Miitopia Reviews

Nintendo is good at finding ways to keep its Miis relevant. What started out as a personal novelty for Wii Sports has evolved into much more. With the Nintendo 3DS, Miis became a representation of ourselves for the system’s street pass function, wherein we got to play a series of silly games with the Miis we met on our travels. Then Nintendo created its definitive game for the Miis, Tomadachi Life. In this game you simply lived out a fictional life with your friends. It was simple but appealed to a decent audience. Now there is Miitopia, an RPG that expresses a deeper use for Miis as a whole.

From the outside, Miitopia may just look like yet another Mii game that is trying to cash in on the success of the Wii generation. But buried within that exterior that's reminiscent of a bygone era is a fun little romp of an RPG.

It’s refreshing to play a game so carefree and quirky as Miitopia that also allows you to customise the experience for whatever level of wackiness you need in your life.

If you asked me what games in Nintendo’s backlog are begging for a Switch port, I wouldn’t even clock 2017’s Miitopia. The game serves as a very basic RPG adventure where players control a party of Miis, which are those little Nintendo custom avatars you first created all the way back on the Wii (a function scarcely used on the Switch). I honestly couldn’t think of a weaker fit for a Switch port. Just who was asking for a port of this random, average 3DS game? Certainly not me.

Miitopia’s great character creation is wasted on a shallow, repetitive RPG experience.

If you're looking for an RPG with a hard-hitting story and heavy depth in combat, Miitopia is not what you're looking for. Everything about this game feels simplistic, from the combat, to the dialogue, and all through the story twists. That doesn't mean Miitopia isn't a good time, though. I still enjoyed my time with Miitopia, mostly because of the blend of pen-and-paper storytelling with Sims-style character building.

Miitopia is a simple RPG with a few very unmodern character-creating mechanics. Whether you are charmed by Miis or not is certainly your own prerogative, but the gameplay itself is perfect for beginner RPG players with its focus on relationships between your party members. Longtime RPG players may find a good time in its relative simplicity.

Miitopia is certainly unique in its execution, but the core RPG framework for the title is far from innovative. In that regard, the it's one of the more accessible turn-based role-playing games currently available on the Nintendo 3DS, and this is made even better by the often-bizarre blank canvas that users have at their disposal.

Goofy Mii characters created by fans usually appear as an afterthought dotted around random big name Nintendo titles. Miitopia aims to change this by putting the little guys in the spotlight within their own RPG adventure.

Miitopia begins with the evil Dark Lord stealing almost everyone’s face and transferring these stolen faces to his army of evil minions. The story follows a cycle of entering a town or kingdom, Mii citizens losing their faces, then hunting down the minions wearing the Mii faces. You’ll meet different characters, most of which you can cast, but ultimately the story doesn’t deviate too much. There’s a silliness to the story that helps fend off some of the boredom, and I can appreciate the need for a simpler story to appeal to a larger audience, but I still couldn’t help but find myself growing weary of the stories repetitive nature.

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.

Miitopia's charm wears out quick, and saves the best for last.

Nintendo’s Miis have been dependable company ambassadors for more than a decade. Would Wii Sports have been nearly as much fun if you couldn’t bowl with cartoon versions of your family? As avatars they’ve been utility players, gamely participating in whatever action Nintendo has thrown at them, whether it’s losing weight with you in Wii Fit, tearing up the track in Mario Kart 8, or getting smacked into space in Super Smash Bros. Miitopia shines another light on the Miis, taking the goofy characters on a lengthy RPG adventure. The silly presentation masks a number of surprisingly deep and satisfying systems, even though it ultimately wears out its welcome several hours before it ends.

When I first looked at Miitopia I honestly thought it was going to be an incredibly simple RPG meant for a younger audience.  While the game is simple and somewhat intended for younger players, it still has a look and feel that almost anyone can enjoy regardless of age or experience level.  While sometimes too easy and simple, Miitopia is still a lot of fun and worth checking out.

Miitopia is a special game, marrying the quirky style and interactions of Tomodachi Life with fun, addictive RPG-style gameplay and progression. It’s a fitting celebration of the Mii concept, perfect for short bursts of play, and an absolute riot with the right group of Miis — if you’ve ever wanted to take your friends on a grand adventure, complete with silly cosplay and relationship drama, this is a perfect way to do it. Its streamlined take on the genre won’t be for everyone, but for players willing to relinquish some control and trust in their Miis, Miitopia is a wonderful ride.

Remember the Mii avatars? When the Wii first launched they were amazing, a miniature caricature of yourself that you could insert into a variety of games - it’s a brilliant concept, one which Nintendo are yet to abandon, even in the Switch, their next generation of Nintendo systems. But at some point, the Miis stopped being simple avatars and started developing their own personalities, behaviors, and more. No, this isn’t a story about how a rogue Mii AI became sentient and started taking over the world, instead, Miis started playing their own games.

Miitopia is an irreverent, hilarious casual RPG which is nearly impossible to put down. With the ability to create your own characters, import from Tomodachi Life, or pull premade characters from Mii Central, your game is certain to be full of a diverse group of characters from all across popular culture. This full length game has a charming aesthetic, an expanding story and a huge map to explore. Endlessly silly, strangely addictive, and easy to play thanks to the auto-battle feature, Miitopia is a delightfully ridiculous game which is perfect for the casual gamer in search of a reason to smile.

If the whole game was more open, Miitopia would have been more fun, but the game's repetitive and linear nature starting to frustrate me as a got further in the title. Miitopia's excellent soundtrack and undeniable charm did get me to play all the way through, just to see what funny characters and situations I would run into next, but not much else kept me super interested and intrigued. If you have never played an RPG before, or you like the quirky character interactions and charm of most typical Nintendo games, you will probably find something to enjoy here, just be aware that if you don't play the game in very short bursts, you are in for a quite repetitious experience.