Test - Shin chan: Adventure in Kohlenburg : Test: Finally summer vacation again!

He dances the booty-boogie-woogie, ignores all social conventions and shows off his bare bottom at pretty much every opportunity. Five-year-old Shinnosuke Nohara doesn't make things easy for his parents and often embarrasses them. A holiday in the country is just the right thing, after all, the kid can just let off steam in the fresh air while mom and dad enjoy a well-deserved break. The trip to Akita Prefecture could also be worthwhile for you.

Be honest, you sometimes think back to the carefree summer holidays. No obligations, no pressure, just pure free time. You can get into exactly this state of mindrelocate. But don't expect sophisticated mechanics, big challenges or cinematic storylines. Rather, the development studio Neos strictly follows the formula of manga and anime templates: it's relaxed and humorous, with a penchant for stupid and sometimes strange sayings.

Little guy, big mouth

Accordingly, Shin-Chan and his friends constantly throw jokes around, his grandfather Gary in particular likes to emphasize how much he would like to have “a fancy snail”. The main character likes to confirm new quests with his catchphrase “It's all clear in the bra!”, regardless of how a five-year-old would know what a bra is. If you didn't like this special humor in the templates, it's best to skip the adventure in Kohlenburg straight away. Simply because the infamous Po-Boogie-Woogie dance is used as a sprint. The developers attach great importance to infantilism.

But if you can cope with it, you can expect a comparatively shallow adventure in which you initially explore the manageable region around the Noharas' holiday home. The area exudes the beautiful atmosphere of the Japanese hinterland, which a Western cliché-laden brain couldn't imagine better. The irrigated rice fields create harmonious panoramas in the context of the reduced cartoon look, the houses appear wonderfully rustic not only because of the traditional tatami mats and smartphones also apparently do not exist in Akita Prefecture.

In Shin chan: Adventures in Kohlenburg, the days progress steadily over time, but the game hardly restricts you in your activities. At the beginning, Grandpa Gary gives you an insect catching net and shortly afterwards a fishing rod. You constantly catch insects and fish and collect herbs, but there are no sophisticated mechanics behind it, simply pressing a button at the right moment is enough. Shin-Chan also cultivates the fields in front of the holiday cabin himself; you can get new seeds for corn, potatoes, carrots or yams by completing side quests.

As soon as the eponymous coal town opens, the actual gameplay changes little. You can take one train at any time to the second area, which, like the Akita region, is not completely open to you from the start. Only by completing side quests will you gradually expand your range of motion.

The small tasks can hardly be described as quests. Ultimately, you always have to get certain objects, insects, fish, plants or components. The journey is the goal here and it is more than relaxed. There are no penalties or even a game over, even if you play five straight for three days in a row and don't care about your current missions. This relaxed approach in combination with the omnipresent summer holiday flair offers the perfect contrast to the dreary approaching autumn and is almost reminiscent of a light version of Animal Crossing.

Kohlenburg in danger

But why do the Oharas travel to Akita Prefecture at all? A business trip by the father of the family, Hiroshi, leads to an unexpected summer trip and after the idyllic first few days, the otherwise bright white dog Lucky suddenly appears at the door, covered in soot. Shin-Chan follows him like the curious brat he is and spots the train to Kohlenburg. The city looks as if it was stuck in the Shōwa period and was once prosperous. But those days are long gone.

With its crooked and crooked buildings, the place almost seems like an adolescent's fantasy, but that can hardly be the case. After all, you meet a lot of nice people such as restaurant owners, inventors, construction workers and other people. Of course, they all give you fetch quests too. You can also submit cooking orders if you have collected enough ingredients. But the same applies here: no mini-games, you don't swing the wooden spoon yourself.

As nice as Kohlenburg may seem at first glance, something strange is going on here. There are people in protective suits everywhere and a strange man makes dubious plans in cutscenes. A large part of the conversations is recorded, but only in Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Cantonese. But at least the German text translation doesn't make any major mistakes, as does the inconspicuous music. It doesn't exactly spoil your ears with catchy beats, but it does play pleasantly in line with the relaxed playing in the background.