For the first time in over a decade I’ve seen Phineas and Ferb who are really still very good, and this show is basically about doing everything you can during the summer. Its absurdity is wonderful, but if we reduce it to “do a lot in the summer” it’s less relevant to me. That’s why I’ve been playing Xin Chen: I’m a bit sarcastic with my summer professor, a game where you barely do anything, and I find it more reflective of me. It lets you do nothing in the most soothing way possible.
Before I discuss why games you don’t make are in some ways a good thing, we need some important context. If you’re like me, watching Shin Chan on Cartoon Network as a kid may be familiar to you, but the Summer Vacation series is one you’re unlikely to be familiar with.
Boku no Natsuyasumi (or My Summer Vacation) originally appeared on the first PlayStation in 2000, but unfortunately was never released in English. It’s made by developer Millenium Kitchen, who also made Shin Chan: Me and the Professor, and it’s a very simple game about a young boy exploring the countryside. You collect bugs, bottle caps, meet locals, and that’s it. Although I didn’t get a chance to play this game due to the language barrier, it looked like shit to me.
Then came the news not long ago that Chen Xin: My professor and I are getting the official English translation, which immediately soared to the version I was most looking forward to this year. While the game covers the Shin Chan IP, it’s essentially just a new Boku no Natsuyasumi (which did spawn many sequels).
At this point you may have questions like, “Are you really just catching mistakes?” or “Is there a deeply emotional plot that irritates you?” The answer in that order is no, you caught fish too, no, the plot is mostly very simple.
If you’re looking for a game full of gaming options, you won’t find it in Shin Chan. As I said, your daily activities include bug hunting, fishing, walking and toy dinosaur fights. Animal Crossing will definitely find appeal in the top two on this list, as they are functionally identical, although no museum can donate them. You do this just for fun.
Bug hunting and fishing, while a fun activity, is not what makes Xin Chen so enjoyable. This is the town of Asso, and you’ll slowly explore more and more places that make you want to keep going.
Shin Chan is a truly modern PS1 game with a pre-rendered background from animation studio Kusanagi. Everything has a fixed camera angle, and because of that, we’re treated to some of the most gorgeous video game environments I’ve seen this year.
Every day in Xinchen is a beautiful day, the endless blue sky is dotted with the most fluffy clouds, and the sun gently brushes the earth. This is the kind of image that if you look up the word idyll in a dictionary you will find images of these backgrounds.
However, at first you won’t be able to enter every area of the town. Some places are blocked by signs for construction works or dentists (Shin Chan is afraid of dentists, you see) and you have to wait for them to open. Once they do, you’re unlikely to find anything new other than a more professional background, but that’s good enough for me.
There will be different bugs to catch and new fish to find, but it’s mostly exploring for it’s sake. For a five-year-old, I can’t think of anything more attractive, Shin Chan himself will keep reminding you. It reminds me of how I spent my summer, exploring for it, not really finding that much, but just enjoying being in that space at the time.
At some point, in order to learn more about the town, you end up being introduced to a not-so-secret secret base where those dinosaur battles I mentioned take place. In practice, they’re very simple turn-based battles that see you play rock-paper-scissors, but the realistic presentation of the toys definitely showcases a child’s imagination.
There are also some collectible cards to boost your dinosaur stats, which is very satisfying considering how keen I was to collect Yu-Gi-Oh and other cards as a kid. There’s no bigger reason to collect and fight, it’s just a way to have fun with friends and for me it’s the backbone of childhood. Do things for fun, not for purpose.
One thing to be aware of is that Shin Chan can get tired and if he runs out of energy he will fall down and go back to the house where he lives, although there is no consequence other than wasting some time. You lose energy as you move from screen to screen, and it’s a fun way to encourage you to remember the layout of your town and figure out which routes are the fastest, if only for the satisfaction of doing so.
Of course, there is a plot to be found, and one that definitely caters to younger audiences. The titular professor stands out for using a time machine that summons dinosaurs from the past. Jurassic Park suggests the dinosaurs will cause immediate confusion, but they’re mostly cold, and the townspeople even grow to care about them.
It’s one of the least risky stories I’ve experienced this year, and in a stressful year, I’m so grateful. This story isn’t about dinosaurs, it’s about how the townspeople lived around them and how 5-year-old Xin Chen helped them.
As Shin Chan’s lovable fool, his help is usually well-intentioned but not always productive, but in the end it all goes well because nothing too dramatic can happen in a game like this.
With no stress, Shin Chan becomes the perfect, relaxing escape. Animal Crossing, as cute as it is, also has a lot of potential for stress if you can’t get your island just right, but Shin Chan demands so little of you that it’s impossible to feel stressed.
I want to make it clear that games that do challenge players with uncomfortable and important themes definitely have their place in the canon. But Shin-Chan also deserves such a place, because at least in the world of big releases, there aren’t many like it, especially considering that Boku No Natsuyasumi is pretty inaccessible to anyone other than Japanese speakers.
We cannot escape the real world forever. I know, you know. It’s not even the long term I want. But we all deserve a week off here and there, and I think many of us would benefit greatly from doing nothing without a shred of guilt. And Xin Chen, a game about spending a week doing nothing, is one of the most perfect things you can do.
