Nostalgic Train Review

Introduction

Nostalgic Train is a narrative first-person walking sim that places you in a Japanese countryside town called Natsugirl, where you uncover the mystery of those that have gone missing, as well as the mystery of your own disappearance.

Review

You find yourself in Natsugirl, a Japanese countryside town that seems to be deserted other than one remaining person. Or could something mystical be at play? The entire story is finding fragmented memories to piece together events of what happened to the missing people of the town, as well as uncover the mystery of why you “vanished”.

There are seven chapters and each one tells of an event that happened in the town at different time periods.

There is A LOT of reading with this game, as the narrative is all text with no actual speaking. Which, for the first two chapters, I didn’t mind. But then for chapters three and four, I struggled with the amount of never-ending text and found myself skimming and skipping through it. Just reading enough to know what this particular story was about.

From chapter five however, I found the stories so interesting and intriguing, I couldn’t help but read each paragraph with intent. I wanted to know the details in its entirety. Plus, which I didn’t know at the time, they also seemed shorter than the first few chapters. That’s also when the connection to the stories and “spirited away” character you’re following starts to be uncovered.

It was like reading a book on a tablet or electronic device, just on a monitor instead, with interactive glowing white balls of light, which were the memory fragments. I’m not a big book reader, however, once I got into the game, and the reading, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

There are collectibles as well as the memory fragments to collect, however, there are two playable options; Free Mode and Story Mode. Collectible will need to be collected in Free Mode. Memory fragments are collected in Story Mode, as they are part of the main story.

The music and atmosphere were very peaceful and serene, with nothing but the sounds of crickets and the nearby river. With the sound of rain every now and then. Perfect to read to.

The text itself is made up of one or two paragraphs at a time, and some memory fragments aren’t that long, so then it’s just a case of searching for the next one. I lost my way a few times, but there’s a story hint that you can access by pressing the triangle button to help you out. So it wasn’t difficult at all.

The atmosphere, sounds and gentle breeze that the plants and trees were swaying to, just adds to the quiet, melancholy nature of the game; as you search for a way back to your reality… home.

Rating

Pros:

Interesting stories that end in an unexpected connection
Simple controls and easy game
Peaceful and serene music

Cons:

Lots of reading
Repetitive

Summary

Overall, a really intriguing game with an unexpected ending. Interesting stories and though gameplay was repetitive, as you walk back and forth around the same town, the stories and mysteries you uncover make up for it.

If you’re interested in playing this game to experience the story or just to get a fairly quick and pretty easy platinum, check out our trophy guide here: https://nodegamers.com/2021/12/06/nostalgic-train-trophy-guide/

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Game & Developer Information

Developer Website: Tatamibeya
Developer Socials: Twitter
Publisher Website: Amata K.K.
Publisher Socials: Twitter
PSN Store Links: £9.99/€12.99 Europe / $13.99 North America
Trophy Information: 32. 1 / 2 / 27 / 2