Tomodachi Life： Living the Dream review – Worth the 12-year wait

　　Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is finally here after 12 years of waiting, bringing a familiar yet upgraded nostalgia hit for all cozy game fans. 　　Tomodachi Life became a cult classic way back in 2014 when the second game was released on the Nintendo 3DS. Since then, fans have been waiting for a new and improved adventure. Well, Living the Dream manages to deliver, bringing shiny new upgrades that build upon the original in every way. 　　The result is one of the wackiest cozy games ever made, complete with brilliant laugh-out-loud scenes, quirky character creation, and enough creativity to satisfy the most imaginative of players, even if it occasionally feels repetitive. 　　Living the Dream combines quirky chaos with (almost) unbridled creativity. You can design a dream island while the extensive character creation enables you to make uncanny versions of various cursed film & TV stars.It’s the unexpected moments that make it shine. For example, if you place a campsite down on the beach, you can expect to see romance and a group roasting marshmallows. Normal camping stuff, then. Until you spot your characters warming their butts on the fire. 　　Character creation is much more in-depth than ever, offering new designs, inclusive non-binary and dating preferences options, as well as a facepaint feature complete with enough art supplies to satisfy the most creative fan. 　　The biggest change, and one of the best new features, is the ability to interact with Miis outside of their homes. Back in 2013, interactions were much more limited, but in Living the Dream, you can create scenarios by plonking a Mii on a seesaw, forcing them to third wheel a date that’s going badly, or set a group up for a nice beach hangout. 　　You can customize and expand your island, too, using your own creations or the ideas of the Miis. So what you end up with is a game that feels familiar, but has enough new features to make it feel like a stellar upgrade. 　　然而，仅仅因为《梦想成真》改善了它最具标志性的特征，并不意味着它消除了过去的许多问题。其中最大的是它的重复游戏。 　　从游戏的开始到中间,“制作一个Mii，与X新功能交互，制作另一个Mii”的循环过了一段时间后会感觉有点乏味，特别是如果你对你想要制作的朋友的神秘版本没有想法的话。 　　As it gets to the late game, there are very few new buildings and features. On multiple occasions, despite having well over 50 Miis, I found myself running out of things to do after a few hours of gameplay, resorting to either poking my best friend’s Mii in the face or grinding their happiness to unlock new furniture for my island. 　　While it does slow down on occasion, once inspiration strikes, the joy returns, and you’re back in the character creation, designing your next masterpiece. 　　Aside from the wacky activities you’ll find your Miis getting up to, character creation is the biggest part of Living the Dream, and it’s so close to being perfect. 　　Detailed character creation features are in most cozy games, so Living the Dream has strong competition. It tackles this in the Tomodachi Life way, by giving players free rein in almost every aspect of a Mii. 　　Whether you want to adjust the nose size, eye width, voice, birthday, pronouns, or even their personality, it’s all present here. On multiple occasions, I found myself making some seriously creepy, uncanny versions of my friends. 　　However, the face paint option that lets you use pencils, pens, and highlighters is tricky to use. It feels rough on the Switch 2, and its movement is clunky. Don’t expect to become a skilled artist here, regardless of the practice you’ve put in back in 2013; we sadly don’t have a stylus anymore. 　　Despite this, there’s no end to the creativity within this character creation feature. Just don’t go expecting Disney Dreamlight Valley’s characters, and you’ll be fine. 　　Tomodachi is back, and it’s never been better. While the character creation is so nearly perfect, Living the Dream is a welcome trip down memory lane for fans of the original. 　　It builds upon everything that made the 3DS original so special, creating an upgraded adventure that’s filled with even more odd interactions, silly situations, and laugh-out-loud lines that will have you coming back to view this microcosm of the weird and wonderful for countless hours to come.