12 Games of Christmas: Adolescent Santa Claus (PC)
Adolescent Santa Claus is definitely a game trying to grab your attention with the absurdity of its title, but it might be a stranger title than the developers intended. The word “adolescent” is certainly being used strangely here, with a more typical title for the game likely being something akin to Teenage Santa Claus, but since this game seems to be Korean in origin, translation quirks might have transformed this game’s title into something odder than it was meant to be. Whether the strange adjective choice is intentional or not, too much weight shouldn’t be put on it since it distracts from what is ultimately just a fluffy feel-good story.
The so-called adolescent Santa at the heart of this Christmas-time visual novel wastes no time appearing in this incredibly short story. Viewing the tale from the perspective of a shut-in who has no real hope or reason to look forward to the Christmas season, the story begins in this unnamed character’s apartment right as Santa drops in, plenty of doubt surrounding their claim to the name as they look nothing like the jolly fat man in a red suit we’re used to seeing. The game does explain the reason for her appearance over time, it being a suitably odd explanation for such an unusual situation. In fact, the game has a very peculiar view of Santa’s lore, describing them more like a species and saying that the various Kris Kringles all focus on handing out hopes and dreams to the world while facing extinction because of the diminishing optimism of the world.
The entire game is told either through the player character’s thoughts or conversations with Santa, but while the Santa’s situation with hope starvation is the core conflict of the plot, the game’s story is actually about more than cooking up kooky reasons for this character to exist in her current form. While Santa will be trying to draw hope from this shut-in throughout the few days surrounding to Christmas, the game seems to be more about the player character’s reclusive lifestyle. They’ve found themselves in a rut and drifted away from society and the outside world, and while it takes a while to figure out why the main character speaks so oddly about the world outside their closed window, soon it becomes clear that Santa isn’t just here to save herself, but to potentially inspire the protagonist to embrace the world again as well. Even with its odd setup and underlying Santa extinction, the game ends up being a somewhat heartwarming tale about hope and opening yourself up again after the world has stomped you down, its two characters in dire straits finding strength through wanting to assist the other in their plight.
That’s not to say it does so in an expert manner that will make you cry. Fluffy is certainly the way to describe this story that will take you twenty or so minutes to read, a lot of the feel-good emotions evoked through a cute, silly tale rather than something deep or moving. Santa Claus is likely made an adorable young girl because it helps this narrative easily make you sympathetic towards her or find her reactions cute, the very limited art assets featured in the game mostly devoted to giving her different expressions and one detailed piece of art. There does not seem to be anything untoward about her inclusion, the only awkward moment being the point where Santa and the player sleep next to each other in what at least reads like an entirely platonic situation. It really does seem like the main reason Santa Claus is a cute anime girl is to more easily make it a charming, somewhat silly, but ultimately heart-warming story.
Adolescent Santa Claus is what is a called a kinetic novel though, a type of visual novel that treads the line of what can be called a video game since your only interaction with it is clicking to see what the next text box will say. With no choices or control over the course of the plot, Adolescent Santa Claus has to survive on its story alone, and it’s definitely got a few quirks to it. With untranslated voice lines and only a few art assets to show locations and Santa, the game relies heavily on sound effects to indicate the tone of a situation, many of them almost cartoonish. Their frequency is perhaps too great, but considering that the game does rely a fair bit on its humor, they aren’t harmful either. The comedy of this strange situation with Santa actually can get a little dark, nothing that will destroy the silly tone of the game, but as mentioned earlier, a potential Santa extinction is a plot element and some of the things our down on her luck Claus did to get by are better played for laughs than depicted as something meant to seriously bring the player down. Something that does get a bit grating though is the game’s frequent repetition of information or jokes, the overall short experience not needing as many recaps as it does and doing little with its running jokes. It’s definitely got some stuff that might make you chuckle, but some of its humor manages to get stale even with so little time to be rehashed.
The compact size of this Christmas tale definitely helps it in the end though. While it doesn’t have the substance to draw you back to it each Christmas like the lyrical writing of The Night Before Christmas or the charming nostalgic animation of a Rankin/Bass classic, it’s still an optimistic Christmas tale meant to make you feel fuzzy inside, only sticking around long enough to share its happy spirit with you. It definitely feels a touch cheap considering how little content there is overall, but none of it is low in quality at least, and while some translation hiccups crop up here and there, Adolescent Santa Claus still gets it tale to you in a state where it can be enjoyed for the bite-size Christmas story it is.
THE VERDICT: Fluffy, sweet, and definitely silly, Adolescent Santa Claus is a compact story that aims to warm your heart in the cold winter season as two down on their luck characters try to overcome the pressures of life that pushed them together. The familiar holiday figure being a cute young girl is played up for the strange situation it is while also providing a decent base for a short but charming read. While this kinetic novel does lean a little hard on goofy sound effects and repeats itself quite a bit, it still comes out in the moderately amusing and heartwarming form it was aiming for.
And so, I give Adolescent Santa Claus for PC…
An OKAY rating. Its kinetic novel design with no choices or ways to change the course of the story does mean Adolescent Santa Claus only has its plot to entertain with, but that plot is at least decent in evoking the emotions it’s angling for. It won’t exactly change your life, but it packs in moments of cute interaction with more serious discussions of trying to make it in a difficult and sometimes overwhelming world. It’s not trying to have some societal dissection of the root causes of such emotions, but it does provide a happy little tale meant to make the player smile during the Christmas season, an optimistic and adorable story that spends its time being silly and sweet to draw out that grin. Its scope means it can’t really achieve much more than that, and if certain things like the style of humor don’t land then it might not pass muster with certain players, but it’s got the same structure as a short Christmas special on television, meaning it might be a little sappy or shallow for some, but it can at least stoke the right emotions if you’re receptive to them.
To be too harsh with Adolescent Santa Claus would feel much like picking on the cute girl he is inexplicably depicted as here. It’s not try to be something extravagant, substantial, or even really something you’ll ever visit more than once. It’s the developers handing you a cute story as their homemade Christmas gift to you. Sure it’s not very professional or polished and there were definitely much bigger and better games they could have got you, but it’s got a charm all its own, its quirks making this short and sweet story a bit more memorable.