The heavily anticipated sequel, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Tomodachi Life friendship event (courtesy of Nintendo)

By Alana Moscoso-Mendoza, Opinion Editor

Tomodachi Life is a video game released by Nintendo in 2013, originally on the Nintendo 3DS systems. Beloved even today, it quickly became one of the greatest video games created by Nintendo, a company largely known for producing calm, slice-of-life games. And as of April 16, the sequel Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream was officially released at a $60 price point.

The video game was an instant success – fans began creating incredibly intricate Miis, the game’s characters, with the heavily detailed character creation system that was the game’s original selling point and most marketed feature. The face painting system was brand new, and players around the world utilized the tool to its maximum potential.

Furthermore, the ability to create the player’s own foods, decorations, house exteriors & interiors, and clothing were all brand new features. Using the face painting feature formatted for different objects, fans could create whatever they wanted by simply drawing it. 

Additional new features include a wishing well with many gifts for the players Miis, “little quirks” that add fun personality to Miis, a photo studio, the ability for Miis to room with one another, and an island builder system similar to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, another cozy simulation game created by Nintendo.

While all of these features are incredible, especially the highly complex designing system, the allure of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream was short-lived for a large number of fans. Many players stated that there were a noticeably finite number of interactions between Miis and overall gameplay features, despite a considerably higher number of features being implemented into the sequel. 

A notable amount of players stated that the design system, while great, took away from the opportunity for many more interactions between Miis and other features that could have been added to make the game more fleshed out. Additionally, fans lamented over the fact that every feature of the video game could be accessed within around five hours of playtime, further adding to the rather prominent issues with the video game

The price point of $60 for a game that many players considered empty after a week or two of playing further emphasized the number of problems players faced. Although hundreds of thousands of users adored the game, as they had with the first Tomodachi Life, it was simply not worth the large payment that Nintendo is notorious for for a number of individuals.. 

Regardless, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream was a generally well-received sequel, and met most of the expectations of many fans. The game is quirky, fun, and incredibly enjoyable, especially so for fans of the video game that started it all, Tomodachi Life.