boku no natsuyasumi

lately i've been playing the english fan translation of boku no natsuyasumi 2 and i've found it to be really therapeutic. if you've never heard of it, it's a ps2 game where you play as a little boy who's on summer vacation at his aunt in uncle's house in rural japan in the 70s. instead of giving you an objective, the game kind of sets you loose to explore on your own and talk to people and discover things. i play for an hour or two every day and it helps me slow down my mind and appreciate the smaller things irl. summer is my least favorite season (i can't go outside when it's hot ALL THE TIME!!

) and it's been helping me be more willing to put up with the heat and humidity and explore. and i really enjoy the characters too, i think yasuko is my favorite.

have you played this game and what did you think of it or what did you get out of it? have you played anything else similar that you would recommend? i've also played and recommend attack of the friday monsters, a similar game by the same creator!