MySims Kingdom – WII – Review

GameZone’s preview of MySims Kingdom
was intriguing. This game appeared to be similar in concept to Animal Crossing,
a fantastic simulation game. In contrast to the Sims series, which features
sexual overtones, MySims looked tame enough and fun enough for everyone in the
family. I didn’t expect my husband to like it, as he hates Animal Crossing, and
really, most of the “virtual world” simulation games. But surprise, surprise, he
has been having a good time with MySims. Must be all the construction.

The story is that King Roland is
looking for a new Wandolier. This person will be able to use a special wand to
accomplish good throughout the lands and make everyone happy and satisfied. In
order to become the next Wandolier, the player will need to win a contest by
proving his or her ability to learn new skills speedily. Of course, it is
impossible to lose this contest, so just know that you will be the new Wandolier.

This contest, and the events
immediately before and behind, is the tutorial section of the game. Here is
where players will learn all the necessary skills and controls to be successful
in the MySims world. Both the Nunchuk and the Wii-mote are used to access the
menu and accomplish motion-specific tasks.

It took awhile to get used to the
control interface, because of having to switch fingers and thoughts from buttons
on the controls to cursors on the screen. Some menu items are accessed by
buttons; some are accessed by pointing the Wii-mote to move the cursor on the
screen, then pressing the “A” button on the Wii-mote. However, no one else
around here had a problem adjusting to the controls, just me.

The best use of the Wii-mote in
MySims Kingdom is with the physical tasks like shaking a tree, pulling up
plants, digging for treasure, chopping wood, and mining stone. These things are
made more fun by the interactive quality of the Wii-mote.

When starting, players can customize
their Sim. Choices include facial characteristics, hair, clothes and voices.
Options for gameplay include mostly options for construction.

Players will learn how to access the
menus, construct buildings, make people happy, and how to mine, dig, and chop
wood to gather resources. Once this tutorial level is done, it’s on to the real
meat of the game, carrying out quests for everyone on the islands. These quests
are simple in scope, but somehow very satisfying to undertake. Most involve some
type of construction, such as building or decorating a house, landscaping, or
adding parts to machines. Some quests involve finding things for people.

The construction mode is the main
component of this game. It’s wonderful how many things one can put in a little
house; it’s like a Harry Potter house, tiny on the outside, huge on the inside.
Players can place all sorts of objects around. These objects can be rotated
before placement. As the game advances, more and more items will be available,
usually from completing quests or by being nice to the game characters. Besides
constructing houses and landscapes, players will also be building increasingly
complex machines. This lends almost a puzzle aspect to the game, as players will
need to figure out the placement of parts to make things work. These mechanical
puzzles can be brain teasers toward the end of the game.

Treating others kindly is also a
large part of the game. Players can “socialize” with others around the islands
by talking to them and being nice or unkind. This will earn players social
points, and may garner some needed information for a quest.

Once the initial tutorial section is
finished, other areas of the game, in the form of islands, will open. These
islands are themed and feature characters such as Stone Age people, zombies, and
cowboys, with island themes of tikis, volcanoes and robots. Each island is
different, and is really fun to explore. The quests are similar in concept and
mostly involve collecting items, but the different islands feature different
things to collect.

The people in the game all speak “Simlish,”
which is a nonsense language. It’s amazing how close it sounds to a real
language; it’s funny the things they are saying! The English text will appear
for reading while they speak. The humor in this game is subtle and lighthearted.

Many of the comments the characters
make are very amusing. Some locations are hilarious, too, as in the diner on the
robot island. The quest involves building lots of “fun” things for the diner, at
the request of the owner. Each new thing added, though, is very noisy, and
immediately begins doing its own thing. Soon, there is a cacophony of sound. And
yet the owner wants more, more, more fun things…

Visually, this game is attractive
and cheerful. The colors are all bright and cartoonish, as are the environments
and characters. The people are short and blocky, and look like Lego people. The
costumes are varied in style and there are a lot to choose, especially as the
game advances. The music and sound effects are exactly right for the game’s
theme.

The camera has a short range of view
and it is difficult to see very far ahead. For instance, it’s hard to see what’s
coming up next as the player’s character is running around, it’s hard to see how
to place a roof on a tall building, and it’s hard to not run into corners. One
nice feature of the camera is that buildings will become transparent if the
player’s character is behind them.

The gameplay is designed around
fulfilling quests for each island. This is a finite goal, unlike Animal
Crossing, which is much more open-ended. This leads to the question of how much
replay value is present after all the quests are finished. However, supposedly
there is a secondary set of goals to reach once the main quests have been
resolved. We haven’t finished the game, so I don’t know how much more gameplay
this adds to the game.

MySims Kingdom is just the type of
game I enjoy, with plenty of tasks and lots of places to explore. The characters
are too cute, and their comments humorous. There are loads of things to collect,
and the construction element is especially fun. Being able to decorate the
inside of the house is cool. There are some things that could be added to make
this an even better game, like more open-ended activities, some drawing or
artistic activities, or some way to earn money. The camera view could also be
zoomed out for a larger view of the screen, and it would be good to be able to
tilt the viewpoint more. And, the price is a bit steep at $49, which is high for
a game that could conceivably be played all the way through in a few weeks. Oh,
and it needs some Christmas decorations, too (just had to throw that in, I think
every game that lets you decorate should have Christmas decos).

However, this is an excellent family
game and one that many ages can enjoy. For parents that may hesitate to buy
their kids a Sims game, be assured that MySims Kingdom is a great game for all
ages and one that doesn’t have any inappropriate content. And, the adults will
love it, too. I wish you could see my Animal Crossing hater playing this cutesy
game every night this week.

Gameplay: 8.0
A great simulation game for the family and one that has lots of things to do
initially. It’s fun and entertaining, and surprisingly involving. The only real
drawback is the shortness of the main core of the game, which is set up similar
to an adventure. There are supposed to be more things to do after the main story
is finished, but we haven’t finished the adventure as of yet. Of course, players
can still build and decorate to their hearts’ content. However, for $50 there
should be more in terms of longevity.

Graphics: 8.0
The game is vividly colored. Everything is bright and cartoonish, and is sure to
appeal to most, especially kids. The characters are drawn with a lot of detail,
and the various items like houses and furniture are also drawn well. The
backgrounds and landscapes could use a bit more detail, though.

Sound: 8.0
Great music and sound effects!

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
The level of play is not very difficult, once the controls are mastered. Some of
the mechanical puzzles get a little hard later in the game, but they are never
overly difficult.

Concept: 7.0
Well, most of this has been done with other simulation games like Animal
Crossing, Harvest Moon and River King, but there are some new twists. The
construction element is the best I’ve seen and beats the building feature in
Animal Crossing in terms of fun. The overall execution is good.

Overall: 8.0
A great game! We’re having a blast with it. It looks good, and plays great.
There are a few things I would like added or changed, mainly to have a more
zoomed out camera view, and to have more things to do that involve creativity
like painting, drawing or designing. However, these are mostly minor quibbles.
The price is the biggest potential drawback. But for a family with multiple
members, this is a great choice, and would make a splendid Christmas gift.