Originally released in 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS, Miitopia is an action-adventure RPG staring a player's own personally designed selection of Mii characters. The remaster of Miitopia, developed and published by Nintendo, has added new features to the original title to take advantage of its new platform on the Switch. The simple gameplay and comedic storyline are endearing for fans of Nintendo Miis, but the game suffers a few setbacks in pacing and playability.
Trouble is lurking in the world of Miitopia when the player, controlling their own personal Miitopia Mii avatar, sets out on their adventure. An evil power has arisen in the world, stealing the faces from unexpecting townsfolk and travelers. This Dark Lord, who can also be customized, snatches the faces from the innocent and attaches them to his monster army to give them more power. The players must then travel the world of Miitopia, defeating monsters to liberate faces, and eventually discovering the secrets behind the Dark Lord's powers.
One of the most exciting features in Miitopia is the customization abilities for Miis and party members. At the start of the game, players are able to access the original Mii Maker, crafting a fresh Mii to play, or uploading pre-saved or downloaded Mii's to adjust before setting off. However, once the story gets underway, there's also the ability to utilize a makeup editor new to the Nintendo Switch version of Miitopia. The makeup editor is highly detailed, with a slew of "wig" hairstyles and customization options for Mii appearances that can allow almost total control over a Mii's appearance.
To defeat the dark lord, players will need to assign different jobs to their main character and subsequent party members. At the beginning of the story, adventurers have access to the Miitopia jobs Thief, Cleric, Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Chef, and Pop Star. Each class offers different abilities during combat. There are also a number of jobs that unlock as the story progresses, including options like Flower, Cat, and Elf among others. Players will be able to level their character during combat, boost their abilities by eating food earned while traveling, and purchase upgrades for outfits and weapons while resting at places like roadside inns.
One of the most important mechanics in the game is friendship. Players will spend a large amount of time during their Mittopia playthrough bonding with the members of their party by traveling together, eating together, staying in the same inn room, or engaging in activities while out in the world. When Mii's have high friendship levels with each other, they gain the ability to help each other in battle, offering special buffs that can cut down damage received from an enemy attack, allow Miitopia Miis to attack together, or receive HP recovery during a fight. However, Miis can also develop resentment due to jealousy or unpleasant interactions. This causes setbacks during combat and can cost a fight if not handled.
While much of the gameplay in Miitopia is enjoyable and intuitive, the game suffers a few frustrating setbacks that can make story progression tedious. Traveling between locations, which is a large portion of the game, is slow and empty. Players select a location on the map, and then the party travels for a timed period while encountering enemies, finding items, or interacting with each other. However, combat can be monotonous, requiring little strategy, and the lack of control over the party during exploration between locations makes it easy to zone out and button mash between plot points. Miitopia character dialogue can also be incoherent at times, as the characters can speak to each other in speech bubbles while on the road. These interactions can be laughable and comedic, but often the dialogue between characters makes little sense and doesn't add to the travel experience.
Despite these struggles, Miitopia is a great RPG option for fans of any age. The cute graphics and simple gameplay may be the perfect way to introduce a young player to the joys of RPG games or offer a long-time gamer the chance to create a party modeled off any popular series and put them through a goofy number of harmless quests. Mittopia offers a break from the gritty titles popular in the RPG genre, giving players an overall enjoyable, creative fantasy adventure.
Miitopia is available now on the Nintendo Switch. A Nintendo Switch code was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.