Miitopia (3DS) Review

I was so ready to dismiss Miitopia, as the beginning of Nintendo’s last hurrah for the 3DS family of systems. Even though I had some fun with Tomodachi Life, I didn’t think there would be much else for the Mii characters to do that would be exciting or worth my attention. Then I tried the demo and was actually pleasantly surprised.

Miitopia can be very easily summarised; it’s a turn-based RPG adventure, where all the characters are Miis that you can insert as playable characters, or as NPCs, you encounter on the journey. It has the same sense of humour as Tomodachi Life, but the really interesting part of the game is how it incorporates the social aspects of Tomodachi Life with growing the power of your team. The gist of the story is pretty straightforward, with the Dark Lord (which in my game was Vook himself!) stealing the faces from innocent people, and dropping them onto monsters in the world of Miitopia. You have to go out and defeat these monsters for the faces to return to their original owners.

You start off small, with yourself and three friends making your way through the early ‘world’ of the game. As you work your way through multi-pathed levels, you eventually end up at an inn to stay at. You can have two Miis to a room, with their bond deepening the more they stay together. The deeper the bond, the more they work together in battle. This can be anything from teaming up to take down an enemy, to becoming enraged, and dealing massive damage when their close friend falls in battle.

On top of this, you can give Miis jobs/classes to use in battle. I loved how they start as generic RPG classes like mage, warrior, and thief, and eventually end up with classes like cat, flower, and vampire. Mix this with different personality traits like stubborn, or cool, and you can really personalise your friends’ actions in battle. Which is handy, because you can’t directly control them in battle, only your own Mii.

I really, really enjoyed how quickly and satisfyingly your team works together to take down enemies, and even larger boss fights. Friendships can also break apart, with Miis getting irritated at each other, quite suddenly. This isn’t just for fun, though, with characters who are mad at each other not cooperating in-battle. Seeing myself and my closest friends interact with each other while exploring different levels is also amusing, with that sharp wit from the weird side of Nintendo hitting way more often than not.

But then the game doesn’t let you stay comfortable for too long, changing up the formula and gameplay quite dramatically between worlds. The first half of the game has you losing your three friends at the end of each world, only to choose three more, different Mii characters to take their place. Without spoiling too much, this happens about three times, with chapter four being a mid-game climax of the story, after which you’ll have another dramatic change to the way you play.

This is a game that is full of hammy performances, that never takes itself too seriously, while simultaneously being really well-thought out, and even at times making you think about your strategy. As long as you go back and finish all the paths in all the levels you’ve encountered, being strong enough for big bosses and challenges is never really a problem. And having well-designed, pop culture Miis populating the world, either randomly or at your choosing, means there’s a level of personal interest in saving these people. Or just having fun, with my game having Mayor Vegeta, Bane the Genie, and Mother & Son Rosalina and Mario.

The presentation is also absolutely fantastic. Everything is colourful, and certain shots are designed to look like a picture book. But the thing that got me was just how great the music is. To quote a random YouTube comment, “It’s not fair how good the music is for a Mii game”.

By the end, you get into a certain rhythm, clearing levels and working on the social bonds between characters. Sometimes you’ll get a curve ball, with your team being separated from each other, or one character dropping in a hole for the level. Sometimes this creates interesting scenarios, and sometimes it feels annoying to be suddenly handicapped during a time when you really needed full strength. Basically, it’s inconsistent, which leads to certain parts of the game feeling like a chore for no reason.

I really, *really* enjoyed Miitopia, when I fully expected not to. It’s so self-aware, leading to some fantastic moments in the game. But most of all, it’s an RPG adventure that’s basically tailor made for you. I had a blast exploring Miitopia with my friends, seeing interactions that would never happen in real life, and saving the world from the evil Vook. Even if you think you might not like it, I highly encourage playing the demo. If you enjoyed that, the full game is so much better!

Rating: 4/5