Last June 6th it finally landed in the West Tomodachi Life, the very special "life simulator" made in Nintendo which has been discussed so much in recent months, either because of the incredible sales success in Japan, or because of the controversy over the non-inclusion of homosexual relationships, or because of the excellent advertising campaign , launched by a brilliant and completely out of line Nintendo Direct. What kind of game is Tomodachi Life? We could describe it as a bizarre mix between The Sims, Animal Crossing and Wario Ware, seasoned with rivers of nonsense with a typically Japanese flavor and the use of Mii, the famous avatars present on all Nintendo consoles from Wii onwards. A strange and unusual recipe, who knows if it will be enough to make Tomodachi Life a success even outside the motherland ...
Tomodachi means friends!
Tomodachi Life was born in Japan in April 2013 as a sequel to Tomodachi Collection, a similar title launched in 2009 on DS, and never reached the West due to localization difficulties. Like its predecessor, too the life-sim 3DS puts Mii at the center of its concept. In the game we will in fact be called to register several Mii, which will populate our island. There will be several ways to do this: import one from the 3DS Creation Center; create one from scratch or take a photo as a base; finally import them by scanning QR codes. Tomodachi Life Miis are special: during the creation process we will also have to establish parameters such as their character and their voice, which will obviously be reflected in the game. What kind of Miis might we want to register on Tomodachi Life? Any! Our staff; those of friends, family and acquaintances; those of famous people; those of video game characters, movies, cartoons. Individual players will then decide who they will be the "actors" of his own game at Tomodachi Life, leaving your own personal imagination as the only limitation. Unlike Animal Crossing, we will not control any Miis in first person, but we will be a sort of external spectator, to whom the various Miis will often turn to converse or expose problems and requests, but without any physical representation within the game world. . The core of Tomodachi's gameplay, if we want to define it, is precisely observe the lives and daily activities of the various Miis, who will behave and weave social relationships among themselves according to the characters set them in the creation phase. The fun comes from the tone delusional and nonsense of the situations that the programmers have foreseen within the game: Tomodachi Life is not a realistic simulation, and therefore we will find ourselves in the midst of frenzied Hip Hop competitions in front of the island's public fountain, television broadcasts of meaningless news, singing, declarations of love ruined by the appearance of unsuspected rivals, frantic Wario Ware-like mini-games that appear in the most inconvenient moments, hallucinating dreams, and so on. The interaction of the various Miis based on their characters and the unexpected events that can occur brings with it a whole series of absurd consequences, often in stark contrast to the real people to whom the Miis are inspired, causing further hilarity. Maybe in your game of Tomodachi Life your Mii and that of your real-life partner will break up to join the Mii of their respective best friends, maybe your grandfather's mii will become better friends than that of Obama or Santa Claus or whoever you want. , just as you might see Shigeru Miyamoto courting Princess Peach. Everything will depend on the Miis you have populated the island with, their characters, and the randomness that rules everything.
TOMODACHI TOMODACHI TOMODACHI
In all this, the role of the player is little more than that of a spectator. Of course, we will be able to talk to the various Miis, we will be able to solve their problems (a little like Animal Crossing), we will be able to give them clothing, food, various objects, hobbies, home furnishings, we will be able to modify the songs they will sing at Karaoke and participate to some minigames, but it is always and in any case of marginal actions. Precisely for these reasons, Tomodachi Life is not a game for everyone. Taking Animal Crossing, another Nintendo life simulator and another title presumably aimed at the same users of Tomodachi Life, as a yardstick, we are faced with a much less interactive game. It is therefore clear that Tomodachi is not suitable for all those who already complained about the lack of objectives in games like Animal Crossing. This does not mean that Tomodachi Life is a bad game. Quite the opposite! For those people who have the open mind to let go a title with different rhythms from the usual ones, relax, to appreciate even just the spectator role, to enjoy the nonsense, crazy, unexpected situations of the game, without having the urge to act and "be in control", Tomodachi Life can be a really interesting, fun, original experience and fulfilling. The rhythms are particularly different from what video games have accustomed us to. Instead of long gaming sessions, Tomodachi is at his best in a short 10 - 15 minute span, perhaps repeated several times during the day. The characters will not always have something to ask or tell us, and different events will be taking place on the island at different times. It is therefore useless to extend the game sessions: just play a game, go out, and then maybe come back 2 or 3 hours later and see what's new, and so on throughout the day. This particular choice, partly shared with Animal Crossing, is well appreciated given the portable nature of Tomodachi Life, and certainly fits the needs of that "generation on the go" that is making the fortune of mobile video games in recent years: the title is accessible, fast, not demanding, but at the same time it pushes the user to play often, to check it continuously, as when one is taken by theobsession to check their social networks every minute.
Tomodachi (social) Life
The comparison / relationship with Social Networks is particularly interesting in Tomodachi Life. Within the game the same has been implemented image sharer already experienced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. After unlocking it in the game, it will be possible to share screenshots of our game on Facebook, Twitter and / or Tumblr with a few actions. In this way Tomodachi Life acquires a “meta” dimension, which increases the potential of the title. Did your friend's Mii do a funny, absurd, embarrassing thing in the game? Why not post the screen on Facebook and tag it for us? Or post on social media, at the end of the day, the funniest images among those taken during the day, creating a sort of photo-diary, to share and comment with friends? The possibilities are many, and with enough imagination the user can get much more out of Tomodachi Life than is actually present in the game, making the experience truly unique. This integration with social networks and the possibility of transforming Tomodachi Life into a real "meta-game", are undoubtedly one of the strengths and major innovations of the title, which otherwise would suffer a little on the longevity front. Despite the great creative flair, after a few days some events and situations tend to repeat themselves, going to dampen that surprise effect that contributes so much to the general hilarity and fun. This is perhaps the biggest limitation of the game: unless the user invests a lot in terms of Miis created, various customizations, use of social networks, Tomodachi Life unfortunately risks getting bored after a few weeks: a setback, even given the ability of the major reference title, Animal Crossing, to keep its audience active even after months and years. Sin.
Verdict 8/10 Entropy made video game Comment Tomodachi Life is a very interesting game from a conceptual point of view. It proposes an approach to the videogame that is very different from the traditional one, both as a concept and as a rhythm but also and above all as an integration with the world of social networks, transforming itself in all respects into a meta-videogame experiment. Even leaving aside these more "philosophical" disquisitions, the game immediately turns out to be funny, irreverent and entertaining, thanks to the completely over the top tone and massive doses of "Japanese madness". On the other hand, it should be emphasized that the game is not suitable for everyone, given how the player's interaction skills are greatly reduced and how the title risks being very short-lived. If despite everything the idea behind Tomodachi Life teases you, intrigues you or attracts you, give it a chance: it is a title that, despite some quirks and flaws, will not fail to amaze you. Pros and cons ✓ Out of the box, original and fun
✓ Excellent integration with social networks
✓ Perfect for intercepting Animal Crossing users x Definitely not for all palates
x Little interactivity
x It might get boring quickly
