Recently I have had trouble finding a great game for my 3DS. There hasn’t been many games that have come out in the past few months that have caught my attention. Except for Tomodachi Life. At first, it just looked like a silly Sims game that had been Nintendo-fied, but then I thought to myself: “Wait a second. I love the Sims, and I love Nintendo. This could be great!” So I ended up buying it, although it was a bit after it was first released. But, the question is: Is it good?
Presentation
The bulk of what you’ll be seeing in this game is the miis. They aren’t the best looking, graphics-wise, but the game itself cannot really control how the miis look. The outfits you give the miis do look good on them and fit nicely. The actual island itself also looks fine for a 3DS game and it fits in with the mii style. However, one thing I do have a problem with is the fact that the foods, and vacation locations you will see, are actual pictures of the real life counterparts. It seems rather out of place, and while at first it has a sort of comedic effect, it gets old quick. There are some presentation aspects that are actually pretty nice. For example, when a baby grows up, you will be shown a slideshow of the baby with his/her parents, and it also shows a video of the kid playing in the park, with a video camera effect on it.
Gameplay
It’s sort of hard to describe Tomodachi Life’s gameplay. You don’t really choose what happens or what you do in the game, the miis do. What most of the gameplay will amount to is the miis tell you if they have a problem, if they want to be friends with someone, if they are in love, or a bunch of other things, and then you respond by solving their problems, or telling them how to act in a certain situation, and then you watch that situation play out. It’s actually quite addicting, and very satisfying to watch. The game can also be quite funny, and quite a few times the game actually made me laugh out loud. Your miis also sometimes want to play a game. This is probably the worst part of the game, as it becomes quite repetitive and boring, but, luckily, playing a game with them is only optional and you can just tell them you don’t want to play. Some cool events can happen as well. These events can include: Asking out other miis, getting married, having a baby, getting in fights with other miis, divorcing, having rap battels, and much, much more.
The Island
There are many places to go on the island. First their are the shops. You can go to the pawn shop, where you can sell “treasures” that your miis give to you. You can go to the hat shop and clothing shop, where, of course, you can buy hats and clothes. There is the food mart, where you can buy food for your miis, although, from what I have experienced, there isn’t really a punishment for not feeding your miis. There is the Import Wear store, where you can buy clothes that you have recieved from Street Pass and Nintendo Events. And lastly there is the Interiors store, where you can buy new rooms for your miis, some of which, look really dang cool. There are also the living areas, which is the Mii Apartments (where your miis live), the Town Hall (where you can create and download new miis), and the Mii Homes (where married couples and babies live). There are also what I call, the Event Areas. These include the Observation Tower, the park, the beach, the Mii News Station, the Amuesement Park, and the Cafe. I call these the event areas because of the fact that, they don’t actually have a purpose except an event is happening there, or a mii has decided to travel there. And lastly there are the other areas that don’t really fit into a category. There is the concert hall, where you can make your miis sing songs. There is the Rankings Board, where you can look at the rankings of miis at how good they are at something or how much attention you’ve paid to them. For example, the Boy or Girl Charm ranking, and the Romance Ranking. There is also the Compatibility Tester, which tests how well islanders get along, which is a fun distraction at first but then you realize it’s pointless. For example, I have a married couple that happen to be the couple that has been together the longest out of any other couple, yet they have a 17% romance rating. There is also the Photo Studio, where you can take pictures of your miis in funny poses. There is the Nintendo 3DS Image Share where you share your images, and lastly there is the Port, which is mainly used for Street Pass purposes. Overall, I would say that there are some pretty cool places that can be pretty cool distractions, and there are very few that I would say make the game worse.
Overall
As a whole, I would say that Tomodachi Life is a very addictive game and it always brings me back to play it constantly. Although it is lacking in some areas, that I hope that the sequel (if there even is one) will address.
Presentation- 7.9
Gameplay- 8.8
The Island- 8.4
Tomodachi Life gets an 8.4