Demo: Kioku: Last Summer harkens again to charming ‘90s video games, however is hella bugged at the moment

Kioku: Last Summer is providing rather a lot for being a demo of an indie sport; it’s bought polished 3D graphics with an cute artwork fashion that harkens again to the Nineties, full with creature accumulating, deck-building, and even stealing stuff. 

For probably the most half, hell yeah! I liked it. Players get to spend one full day within the demo – I, then again, additionally spent an excellent chunk of that in-game day coping with glitches.

But let’s discuss in regards to the plot. You play as Asti, a younger lady who’s simply moved to Kioku Island together with her father on what seems to be the final day of faculty. She arrives on the island simply in time to hurry to the elementary faculty.

Her instructor, Miss Arie – who immediately jogged my memory of Miss Honey from Matilda – instantly onboards her into a bunch of children, making Asti another person’s drawback as she dismisses the category for summer season break.

It doesn’t take Asti lengthy to slot in together with her new mates. On your first day on the island, you’ll run round city so that you get the lay of the land, and in addition study Marubi. It’s like Pokémon, however with playing cards and marbles. If you have been a ’90s child with a Pokémon card dependancy, it will take you proper again to your childhood.

There’s an entire set of playing cards and marbles to gather, every with its personal distinctive talents. But as a substitute of indulging in creature fight, you’ll actually be pulling playing cards out of your binder if you problem your folks, setting that card’s marble up towards their marble. As you progress, you possibly can battle extra advanced battles with a number of playing cards/marbles, however the demo doesn’t get that in-depth.

I by no means thought I’d be excited to play with marbles, however right here we’re…

 You’ll choose your starter card and marble, and one in every of your new mates will eagerly educate you the right way to play. Honestly, it was fairly enjoyable. I’m not somebody who usually enjoys pitting creatures towards one another (aside from Ova Magica, I actually love that sport). But this was rather a lot higher as a result of it’s clear these are simply kids’s toys. You’ll shoot your marble at your opponent’s marble, backwards and forwards, till one in every of you loses all your HP.

It’s a very relaxed tackle the style, and I find it irresistible as a result of I’m not about to get emotionally hooked up to marbles and really feel like I personally ordered them to their doom if I lose. The technique parts are actually gentle right here, so it makes for an awesome entry-level sport if you happen to type of need to attempt one thing like Pokémon or Digimon, however you’re undecided if it’s actually for you.

The collectathon parts are additionally relaxed. There’s no stress to catch totally different variants whereas crabbing, this sport’s model of “fishing.” Don’t fear, although! You throw them again into the ocean when you’ve caught them, however the sport tracks which of them you’ve already caught. Or, you too can discover stickers or stray Marubi playing cards.

While I tremendously appreciated the pacing, the fishing mechanic could also be troublesome for you if you happen to battle with dexterity in your arms. I couldn’t inform if I used to be reeling the crabs in too rapidly or too slowly, however it was form of troublesome to catch them efficiently.

The little island is completely beautiful and you’ll inform a number of coronary heart went into making it what it’s. The outlets, the NPCs, the cute canine statue– I spent so lengthy exploring each nook that when Asti’s mates requested to satisfy up for a night of “scrumping” (stealing the native farmer’s apples from proper underneath their nostril), I truly met up with them within the morning.

This was hilarious as a result of the sport nonetheless registered it as nighttime. So I needed to dodge a farmer and their high-powered flashlight beam in broad daylight.

Unfortunately, that is additionally the place my first glitch occurred. While dodging the flashlight beam, I bought caught behind this wood palette. Reloading didn’t repair the difficulty, so I needed to begin a brand new sport.

Unfortunately, Kioku: Last Summer has glitches galore

On my second playthrough, after the instructor releases the category and tells Asti to go converse with the three youngsters she’ll find yourself befriending, solely one of many youngsters seems. On my third restart, after efficiently making it to the nighttime scrumping with none points, I misplaced observe of Asti’s mates after all of them scattered. I ended up wandering into the elementary faculty as a result of there was a glowing circle round it, and it simply replayed the schoolhouse scene just a few occasions.

Asti’s mates have been exterior, and the preliminary “stealing from the farmer” scene replayed. A photograph was abruptly snapped, and I bought the notification to move house. I did, and when Asti spoke to her father, there was an abrupt lower. Then, the scene I ought to have gotten earlier than I stepped into the varsity performed, giving me the reminiscence I might’ve gotten had the sport not glitched out.

It was a very cute scene. I’m glad I bought to see it. But it will’ve been nicer to see it because the devs meant, not due to a glitch. Still, I used to be relieved to bid Asti’s father a goodnight and head to mattress, technically ending my playthrough.

I had a number of enjoyable with it. I liked the colour palette, the vibes, and the truth that a number of acquainted mechanics are up to date right here to make them really feel contemporary. But it’s additionally hella bugged. 

I’d like to see issues smoothed out earlier than the ultimate launch, as a result of it has rather a lot to supply cozy players. It simply wants a bit of TLC first. 

Kioku: Last Summer is anticipated out across the first quarter of 2026. If you need to check out the demo now or throughout Steam Next Fest, don’t neglect to additionally Wishlist it on Steam in addition to it helps the builders out! 

Want extra cozy demo goodness? Check out our overview of Tabletop Game Shop Simulator.