The Sims Gardening
Viva Piñata is a hard game to classify. Is it a game for kids or something that adults can enjoy? Is it a simulation game or an action game? Is it like The Sims or is it like Harvest Moon? As hard as it is to believe, the answer to all of these questions is yes. Viva Piñata plays like no game before it, creating an enjoyable and thoroughly unique experience.
Viva Piñata thrusts the player into the role of a new gardener who has earned a plot of land. The player must then use the tools at his disposal to turn the plot into a garden, the shaping of which is completely up to the player. Although initially the gamer will start with little more than a shovel and some tips, he’ll eventually earn more and more tools and even upgrades to his shovel that give him more options to customize his garden. The player can use the shovel to soften dirt, dig seed holes, create ponds, destroy obstacles, and even attack other characters. Other tools eventually become available, like a watering can and a packet of grass seeds that the player can use to mold their garden as they see fit.
The simple act of arranging and maintaining a garden, however, isn’t much fun without the titular piñatas. The piñatas in the game are varieties of animal/candy hybrids (with clever names like Taffly, Mousemallows, or Sparrowmints) that are ridiculously cute and endearing. By accomplishing different prerequisites, the player can get the piñatas to appear. Most of these requisites are simple, like planting a certain type of flower. The next step is to attract the piñata into the garden, allowing it to romp around and explore by completing another set of requisites. Finally, the player can make the piñata a permanent resident by completing a final set of requirements which usually requires building a house for the piñata and offering it some form of food, whether it is seeds, plants, fruits, or other piñatas. In addition to this, there are stores where the player can purchase seeds, produce, and other farming supplies, accessories for their favorite piñatas, or homes for their piñatas. There are also occasional human visitors to the area, with people that the player can hire to help with the gardening, maintenance, and driving off of pests.
There are also a number of things that can be done with the little adorable piñatas. The player can breed the piñatas by completing the requisites for love and then completing a brief and fairly simple mini-game where he guides one piñata to another. Players can name and brand their favorite piñatas, send a doctor to heal injured piñatas, and even sell piñatas for profit. Or the player can sit back and watch the proceedings with little to no interference.
The great thing about Viva Piñata is that there is basically no objective. The game is wide open for the player to proceed as they see fit. They can choose to staunchly protect the piñatas by preventing the predators from eating their prey, or they can feed weaker piñatas to the stronger ones to attract rarer versions. The player can sell piñatas and crops for money, or simply cater to their favorites. Since there aren’t any goals, the player does whatever pleases them. Even with this free approach, there is a ton of things to discover in the game. New combinations of crops bring different piñatas, and different combinations of piñatas bring new piñatas. Also, accomplishments like attracting piñatas or growing crops successfully increases the player’s farming level, which brings new tools and options. Viva Piñata also matches your pace as well, offering more options as the player progresses in levels, but keeping things simple for players that stay at the lower levels.
The visuals in Viva Piñata are bright and colorful, with a style that is reminiscent of Tim Burton’s stop motion animation creations. As mentioned before, the piñatas are all unbearably cute, with wonderful animation and bright colors. The environments are all equally colorful, and the secondary characters are weird looking but charming as well. The sound is also well-done, with upbeat, catchy background music and sound effects as cute as the creatures that they issue from.
Finally, something we CAN shake a stick at.
Ah Rare, a company never afraid to present gamers with some truly bizarre gaming concepts. After the lukewarm response of Kameo: Elements of Power, Rare is now offering up a family and kid friendly experience involving piñatas. Yes, that’s right…piñatas. Viva Piñata, in the simplest of terms can be described as a nurturing/evolution title with bright cutesy graphics. However, the game is much much more than this.
The world of Viva Piñata, as you might guess, revolves around the cute and candy filled party favorites. In fact, each piñata creature has a candy themed name such as Wurm, Syrpent, and Fizzily Bear. These aptly named and decorated piñatas all roam about on Piñata island. In the beginning of the game, you start off with nothing more than an empty patch of farmland. It’s up to you to clear, flatten, and plant seeds on your land in order to attract the happy little creatures. Keeping in line with the candy theme, you can collect chocolate coins, which you can use to buy ponds, fences, and even piñata playgrounds.
While the premise of the game may seem unconventional, fans of The Sims and Animal Crossing will appreciate the open-ended style of play. It’s an open world, and you can shape it to your liking. Of course, doing things in different ways will change the flow of play. The piñata’s will act and react differently to each other say, for instance, if you have them in too cramped of a space or don’t give enough food. You can also teach the piñata’s teamwork and useful social skills in order for them to accomplish different tasks.
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of this game deals with increasing the population of piñatas. In what can only be described as hilarious and maybe even a little unsettling, when the time is right, two piñata’s will perform their own “mating dance”. Now keep in mind, this is a child friendly game, so don’t expect anything “adult”. These dances are literally that, a dance, set in a dance hall with a jukebox playing in the background. Classic Rare.
Rare has big plans in store for the Xbox Live marketplace with Viva Piñata. Through Xbox Live, you can purchase various items not found anywhere else. You will also have the option of special delivering a custom made piñata to a friend. However, the best aspect of Live compatibility is the ability to let a friend come a visit your virtual garden. Here, your invited friend can help raise your piñatas, clear more land, or just be rotten and let the “evil” Ruffian piñata’s wreak havoc on your landscape. The possibilities are nearly endless.
With a reported 60 different piñata types, valuable items to collect, and Xbox Live support, Viva Piñata should keep kids and adults alike very busy with this unique title set to hit the Xbox 360 on October 2.