Review by Gianluca “DottorKillex” Arena
Continuing on the road paved with nonsense jokes and hilarious expressions traced by Tomodachi Life three years ago, Miitopia arrives on the 3DS family consoles in conjunction with the launch of 2DS XL, also bringing an unmistakable style and a baggage of comedy to the new Nintendo machine. and totally crazy adventures. Will the renewed role-playing setting and the strong humor be enough to make the new Nintendo exclusive a recommended product? You just have to keep reading our review to find out.
Faceless
The main antagonist of the player in Miitopia is the Duke of Evil, whose appearance can be customized, and whose intent is to steal all the faces of the inhabitants of the peaceful kingdom of Miitopia to implant them on animals, so as to create monsters sentient in his service.
If that sounds like an absurd premise, know that, after a couple of hours of play, our party consisted of Heath Ledger's Joker as the thief, Whoopi Goldberg as the healer and John Lennon as (obviously) Singer: Miitopia isn't afraid to sound completely foolish, and to hit the player with her comedic charge when she least expects it.
By allowing the user to choose all the main characters of the story from his personal handful of Mii (created, exchanged with other players or found on the net via QR code), the Nintendo product finds precisely in the imagination and in the desire not to take seriously the his audience one of the arrows to his bow.
Even without reaching the peaks of Tomodachi Life, which also enjoyed the novelty factor, Miitopia tears more than a smile, above all thanks to completely meaningless dialogues ("my ear hurts" - "did you wash yourself well this morning?") And to the funny expressions of Mii during the game, which will transfigure their faces, making familiar faces absolutely unrecognizable.
The narrative is a little less secondary than it was in Tomodachi Life, but the type of jokes, the wacky facial expressions and the slapstick comedy have remained virtually unchanged, with all that goes with it: those who loved that strange product. and outside the box they will be perfectly at ease with the latest Nintendo effort, while those who then accused the game of being too little interactive could change their minds, but only partially.
Certainly, whether you are seven years old reported as the minimum age by the PEGI classification or the almost thirty-six of the writer, it is unlikely that the Miitopia skits will not tear you at least a couple of smiles during the adventure, perhaps alternating with some perplexed scratching of the head.
Along the lines of Tomodachi Life, of which this product is only the declination in role-playing sauce, Miitopia plays itself almost alone, with the user called to a few choices and more to a management phase than to real involvement direct, which makes it perfect as a "side" activity, while watching TV without too much attention or chatting on Whatsapp with friends.
If the general structure recalls that of the classic JRPG so much in vogue during the last decade (which are experiencing a second youth, from many points of view), the degree of interaction is much more limited: the player has direct control only over his alter. ego, the main hero of the story, and on the road to be taken on a map that is much more reminiscent of the two-dimensional adventures of any Super Mario than that of an RPG.
For the rest, it is the artificial intelligence that hurries, both during the battles, in which it moves all the other members of the party according to fairly well-coded rules (the healer never leaves the companions without life points and the warrior attacks incessantly, just to give two examples), as in the interactions between party members and in the creation of random events, which appeared to us randomized for some instances.
By following a given path, for example, it is possible to witness a skit involving two party members, who end up arguing and creating a bad atmosphere during the trip, but by reloading the same save, at the same point it is possible to witness one instead. exchange of compliments that increases the harmony between two other fighters.
The general impression is that, rather than reinforcing the party, these events have been inserted to entertain and amuse the public, interspersing the otherwise monotonous outings of the party, which moves on tracks until reaching a crossroads and, after a certain number of fighting, invariably ends the day with a recharging stop in the inn on duty.
Within this, in addition to consuming the food collected, increasing the basic statistics in the process, the player can watch skits among the party members, choose their arrangement in the rooms (roommates tend to develop better relationships, with subsequent battle benefits) and give them coins to spend on new gear or healing items.
The combat system, for its part, combines the reassuring classicism of the shifts with the unpredictable moves of the allied artificial intelligence, which sometimes proves ruthless against enemies, at other times completely random in its behavior.
Not bad, given that the general difficulty is calibrated downwards, although there are also slightly more demanding passages in the vicinity of certain bosses, which could catch the most hasty players unprepared, guilty of not having dedicated enough time to exploration. The passivity of the gaming experience, on balance, represents both the best ally of Miitopia and its greatest limitation: the game goes perfectly with other activities, as much as it is perfect for even very short gaming sessions, during which will know how to get a laugh and entertain.
In the medium and long term, however, the repetitiveness and the low level of interaction damage the gaming experience, making it not recommended for use by the most avid fans of Japanese role-playing games.
The ideal audience of the latest Nintendo effort, then, is rather to be found among those who have madly loved the Japanese antics of Tomodachi Life.
Humor doesn't need too many polygons
If you want to be fussy, by thoroughly analyzing the visual (and technical) sector of Miitopia you could find numerous defects, from the modest general polygonal count to the extreme simplification of all the structures, probably made necessary by a graphics engine that is not exactly the most powerful.
Yet, dwelling more than necessary on the purely technical aspect of a product such as Miitopia would be superfluous, because the strengths are to be found elsewhere and because, wanting to consider it a spiritual follow-up to the aforementioned Tomodachi Life, we could not have expected who knows what. technical wonders, especially at the dawn of the seventh year on the 3DS family console market.
We liked the accompanying music, halfway between pounding and hypnotic, perfectly in line with the production, and the overall duration, aided by the presence of crossroads in some "dungeons", proved generous.
We report the presence of a single slot for saving, which prevents a father and a son from playing on the same console independently: therefore, watch out for what you do, because the file is shared.
Final comment
Although it gave us really hilarious moments, including completely nonsense comedy, funny expressions and NPCs all to laugh at, we do not feel like recommending Miitopia without hesitation to every 3DS owner: it is a very special product, as Tomodachi had been. Life before him, which offers its best on short and undemanding gaming sessions, requiring minimal user involvement.
If Japanese antics are your daily bread, or you are looking for a role-playing game that is truly within everyone's reach, then you may find the right product for you in the latest Nintendo effort.
