Umihara Kawase Fresh! coming west on July 9

Nicalis has announced that it will be publishing Umihara Kawase Fresh! in the west. In North America and Europe, the game will launch on July 9.

Here’s an introduction to the platformer:

A fresh new chapter in the storied series, Umihara Kawase Fresh! features open-world platforming gameplay starring a young girl who uses her fishing lure as a grappling hook, allowing her to progress through the quaint frontier town of Kingness.

Kawase is a traveling chef who has embarked on many magical adventures in the past. In Umihara Kawase Fresh!, she will put her navigating, grappling and cooking skills to the ultimate test as she completes various quests and discovers the secrets of Kingness, a town that is new to her yet somehow familiar.

Players will need to jump, climb, swing and slingshot their way across platforms all over town in order to clear goals and reach a specific destination to advance to the next quest. Each completed quest can be replayed in Time Attack mode, where a timer is added to let players compete for the best times in online leaderboard rankings.

Along the way, Kawase can use the lure to collect enemies and various food ingredients to store in her magical backpack. Combining ingredients with special recipes creates dishes that can be consumed to earn temporary special abilities, like jumping higher or being able to survive underwater for a longer time. The game also includes two additional playable characters: Cotton from the scrolling shooter Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams and another storied character yet to be announced.

And a trailer:

Umihara Kawase Fresh! will be available physically in North America and digitally worldwide. Pricing is set at $39.99.

Source: Nicalis PR