MySims
Nintendo Wii
1 player

So while I was at work last night, the missus goes out and finally picks me up a copy of MySims. As some of you may know, I've been dying for this since announcement. So anyways, I whacks it on and plays for what I *think* is half an hour.

Yeah, I play for half an hour. Actually, I play for six of them. That's right. Three hours later, and I've done pretty much bugger all, other than walk around town, splash in fountains, shake trees, fish, prospect for hidden treasure, and get the crap scared out of me by ghosts! Tonight, I decided that I'd actually play the game properly, so that I could write a review based on the game itself rather than the first impression I got from it. And my lord was it an epic adventure....

First of all, you get the obligatory story - ages ago, some dude lived in *enter name here* Town, and was able to use "Essences" to create awesome buildings, furniture, etc etc, and the town was great. Then this person left, and the town emptied. But wait! There's a new person coming to town, and THEY can use Essences too!

That'd be you, then.

Essences are basically fruit, veg, fish, wood, rocks, anything you can collect. Each object has an "Essence". You build a chair, and if you have some red apples, you can give the chair an apple mosaic, or if you have a clown fish you can put smiley faces on it, and all this turns a basic chair into an awesome chair. There is no money in this game. Building blocks are unlocked as you proceed, and "Essences" are found almost everywhere, so you don't have to worry about earning money or buying tools, they're all included as standard!

You start off by creating your character - something that is (believe it or not) more customisable yet easier to do than the original Sims games! This game has obviously been made for play by all, but it still hasn't forgotten it's core market - gamers. You can change every single part of your character, right down to the tone of voice. The amount of customisable options is just obscene, and you will love them all. Once your character is ready you're thrown into the game. You arrive in a ghost town with only a Town Hall and a Hotel. You get welcomed by the mayor and sent to a building lot. This is where your house will be.

Once you've built it.

First of all, lets take a look at my house. It's a nice little black combo, 3 rooftop areas, few garden gnomes, fountains, etc. Zoom in, zoom out, rotate, choose different building blocks, and there's also a few choices of decorations, from wall lanterns to pink flamingos! This is the basic block set you start with, but the more you play, the more you unlock. Check it out....



Now we take a little walk around the town and partake in a few of the things you can do right off the bat. Go for a nap on a bench, check out potential building sites, turn streetlights off, treasure hunting for Essences.... but let's go visit Violet, the resident goth. Here you see the first bit of villager interaction, allowing you to be nice, be mean, or just natter away. Being nice earns you character specific Essences too, so it pays to be friendly. Then it's off for a spot of fishing. Place your bobber over the bubbles, hold the B button, and yank on the Wiimote to reel 'em in. Simple, yet goddamn fun. Shaking trees is also a joy, as you place your hand over the tree, hold B, and shake those branches!



Inside your workshop you can create literally thousands of items of furniture using special blueprints. Sometimes they're given to you by villagers, sometimes they're found, a lot of the time however it's a case of "Build X item however the hell you want to". Building items is just like virtual Lego. Use the various pieces at your disposal to create your masterpiece. Some villagers will request you build them items with a certain number of "Essences", such as a haunted throne for the museum, or an Italian style pizza oven. Here, I try to build a 4-poster bed. I want to emphasise the word "try", as even I have to admit it's shoddy as hell!



So here's the inside of my house. Time to add that bed I just made.... although I promise it won't be staying long. Decorating is simple. Click a button and you're off. Choose the item you want to fit in and then choose where you want it. It's THAT simple. Really. Now that I know my bed works, let's have another little trip around town. There's a fountain, so lets go splash up about in that bitch! Then check out the map of the town and the easy-to-use "flag" option, that once placed, will let you follow an arrow to your desired destination - NO MORE GETTING LOST!



From this point on, you can basically do whatever you want. If you want to progress with the game itself, then you need to spruce the town up and attract more people. Every now and again, just like another town sim that shall remain nameless, you'll get asked to do some tasks for other villagers in return for rewards. Complete these to earn more blueprints for more items of furniture, and your town rating will soon increase. At the start of the game, certain areas are blocked off, but increasing your town rank will get you an item to remove these barriers and open up new areas to explore, meaning new Essences, new blueprints and new villagers! If not, then just mess about in the town, having fun and building stuff.

There is an absolute ton of things to do here, and I honestly don't think even one of my extensive reviews could cover them all. Simply put, this is the new Animal Crossing. It really is THAT great.

But it's not perfect. Oh no. There are only three issues that I can imagine anyone having with this game. The first two are the very babyish intro music and the loading times. But these are minor annoyances, much like finding a single fake $1 bill in a swimming pool full of real $50 bills. The third one, and most important, is that this is not a wifi game. Had it been, I believe this would have been the first 10/10 game since Wii Sports. Alas, it was not to be.

If you're looking for a Wii game that will rekindle your love for the little white machine, look no further. It may share a similar name to it's PC cousins, but this is nothing like them. MySims looks absolutely gorgeous, it's cute, funny, exciting, detailed, addictive, but above all - and most importantly - it's FUN.

Buy it now, and with extreme prejudice.

Ratings
Graphics: A
Sounds: A
Gameplay: A-
Replayability: A-

Overall score: A-