Summer in Mara Reviews
On its own, Mara in Summer is the perfect game if you have plenty of time and are not looking for a challenge.
There are a few small ways the developers could make great strides – full fast-travel, please! – and many more improvements that aren't quick fixes. I hope it gets there, though. As a farming simulation, Summer in Mara falls short, but dang if its sunny world and characters aren't pleasant to be around.
Summer in Mara is not for everyone; it's charming, full of character, and clearly made with a loving passion, but its focus on the journey may leave some players feeling left behind. With a dash of patience and a hint of dedication, Summer in Mara blossoms into a wonderful experience.
It may feel a little lacking on the farming sim side of things but it more than makes up for that with the story, characters and the sense of place and adventure. Summer in Mara tried to be a different kind of farming inspired video game and I believe the developers managed to achieve what they were going for.
Review in Persian | Read full review
I wanted Summer in Mara to become a highlight. However, in the final game, soundtrack and the relaxed graphics are mostly the only things to convince. However, they cannot make you look away from the flaws in the gameplay and the lot of bugs. I hope that there'll be a patch soon that fixes at least the most severe.
Review in German | Read full review
Koa and the charming world of Mara is enough to keep an eye on this one, but it’s too big with not enough depth and that makes Summer in Mara far from essential.
Summer in Mara is a super-fun and colourful adventure with a ton of content that you can enjoy for many hours. Anyone who's a fan of these kinds of games will feel right at home with Koa and her chums so here's hoping this gem gets the attention that it deserves.
A relaxing and joyful experience that just misses the mark of excellence due to some quality of life issues.
Summer in Mara is a beautiful indie game, based in crafting, harvesting and exploration. But after a couple hours it gets repetitive. It is very enjoyable at a slow pace.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Instead thanks to everything from fetch quest repetition to a muddled interface, it's more of a wistful addition to the Switch library. The pleasant vibe of Koa's undiscovered world can't carry the whole game despite the best of intentions. If tweaks and improvements can clean up some of the menus, Summer in Mara could be better, but I worry even that won't make the repetition more enjoyable.
Perhaps the beautiful art and music will be enough for Summer in Mara to be a great game for you. The gameplay may become a tad bit monotonous, but it is satisfying to travel the tropical ocean from island to island on an adventure.
Summer in Mara is a fun blend of farming and adventure while also housing a surprisingly lovable cast of characters. The game suffers from being too large in scale, but that didn't stop me from having an enjoyable time with the game.
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:
Summer in Mara looks lovely right away, but the shine wears off quickly amid a long list of issues, both fixable and sadly, not fixable.
Summer in Mara is a lovely experience with an abundance of charm and a welcome engagement with environmental and emotional subjects. It makes for a perfect introduction to the genre for younger gamers, and a great relaxing escape from the real world for more mature sorts. It doesn't have the depth of last year's My Time at Portia but is both more accessible and has more developed characters. While there may be little prospect of a summer trip to sunny islands in reality, you could do a lot worse than take a holiday with Koa and explore the wonders of Mara.
Summer in Mara is a relaxing adventure sim which focuses on quests and characters over farming or true exploration; if you're looking for a challenging farming or adventure game, you may want to avoid these waters. At its worst, Mara's quests can be poorly communicated, bottleneck and cause frustration, but at its best, it's easy to get lost in this bright, breezy world filled with aliens, pirates, and wholesome adventures.
A testament to mediocrity, but not awful. It can be acceptable if you just want to zone out for a while, but the constant stream of tedium and pointless running back and forth will try the patience of most.
Summer in Mara may have its flaws but it can be overlooked by how beautiful the game looks and how peaceful the game’s soundtrack is. Each character is unique and well crafted, you can tell each one was created with the utmost care. It’s also a bonus that each character has their own personality. You’ll fall in love with characters and enjoy the interactions between them and Koa.
Summer in Mara is a whimsical adventure that doesn’t require the player to micromanage their days. The balance of exploration, discovery, and farming-sim elements make this a charming way to spend an afternoon. Still, the repetition of it all will make long play sessions dull.
Summer in Mara is an adventure for all audiences. You will have a pleasant time and disconnect from the stress of adulthood. There are no times, no clocks, no chronometers, it will be up to you to play ten minutes or five hours, the game will give you what you are looking for. Although it has its weaknesses, especially when it comes to maintaining interest, you will discover a very beautiful story about human (or alien) relationships, the power of nature, and the importance of taking care of our world and our loved ones.
Review in Spanish | Read full review