As a cozy gamer, The Sims, Animal Crossing, and of course, the original Tomodachi Life are my bread and butter, so when I was offered the chance to preview Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, I jumped at it. Expectations are high for this game - the cocktail of a sequel to a cult-classic game, plus the success of Pokopia, means that Nintendo is on the hook to create more classic cozy life sim games, and I'm happy to inform you that, from what I've played so far, Living the Dream does indeed live up to the dream.
From the jump, the vibes are immaculate. A funky soundtrack is laid down with your first look at your new island, which you'll get right into naming. After that, it's time to make your first Mii. There are two ways to make Miis in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream: from scratch, or via prompt. Curious, I chose to try my hand at the prompt method first, deciding I'd make myself so I could get to grips with the menus. After a series of choices to do with my appearance, the game offered me some versions of me that I liked, but weren't perfect, so I ultimately decided to touch up my Mii with the in-depth menu that you'll find if you opt to make Miis from scratch.
I was happy with the amount of choice in character creation, especially the hairstyles, as when I was a curly-haired kid, I found previous Mii hair options to be woefully inadequate. Selecting my character's attributes was also a delight - as promised by teasers, I was able to select my Miis gender identity from male, female, or non-binary, and who they would be interested in dating. Because I chose to be non-binary, the game then asked me which style, out of traditional male or female styles, or both, that I would prefer to be dressed in during formal occasions. I have to mention how refreshing this all was - Nintendo games in the past have been famously rigid in this respect.
After the character creation, I was launched into some classic life sim gameplay. As usual, you're taking care of your Miis as they ask you for food, friends, clothes, new interior design for their homes, and - now that they're on what's basically a deserted island - some improvements for their island home. With all of these requests, of course, comes the need to build ways to get them, so you'll get a supermarket, home renovation centre, clothes shop, and island design centre as you build up your Mii population.
This title is undoubtedly a cozy game, and you can tell because of the customization options. I can't stress enough how cute the clothes are - there's a wide variety of adorable styles to pick from, and due to the daily rotating stock, you can get some pretty weird and wacky costumes, too. I'm obsessed with giving my Miis the perfect style, even though they don't always like the slay outfits I have to offer. Likewise, the home decoration options are ridiculously cute, and come in all kinds of colors, but you need to match what you buy with what you think each Mii would like, taking into account their individual personalities.
The personality of each Mii is still a bit of a mystery to me at this stage. There are four main personality groups - easy-going, reserved, energetic, or confident, each of which has four subtypes. This is presumably a version of MBTI personalities. Either way, each Mii comes with specific tastes, and the more you can figure these out and cater to them, the more money and happiness (which is an actual blob of gold) you get.
Happiness gets added to the Wishing Fountain, which is a neat way of unlocking new traits for your Miis. So, while unlocking things can be challenging if you haven't nailed down the personality traits, it's ultimately inexpensive to have new experiences, and you're given them with very little grind. As someone who doesn't really like crafting functions in games, I felt really satisfied with the pace at which I was able to keep going, as this game is not about resource gathering, making it a sweet release from the Animal Crossings or Pokémon Pokopias of the world. At no point did I run out of money, as you can always get this from interacting with your Miis.
Outside of the happiness-boosting interactions you can have with your Miis, there are other classic Tomodachi Life experiences. You can once again check in on your Miis' dreams, play delightful minigames, shake them awake from a slumber, and talk to them about your favorite things. When they level up, you can give them little gifts or personalize them with catchphrases and quirks. Make sure you're having your Miis talk to each other, too, as hilarious and unexpected interactions can happen between them depending on their relationships with each other.
Unfortunately, of all the six Miis I made, my Mii decided they wanted to confess their feelings of love to a Mii I made of an ex who I'm still good friends with - I shot that down pretty quickly, so am yet to experience any romance paths in the game. Hopefully, they pick more wisely next time. Despite this, the charm of the game is in the details of the dialogue. One example I think sums up the wit of the game: I made myself as a Mii first, and then when I (the player) was asked my name and birthday, my Mii remarked that we had the same birthday and that, now they thought about it, we look awfully similar. I think I actually laughed out loud.
The controls feel very intuitive, and the game looks vibrant on the Switch 2's display, as well as the TV I hooked it up to. My only point of complaint is that I haven't been able to use mouse controls yet, but maybe Nintendo will opt for a Switch 2 upgrade pack, like they've done with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Even still, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is shaping up to be a hell of a game, and most definitely one of the best Switch games of all time. Plus, as I'm sure there's more to be unlocked, I can't wait to see what comes next for my little community of Miis.