Miitopia was a game that nearly flew over my radar and I'm glad it didn't. I was introduced to it through the demo and was thoroughly impressed by how much I enjoyed it. The game was loads of fun and gave me an absolutely unforgettable experience.
Gameplay:
Miitopia is your standard turn-based RPG on the surface. You've got your four party members and your various character classes. You've got your magic/skill systems. You've got your stats to manage. However, what Miitopia is all about is relationships. You gain lots of party members throughout the game who all develop relationships with one another. The better the relationships, the more powerful your team becomes. The player can manage their team at inns where they can organize rooming situations and send their members on outings. This is also where stats can be increased and equipment can be swapped. Mixing and matching party compositions is a lot of fun and getting to see their interactions is even better. A lot of unexpected things can happen in Miitopia because of the relationship system and it makes the characters feel so alive.
Speaking of the characters, YOU create them yourself. You get 10 party members through the main story and can make many more afterwards. You get to choose their appearance, personality, and class. Their personality effects the random events that occur within gameplay. It's not exactly a balanced system, though. Some personalities are clearly better than others. "Laid-back" is probably the worst with "cool" having virtually no flaws. You can also create all of the NPC's appearances. Miitopia is a very personalized experience, which is a major part of what makes the game so fun and engaging. Characters can also be changed in any way at any time, minus changes in class until the late-game, so no decision is permanent.
Back on the topic of the combat system, you only play as the main character. The other party members control themselves. The AI is very good though and party members make wise move choices for the most part. The only thing I found frustrating was the unnecessary use of healing items. A party member could be either at full health or near full health and use up a healing item. The player does have these things called "sprinkles" which can be used between turns and at the player's discretion. They can heal, revive, restore mp, etc. Even with very little player input, the battles are kept fun with flashy animations and random events. There is also a fast forward button to speed through animations if the player chooses. The gameplay does become quite repetitive eventually though, but it's not really a big problem until the post-game. The combat is also almost ridiculously easy early on but luckily ramps up in difficulty later. The post-game almost gets too difficult with little XP being given in proportion to how hard enemies are.
Speaking of the post-game, Miitopia is a massive game packed with content. The main story will take about 30 hours to complete. The map is huge with varying locations that have tons of areas to explore. Areas can be selected on a Mario-esqe map and your team travels across them in a linear 2.5D fashion. Areas are worth going through to find treasure chests that contain some great rewards. The map also houses other fun goodies in the form of NPCs to interact with. The map might be almost too big for its own good as it contributes to the repetition problem as mentioned earlier.
Story:
Miitopia's story is A TOTAL BLAST. The writing is so witty and entertaining. I found myself loving every moment of it. It follows the story of the player character who goes on a journey to save the world from a face-stealing Dark Lord. Along the way they meet new party members and hilarious NPCs. The dialogue and interactions are full of funny moments. The plot also has some great twists and turns. It is overall a super fun time that will take you on a total rollercoaster.
Sound and visuals:
The sound design is pretty competent, as should be expected. The music is really good. Nothing I would listen to outside the game, but it's still some great stuff. There's a lot of tracks I still remember.
The visuals are really great too for the most part. Locations look great, the art direction is really good, the UI is well done. Of course you have the Miis which still hold up really well, big thanks in part to the new wig and makeup system. What I don't like is a lot of the enemy designs. Designs get reused a lot, especially in the post game, and some of the color alterations can look really ugly. Many designs just look really ugly or weird in general. Sometimes it's to the humor's benefit but sometimes it's just hard to look at.
Conclusion:
As I mentioned before, Miitopia is a great experience. There's tons of fun to be had with this game. The whole thing is just so personalized and it feels special. The writing is both silly and legitimately interesting. I'd highly recommend this game to RPG fans who are okay with a more simple experience and want to just sit back and watch a fun story unfold. Don't feel bad for not sticking around for the post-game, though.
Gameplay:
Miitopia is your standard turn-based RPG on the surface. You've got your four party members and your various character classes. You've got your magic/skill systems. You've got your stats to manage. However, what Miitopia is all about is relationships. You gain lots of party members throughout the game who all develop relationships with one another. The better the relationships, the more powerful your team becomes. The player can manage their team at inns where they can organize rooming situations and send their members on outings. This is also where stats can be increased and equipment can be swapped. Mixing and matching party compositions is a lot of fun and getting to see their interactions is even better. A lot of unexpected things can happen in Miitopia because of the relationship system and it makes the characters feel so alive.
Speaking of the characters, YOU create them yourself. You get 10 party members through the main story and can make many more afterwards. You get to choose their appearance, personality, and class. Their personality effects the random events that occur within gameplay. It's not exactly a balanced system, though. Some personalities are clearly better than others. "Laid-back" is probably the worst with "cool" having virtually no flaws. You can also create all of the NPC's appearances. Miitopia is a very personalized experience, which is a major part of what makes the game so fun and engaging. Characters can also be changed in any way at any time, minus changes in class until the late-game, so no decision is permanent.
Back on the topic of the combat system, you only play as the main character. The other party members control themselves. The AI is very good though and party members make wise move choices for the most part. The only thing I found frustrating was the unnecessary use of healing items. A party member could be either at full health or near full health and use up a healing item. The player does have these things called "sprinkles" which can be used between turns and at the player's discretion. They can heal, revive, restore mp, etc. Even with very little player input, the battles are kept fun with flashy animations and random events. There is also a fast forward button to speed through animations if the player chooses. The gameplay does become quite repetitive eventually though, but it's not really a big problem until the post-game. The combat is also almost ridiculously easy early on but luckily ramps up in difficulty later. The post-game almost gets too difficult with little XP being given in proportion to how hard enemies are.
Speaking of the post-game, Miitopia is a massive game packed with content. The main story will take about 30 hours to complete. The map is huge with varying locations that have tons of areas to explore. Areas can be selected on a Mario-esqe map and your team travels across them in a linear 2.5D fashion. Areas are worth going through to find treasure chests that contain some great rewards. The map also houses other fun goodies in the form of NPCs to interact with. The map might be almost too big for its own good as it contributes to the repetition problem as mentioned earlier.
Story:
Miitopia's story is A TOTAL BLAST. The writing is so witty and entertaining. I found myself loving every moment of it. It follows the story of the player character who goes on a journey to save the world from a face-stealing Dark Lord. Along the way they meet new party members and hilarious NPCs. The dialogue and interactions are full of funny moments. The plot also has some great twists and turns. It is overall a super fun time that will take you on a total rollercoaster.
Sound and visuals:
The sound design is pretty competent, as should be expected. The music is really good. Nothing I would listen to outside the game, but it's still some great stuff. There's a lot of tracks I still remember.
The visuals are really great too for the most part. Locations look great, the art direction is really good, the UI is well done. Of course you have the Miis which still hold up really well, big thanks in part to the new wig and makeup system. What I don't like is a lot of the enemy designs. Designs get reused a lot, especially in the post game, and some of the color alterations can look really ugly. Many designs just look really ugly or weird in general. Sometimes it's to the humor's benefit but sometimes it's just hard to look at.
Conclusion:
As I mentioned before, Miitopia is a great experience. There's tons of fun to be had with this game. The whole thing is just so personalized and it feels special. The writing is both silly and legitimately interesting. I'd highly recommend this game to RPG fans who are okay with a more simple experience and want to just sit back and watch a fun story unfold. Don't feel bad for not sticking around for the post-game, though.