Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life, If Your Deity Agrees - Switch Review

Quite some time has passed since the founding of our small island community and the creation of the first Mii. Since then, a lot has happened: couples have formed, plates have flown, children have been born, lampposts have been sniffed... The subjects populating our streets are now about thirty, including random celebrities, Nintendo mascots, and abominations created with the sole purpose of testing the limits of the editor and common sense (but they seem happy, don't tell them), and the island's borders have expanded immeasurably. Here's our review of Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life.

If we ever approach the inhabitant limit, we'll have a real metropolis on our hands, a paradise for the penniless who spend their days swinging on the swing and improperly discussing memes, meat dumplings, and strange political currents. Yet, the lives of our protégés today are not so different from those of their "founding fathers," which you can read all about in our preview. True, there were no sprinklers in the garden for washing and the only bench was surrounded by tall grass and sharp stones, but the rhythms and collective needs were more or less the same.

Tomodachi Life: How Life on the Island Works

Once the Ferris wheel is unlocked, a few hours after starting, the island will be "complete" and will hold no further surprises. Of course, you can continue to enlarge and adorn it as you see fit, but in terms of mechanics, the Nintendo title will have already given its all. The most imaginative players will still get dozens, perhaps hundreds, of hours out of it, thanks to the numerous creation tools and the ability to exchange characters and designs with other players, unfortunately only via local communication. Browsing online, it's already possible to admire a plethora of "masterpieces" (whatever meaning you want to attribute to the word) created in the demo. I can only imagine what will come out with the full package.

Content and Longevity: How Long Does Tomodachi Life Really Last?

For my part, however, I was hoping for some last-minute twists from the Miis, but it wasn't to be. No matter how much time you dedicate to "training" the funny avatars, their skills will not evolve one iota. A Mii with a booming, hoarse voice, who floats instead of walks, farts loudly, eats as if they've been fasting for a week, and invokes Nurgle's blessing every other minute will have the same interactions as one fresh off the assembly line. Just as they will have the same chances of convincing neighbors to become friends or to frolic together. Acquaintances, friends, cohabitants, married, parents, and children... If there are differences in how they relate, I haven't noticed them.

Mii Interactions: Limited Variety and Little Evolution

Perhaps there are special events that have yet to happen? I have people with more hobbies than neurons, apartments with 7-8 tenants, happy couples, broken couples, and the reincarnation of Metapod living in the recesses of my personal Emerald Forest, far from prying eyes (but he knits amazing sweaters); what more do I need to do? The skits, by the way, repeat more and more often: restaurant tables, condo meetings, curious squabbles, paranormal phenomena... They usually lead to nothing, but they are fun and unexpected, at least the first few times. The same goes for minigames, including rewards, and Mii requests. 

Events and Minigames: Fun, but Repetitive

That said, Tomodachi Life still manages to entertain. As a pragmatic player, a typical session consists of scavenging daily offers, checking out new items at the supermarket and boutique, and listening to the few struggling Miis. A bit like in the days of Animal Crossing, only with fewer attractions, as you can't actively participate in island life. However, I found myself enjoying the relaxed atmosphere multiple times, dragging around the unfortunates who preferred to be left alone and tidying up the area in anticipation of new arrivals or improbable urban planning projects.

Daily Gameplay: What You Really Do in Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life

The Miis are practically playing for you, and seeing them take the initiative after you've set the table for them is a real pleasure, but with the increase in population, I would have expected a greater workload for their "deity." Instead, apart from the excesses of the previous day, the game seems to balance itself to have one or more characters summon you occasionally, but never too many at once. Useful if you want to focus on something else, but perhaps it would have been better to be able to adjust the frequency to suit your tastes or mood? Or even decide what kind of requests might pop up more often, and perhaps how "ambitious" they are? I don't see why one should hold back in such a context.

Mii Management: Little Depth and Limited Control

The tools available to the player and the Miis are many, however, more could have been dared in terms of variety and functionality. It is not possible, for example, to manipulate the morphology of the terrain, even just to create a small elevation. We are therefore left with all the "tiles," both regular and custom, at the same height, and only the sand block able to touch the sea. Moreover, the only way to connect the beach to the hinterland is via stairs, fortunately of different materials, and there are no bridges to connect land separated by water. Yes, we can use normal blocks, creating a kind of dock, and the effect will be the same, but it's a bit ugly to look at.

Editor and Island Construction

As for the Miis, the hobbies we can assign them as they level up are few, and I believe more could have been done with potential applications or specializations. For example, a character who has been using a guitar for a long time could learn new songs, or we could teach them one ourselves. Along the same lines, the treasures we give them could also have different properties, for slightly more detailed interactions. It makes no sense for Miis to treat a worn shoelace, a hammerhead shark, and an alien artifact in the same way.

Future of the Game: Possible Updates and Extra Content

Tomodachi Life, however, seems like a title that can be easily "updated" with extra content, new features, collaborations, and why not seasonal festivities, just to bring up Animal Crossing again. As it stands, it relies a bit too much on the player's artistic skills to get by. If you're not in the mood to tinker, your stay is drastically reduced. We hope a series of expansions are planned for the future.

Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life Technical Sector: Graphics, Performance, and Audio

On the technical side, bright colors, simple geometries, and essential animations dominate, but they are appropriate to the context and perform their job more than adequately. Overall, the graphics are pleasing, except for the sun's reflection on the sea at times, which makes it look more like a plastic bag. The game is only for Switch, but if you try it on Switch 2 you can benefit from reduced loading times, which doesn't hurt when moving from one house to another. Mouse-style controls, however, would work wonders for the editor. The soundtrack is pleasant, dynamically adapting to the mood of the Mii you're talking to, but a bit more flair wouldn't have gone amiss.