Revive! Onsen Town! is a cozy life sim from 饼饼 Studio and publisher Harrison World that puts you in a rural Japanese hot spring town hit by disaster. Your job is to bring it back to life, one takoyaki stand and radio tower at a time. A free Steam demo is available now through October 8.
Two protagonists, one town
The game follows two playable characters with distinct roles. Kyoko is a young woman visiting her family for summer vacation, and Shinnosuke is the town's young mayor. You spend the first two in-game days as Kyoko, getting into the rhythm of daily life: catching bugs, fishing, farming, and helping out at the local restaurant. Evenings open up their own activities, including a night market where you can cook takoyaki and play mini-games like a shooting gallery.
From there, you meet Shinnosuke, whose days revolve around rebuilding the town itself. His early tasks include posting on social media to attract visitors and maintaining roads, but the projects scale up to things like constructing a radio tower and restoring the hot springs that gave the town its name.
Choosing sides changes the story
Starting on the third in-game day, you pick either Kyoko or Shinnosuke each morning. That choice locks you in for the rest of the day, while the other character goes about their routine based on decisions you made earlier. Each protagonist has activities the other cannot access. Shinnosuke, for example, has a car and can take on requests from the town's bulletin board.
The developers have written the story so that playing both characters gives you the full picture, though sticking with one is also an option if you prefer.
Worth a look if you like life sims with structure
The dual-protagonist system and town recovery arc set Revive! Onsen Town! apart from the usual farming-and-friendship loop. If you have been keeping an eye on upcoming life sims that blend genres together, this one fits that mold with a distinctly Japanese countryside flavor. The pixel art style, 2.5D perspective, and language support for English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese round out the package.
The game itself has no release date yet, but the demo is on Steam now and disappears after October 8.
Source: AUTOMATON via Google News - Life Simulation Games