Brianna Fox-Priest
October 3, 2024 Two years ago we got Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation: The Endless Seven-Day Journey and now its upcoming predecessor Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town is on the way. I was able to play a preview copy of the first three days in-game, thanks to Neos Corporation.
Opening to the comforting song “Like N and S on Magnets”, I prepared myself for a cozy gaming experience. The three-day preview of the game delivered the coziness of a day-in-the-life sim coupled with the nostalgia of Crayon Shin-chan.
Playing as Shin-chan, you join your family in Akita prefecture to stay with Shin-chan’s grandparents, Ginnosuke and Tsuru Nohara. Your days consist of running through the rice paddies of the fictional Unbent Village, and yes you can run around shaking your buttocks, Shin-chan’s signature move.
Get a glimpse of Japanese countryside living and enjoy the daily life of Shin-chan. Catch bugs and fish along the stream and in the mountains, forage for herbs and plants, and learn to farm with grandma. Just make sure you’re back in time for dinner and bedtime. Complete various missions for the villagers to progress to new areas and unlock mini-game-like features. Meet a bug fanatic to give fireflies to, some other preschoolers to bring fish to, and a pretty inventor to help create new gadgets.
While simple, the game itself is stylized beautifully, bringing a newfound appreciation for game atmospheres. From time to time, I stop to take in the beautiful backgrounds and watch the town’s red trolley zip by. On the night of day two, the family dog, Shiro, runs off to a mysterious location. On the third day, you can follow Shiro to the hidden Coal Town. It’s the complete opposite of Unbent Village in aesthetics and missions. It’s a nostalgic and grungy area that seems stuck in the Showa Era. Here you will encounter quirky characters, collect minerals to create wacky new inventions, craft new dishes and menu items for a local restaurant, and eventually unlock racing (a feature not available in the preview.)
But was coal town all but a dream? There’s still a lot more to unlock and understand about this nostalgic place when the full game releases.
This game will likely only appeal to fans of the Shin-chan series or those who remember watching it late at night on Cartoon Network in the early 2000s. But it gives a nice glimpse into Japanese anime game titles that are rare in the West. And as a Japanese language learner, I appreciate the Japanese audio coupled with localized English subtitles, it makes for easy listening practice. Although, Shin-chan may not be the best teacher with his often incorrect pronunciation and occasional cheeky humor.
It did leave me curious about how the rest of the four days would hold up. What secrets did Coal Town have and when was I going to find that pesky rhinoceros beetle?
Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town the game will release on October 24th on Steam and Nintendo Switch.
Thank you to Neos Corporation for a preview copy.
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