Man's existence is full of questions that cannot be answered easily and sometimes cannot be answered at all. We are born, we grow and in the end we end up underground: it is the "circle of life", a happy expression that has always summarized the parenthesis of human life on this planet. But are we really sure that it is a circular movement? Do we return to the starting point, when the death of an individual gives way to the birth of another being? For developers of SelectaVision, perhaps instead of "circle" it would be correct to speak of "straight line."
Minabo - A walk through life is exactly this: a journey through a single existence; a common thread that links the birth of the protagonist with his death. What matters most, obviously, is the path itself, with the whole series of social relations that can be intertwined (or rejected) along the way. It is a surprisingly original production, also very curious in the choice of artistic direction, which has not always convinced us but which we will surely remember again in a few years.
What follows therefore is the Minabo Opinion - A walk through life, based on turnips, friendships and many existential questions.
A life in motion
You don't even have time to write your name on the screen and here's a little one turnip comes out of the ground. At first he can't even walk: that's why he limits himself to crawling, with improbable upper and lower limbs, completely similar to those of human beings (but in a work of fiction we are forgiven for worse things). In these first moments it is only possible to relate to your parents, seeking affection, dialogue and physical contact from them; They usually respond positively to our stimuli. But time is a tyrant: soon the turnip will be ready to stand on two legs and run around the world, finding others like him, talking to them, moving faster and faster.
Minabo - A walk through life, as its name suggests, is a life simulator; In this sense, it does not need a real objective. It is more of an experience than anything else: the player is interested in seeing what happens when he interacts in a certain way with some characters, how his alter ego changes over the years; What happens to the others present and what death the protagonist will finally have when he dies. The developers stated at the time that in Minabo it would not be possible to live two lives in exactly the same way, and it is true: because a single poorly asked question to a certain character is enough to trigger a chain reaction. Intervene in the links of this chain, imagine what could happen and try to modify subsequent events: perhaps the true "playful" heart of Minabo lies in these actions.
La Principal structure In fact, it does not present any plot, but a simple division into missions necessary to become familiar with the title. The first of all, for example, asks to get - before dying, it goes without saying - at least three friends, a stable love relationship and, possibly, moving on to a better life once the threshold of forty is passed. In fact, it is also possible to die much earlier or much later; not having friends at all or having too many; fall in love with a partner or opt for the wildest polygamy. Minabo's only limitations are really those imposed by player choices and a relationship system that sometimes isn't as intuitive as it should be.
Relationships are everything (or are they?)
Il game by Minabo - A walk through life is very simple. Holding down command B on Nintendo Switch makes the turnip walk automatically; You can do it fast or slow, and that affects your life. By running you accelerate several steps, you can talk to fewer people, in short you live with energy until the moment of departure; but moving more slowly you will be able to enjoy all the possibilities that the route offers. Along the way you will meet an infinite number of other turnips, of all sexes, starting with the parents themselves: by selecting these turnips with the right joystick, it is possible to interact with a series of three different options: Physical Contact, Trust and Welcome. . If the relationship is successful - and this unfortunately is often related to the random factor, expressed as a percentage - then the turnip protagonist improves in that specific aspect of his personality. If it doesn't work, she will be disappointed.
Little by little, a unique personality will be forged: the alter ego will become extremely sociable or very introverted; He will be a grumpy turnip or always ready to comfort others; He may live love affairs proactively, or he will abandon his partner after a very short time, etc. He game Minabo's image itself is extremely interesting, because neither choice is as obvious as it might seem: when interacting with only one of the two father figures, for example, we saw the second deteriorate much more quickly; With a series of wrong answers we have decreased her life expectancy. Even the relationship of turnips with death is worthy of anthropological studies: because the protagonist can react to the strong disappointments of existence - and it must be the player who chooses - in different ways, from fierce anger to serenity.
Le relaciones with others, therefore, I am everything. But the options are not so obvious and the gameplay is not even very intuitive. Too often we find ourselves in certain situations (few friends, many hostilities; or vice versa) only due to a series of completely random erroneous interactions: it is possible that all approaches with the other turnips have given negative results simply because of the randomness factor " "has decided" that it had to be that way. To allow greater freedom, accessories and hats have been introduced, which can modify the parameters of the protagonist, making him more attractive in romantic relationships, or a perfect antisocial (in which case no one will approach you and you will be free to live alone). How can we not see, however, the obligation of such an introduction?
Furthermore, many other aspects of Minabo give the impression of one limited production in content: The backgrounds are fascinating and refined, but also extremely repetitive; the possible interactions, all things considered, are always few; the quest system is more of a pretext than anything, since the actual main mode consists of free play; There is a lack of serious ideas that encourage any form of progression and, above all, on Nintendo Switch we have repeatedly encountered errors that completely block the title, forcing us to restart the game from the beginning. Surely this last problem will be solved soon, but it is not a detail that should be overlooked.
Conclusions
Tested version Nintendo Switch digital delivery Vapor, Nintendo eShop Price 14,99 € Holygamerz.com 6.0 audience ND your voteMinabo - A walk through life is a fascinating and deeply existential title, which explores the great questions of life on earth through the narrative pretext of small turnips: its sweetness and care from an artistic point of view immediately attracts the attention of the simply curious. Is it possible to live alone? How do we impact the lives of others? Would anything have changed if we had made certain decisions? For example, what if we had cared more about our relationships with our parents? As a life simulator, the system of social relations between turnips, based on a few simple commands, is limited, however, to arousing superficial interest on the part of the player. Minabo presents no real progression or ideas to dwell on; The gameplay itself is very limited, and on too many occasions linked to the mere randomness of conditions that are impossible to control. Basic repetitiveness and boredom are just around the corner, and the ability to share your life story with friends certainly won't be the remedy. So, considering the bug currently completely blocking quest progress on Nintendo Switch...
PRO
- original basic idea
- Effective artistic options
- A team of psychologists worked on social relationships.
AGAINST
- Extremely limited gameplay
- After a couple of games it's already repetitive.
- Randomness affects games too much
