In an era where video games are in a race to become the most innovative, the most realistic-looking, it’s easy to find yourself longing for the days where things were simpler. Easier. Games like Stardew Valley harken back to a less complicated era, where games were about finding joy in little things and simply being. Danchi Days looks to recapture the magic of a bygone era. It works for the most part, though it’s sometimes held back by its own frivolity.
The story of Danchi Days starts off with protagonist Hoshino recalling a childhood memory with her grandma. This section really just serves as a tutorial for basic mechanics like examining items and exploring your surroundings. The setting is immediately charming; the story is set within a neighborhood — called a Danchi — where Hoshino and her brother grew up. Danchi Days wastes no time in endearing you to Hoshino and her grandma, as the latter teaches her grandchild to be more observant of her surroundings and appreciate the little things in life.
It’s all very wholesome stuff. It would’ve been easy for the writing to veer into cheesy or trite territory, but Danchi Days is so earnest that I immediately bought into the closeness between these characters.
Then, things take a bit of a dark turn. The game fasts forward several years later. The residential buildings are a bit more worn down, things are in disrepair, the old childcare center has been torn down. More heartbreakingly, we learn that Hoshino’s grandmother is now suffering from dementia and is no longer able to engage in any meaningful conversation.
This is where your real mission begins in Danchi Days. Hoshino’s grandmother used to host the annual summer festival for the neighborhood, and Hoshino plans on carrying that mantle this time around. Talking about the festival is just about the only thing that gets her grandmother excited after all, and Hoshino is determined — somewhat naively — to cure her dementia this way.
Again, Danchi Days is earnest. A teenager looking to cure dementia sounds exactly like the sort of thing my cold, jaded heart would scoff at. But with the way Hoshino presents herself as a bright-eyed girl who genuinely believes the best about everyone, it’s hard to stay cynical for too long. I found myself captivated by Hoshino’s sincerity, and so I embarked on this quest with her.
Unfortunately, Danchi Days stumbles in the gameplay department. Simple things like observing an object just two squares away require you to time a button press, while trying to fish something out of a pond requires you to play a keep-away mini-game where you must avoid certain obstacles. These mini-games aren’t necessarily bad per se; they just pop up so frequently that they start to get in the game’s way.
As Hoshino makes her preparations for the the festival and starts inviting her neighbors, more mini-games are introduced where you need to catch an NPC’s attention in a certain way in order to get them to listen to you. A lot of these mini-games are very rudimentary and serve little purpose for the story, which makes them feel more like busywork than anything else. I suppose the good news is that because they’re all so basic, you’ll never run into a difficulty spike or anything like that. I just found myself wanting to move the story along and would groan in exasperation whenever I ran into yet another silly mini-game.
Danchi Days has a few other frivolous mechanics for you to engage with, such as the NeighborNet social media platform and an internet search engine. These aren’t quite as annoying as the mini-games, largely because you don’t have to engage with them as often. NeighborNet is the highlight here, as it helps you track all the NPCs you’ve interacted with so far, and gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you’ve learned about them.
Most of the characters you’ll meet in Danchi Days are charming and a little kooky in their own special way. One of them might require you to fry an egg on a playground slide, while another simply won’t notice you at all because he’s too focused on his all-important job of sweeping leaves to the side. I loved watching Hoshino try to figure these people out and always had a big smile on my face whenever she succeeded in getting them to RSVP for the festival.
There is, of course, a mascot character too, in the form of the cutest little kappa named Moro-Q. I won’t reveal too much about Moro-Q’s backstory just yet as I think there’s more to him than meets the eye. But for now, all you have to know is that Moro-Q is quite literally one of the cutest pixel frogs you’ll ever see in a video game, and that’s more than enough for me.
I loved what I played of Danchi Days even if I think the mini-games probably could’ve been pared back a little. Still, its genuine charm and earnest writing help carry it over these bumps and I’m certainly excited to see everything else it has to offer.
