three different lures to use, and I didn?t have much success in tempting those lunkers onto my line. I?ll try again later.

Then, I came across a group of kids playing below a tree house. After chatting to them, they invited me for a game of skip rope. It was a basic rhythm action-type affair which was a wee bit of fun. I them climbed into the treehouse where there is a beetle sumo ring. Unfortunately, I haven? caught any beetles yet, but I?ll definitely head back there when I do.
It was then back to the house for dinner and I spent the evening examining my butterfly collection.

You can take any butterfly you?ve caught and pin it inside a cardboard box that sits on a desk in your bedroom. Once this is done, a colourful entry is made in a book on the desk. You can also then examine the butterfly by zooming in and out and rotating it. This is the only way to catalogue your daily findings, so it is important to do it every night.

So that was that, the end of my second day. It?s safe to say that I am really enjoying this and, as I said before, its gentle pace is very relaxing.

I'm no expert in Japanese and there are a few things that are puzzling me, but if anyone needs help with menus and stuff, I'll be happy to try and help.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Where did you get your copy from? Not really looking to pay too much for this one.

[JP]

I keep thinking about buying this game but I don't really have much idea what the hell is going on!

There is just something about this game which has caught my attention.

There are a couple of lengthy videos in the JP Store which I've watched a few times now: Trailer 1 & Trailer 2

Has anybody else here played this yet?

[Balderak]

The beauty of the game is that you can't really mess it up. The goal is to spend the 31 days of August having a good time. As I mentioned, my knowledge of the Japanese language is almost non-existent, but it doesn't throw up too many problems - although there are a lot of conversations.

Evolution-One, if you can play imported Japanese PS2 games, then I recommend you get Boko no Natsuyasumi 2 from Play Asia. It's cheap and the gameplay is very similar to the PS3 version.

[JP]

The beauty of the game is that you can't really mess it up. The goal is to spend the 31 days of August having a good time. As I mentioned, my knowledge of the Japanese language is almost non-existent, but it doesn't throw up too many problems - although there are a lot of conversations.

Thanks! It's a shame there isn't and probably won't be an English language version really. Although I can imagine that would remove a lot of the games charm.

Evolution-One, if you can play imported Japanese PS2 games, then I recommend you get Boko no Natsuyasumi 2 from Play Asia. It's cheap and the gameplay is very similar to the PS3 version.

I'm purely PAL at the moment. I have the vague memory of playing a JP game like this in the past so it may well be what you're mentioning.

I may be tempted to pick this up sometime although there are far to many other games I'm after first. Let me know if you're thinking of getting rid of yours though as I may be interested!

[buddha]

Where did you get your copy from? Not really looking to pay too much for this one.

Yeah, Yes Asia don't appear to be selling it.. Ebay the only other option?

[Balderak]

I got my copy from http://www.gamechoiceclub.com/

Got it within days and for a good price too. I'll deinitely use them again.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

This just arrived and it's pretty cool.

Just finished day two and I've done:

5 bottle tops
Been fishing
Milked a cow
Met the other kids
Swam a little

Definitely an acquired taste, but being into Japanese oddness, I love it!

Gonna get downloading those tee's later!

[Bleeders]

Looks like a shinier Harvest Moon, would it be fair to compare it to that?

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Looks like a shinier Harvest Moon, would it be fair to compare it to that?

Not really, as I don't think there are any real 'targets' in this game. It's basically just entertain yourself for a few weeks during the holidays.

Playing it a bit more and I REALLY wish this would get a western release as I'd love to know what's really going on.

[JP]

Playing it a bit more and I REALLY wish this would get a western release as I'd love to know what's really going on.

No...you wouldn't really want that to happen!!!

It would "made more suitable for western tastes" and would probably end up being really crap.

I keep holding out for a used copy of this game, I know it's not expensive at the moment but I see it like Railfan in that I don't think I'd keep it for that long.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

No...you wouldn't really want that to happen!!!

It would "made more suitable for western tastes" and would probably end up being really crap.

I keep holding out for a used copy of this game, I know it's not expensive at the moment but I see it like Railfan in that I don't think I'd keep it for that long.

I got mine for $35 shipped, which is a decent price. I can see myself spending a few summer holidays down on 'Uncle's Farm'.

You're probably right about it being made more suitable fo the west, which would be a shame as it's quite charming as it is. All the scenery is beautifully hand drawn and it's totally unlike anything I've played before.

More thoughts from me after a week or two on the farm!

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

10 days in and...

LOVING IT!

So far, I've taken a boat ride to another part of the countryside that has a HUGE lake, had beetle fights, collected every butterfly/moth, played with other kids, found a sheep in the midle of the path, done my exercises, broken someone's property , slid down a MAHOOSIVE hill and generally had a real god holiday. One guy keeps bullying me though

I'm now 4 hours into it and a third of the way through, so it's not a short game by any means.

This goes right up there in my top two PS3 games along with Minna 5.

[Balderak]

Milked a cow

Nice, tell me how. I've been into the farm house and I can see the calf, but nothing happens when I try and interact with it. Also, there's a dude on the side of the road, sitting beside a truck. He asks you a question and a list of numbers come up. Anyone know what the answer is?