Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Review: Love at third sight

I must admit when I first saw Tomodachi life on the 3ds I had zero interest in the game. When the successor for the switch showed up at a Nintendo Direct I laughed at it and thought “who's gonna play this?” well turns out I'm the one who's playing and loving it. So sit back, relax and find out why I fell in love with Tomodachi Life Living the Dream.

A very normal week on Stardust Island

I'm beyond excited, finally Himmel and Frieren fell in Love! One step closer to making this dream couple become reality. But both are still acting shy around each other. 

After some long talks with each of them, Frieren surprised me. She asked me if she should ask Himmel to be her boyfriend. 

Of course I'm all supportive. All power to you Frieren! She asked me what to wear, say and where she should confess her love. 

We both decided inviting Himmel to her home is the right call. Then finally the big moment. Frieren takes a deep breath, stumbles a bit over her words and finally confesses to Himmel “I love you, let's be together”. 

But before Himmel can answer, the door opens. Fern, Frierens daughter of all people! Comes into the room and yells “No Himmel I love you more be with me”. I stare at my screen with a mix of shock and laughter.

The camera zooms on Himmel. I hope and pray he does the right call and yes… Thankfully he picks Frieren. So all is good now? 

Well not really… The next day Frieren welcomes Hinata to the island. A young innocent boy who feels a bit lost in his new home. Well Himmel sees them both talk and gets filled with a jealous anger. 

He complains to Frieren how she can dare to talk to another man like this in public. Frieren is confused and sad about this encounter and the young love seems to crumble. 

Even though she did nothing wrong Frieren decided to apologise to Himmel but what does he say? “Apologies refused!”. At this point I feel like I'm in a Spanish Telenovela. 

Thankfully the next day Himmel came back to his senses and apologised to Frieren, who accepted his apologies. After that Himmel finally realises how much he loves Frieren and asks her to marry him. 

They both marry and move in together. In the same house that also Fern lives in. So what could go wrong? 

The next day, it is evening and I'm tired from work. I only want to take a small peak at my peaceful island and relax. But then… 

Fern and Himmel are standing in the kitchen, yelling and screaming at it each while throwing kitchen appliances through the room. Frieren manages to calm the situation down. 

Both refuse to tell me what happened or why they fought. After a moment Himmel apologizes to Fern but what does she say? Right.. “Apologies refused!” followed by a “I never want to see Himmel again”. Well that's gonna be hard living in the same house.

All of this we're just a few interactions on maybe 5 real life days between 3 characters on my island. Currently I have 21 living on Stardust Island and you can have up to 75. This should give you a rough idea of what you can experience in Tomodachi Life Living the Dream. 

Tomodachi is made for creative People

Now that I showed you how a typical day in Tomodachi Life Living the Dream feels, let's talk about how it plays. The easiest western comparison would be the Sims. You create your own Miis with their looks and characteristics. 

Then you let them move on your island. You can build and decorate their homes as well as the whole island. The main gameplay loop is checking on your Miis daily, making them interact with each other and help them to navigate their lives. 

The focus is clearly on the social interactions between the Miis. They don't go to work or have as many needs as Sims do. It's more about seeing them interact with each other and see the love and drama that can unfold. 

The game has many unique cutscenes for this that are so over the top that they only can be described as pure Anime.

One aspect that really shines here is that your Miis speak. They use a somewhat creepy computer voice that will grow on you over time and you can make each Mii sound different. They will often ask you about which topic they should talk about and there aren't any filters. 

This can lead to hilarious dialogues and situations and when two of your Miis bound over their daily pooping routines. This all leads to the very specific humour that Tomodachi life makes so special. 

But Tomodachi life is clearly a game that stands and falls with your own creativity. You have a lot of creative freedom but you have to use it in order to have fun. 

The way you create your Miis, how you mix them together, how you make them look and sound, which catch phrases or behaviors you teach them. All of those things will determine how much Tomodachi Life is to you. 

In a way it almost feels like a hollow shell that you have to fill with your own ideas. This also extends to the things you can create. Clothes, buildings, objects, pets, games. Almost every element your Miis can interact with can also be created by you. 

Of course there are also a lot of presets for all of this that you can buy and use. But the level of creative freedom Tomodachi Life offers is astonishing. 

But this freedom comes with a price. Tomodachi Life has no filters, like really none! However because of this Nintendo decided to get rid of all online functions. In past titles you could for example share your Miis online with others. 

Now sharing Miis or creations is only possible locally which is a shame. But in a way I can understand this decision. An Online function would elevate Tomodachi to another level but I guess then they would have to implement filters which also would be a shame on its own. 

The funniest Game of the Year

Nintendo really has an amazing year for cozy games so far. First the excellent Pokopia hooked me for weeks and now Tomodachi Life might really be a game that I will play every day for 10-15 minutes for the rest of the year. 

It's such a charming and funny mix and I simply can't wait to see what my Miis will do next. It's in fact so much fun that I truly hope Nintendo will keep on adding more content to it. 

More seasonal decorations, more character quirks, more events. Tomodachi Life Living the Dream is a game with infinite potential and honestly one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. Oh and speaking of surprises, after writing this Review Frieren and Himmel had another surprise for me. They got a baby and proudly named it Evie! I already wonder what Fern will have to say about that.

Rating: Strongly Recommended