Summer in Mara Review (Nintendo Switch)

Game: Summer in Mara
Genre: Simulator, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS4, Xbox and Steam)
Developer|Publisher: Chibig| Evolve PR
Age Rating: EU 7+ | US: E10+
Price: USD $ 24.99| CAD $ 28.34| AUS $ 35.00 | UK £ 19.99 |EU € 21,99
Release Date: 16th June 2020

Review code used, with many thanks to Evolve PR

Chibig Studio in Spain started working on Summer in Mara in 2018, and after a successful Kickstarter at the beginning of 2019 it’s now released. Finally! The downside of having your eye on game development in such early stages is that you can’t wait to see the actual results. So if you are a regular reader, you won’t be surprised to see my review on Summer in Mara on here. I was super chuffed to get a review code for it, so I had a few more days to gather my thoughts on it.

Meet Koa and Yaya Haku

In a brief intro, you witness how baby Koa is saved by Yaya from a burning ship and obviously brought to Home Island. The game starts in a very unusual way: with Koa sitting on the top of the roof, staring out over sea. Now that’s a first! Get that child down from there asap, she might hurt herself! Not to worry though, Koa can take care of herself.

The first part of Summer in Mara takes quite some time, with Yaya Haku teaching Koa the ropes. She learns how to make items, how to use tools and to fish. A lot of this might come natural to experienced gamers, but I found that at some things didn’t come naturally to me. For instance, the way watering of the fields work: the well quickly dries up and if there’s no rain, there’s no choice but to make another well. Or the fact that holding down ZR makes Koa run super fast, which is very welcome.

I think adding some written instructions would have been welcome. Because even after the game actually starts, more new mechanics are added that are easily missed. For now, I’ve decided to make a beginners guide, which you can find here to help you along.

After the instructions chapter the game actually starts. You find that Koa is on her own, Yaya is gone and you’re in the dark as to why.

The game opens up when you encounter the light in the sea at night, a sequence that had a glitch in it showing a very strange image of Koa hovering above the ocean. Together with Napopo you guide your little boat off to adventure.

A lot of questing to be done

Pretty soon, Koa finds the first island to explore, Qälis. I had seen it in my maps all along, which I think is a little bug in the game. At first I was wondering if there was another part to Home Island that I hadn’t see yet. But it was nice to finally see more of the world of Mara. The main purpose is to get the Lady of the Lighthouse to give you a map which you can use to find more islands to further your adventure.

Summer of Mara is based on quests: Koa helps out people on the islands and gets things in return. That’s the way to progress the story, and it’s also the way to make your Home Island more efficient. I loved finding apples and getting cherries, enabling me to make more fruit trees on my island asides from the orange trees. It may sound so simple, but that the simulation part of the gaming is making me happy. There are several merchants so more seeds and more ingredients for new recipes.

Koa can make tools, has a workshop to make items, can cook and can build structures on the Home Island. Upgrading her tools means there’s more to be done and more crops to sow. I would have like it however if crafting and even sleeping hadn’t been just a part of the menu when you press Y at Koa’s house. A real bed to sleep in and the ability to decorate her home would have added more fun.

Help people and get rewarded in return

Summer in Mara creates a world where you can meet plenty interesting characters and hear their funny stories. The bored teen working in a restaurant, who prank calls an older lady as she would really much rather sail the world as a pirate. The fisherman who can’t stop sprouting irrelevant stories. The arrogant banker who isn’t liked by anyone, but really helps your quests along…for a price of course.

Chibig has added some overall themes to the game that lead to side-quests for completionists. Find all the crabs that are scattered throughout that have letters. Pick up trash you find and put it in the specials bins that are found throughout the game, earning recycle points. You can even buy one for your Home Island.

Summer in Mara tries to clearly convey a message of do good for others, and then people will treat you right too. That’s what Yaya instilled on Koa, and it’s a message that will always be important even in our modern day world.

Mara is a veritable world

Chibig has created a world that doesn’t just exist in this one game, but is a veritable world on its own. I love that kind of creativity: there’s a history to Mara, every character feels very real and has been given a personal story. That to me shows all the love that has been pored into making Summer of Mara.

For instance, in the developers blog you’ll find Banker Edegan’s view on the island of Qälis:

Full of qüidos with a lot to do: they have their commerces open all day, others might have them open all night, but they sure are happy. That’s the way of life here. No ambition, little work and too much joy, if you ask me. I think they could be a lot more greedy, they could hope to gain more, much more, and fight for it.

As Chibig states: “When Edegan was a child, he already had an abacus and a notebook with all the accounting about the money that his parents gave to him and he lend to other kids. Then, he left the island to study abroad, in a great university. He studied economics and business management, so he thinks he knows more than anyone in the island about running a business.”

I think we should introduce him to Tom Nook!
That was just to clarify, this is exactly what I mean that I love the way Mara is a veritable world on its own.

Qälis is just the first of many islands in Mara to discover. And with more discovery comes new things for the Home Island too, like animals to tend to, new structures to add and more resources and crops to work with.

Big achievements and little niggles

The visuals in Summer of Mara are great. The vibrance, the detail to them in most characters and the towns. Just wait until you get to the diving, the underwater world looks so spectacular. When the sun is setting over the water and your boat it looks amazing.

It’s a pity then, that when you row to your next destination, the island just suddenly pops up out of the ocean. Nothing on the horizon when you are chugging along.

The controls need some attention, or at least there should be some more written help screens in the game. Under + you find several tabs, with quests, items you have and a map. Some written shortcuts would have made sense in there. For me, the controls didn’t come naturally. For instance, using Y instead of A to take action, and scrolling through your tools using the D-pad, where usually for such things the R or L button is used.

The transition from the intro chapter where Yaya was teaching Koa the ropes to the actual start of the story was a bit jarring. I would have like a bit more guidance there, it took me some time to realise this must be a different time and that Yaya wasn’t just away on a voyage. After all, I found the boat not running and the pier broken.

When it comes to the soundtrack I must say that the music is outstanding, especially for a small game company. The theme music is catchy, dramatic, in the way it builds up and goes quieter when the vocals come in. And the sound effects are spot on too.

Conclusion

Summer in Mara is a simulation adventure of the kind that the Switch still needs more entries of in its library. When you debate whether or not Summer in Mara is for you, you have to keep this in mind: you don’t play the game to go from A to B. You don’t play it to just to do all the quests and live the adventure. No, you do the quests to make the Home Island of Koa more beautiful, more bountiful and a real home. And meanwhile, you discover new islands, learns the story of new people and live through new adventures.

We have all been a little spoiled in simulation gaming by Animal Crossing: New Horizons but you must remember this game is made by a small studio. It is clearly a project of love, so well made into the little details. Yes, there are some bugs to repair and there are some parts I’d like to see added, like a fully functioning inside of Koa’s home. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that I love playing it:

Final Verdict: I like it a lot!