Twice fans felt special, but gamers said "cry for me."

It will come as a surprise to no one that trouble is brewing on Twitter again, and two of its most easily riled-up groups of users, gamers and K-pop stans, found themselves at odds ove?r an ambiguously worded trending topic. If you were scratching your head at the "TWICE FOR NINTENDO SWITCH" hashtag yesterday, you certainly weren't alone, but don't worry, I'm here to walk you through it.

For those who don't know, Twice is a nine-member girl group from South Korea, including members Nayeon, Momo, Tzuyu, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Chaeyoung, and while their music hasn't yet reached the same international recognition of other K-pop groups like BTS or Blackpink, they are certainly on their way. Twice was formed from a survival competition show called Sixteen, and they debuted to respectable success in 2015. They exploded to superstardom status in 2016, when their sugary-sweet song "Cheer Up" became a sensation overnight. 

The group's fame has only grown from there, as they've released hit album ??after hit album over the years, and they've become one of the most popular K-pop groups of all time. If that wasn't enough for you, they were also officially named the national girl group of South Korea in 2017. Basically, they're a really big deal.

So when March of 2021 rolled around, Twice fans were delighted to see the g??irls featured i??n some ads for the Nintendo Switch. While the previous commercials featured games like Ring Fit Adventure and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the new ads that dropped this week focus on Miitopia, including conten??t of the members all making their own Miis. No issues yet, just some wholesome videos of my favorite gi??rl group playing video games.

The trouble began when Twice's official Twitter acco??unt posted one of the videos with the phrase "TWICE & NINTENDO" included. Naturally, Twice fans (known as Once) got it trending almost immediately. From this side of things, it looke??d like the stans were just happy to? see the girls doing some fun promo.

[Image Source: Twitter user SubjectKpop]

Because gamers started seeing that phrase without context, though, they believed that this could either be a new title announced for the Switch, or more excitedly, that it could be the official announcement for the Switch Pro console.

The thing is, gamers have already been anxiously awaiting any news on the second generation Switch, to the point that frustration is re?ally starting to build. It didn't help that the news was supposedly going to drop this week. Fans voiced their di??sappointment as anyone would, in the form of memes, which only got it trending more, and the cycle continues.

Things have calmed do?wn by now, but considering how vague the wording of trending topics tends to be, I?? don't blame people for getting confused �it just happens at a time when expectations are high and tempers are starting to be tested.

All things considered, the ads are really cute, and if Nintendo was going to collab with any group it would be Twice. Member Mina is a huge gamer �she has often been seen at airports and behind the scenes with her Switch, and she's even posted a Minecraft Let's Play to Twice's YouTube account. This is why she's one of my four biases in the group. Momo got in on the action too, posting a video of her playing New Horizons last summer.

It makes sense that I'm in love with these ads, as gaming and K-pop are like my two favorite things, but I hope for any other gamers' sake out there that they'll still give Twice a chance, despite the animosity. They're basically the human and musical embodiments of how Animal Crossing makes me feel, and that's something I think anyone co?uld love, if they tried.

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Miis are back

Miis...I miss 'em!

It feels like just yesterday that I was using StreetPass to accumulate an endless amount of Mii friends. Remember Everybody Votes? Ah, we'r??e past our nostalgia limit for the day.

It's time to look to the future! Or the past, in the case of Miitopia on Switch.

Miitopia (3DS, Switch [reviewed])
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: May 21, 2021
MSRP: $49.99

In case you missed Miitopia on 3DS back in 2017, the gist is that Nintendo took the Find Mii minigame for the 3DS StreetPass Mii Plaza and ran with it, creatin??g a fully-fledged, albeit simplistic and streamlined JRPG.

Characters auto-run when in the field, party members auto-battle, the player hero uses one of a few abilities, and as a "God" of sorts, you can pause the battle and use restorative "sprinkles" on people. CJ breaks it all down? nicely in his origina?l review. The question is, does it hold up four years la??ter, with minor enhancements? Well, somewhat.

Miitopia still very?? much gives off a carefree vibe, ?which might be what some of you need right now. If you head into a zone and get crushed, you just restart outside of it and come back after you level a bit. Sometimes you'll get tasked with a minor choice: open a chest or leave it, or take path A or path B. Or your Mii might "dream" of buying a cool new suit of armor, and when you give them the cash to do it, they buy magic beans instead. It's cute, low stakes, and breezy.

[brid video="791650" player="12899" title="Miitopia%20Review" duration="207" description="CJ Andriessen's original 2017 review://jbsgame.com/stories/review-miitopia-451204.phtmlChris Carter gives us his miitastic takes on the Nintendo Switch version of Miitopia! Remember the Miiverse? I remember... I'll never forget those water reviews from "MARIO WiiU" -- A true game critic and visionary who's now lost but never forgotten. Oh, right, yeah, Miitopia. Is it good... Again? Find out!The version played: Nintendo Switch (originally available on 3DS)Developer: Nintendo EPDPublisher: NintendoReleased: May 21, 2021MSRP: $49.99" uploaddate="2021-05-31" thumbnailurl="/??/cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/10260/thumb/791650_t_1622455386.jpg" contentUrl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/10260/sd/791650.mp4"]

You'll likely get to the point where you're zombie-playing the game, setting most battles to "auto" while you hold down the B-button to fast-forward through...a good chunk of the adventure. That's because there really isn't much nuance to Miitopia in any fashion. It banks real hard on you just enjoying t?he ride, with questionable "restart" JRPG tropes along the way. It's definitely not something you necessarily need to experience twice, either, if you've already played it on 3DS.

That said if you're really into making Miis you will love this game. That was always the case with Miitopia even on 3DS, but the new "wig and makeup option" menu will blow you away when it comes to character customization. "Makeup" is understating it. If you put your mind to it, you can basically create anything you want, as evidenced by community efforts like these.

Remember when you'd name your Final Fantasy party members after friends and family members (was it just me)? That's where a lot of the fun in Miitopia comes from. You get a?ttached to some of these characters, especially if you explore the relationship system and each of them starts to develop helpful in-game abilities.

There's a limit, though. These links are fresh at first, but when the dialogue is nonsensical and doesn't line up, or you've seen a link ability for the 100th time, it can get a l??ittle stale. The new horse ?party member gimmick adds a bit more flavor to day-to-day combat and interactions, but not much.

Miitopia is mostly the same on Switch, to a fault. If you were?n't crazy about this one on 3DS it won't change your mind, and the same flaws are intact here. Still, if you're an incredibly creative person that loves to spend their days endlessly perfecting Miis, you'll find a lot to love here. While its shortcomings are laid bare, its core strength, personality, is at the forefront.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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They'll work like amiibo

The new version of Miitopia is pretty much the same as the old one, and both of them support amiibo functionality.

But of course the new hotness always benefits from advancements, and in this case, the Switch edition just got patched to support the Power-Up Bands from Universal's Super Nintendo World theme park. This is on top of all of the?? prior amiibo figure functionality.

As a refresher, these bands are sold at the park (and can be imported on the secondhand market), and are basically amiibo equivalents. Right now Nintendo is only producing them for some of the more popular characters in their stable, but if they catch on, they'll likely expand the line. You can read all about them here in our hands-on i??mpressions.

To use them in Miitopia, you'll encounter an NPC c??alled the "Nintendo Fan" (which you can customize) very early in the game: just a few steps from the starting town. Head to them and just tap an amiibo to your controller/Switch and you're good to go. Figures range from outfit to minor item bonuses.

Miitopia [Nintendo]

Ver. 1.0.3 (Released May 25, 2021)

General

• Added support for the Power-Up Band (amiibo).
  • If you show the Power-Up Band to the Nintendo Fan, you will get a character outfit.

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You can't keep a good lady down

Resident Evil Village is back in the number one spot of the UK Charts. Capcom's horror sequel clambered over Electronic Arts' Mass Effect Legendary Edition and also held off Nintendo's cartoony social title Miitopia in ord?er to claim the premier pos?ition once again.

Elsewhere in the Top Ten, the recent restock of physical PS5 products in the UK high street saw another round of sales for Insomniac Games' Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The web-slinger sits at number four ahead of Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, both of which have?? remained in the upper echelon since their respecti??ve releases.

This week sees the launch of THQ Nordic's Biomutant, Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster, as well as Deep Silver's Maneater and NIS' World's End Club.? It seems that,?? for the time being at least, Lady Dimitrescu is set to retain her UK chart dominance. And who would deny her, frankly?

U.K. video game sales chart w/e: May 22, 2021
(Chart reflects in-store physical sales only)

1. Resident Evil Village - Capcom
2. Miitopia - Nintendo
3. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition - Electronic Arts
4. Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Sony Interactive Entertainment
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo
6. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - Nintendo
7. Grand Theft Auto V - Take Two Interactive
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Nintendo
9.  Minecraft - Nintendo
10. New Pokémon Snap - Nintendo

U.K. video game charts [GamesIndustry.biz]

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Test out the Mii-making adventure

If you've been eager to revisit the magical land of Miitopia, you'll get your chance today?. A new demo is live on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo's Mii-made journey.

The demo takes place in the game's first area, and you'll be able to create and customize Mii characters using various wigs and makeup. If you have Nintendo Switch Online, you can share your Miis with friends and download popular Mii characters from the 3DS version of Miitopia as well.

The nice part is that, if you dig this Switch version of Miitopia, your sa??ve data will carry over into ?the full game. It's nice that any Miis I make will carry over if I get a little attached to them.

This Miitopia looks to be a step up from the 3DS version of Miitopia, with a new set of cosmetic options to adorn your Mii characters with and, of course, horses. Horses, y'all. Thought it might not be the same without random SpotPass party members, maybe the Nintendo Switch Online sharing can help out a bit. We'll find out when the full?? game's out on May 21, 2021.

The post Nintendo’s Miitopia gets a new demo today appeared first on Destructoid.

Has anybody made a Nicolas Cage Mii on their Switch?

I guess I should be happy Miis had a pretty decent showing at yesterday's Nintendo Direct. After all, it was just over a month ago I was lamenting the lack of Mii games on Switch. Sure, they still play a decent role in Smash Ultimate??, but the number of games that support Miis has diminished since Nintendo left the 3DS behind.

Things are starting to look up, though. Not only will Miis play a central role in the story mode for Mario Golf: Super Rush, but the 3DS sleeper hit Miitopia is coming back this May on Nintendo Switch. I reviewed the original release over three years ago and found it to be a mostly funny and enjoyable exp?erience.

Part of what endeared Miitopia so much to me was how it utilized Miis. Rather than?? fill the game with randomly generated NPCs, it would pull Miis from all over and cast them as characters in your adventure. When I was preparing to cover the Direct yesterday and the big leak that correctly predicted most everything in it dropped, Jordan Devore posted this picture into our Slack chat:

That right there is a quartet of screenshots from my review, back when saving 3DS screenshots was actually doable (RIP Miiverse). As you can see, I have Iwata as a fabulous pop star, Punch Out's Doc Louis as a dainty princess, JJ Watt as a knight, Barack O?bama as a fat king, what looks to be Chris Pratt as a prince, and Donald Trump as the Dark Lord. It's quite an e?clectic mix, one that was allowed to be as unique as it was because Nintendo put Miis at the forefront of the Wii and 3DS experience.

Think back to when you first got your Wii. If you were anything like me, you created an assload of Mii characters, covering everything from yourself to Jesus to Osama bin Laden just so you could knock them out in Wii Sports: Boxing. When the 3DS launched with its own Mii Maker, as well as Mii Plaza, sharing Miis became easier than ever before. Players were encouraged to continue importing or creating Miis with games like Pilotwings Resort and Tomodachi Life, and StreetPass got us outside to trade our avatars with one anot??her. 

This resulted in a vast selection of unique and inventive Miis to populate your Miitopia a??dventure by the time the game released in 2017. Even if the fad of making Miis that looked like movie characters, cartoons, and celebrities had died by then, you still had years? of creations at your disposal, all ready to be accessed with the SpotPass-powered Mii Central. As long as you had SpotPass turned on and connected to the internet, you could pull in Miis from around the world to make appearances in your game.

That's how I ended up fighting against Dark Lord Trump and visiting towns where I was greeted by B?uster Bluth, Mary Poppins, or the Pringles guy. It's also how I ended up with Uhura, Morgan Freeman, and Professor Layton in my party. I didn't make those Miis, other people did, and they auto-populated into my game using Mii Central.

The randomness of who Miitopia selects for its NPCs is a massive part of its charm, and I don't know if the experience will measure up without it. As of right now, we know that Miitopia on Switch will let players make their own Miis, so you could go through the trouble of creating all? those characters again. But without Mii Central in some form or another, the unpred?ictability of the faces you'll see will be gone.

Even if Mii Central does play a role in this HD remaster, it's unlikely players will have access to the same level of dynamic Miis as we had in the past. There has simply been no motivation to create as many Miis as possible on Switch, and without the creative spark that drove people to make recreations of Bob Belcher, Emma Stone, or a hamburger, Miitopia's journey just won't be the same.

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Get the egg-head gang back together

You and your Mii buddies will soon be able to gather together once again for kooky adventures, as the cheerful custom universe of Miitopia - once a?? beloved part of the Nintendo 3DS universe - is set to make its grand return on Switch.

As revealed during today's Nintendo Direct presentation, the new Miitopia will feature lots of new customization options, including an or??iginal range of wigs, clothes, facial features, and make-up options, so you can get all dolled up before you and your pals head out on a series of high-spirited adventures, where the onl??y limits are your imagination (and some limits).

Best of all, horses have been added to the wo??rld as new allies. HORSES.

Miitopia launches on Nintend?o Switch May 21. Pre-orders will go live toda?y.

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Muddled morals and messages

The 3DS’s days may be numbered, but the plucky little handheld isn’t ready to call it quits just yet. Today it’s seeing the release of two new first-party games in Hey! Pikmin and Miitopia. Both are cute, late-in-the-game entries to the 3DS library that hopefully won’t be too ignored. I spent more than three dozen hours in the world of Miitopia and found myself smiling through much of it. It’s weird, it’s quirky, and it has a charm all its own. And then it ends, concluding in a w?ay that left me in disbelief after such a delightful jaunt through its world.

Heed this warning: I am about to spoil the ending of Miitopia, a game that just came out. If you are playing it for yourself, look away. In fact, go get one of those Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind machines to wipe your memory of ever clicking this link.

Throughout the 30 or so hours in the story of Miitopia, the Dark Lord be snatching faces. Every town I visit is eventually targeted by the villa?in and I am asked to retrieve their faces from his minions. It’s important to note that everyone in ?this game is asking for their face back. They like their face, they love how they look, and they want to keep on looking that way. I abide by their requests and set off to beat down Dark Lord’s army to retrieve these faces.

At the end of the game, it is me and my team standing toe-to-toe with the Darkest Lord, the?? final evolution of the creature. It’s not a difficult battle, but it’s the longest and most engaging in the entire campaign. After I strike the final blow, the Great Sage, a key player in this ordeal, gives me some backstory on this corr??upted foe.

The Dark Lord wasn’t always dark. He used to be a normal human who was sad and lo??nely because he had no friends. The game makes the point of showing people walk away from him as he wonders why nobody will even notice him. Looking at his reflection in a mirror, he decides it must be his face. He thinks ?it is what drives people away from him. We’re never actually told why he has no friends or what type of person he is. Perhaps he’s just an asshole. Who knows? It’s only said he blames his face for his depressing, friendless existence. So, like Nicolas Cage, he takes his face off. In time he becomes dark, bitter, vengeful, and full of hate; transforming into a soul filled with rage that possesses whoever you decide is the Dark Lord at the beginning of the game.

That is the story of the Dark Lord and it’s an injection of gloom the rest of my quest had been f??re??e from to this point. Perhaps I am looking too much into this. It’s possible I’m putting too many of my own issues into this reading of it. Perhaps I am interpreting this in a way unintended by developers and localization team. But I look at this ending and see a game that decided a loner with self-esteem issues should be the villain. Because that’s what the Dark Lord is when you boil it down. He is a depressed person with social and personal issues. It’s jarring because he is the only person in the game who exhibits these characteristics and he alone is the bad guy. Everyone else is happy, timid, shy, lazy, or some other socially acceptable emotion or trait. What is Nintendo telling me when it makes the only character with self-esteem issues the villain of this game?

I understand how a person having no friends and slowly getting angry at the world can make for a compelling adversary or a ridiculously sad Twitter troll, but Miitopia fails to provide a valuable moral in its story. Because once I defeat th??e Dark Lord, he’s not dead. I’m able to break this curse and return him to human form. ??Here’s the kicker: he can be a person again, but I have to give him a brand new face.

I just spent more than two dozen hours adventuring around, helping people find their ??faces. No matter what they looked like, and there are some uggos in my game, they got back their original face because that is who they are. That is how they were created and how they are supposed to be. If I could just assign any face I wanted to all these people there would be no point in this adventure and also everyone would look like Quagmire. But it was pertinent I find their original face, because it shouldn’t matter what they look like, they should ??be happy with who they are.

But not the Dark Lord. After his reign of terror, caused by the rejection he felt from those around who refused to be his friend and blamed on his perfectly normal face, his resolution is to completely change his look. I pick his new face and his name because he shouldn’t decide who he is, I should. Even if I make him look li??ke a constipated Wario, his appearance is di?ctated by the preference of others, which is a terrible fucking lesson to teach.

Had this story instead ended with me searching for the Dark Lord’s original face, the same way I adventured to retrieve all the other missing faces and everybody sees him and comments what an awesome face it is, it would have fit right in with the rest of my quest. That would be real redemption for this sad and lonely character. Instead, Miitopia has an ending that never really con?siders what it is saying about this character and people in the real world who may id?entify with them.

The post So what’s up with the ending to Miitopia? appeared first on Destructoid.

It helped me find my Soul Miiate

Tomodachi Life is one of the strangest games to come out of Nintendo and, when it launched, it became a lightning rod for stupid controversy over the supposed removal of same-sex relationships from the game. A misunderstanding as to what was actually happening led to plenty of misinformed commentators, this thing from Ellen, this thing from John Oliver, and a truly heartfelt petition from one fan simply ?asking for equality.

Nintendo's response to the petition was well received, and the company said if it were to create another entry in the Tomodachi Life franchise, it would "strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players." Last year, we got our first big Nintendo game to include gay characters and gay relationship options in Fire Emblem Fates, though it was limited in who you could fall in love with? and which version of the game they would be available in. Also, Niles sucked.

Going through Miitopia over the last three weeks, I had this controversy in mind. If you've played the demo, you know it has a relationship aspect where you can level up bonds between Miis. It all starts out innocent enough, with relationship labels like "acquainted" and "likes a little bit," but as they grow closer, the wording becomes more intimate. I wondered how far and how?? deep these r?elationships would get, finding my answer on YouTube.

If you watch that ad, halfway through you'll see that totally awesome teenager coveting his brother's girlfriend. As hi??s way of getting back at his big brother for probably doing the awful crap big brothers do, he's put her in the game and as you can see, the two are total soul mates with a relationship level of 50. "Huh," I said out loud to myself like the mentally ill person I am, "I wonder if it's the same if it's two dudes."

Now, when I saw that ad, I had two male characters in my game with a relationship level of 35. At this point, the two had hearts in their eyes for each other but the game still referred to them as friends. I must commend the localization team for pulling every word from t?he thesaurus and any idiom available to keep from calling these tw??o a couple. As I leveled up their relationship, they became "thick as thieves," "two peas in a pod," "kindred spirits," "committed," "friendsplosion," "together forever," and "joined at the hip," which could actually be pretty gay depending on what part of the hip we're talking about.

As I inched closer to that level 50 goalpost, the game threw obstacles my way. One of the guys would get sick, which prohibits relationship growth. After he got better, the two got in a fight that just seemed? to get worse as I tried to make it better.

I pressed forward and right before I was about to turn in for the night, I caught a break. In a mini-game available at the various inns you come across, I ??won three straight trips to an island getaway for two. This is one of the most powerful ways to build a bond so I sent my boys out to finally hit that level 50 mark.

JJ and CJ sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n -- okay, so there is no actual kissing in this game and nobody gets married and shares a bed or anything like that. Relationships are quite entertaining to watch but less involved than in Tomodachi Life.

Nonetheless, this is pretty much exactly what Nintendo said it would do. This isn't officially a Tomodachi game, but it is one that, as they promised, is more inclusive and better repres??ents all players. If they're choosing not to include a marriage option, that's their prerogative. But this game is built around forming deep and meaningful relationships, and no matter if it's same-sex or opposite sex, every relationship is treated equally. And isn't that what the whole kerfuffle three years ago was about?

The post Nintendo kinda, sorta kept its big gay promise appeared first on Destructoid.

Make new friends but keep the old

You know what puts? a smile on my face? Watching Joan Rivers dressed as a princess use a big wad of cash to �a href="//www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-zsa-zsa-gabor-retrospective-20161219-story.ht?ml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Zsa-Zsa�a turkey with a face on its butt named “Twerkey.�That’s funny, and it’s just one of the weird, odd and amusing things I see on my journey to save the faces of Miitopia.

Miitopia (Nintendo 3DS) 
Developer: Nintendo 
Publisher: Nintendo 
Release: July 28, 2017 
MSRP: $39.99

[For a review of the 2021 Nintendo Switch version of Miitopia, click here.]

Try as I might, I cannot talk about Miitopia without bringing up Tomodachi Life. In my preview of the game, I called it Tomodachi Life: The RPG. 33 hours later, I still very much feel the same way. Tomodachi Life is a hands-off life sim that shined due to its unapologetic weirdness and likeability. Miitopia walks a similar pat??h, though its trail is marked with monsters and mayhem.

The cause of that mayhem is the vicious Dark Lord. He, as well as everyone else in the game, is m??ade up of Miis. Townsfolk are selected at random, but the central players are left up to me. I opt to let fate decide who is cast in the role and end up with Dark Lord Trump, one of two different Donald Trumps found in my game. I’ve also come across three Bayonettas, fat Obama, beautiful princess Doc Lewis, two Kirbys, and the worst looking Mr. T I have ever seen. You know all those extremely creative looking Miis of Pokemon and cartoon characters we’ve seen over the years? Sorry ??but most of them look like absolute crap in this game.

The Dark Lord is on a bit of a face hijacking spree and it’s up to me and my team of nine other Miis to stop him. Every character in my squad I create from scratch, generate from a QR code, select from the residents of my Tomodachi island, or grab from the online-required Mii Central. I don’t know why I can’t pick a face from Mii Plaza, but I can’t. After a character is designed, I assign them a personality along with a class. Both of these decisions are of great importance because they dictate how a Mii will act in my adventure. A “cool�character, for instance, will occasionally dodge an attack. Energetic characters may become so excited to fight they hurt themselves while laid-back Miis will often hide behind a friend to avoid getting hurt, jeopardizing their relationship. The same goes for classes. Amusing jobs like chef, tank, and im??p will use their friends as a weapon whether they like it or not.

It’s my job to keep everyone on speaking terms. That’s the whole point of this shindig. The stolen faces and Dark Lord provide the motivation, but it’s building unbreakable relationships that is the overall goal. I’m basically the babysitter of the bunch and as such, I choose to give up control of my original Mii to the AI. It honestly feels like t??he intended way to play this turn-based RPG. I have no battle control over the other characters anyway, so why not let my Mii make his own decisions. If Bob Belcher the chef, Terra the flower, and Nurse Joy the cat can act on their own, so can CJ the scientist.

Whether I choose to play a passive role or one that is more active, I have a set of tools to assist every member of my team on the journey. With magic salt shakers, I can refill their health and magic, breathe new life into their fallen corpse, shield them from attacks, or give them the Miitopia equivalent of cocaine to do massi?ve damage. I can also move an injured Mii to a safe spot where they can regain their health and magic away from the carnage of combat.

Outside of battle, I decide sleeping arrangements, food dispersal, class changes, and which Miis are allowed out into the field. I can also give money to a Mii for new gear though they may choose to buy something else instead. Eating is important as it increases st??ats that stay with the character if I decide to change classes. Room assignment dictates which Miis build friendshi?ps as well as help them get over a feud. Characters will often request I place them with a specific person, a process that unlocks a short scene between the two.

These little episodes, as well as the banter between my squad as they hop and skip their way across the map, grow old long before my adventure ends. The quite ordinary events repeat?? far too often, forcing me to watch characters have a conversation I’ve already witnessed. The chatter on the world map largely doesn’t make sense. There is no real dialog happening, just random sentences popping up from time to time. It’s all cute at first, but after 34 hours, I find it less amusing to see Morgan Freeman wonder if anyone just farted.

Despite the repetition, it’s worth it to see the end results of the relationships my team has built play out in battle. There is something endlessly invigorating about watching these Miis work together to defeat their enemies. They team up in attacks, occasionally bombarding an adversary with a 4-on-1 assault. They come to each? other’s aid when one of them gets hurt. If a Mii falls in battle, one of his friends may avenge him with a devastating attack or risk life and limb to save the friend they care about so much. It’s such a fun, positive experience, culminating in a final battle that really is the sum of everything I work towards.

With the easy 30-hour campaign behind me, I’m having a great deal of fun with the post-game content. There are new maps to unlock, new classes to discover, and daily quests I can conquer. I could easily stop playing now and dive into something a bit meatier, but the pleasant nature of Miitopia, as well as seeing so many poorly recreated famous faces in random roles, is a? curio that deserves to be kept in my 3DS u??ntil I see it through to the very end.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Game and watch

I’m several hours into Miitopia, the new RPG for the Nintendo 3DS releasing at the end of the month, but I’m already thinking I should start over. Not because I’ve made any mistakes as that so far is impossible to do. I want to start over because watching my Miis hop and skip along these trails has me thinking my party should be made up of Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion from The Wizard of Oz. This occurred to me when, out of nowhere, I actually started singing to myself “We’re off to beat the Dark Lord, the dastardly Dark Lord of Miitopia. We hear he is a bit of a dick and that is why he’s about done. If ever, oh ever a dick there was, the Dark Lord of Miitopia is one because, because, because, because, because, because… because of the dastardly things he’s done (dun? dun dun dun dun dun dun dun). We’re off to beat the Dark Lord, the dastardly Dark Lord of Miitopia!”

Yup, that’s the type of mood this game? has put me in.

Miitopia is, distilled down to its very essence, Tomodachi Life: The RPG. Now, if that sounds like a “No duh!” kind of statement because both games star Miis, think for a second exactly what Tomodachi Life is. It’s a life sim, one that doesn’t really require much player interaction. Characters perform automatically and the player is only there for a few simple tasks. The core of the experience is you have to keep your island inhabitants happy, something that is also true of Miitopia.

Across the first continent of the game, I put it on cruise control to see if I was even needed at all. Final Fantasy XII’s gambit system gets a lot of flak for being something you can watch more than play; criticism perfectly suited for Miitopia. I have the option of deciding the actions of my main Mii, but the other three act based on their personality, class, and relationship with other members of the team. Right now the b??ond is strong between my Mii character and Houston Texans franchise player J.J. Watt. Lt. Uhura from the starship Enterprise and pop sensation Iwata are also close with friendships just starting to blossom between the whole group.

Happy characters are powerful characters. As relationships develop, I unlock new skills that allow Miis to team up for attacks, warn others w??hen they’re about to be hit, or just shower each other with praise. Enemies can pack a punch, but with Iwata trying to impress J.J. or U?hura and my Mii teaming up for a front-and-back attack, my squad is able to stand toe-to-toe with the strongest foes they face.

With my Mii, the laid-back chef, making all his own decisions, I’ve seen the bonds betwe??en him and the other members fluctuate greatly. One of his moves is to cook up a spicy dish, feed it to a partner and have that Mii breathe fire on an en?emy. This move can damage relationships and for some reason, my Mii kept using it with Iwata, driving a wedge between them in the early stages of their bromance.

Characters in a quarrel act in funny ways. During this feud between the two, Iwata would often jump in front of my Mii to get his shot in first, something of a “neener-neener” maneuver. He would refuse to cooperate in any of the team attacks I had unlocked betwee?n the two and would generally be bitter in their travels. I’ve spent plenty of time trying to get these two back on speaking terms only to have my Mii enthusiastically use that sp?icy dish move once more with Iwata, sending him straight to the dog house for another set of stages.

So control matters and it’s probably a good idea to make the choices of my main Mii as partner AI here isn’t all that smart. C??haracters routinely attack distracted or otherwise incapacitated enemies instead of dishing it out on those who have the ability to strike back. My thief lays dow?n traps for enemies that don’t attack up close, rendering them useless.

I can’t get mad at their ineptitude because everything here is all in good fun. From the iCarly levels of drama to the odd nonsequiturs that punctuate our odyssey, Miitopia makes me grin. It’s not as weird as Tomodachi Life ??and the banter does tend to repeat often as we bustle down these branching byways, but building bonds between buddies is cathartic in its own uncomplica??ted way.

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Pick your partners well

After sitting on my 3DS for the past few days, I finally got around to starting up the Miitopia demo. It's a bit of a beefy demo, allowing me to?? traverse what I assume is much of the first ??land of the game, powering up my squad to level 6 while forming the early foundations of friendship between my crew.

If you haven't downloaded it yet or just haven't heard what it's all about, Miitopia is an RPG featuring Mii avatars. The world is populated with random Miis while important characters can be filled with the faces you choose. You can also leave some of them up to chance, which is how I ended up with Mei from Overwatch playing what I ?can only a??ssume is a pivotal role in the story.

Whe??n Miis were first unveiled back on the Wii, I ?thought to myself how awesome it would be to get an RPG that featured the adorable avatars. In my youth, I always renamed characters in RPGs to match my friends or people from television I admired because I was a sad, lonely child. Now as a sad, lonely adult, I'll no longer have to pretend that Edgar Figaro is actually Jason Lee Scott. I can just make one of my characters the original Red Ranger.

Of course, that's my pitiful, pathetic inner child speaking. As a mature adult, I would never pretend I'm going on a grand adventure with a Power Ranger. That's kid stuff. No, as the sophisticated, cultured individual I am, I'm? only going fill my squad with serious candidates. Candidates like Admiral Akbar.

Meet my warrior. The Admiral was one of the first funny Mii characters I came across and he's stuck with me ever since. Ackbar is the most powerful member of my team and has so far formed a deep?? bond with my?? chef.

That's my chef. That's also me. Hello. Ackbar and I are two best friends eating cornish hens. It was just t??he two of us for the first part of the demo, adventuring around trying the retrieve the face of sassy child Bill Trinen or sarcastic Nigel Thornberry. Eventually, our duo became a trio when a female pop singer joined our squad.

After Satoru Iwata died, I added him to my Tomodachi Life game so a part of him could live forever. So it was a no-brainer to have him be in this game. I almos??t made him the main villain but decided to leave that up to the autoselect. Instead, he became a frilly pop star and the perfect traveling companion for my thief.

Hello thief! I tried all I could to find a Marina Mii but none were up to snuff. So instead of going with an awesome fake black chick, I went with an awesome real black chick. I love Uhura though I regret making her my thief. Ackbar should have been my thief because thieves can lay traps. I'll probably restart my save and make Nichelle Nichols my warrior because that job is perfect for murder, and if Futurama ?taught me anything, that's all she's good at.

The Miitopia demo runs about an hour and is definitely worth your time if you're sticking with your 3DS. While I do miss the Tomodachi Life cha??racter speech, its sprightly take on the JRPG genre is a nice palette refresher from the more austere experiences available on the handheld.

Miitopia launches for the Nintendo 3DS in the west on July 28, the same day as Hey! Pikmin and the New Nintendo 2DS XL in North America.

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22 Miitopia Avenue

The guys at E3 aren't the only ones who can have some fun with not yet released Nintendo games. If you log onto the 3DS eShop right now, you can nab a Miitopia demo to try out the qui?rky JRPG staring your Miis! I've loved the idea after seeing the initial trailer, so I'm definit?ely going to give it a go. If nothing else, I'll have a laugh at my Mii version of Hulk Hogan teaming up with Hank Hill.

If yo??u like the demo and expect to get the game, then you're in luck. Save data from this demo will carry over into the full game when it launches next month. That certainly is nice.

Miitopia demo hitting 3DS later today [Go Nintendo]

The post You can now try out Miitopia with a surprise demo appeared first on Destructoid.

Well, mostly upcoming games

In previous years, Nintendo has held a "Play Nintendo" event to showcase upcoming games in a public setting?. In addition to being like an E3 that most people can actually visit, the kiosks are full of Nintendo charm and glee while also offering demos for upcoming games. I'm not sure if that is really needed (the internet is great for downloa??ding things!), but maybe some people aren't sold on a console; an event like this will give them the chance to experience that device to its fullest potential.

With a slight name alteration, the Nintendo "Summer of Play" tour will be kicking off next month with dates around the US for the entirety of the season. Starting in Irvine, CA and ending in Baltimore, MD, the tour will have demos for a bunch of Switch and 3DS games (that, by the end of the tour, will already be out in stores). If you missed the Splatoon 2 Global Testfire or really just want to play Arms a few weeks before launch, this is your chance!

The games included for this tour are Splatoon 2, Arms, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Snipperclips, 1 - 2 Switch, Ultra Street Fighter II, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Bomberman R and Minecraft: Switch Edition on the Switch while 3DS titles will feature Hey! Pikmin, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Miitopia, Pokemon Sun and Moon, and Super Mario Maker for 3DS. The dates are below.

Summer of Play 2017 Tour Dates:

• Irvine, California, June 9 - 11 @ Irvine Spectrum Center
• Pleasanton, CA, June 16 - 18 @ Alameda County Fair
• Bloomington, MN, June 23 - 25 @ Mall of America®
• Milwaukee, WI, June 30 - July 2 @ Henry Maier Festival Park
  (Summerfest Grounds)
• Chicago, IL, July 7 - 9 @ Navy Pier
• Glendale, AZ, July 14 - 16 @ Arrowhead Towne Center
• San Diego, CA, July 20 - 23 @ San Diego Comic-Con (Marriott Marquis)
• Arlington, TX, July 28 - 30 @ The Parks Mall at Arlington
• Miami, FL, August 4 - 6 @ Aventura Mall
• Bethlehem, PA, August 11 - 13 @ Musikfest
• Brooklyn, NY (NYC), August 18 - 20 @ DUMBO Waterfront
• King of Prussia, PA, August 25 - 27 @ King of Prussia Mall
• Baltimore, MD, September 2 - 4 @ Harborplace

Times and locations are available on Nintendo's website and you can also get a My Nintendo metal water bottle if you sign up for an account and bring a QR code to the event. Supplies are limited (obviously), but if y??ou plan on? going anyway, I guess getting a free item is neat.

I remember before the launch of Skyward Sword, Nintendo held something similar to this in various malls around the US. For some reason, they decided to come to Danbury, CT, so I make the trek and got a couple of Skyward Sword lanyards. That was fun, even if driving 45 miles wasn't really worth a $10 fr??eebie.

Summer of Play 2017 [Nintendo]

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Just as crazy as I expected

When I was younger and played through the SNES Final Fantasy games, I would always change the name of characters when I could to fulfill my childhood fantasy going on a grand quest with my heroes, like Phil from Rugrats, Bill Nye from Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

I was a weird child.

Anyway, I eventually reached an age where I would keep all the names the same, partially because none of these characters looked like the people I was pretending they were, but mostly because I thought the practice was childish. It really wasn't until the advent of the Miis and release of Tomodachi Life that I rediscovered my love of doing this. That game is filled with all of the famous people I admire and Zendaya for some reason. Hopefully next year, I'll be able to take some of my friends and neighbors on a grand adventure in Miitopia. 

Japanese gamers are just a few days away from its release and Nintendo unleashed a long traile??r to drum up interest. I didn't understand a damn thing sa??id in its eight-minute run time, but I like what I see.

Miitopia looks like the game I had hoped Nintendo would have released on the Wii when Miis were at the??ir most popular. Oh well, looking at that trailer, it appears it will be worth the wait. I mean, just look at this turkey:

In case you are w??ondering, yes t?here will be amiibo support in the form of costumes.

Miitopia releases December 8 in Japan. A western release has not been announced, but I can't imagine this ?game?? not coming to North America, Europe and Australia.

The post You don’t have to speak Japanese to appreciate this Miitopia trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Better love story than Twilight

While our Nintendo Direct yesterday for Animal Crossing: New Leaf focused solely on Nintendo's life simulator, Japanese gamers were treated to a short preview for the upcoming Miitopia game. Not a whole lot of details were unveiled, but the game will be releasing on De??cember 8 in Japan for 4,700 ¥. There is als?o going to be a Japan-only Nintendo Direct to discuss more about the title at the end of the week (November 5).

A short preview demo was then released on the Japanese eShop that let people witness the video with their own Miis. From that, we can gather that you team up with? three other Miis and do battle with an evil Mii. There is also?? some crazy romance subplot going on that makes me laugh a bit.

I'm not sure I understand what, exactly, Miitopia is all about, but it looks pretty fun. I didn't buy into Tomodachi Life, but using my Miis for something other than Smash or Mario Kart is always a plus. Hopefully we'll find out when the?? West will be getting the game soon.

Nintendo's New Miitopia 3DS Game Unveiled, and It's C?oming to Japa??n Really Soon [GameSpot]

The post Japanese preview for Mi??itopia has romance and?? action appeared first on Destructoid.

All of those weird voices

Are you tired of Miis yet? Nintendo sure hopes you aren't, as Miitopia was announced at the end of toda??y's Nintendo Direct. There are not a lot of known details on ?what the game will be, apart from it not being another mobile spin-off.

According to the Direct presentation, this will ?be released at retail and is coming out this year. That definitely fills in all the blanks. Who needs to know anything about gameplay or content??? For that matter, is this even releasing in the West?

I actually like the Miis, so I'm curious as to what this may be. I hope they don't all have their voices from Mario Kart 8, because that gave me nightmares.

What is Miitopia? [Tiny Cartridge]

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