Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 Review for PS3

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What do you remember the most fondly about your childhood? Perhaps it's that trip to the beach where your grandmother taught you to swim and you discovered those beautiful seashells. Maybe it's that family reunion where you played all day with your cousins and canoed around the lake. Perhaps it's simply all the people who mentored you and introduced you to the world around you. Regardless, the wonder of being a child is the newness of everything and the excitement of it's discovery. Now pretend that this feeling has been made into a video game and you have Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 on the PS3. To find out more about this charming and unique video game please continue reading my review.

As you play Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 for the PS3 you will experience the life of a 10 year old boy in Japan during the month of August while he stays with his family in the country. Your aunt and uncle own a small farm that they share with your grandfather and their two girls, Midori and Hina. Your grandfather delivers milk and enjoys composing haiku. Your aunt and uncle work on the farm with help from the 10 year old Midori who also assists with the new baby Hina. Their closest neighbor is a young woman named Megumi who makes a living as a glass blower. They live in Hokkaido which is the northern island of Japan where the seasons are distinct and the winters are long. I can't help but see a similarity to my own Vermont in the rolling green hills and dairy farmland beautifully portrayed on the PS3 in Boku no Natsuyasumi 3.

Your new life for the summer consists of playing in the countryside, visiting neighbors, and assisting around the farm. Don't worry, the game is not about fetch quests and schedule keeping, but simply about being a child in the countryside during summertime. It's the nostalgia of childhood that is the focus and to accentuate that fact the game is set in the mid 70s a time that some of us PS3ers actually were children. My childhood was in truth a bit later, but that doesn't take away from the nostalgia of a time when there were no PS3s, cell phones, or microwaves. Instead we played outside and were back in time for a home cooked meal.

A number of collection related activities are available which encourage you to explore the world as much as possible. Summer bugs dot the paths, fields, and forests which you can collect and preserve as a bug collection. Many species are faithfully reproduced on the PS3 from beetles, butterflies, moths, damselflies, grasshoppers, and various other large insects. In addition to bug collecting there are many bottle caps to be found each featuring a different world country scattered across your little part of Hokkaido. Fishing is another activity where discovering the variety of fish available is all part of the fun.

To continue learning more about Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 for the PS3 please continue to the other parts of my review: Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 Review - Part 2, Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 Review - Part 3, Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 Review - Part 4, Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 Review - Part 5.