🌤️ | long-awaited updates (about tomolife)
hi
erm
it's been 6 months since I last posted here, huh. WELL... in all fairness, we Have been trying to pump out some more blog posts, but like... life has gotten in the way SO MUCH. I've already had SO many cool things happen just these past 6 months and I don't even know where to start!!!!!! but.. uhhh. I'll just start somewhere simple. lmao
LET'S TALK ABOUT TOMODACHI LIFE
well. just like how the 3DS game took over my entire life when I first got it in 2014, Living the Dream has completely taken over my life. AGAIN. LMFAO
I've always been a big fan of life sims AND management games, and... Tomodachi Life somehow scratches both itches for me. I'm ngl, part of the reason I've been enjoying the game so much is bc it actually motivates me to be, like, a productive member of society...??
similar to Animal Crossing (...don't ask me about my ACNL/ACNH hyperfixation some years back) Tomolife has a really good system that incentivizes you to check in every single day, as there's always something new at the shops; if you're lucky, you can also get new items & food from the daily markets for a discount! I often wake up too late for the morning markets, but a lot of times when I wake up earlier than usual, checking the market is one of my first priorities. LOL
I've gotten so used to it that I've memorized opening times without even looking it up once:
- morning markets start at about 5AM and last until 11:30 AM
- afternoon markets last from 11:30 AM to 5PM
- evening markets start at 5PM
- wishing fountain donations are available at 12PM (I think)
- shops update at 7AM (...I think?)
having something to get excited for when I wake up everyday has been.... rejuvenating, if you will? makes me feel normal and helps me settle into a routine. I love that the game incentivizes you to take care of your Miis - just like the old game, you get money and higher island ratings when you spoil your Miis, but it's made even better with the addition of the warm fuzzies & wishing fountain system!!! :D
Photoshoots & Whatnot
something I ADORED about the 3DS game was the inclusion of the little photo studio and the ability to screencap EVERYTHINGGGG. I have so many old pictures from my 3DS days... let's just say that camera was put to VERY good use. I loved taking all kinds of silly pictures of my Miis in the photo studio, so seeing it make its return in LTD got me ACTING UP!!! (/posi)
I especially love the addition of taking photoshoots on the island itself - iirc, this wasn't something the 3DS game had, but GOSH I kinda wish it did!!! it has been so fun to see the outfits my islanders dress up in, then capturing the moment with a scenic view. I have SO many pictures that I cannot possibly share them all here, so here's a select few I love:
| Lumin & Sora | Planet Gang | Amarelle |
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| Haku | Rin | Galilean Crew |
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| Venny | Jupi & Uri | Neptune |
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I try to regularly upload new fashion pics on my Toyhouse and Bluesky, so be sure to stay tuned over there for more :D
Creations
another thing I adore about LTD is how you can make your own creations now!!! also something I wish the 3DS game had, HAHA. I've had a lot of fun creating all kinds of new fashion, island objects and unique food items! I'm pretty sure I have over 60+ creations now, so I'm not gonna be able to share all of them, but here's a selection of stuff I've made
- Madoka Magica-themed sodas (MadoCola, SayaCola, KyoCola, HomuPop and Mami Rescue)
- Krabby Patties
- big ol' SpongeCube
- Patrick's rock
- a creepy test tube
- LOTS of Vocaloid/UTAU outfits
- the transgender, nonbinary and progress pride flags
- strange pets like the Flipnote Frog, Sucklet, and my own creation, Starbear
- Uranium. and LCL. they're both food items. :)
here's the process for one of my recent outfit creations, inspired by Luka's dress from kiichi's Fluticasone!
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What I Love & What I'd Love to See
quick summary of stuff I love about the game:
- the island being so much more interactable than its predecessors
- the inclusion of more diverse gender + orientation options (shout-out to Ninty for delivering on their promise 💖)
- more elaborate options for designing Miis; eye customization, brand new hairstyles, multicolored hair, custom skintones, face paint, the ability to make non-human Miis...!!!
- being able to interact with Miis outside of their homes
- the new Mii Homes system (it reminds me so much of one of my favorite childhood toys, the Pixel Chix Roomies... truly was a blast to the past!!!)
- how everything is customizable, from clothing, to food, to house exteriors...
- the ability to gift treasures to your Miis!!!
- the gold & silver coins Miis gift you when they hit level 20!!
- SO. MANY. NEW. OUTFIT CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS. GRAHHH.
some stuff I miss from the old game:
- Judgement Bay & Quirky Questions 😔
- the rankings board was a lot of fun...
- while the 'most spoiled Mii' ranking does survive (albeit deep into the spaceship trip's end credits), I really miss going to the rankings and seeing what was up. the romance/friendship ranking music still gets stuck in my head...
- how outfits had little descriptions like other items!! I mean, I kinda get it - you can customize everything from head to toe now, so it'd be... inconvenient to write down descriptions for every clothing item. I think a fair compromise would be only including descriptions for outfit sets, but alas.
- raising a baby got SIGNIFICANTLY sanded down from how prominent a feature it was in the 3DS game, but what I miss the most is the little SpotPass updates you'd get from travelling children :(
- when your island is already full, it doesn't make much sense to keep the kids there - I liked knowing that they were still doing OK even after I sent them off on their own adventures. I get that StreetPass isn't exactly easy to port to the Switch, but something like the letter system would be nice.
- WHY IS THE MII LIMIT CAPPED TO ONLY 70. 70 IS NOT ENOUGH. I HAVE SO MANY BLORBOS IN MY HEAD. GIVE ME BACK MY 100 MIIS.
- while not a feature of Tomolife 3DS, I really loved how elaborate the make-up system was in Miitopia for Switch. there was a LOT more detailed customization you could give to your Mii's eyes, and really fun exclusive hairstyles/wigs, as well. kinda wish some of those make-up features were carried over to LTD, but alas!
- the new pets are a lot of fun, but I do miss how you could give Miis tickets to play with cats & dogs with fully-rendered models...
and stuff I'd like to see included in a future update:
- I love that you can choose different pronouns for nonbinary miis, but... I wish we had custom pronouns. especially since, you know, I kinda have a main OC who uses neopronouns...
- the lack of customizable pronouns does ... feel a little weird, as I think most contemporary life sims w/ gender-inclusive options include customizable pronouns by default. The Sims 4 and Paralives specifically come to mind, but they're far from the only examples.
- I guess beggars can't be choosers, since the new system is better than the strict binary heterosexual system in the 3DS game. but that would be such a cool QoL feature!
- I have over 500 wishes laying dormant. I NEED MORE THINGS TO SPEND WISHES ON!!!!
- GIVE ME MORE MIIS. GIVE ME MORE MIIS. GIVE.
- I want to give Miis more than 12 items :( I make so many creations AND collect more treasures than I know what to do with... you can sell treasures off at the pawn shop, but you can't sell your own creations or get them out of your inventory without gifting them to a Mii.
- I would like to put my trophies somewhere other than my inventory. LOL
- custom clothing is pretty much limited to shirts, dresses, pants and hats. but DAMN IT I wanna make custom bracelets and socks!!! AND MORE HAT OPTIONS!!! WHAT ABOUT HAIR PINS!!! GRAHHH
ok that concludes this extensive rant about Tomodachi Life. I definitely have WAAAAAY more to say about the game, but I think I'll cap it off here bc this post has gotten long enough LOL.
thank you for reading and enjoying these strange little homunculii with me :D