Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town Review
PC/Switch
10/23/24
h.a.n.d., Inc./Neos Corporation
Shin chan, or Shinosuke, has been around the proverbial block quite a few times since the early 90s. He debuted in the Weekly Manga Action magazine over three decades ago and has since been adapted to cartoons and videogames across the world. What makes Shin-chan so universally charming? Well, it could be his short stature and tendency to misunderstand words. Or perhaps it is his adorable family, his "Riz" with the ladies or his trusty dog Shiro, but if I had to guess, I'd say it is his unmatched booty shaking ability that has taken the world by storm.
Whatever has led us all to this video, today we are reviewing the latest installment in the Shin-chan franchise, Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town Review. Did this relaxing title twerk its way to my heart, or does it still have a lot of growing up to do? Let's grab our bug-catching nets and discuss!
Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town begins in the way many cozy, rural adventures do. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Shin-chan and his family are temporarily staying at a farmhouse in the countryside due to his father's work assignment. While dad is busy and mom is preoccupied with a younger sibling, Shin-chan's grandparents are put in charge of watching over him and occupying his time with him mundane tasks to fill his days before supper time. These tasks consist of farming, fishing, bug catching, cataloging wildlife and gathering ingredients for cooking. All seems well and good until Shiro, the family dog returns home covered in a mysterious soot. Shin-chan follows him to discover a trolly that travels to coal town. From that moment on, the two split their time between the peaceful farming village and the bustling metropolis, collecting materials and ingredients, completing quests and meddling with -er- meeting the inhabitants of both location
Controlling Shin-chan is a breeze, though his standard walking speed is admittedly pretty slow. Don't fret, however, because you can speed things up by shaking your booty to get from location to location more efficiently and with far more charisma. This is some videogame logic I truly wish I could apply to my real life. When you're not busy busting a move, you can catch and catalogue the various insects, fish, minerals and ingredients that are native to the Akita Prefecture by bringing them to the local nature enthusiast. Catching insects is accomplished by a swish of your bug net when you can spot one on screens. New varieties of insects are indicated with a bit of sparkle in their general vicinity. While the concept of bug catching is simple enough, it did sometimes take me a few swings to catch my prey, mostly because I had a bit of an issue with some of the camera angels and perspectives. It's not like they can actually escape you, though, so not a huge deal--they all got what was coming to them in the end.
Also represented by random sparkles are plats and minerals you can gather from the ground. These items are often required to fulfill quests or to create recipes and inventions, though you can also use them at the bulletin boards stationed in both locations to trade for different materials and cold, hard cash.
Fishing and gardening are performed exactly as you might expect with no complexity to either. You simply stand near a qualifying body of water and are prompted to drop your fishing line and then push the action button once you start receiving feedback from the line. For gardening, you just sow the seeds, water the plants and wait. Some plants take longer than other to grow, so you'll need to keep that in mind when you're deciding what to plant. There's really no guesswork here, which makes things feel ultra-laidback and not as much like a chore or a job. I mean, we are a child after all.
There is a day/night cycle in Shin chan and the Coal Town, which means you need to return to the farmhouse by nightfall, otherwise you become sleepy and groggily end up there anyway (regardless of whether you're exploring the neighborhood or he Coal Town at the time). After you're returned to the house, you can still explore some close by areas by moonlight, catching fireflies and chatting with your family, but this time is limited and you'll eventually be returned to your home to sleep, which is also when the game saves.
The days did feel rather short at times, especially when you just discovered a new location or took on a new and exciting task. It caused me to lose just a bit of momentum or my train of thought at times, but lord knows that train derails pretty easily on its own. On the bright side, it does allow you to pace yourself through your gameplay and gives you good stopping points. You can save at any time while playing, but these natural pauses just make a great excuse to get up, grab a snack, maybe even stretch or finish up for the evening.
Some quests require multiple day-cycles worth of work anyway (like growing and harvesting specific crops you'll need for a new dish or gathering enough minerals and components to help create a new invention), and there's never any shortage of quests to do, things to discover, locations to explore and people to meet. I will say that while both locations had plenty to see and do, i did always find it more exciting to hop of the trolly to Coal Town and take on those tasks. The people, places and things there just felt livelier and more exciting. Coal Town has an air of intrigue that is hard to ignore.
Personally, I am not generally big on cozy casual games, particularly of the farm sim variety as i often find the mundane tasks end up feeling less relaxing and more like a chore when countless tasks are piled on with lots to keep track of an maintain. I do so much of that in my day-to-day life, it's just not the way I personally care to relax. While you do a lot of collecting and fall into a daily routine with Shin-chan and The Coal Town, it never feels monotonous or like a chore. There is always something new to discover, a new invention to create, a new quiz to take and just when you think you've seen it all, they add trolly racing and customization, a bath house to gather gossip from the locals, a gang of mysterious do-gooders to impress. The list goes on. Keeping things fresh seems to be this game's priority, and it's pretty darn successful.
IT doesn't hurt that the art is so pleasant to look at. I mean look at the diverse environments, from dusty streets and crowded shops to mountain paths with waterfalls and farmlands. These environments are surprisingly well detailed and feel alive. The art stays true to the traditional Shin-chan style, with goofy anime proportions that I couldn't help but find charming, even while Shin chan makes his crude remarks. the realistic backgrounds and cartoony characters mesh surprisingly well, giving this title a very distinct style. Even the load screens and small cut scenes were beautiful enough for me to take the time to absorb them again and again.
The art is complimented by an exceedingly relaxing soundtrack featuring gentle guitars, piano and horns that shift at various times of day and from location to location. The game does have some pretty stellar voice acting as well, which adds the final layer of polish on this already pleasant experience.
Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town is a game of collecting and completing tasks, but it has a surprising amount of heart, humor and love put into it that might even appeal to those that aren't traditional fans of this gameplay style. It's goofy enough where it feels a bit childish in nature at times, but with enough adult humor and gags that it doesn't quite feel made for children alone to enjoy, in the same way that SpongeBob SquarePants and Pixar aimed jokes at parents so the whole family could find something to laugh at. While i understand the reason for the day/night cycle, i did sometimes wish i could extend my days a bit longer and i sometimes had issues with catching those darn fireflies, but for the most part I walk away from shin chan shiro and the coal town with a smile on my face and a shake of my tailfeathers.
GREAT
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