Developer(s) – Nintendo SPD
Publisher(s) – Nintendo
PEGI – 3
Dabbling into the life simulation genre (something relatively rare for Nintendo), Tomodachi Life challenges gamers to create their own world. And inhabit it with a populace, who must be kept happy and kept on track to do such things as stay full, stay fashionable, and realize their ambitions. And find true love. Even though this game was hyped up something fierce. Nintendo even went so far as to upset an entire community by not including the option to pursue same-sex relationships in the game (something I won’t condone in the slightest). Still, I wasn’t particularly impressed with it.
Graphics – 4/10
Whilst most games that feature the miis as central characters don’t necessarily have much in terms of concept going for them, it seems to me like Tomodachi Life borrows elements from the likes of Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort. And to me, the idea of a game having adopted elements from already generic-looking games doesn’t really bode well. The small pluses are that the game is well polished enough. The amounts of different foods and clothes offer a small level of variety in terms of visual presentation. But I don’t think anywhere near enough was added to keep it fresh.
Gameplay – 4/10
I think the same thing can be said for the game’s play too. A small amount of variety. But not enough to keep players wanting to play. I’d played this game all week and found it to become very repetitive very quickly. There is some value to playing it in that the characters can be made to say some funny things depending on their mood. And I did like the brief interspersions of turn-based RPG combat that can be experienced once the island’s fairground is unlocked. But other than that, I didn’t really find any deeper substance than that in terms of gameplay.
Controls – 10/10
As a simple, and at least relaxing life simulator experience, on a globally familiar handheld console, there was never going to be any kind of problem with the game’s control scheme. This kind of game had been developed and published by others many times prior to the release of Tomodachi Life. I look at this game as basically being a glorified version of the Tamagotchi. And in all honesty, I found them harder to cope with back when they were the in things.
Lifespan – 10/10
Since there is no fixed lifespan, there is no worry about players having to worry about making conventional progress. And this is a game that can simply be picked up and played whenever. However, I think that without a great level of depth in gameplay, it’s somewhat safe for me to assume that there could be many players out there who would play the game for a couple of hours at a time for a few days. And then simply not touch it ever again. Because, in that time, they will most probably have experienced most of what the game has to offer.
Storyline – N/A (10/10)
Though there is no preset story, and only a basic premise behind Tomodachi Life, whereby different people’s lives can be led, that’s what makes the game unique in a sense. A lot of different stories concerning a massive variety of different characters can be told in a short amount of time. And there aren’t many games I think of off the top of my head, that incorporate such a system. The game also has a varied and sometimes wonderfully weird sense of humor to it as well. This, I think, adds a small level of artistic expression to the overall experience.
Originality – 3/10
The problem is that the system whereby the game’s story is encompassed is about the only original things this game has going for it in my opinion. There’s nothing overly unique about the gameplay. And though Nintendo may be relatively new to the life simulation genre, I would have thought they would be capable of bringing something new to the table to break the mold of previous games in the same category. I was excited about the release of this game after watching various trailers for it. But I now believe I was misled into thinking that this game could have been more than what it turned out to be.
Niiutral
In summation, although certain aspects of Tomodachi Life save it from being a terrible title, I still feel that it’s a gaming experience unworthy of Nintendo. They have developed some of the greatest and legendary video games to have been put out to retail. But I don’t feel that this stands out as one of the greater titles in their library by any means.