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Jun 06, 2014 Tomodachi Life could be called a simulation, but it’s closer to a digital dollhouse. You fill a small island metropolis with dozens of personally designed Miis, each residing in their own apartment. Jun 06, 2014 Life sims typically have a core gameplay goal of self-improvement and progression, but in Tomodachi Life, that thread is virtually non-existent. Each Mii has a happiness rating, which you can attempt to boost by spoiling them with gifts, food, clothing and interior decorations, but there's no guarantee that they'll actually like your offerings. Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby. When it was first unveiled, Tomodachi Life was considered one of the strangest things Nintendo had ever made. The idea was simple enough: create an entire community of Mii townsfolk, give them basic necessities, and let them have their own day-to-day adventures.

Tomodachi Life^[a] is a life simulationvideo game developed by Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. The game, which is a direct sequel to the Japan-exclusive Nintendo DS title Tomodachi Collection, was released in Japan in April 2013, June 2014 worldwide and July 2014 in South Korea. The game received positive reviews and good sales records. Many reviewers praised the gameplay but criticised the minigames. Its name means Friend Life.

Gameplay[edit]

The game begins with the player naming their island and creating or importing their personal Mii, who is referred to as the player's 'look-alike' and lives in an apartment building. The building holds up to 100 Miis. (or more depending on the date of the release of your copy)

The player can import Miis from the system's Mii Maker, other devices or QR codes or create them from scratch using the 3DS's camera or the in-game Mii Maker. The Miis are voiced by a text-to-speech software and have unique personalities. Miis can then perform various actions, such as eating, trying on different outfits, falling in love with each other, and engaging in many leisure activities. As more Miis are added to the island, many strange and curious interactions can occur between them, such as friendship, romance, rivalry, romantic relationships and families. As the game goes by, the player unlocks more stores, clothes, food, and places for the Miis to play. They can even unlock a port, where they can give and 'trade' goods with other islands.

Development[edit]

In May 2014, a playable demo of the game was distributed to Platinum members of Club Nintendo in North America, the data of which could be transferred to the final version to unlock a bonus in-game item.^[1] The game is bundled with two Nintendo eShop download codes for a 'Welcome version' demo, which can be given to friends.^[2] A slightly different demo version was later publicly released for download via the Nintendo eShop. This version does not unlock any features in the full game.

Following the announcement of a worldwide release, controversy arose concerning the impossibility of same-sex relationships. Nintendo stated, 'The ability for same-sex relationships to occur in the game was not part of the original game that launched in Japan, and that game is made up of the same code that was used to localise it for other regions outside Japan.' ^[3] In May 2013, it was widely reported that a bug in the original Japanese version of the game, which enabled same-sex relationships, was patched by Nintendo.^[4] This was refuted by Nintendo in a statement made April 2014, explaining that same-sex relationships were never possible, and that the patch in fact fixed a different issue.^[5] Despite various campaigns from users, Nintendo stated that it would not be possible to add same-sex relationships to the game, as they 'never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of the game',^[6] and because it would require significant development alterations which would not be able to be released as a post-game patch. The company later apologised and stated that if they were to create a third game in the series they would 'strive to design a gameplay experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.'^[7]

Reception[edit]

Tomodachi Life has received positive reviews. It holds an average of 72% and 71/100 on review aggregate sites GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively.^[8][9][10]IGN gave the game a score of 8.4, calling it 'a surprisingly funny and rewarding experience.'^[11]Polygon gave Tomodachi Life a 7.5 out of 10, praising its likeability despite certain aspects being repetitive.^[12]GamesRadar gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, praising its weird humor and relaxing gameplay, whilst criticising the minigames for being too simple.^[13]GameTrailers gave the game a score of 6.0, stating 'the pervasive sense of quirkiness in Tomodachi Life works, but can’t sustain the entire game.'^[14] The game has received criticism for not enabling relationships between Mii characters of the same sex; Nintendo of America later apologized for failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life, stating that it wasn't possible for NoA to change the game's design, or for Nintendo to change this aspect in a post-ship patch. It also noted that 'if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.'^[15][16]

Tomodachi Life was the best seller in the Japanese video game market during the week of its release, selling about 404,858 units.^[17] By September 2014, its global sales reached 3.12 million units.^[18] As of December 31, 2019, Nintendo has sold 6.55 million units of the game worldwide,^[19] making it one of the top 10 best selling games on the 3DS.

Legacy[edit]

A stage based on Tomodachi Life appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.^[20]Miitomo, a social networkingmobile app for iOS and Android devices, was released in March 2016. The app was created by the same core team who developed Tomodachi Life, and features very similar ideas. In 2016, a similar game involving Miis, Miitopia, was released in Japan.^[21] It was released worldwide the following year.

Notes[edit]

1. ^Known in Japan as Tomodachi Collection: New Life (Japanese: トモダチコレクション 新生活, Hepburn: Tomodachi Korekushon: Shin Seikatsu)

References[edit]

1. ^'Club Nintendo Distributing Tomodachi Life Demo Codes to Select Platinum Members - 3DS News @ Nintendo Life'. Nintendolife.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
2. ^MacDonald, Keza (May 21, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life Comes With 2 Free Demos to Give to Friends'. Kotaku UK. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
3. ^'Nintendo resists #Miiquality campaign to let Tomodachi Life gamers play gayk=Guardian News'. Associated Press. May 7, 2014.
4. ^Ashcraft, Brian (May 8, 2013). 'Rumor: Bug Makes Gay Marriage Possible in Nintendo Game [Update]'. Kotaku.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
5. ^Parfitt, Ben (April 10, 2014). 'VIDEO: Nintendo to give Tomodachi Life a shot in the West | Games industry news | MCV'. MCV. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
6. ^lang, Derrik (May 7, 2014). 'Nintendo Says No to Virtual Equality in Life Game'. Associated Press. Abcnews.go.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
7. ^'We are committed to fun and entertainment for everyone - Nintendo Official Site'. Nintendo.com. May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
8. ^'Tomodachi Life for 3DS'. GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
9. ^'Tomodachi Life for 3DS Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
10. ^'Nintendo Apologizes For Not Putting Gay Marriage In Tomodachi Life'. Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
11. ^Otero, Jose (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life Review'. IGN. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
12. ^McElroy, Griffin (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life review: semi charmed'. Polygon. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
13. ^Gilbert, Herbert (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life review'. GamesRadar. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
14. ^Moore, ben (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life - Review'. GameTrailers. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
15. ^'Nintendo Apologizes For Omitting Gay Marriage From 'Tomodachi Life''. NBC News.
16. ^Jason Schreier. 'Nintendo Apologizes For Not Putting Gay Marriage In Tomodachi Life'. Kotaku. Gawker Media.
17. ^'This Week in Sales: Tomodachi Collection Sees Big Launch Sales'. Siliconera. April 24, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
18. ^'Supplementary Information about Earnings Release'(PDF). Nintendo. October 30, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
19. ^'Top Selling Title Sales Units - Nintendo 3DS Software'. Nintendo. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
20. ^'Tomodachi Collection: New Life stage'. IGN. March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
21. ^Otero, Jose. '5 Things We Learned About Miitomo and Nintendo's Digital Future'. IGN. Retrieved 1 April 2016.

External links[edit]

Tomodachi Life is undeniably charming.

Tomodachi Life is tailor-made for people who used to put their friends' names into Oregon Trail, just to see what kind of horrors they could subject them to.

There's a strange kind of power in games like that; like XCOM, with its nameable soldiers, or The Sims' customizable families. Exerting virtual control over your real-life friends can be a joyous thing, especially when the scenarios you're forcing them into are utterly bizarre. And if you take one thing away from this review, let it be this: Tomodachi Life is, hands down, one of the most bizarre games ever released.

It's not just the situations your Miis will find themselves in — daily rap battles, ensemble musical theater performances, occult worship of inanimate objects — it's the very structure of Tomodachi Life that's perplexing, and not always in a good way.

Tomodachi Life doesn't fall neatly into the life simulation genre, as titles like Animal Crossing or The Sims give you much more agency over the actions of your characters. The Miis who inhabit your island, either imported from the 3DS' Mii Maker app or created from scratch, will pursue relationships and form behaviors with little input from the player.

Life sims typically have a core gameplay goal of self-improvement and progression, but in Tomodachi Life, that thread is virtually non-existent. Each Mii has a happiness rating, which you can attempt to boost by spoiling them with gifts, food, clothing and interior decorations, but there's no guarantee that they'll actually like your offerings. When that rating 'levels up,' you get the opportunity to teach them a catchphrase or song, or give them a toy or furniture set. The list of rewards to choose from is small, and the progression loop becomes perfunctory very, very quickly.

The joys of Tomodachi Life aren't found in its mechanics, though — they're found in its humor, which is hardwired into every single facet of the game. It's the most comprehensively funny game I've ever played; from item descriptions, to dialogue (and the absurd vocaloid delivery of that dialogue), to the seemingly infinite number of events that Miis can take part in, every single joke manages to connect.

There's also something kind of magical about its single-player social game structure. It was weirdly thrilling watching my friends' Miis serendipitously develop traits they possess in real life. Similarly, it was fascinating watching them develop into their antitheses — a real-life party animal became a brooding lone wolf, while the shyest person I've ever met somehow became the island's de facto social chair. With a button press, you can capture those moments to an SD card, and share them with those real-world acquaintances; assuming they can take a joke.

Friendships will form between unexpected neighbors, which could eventually blossom into romantic relationships. The latter is a bizarre occurrence — the game not only disappointingly prohibits any same-sex match-ups, it also doesn't let you dictate who develops feelings for whom. I suppose that's the nature of love, but I cannot stress the frequency with which my islanders became infatuated with, essentially, the wrong people.

More than once, my brother's real-life wife attempted to set him up with one of my friends. Not a single one of my imported Miis matched up with their real-life counterparts, turning my copy of Tomodachi Life into a kind of bizarre swinger's party. You can establish the familial connections of your own Mii, ensuring that, for example, your sister doesn't develop a crush on you; beyond that, it's a free-for-all.

As disquieting as that may be, the wide variety of interactions you'll witness between your characters are endlessly entertaining. Those relationships, along with the vast number of outfits, room designs and meals that circulate onto store shelves every day, make Tomodachi Life feel like a game that could be endlessly playable. Unfortunately, its few — for lack of a better word — 'traditional' game mechanics are awfully repetitive, enough so to dull the rest of the game's more compelling components.

For example, your villagers will frequently flag you down with requests for food, or a new ensemble, or for help getting a reluctant sneeze to come out. There's a decent mix of demands, but you'll still be fulfilling each one dozens of times, finding them more and more uninviting as time goes on. Sometimes your Miis will challenge you to a WarioWare-esque micro-game, which are similarly repetitive and occasionally super infuriating.

I suppose that's the most bizarre thing about Tomodachi Life; it wildly succeeds when its interactivity is pushed deep, deep into the background. When not attempting to guess what kind of food your Mii will like in service of improving an arbitrary stat, you can instead focus on the moment-to-moment delight your islanders provide. Just this morning on my island, Krampus, the Austrian Christmas demon, became best friends with Peter Gallagher's character from The O.C., which I did not orchestrate or anticipate. I cannot wait to see how that friendship blossoms.

Wrap Up:

Tomodachi Life is undeniably charming

Tomodachi Life has its flaws, but its charms are undeniable. Even at its most repetitive, it's enormously likable, because it has a message that few other games really possess: When you don't have control over life, wonderful things can happen on their own.

Tomodachi Life was reviewed using code provided by Nintendo. You can find additional information about Polygon's ethics policy here.

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