The Miis are back
Miis...i miss them!
It feels like just yesterday I was using StreetPass to accumulate an infinite number of Mii friends. Remember everyone votes? Ah, we've passed 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, commutateur [reviewed])
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: May 21, 2022
MSRP: $ 49,99
In case you missed Miitopia on the 3DS in 2022, the bottom line is that Nintendo took the Find Mii minigame for the 3DS StreetPass Mii Plaza and ran with it, creating a full-fledged, albeit simplistic and streamlined, JRPG.
Characters auto-run when in the field, party members auto-fight, the player's hero uses one of a few abilities, and as "God" you can pause the battle and use restorative sprinkles on people. CJ breaks it all down nicely in his original review. The question is, does it hold up four years later, with minor improvements? Well, a little.
Miitopia still gives off a carefree vibe, which might be what some of you need right now. If you head into an area and get crashed, just restart outside of it and come back after leveling up a bit. Sometimes you'll be 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 some cool new armor, and when you give it some money do it, they buy magic beans instead. It's cute, low-stakes, and airy.
You'll probably get to the point where you're playing the game with zombies, setting most battles to "auto" while you hold down the B button to fast-forward... a good chunk of the adventure. That's because there really isn't a whole lot of nuance to Miitopia in any way. It really relies heavily on you just enjoying the ride, with questionable “reboot” JRPG tropes along the way. It's definitely not something you necessarily have to experience twice, if you've ever played it on 3DS.
That said if you are really making Miis, you'll love this game. This has always been the case with Miitopia even on 3DS, but the new "wig and makeup option" menu will blow your mind when it comes to character customization. “Makeup” underestimates it. If you put your mind to it, you can basically build anything you want, as evidenced by community efforts like these.
Remember when you used to name your Final Fantasy party members after friends and family members (was that just me)? This is where the fun of Miitopia comes from. You become attached to some of these characters, especially if you explore the relationship system and each of them begins to develop useful abilities in the game.
There is a limit, however. 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 little stale. The new riding party member gimmick adds a bit more flavor to daily combat and interactions, but not much.
Miitopia is pretty much the same on Switch, except for one flaw. If you weren'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 who likes to spend your days endlessly perfecting Miis, you'll find a lot to like here. While her flaws are laid bare, her core strength, her personality, comes to the fore.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]
