Miitopia (3DS Edition) Reviews
Not much more than an expanded StreetPass game, and while the Mii integration is cute the shallow gameplay is just frustrating and dull.
At the end of the day, Miitopia really is a letdown. It tries to bridge Tomodachi Life and the JRPG genre, but without adding anything that would make the gameplay endearing. I could only recommend this game to someone who is looking for a quick pick up and play game for short play sessions but doesn’t want to get invested in a extremely in-depth JRPG.
What Miitopia lacks in actual game it makes up for in how weird and wonderful it is. If you're easily charmed by Nintendo, this will eat you up and spit you out.
In an industry where it seems like just about everything has been tried before, Miitopia's willingness to try something new is commendable, albeit uninteresting in execution. It's a simple game with a couple great ideas that are often let down by a story that is too timid to step outside its comfort zone.
Miitopia feels like a missed opportunity. It's a game that starts and ends strong, but falters in the many, many hours in-between. Its jokes and gags quickly grew stale, and its charm wore off quickly. And then it kept going, for dozens of hours on end. I imagine if players are on the hunt for a game that's slightly more complex than what they'd find in Street Pass plaza, Miitopia might be that game for them. For players hunting for more hilarious and unpredictable antics from Miis like they once saw from Tomodachi Life, it seems like that dream remains just that. A dream.
Once the silliness of Miitopia wears off, you're left with a cute and repetitive RPG.
While a party can contain up to four members, players only directly control themselves. One can even set autobattle to have battles play out without having to interfere. The whole battling process is pretty hands-off, and can be sped up with the press of a button, which can make Miitopia a nice game to have on in the background or play in very short bursts. In longer gaming sessions however, the experience can really drag.
I like Miitopia, but I can't really recommend it to anyone. Maybe people who still regularly play Miitomo (do people still do that?) but other than that… Just, don't bother. It's a game that plays itself, and you're supposed to derive your entertainment from simply watching things happen. It's a struggle to suggest this even to younger gamers - I can see what Nintendo wanted to do here, but Miitopia is honestly a flop.
I went into Miitopia expecting an absurdist adventure filled with whacky humour and zany writing, and while it didn’t quite deliver on that, I found something else to enjoy in the experience.
"Easy-going RPG."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Miitopia is a great entry into RPG’s for young or new gamers and can offer some laugh out loud moments. That isn’t enough to make up for the long campaign, repetitiveness, and bland battle system to warrant your $40.
Miitopia will win you over with laughter, but not in the same baffling ways as Tomodachi Life once did. There’s little chance that you will play a wackier game this year, but Miitopia‘s undoing lies in how quickly repetition sets in. Quirky but lacking depth, there’s untapped potential for a grander adventure if Nintendo choose to revisit the idea.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Miitopia loses its identity along the road. As a genuinely amusing life simulation game, it’s diluted as the support act. But as an RPG it’s lethargic, lacking strategy and appeal. Similar to a much-loved British dessert, Miitopia is like Eton Mess; a beautiful combination but sloppy in design.
The game doesn't last too long for JRPG standards (around 30-35 hours) but this feels like a fun 15 hour game stretched out with long periods of boring grind. You eventually do get everyone back, making the last part of the game a better experience towards the end. But while Miitopia makes up for a lot of things with its charming appeal, its faults are still pretty evident.
Miitopia is a quirky and entertaining RPG-lite in very short bursts, but unfortunately the game doesn't have all that much to offer outside of a few goofs. The lack of substantial player involvement leaves it feeling too automated and the experience grows stale, fast.
This quasi-followup to Tomodachi Life is a wacky, time-consuming RPG that blends moments of zany glee with the realization that it's not an innovation within the genre.
A charming game, unfortunately thwarted by its sense of progression and how the gameplay is handled.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Miitopia is a strange and creative game. It takes the kooky little Mii characters and brings a little extra dimension to them while remaining bizarre and entertaining. The RPG element of the game is lacklustre, but the interpersonal relationships and friendship bonds are what makes you want to keep playing.
Miitopia isn’t a fantastic game, but it’s a great casual RPG for fans of the genre, and an even better introduction for newbies to the world of role-playing games. If your kid is the type who longs to go on the epic adventures they see you playing all the time, I’d recommend it for sure. If you’re looking for a satisfying RPG experience for yourself, I might wait for a price drop or go play Bravely Default again.
It's a good different game because it steps outside the walls of what RPGs have always been, even if it doesn't do so entirely flawlessly—which is why it can't be great.