Miitopia Review: Simplistic But Entertaining RPG For Newcomers

Wii U ports are common sightings on Switch, gaining a second life after Nintendo’s previous console flopped, but 3DS games? That’s somewhat rarer. Released back in 2017, Miitopia is a rather unexpected pick for Switch, building upon Tomodachi Life to create a very basic RPG. Letting us customise most characters within — heroes, villains, kings, villagers, you name it — there’s an entertaining game here, though one best experienced in small doses.

Set within Miitopia, this world’s Miis lived in harmony until the Dark Lord appeared, stealing people’s faces and placing them onto creatures. Playing a Mii of our choice, the goal is to defeat this Dark Lord with a band of heroes, returning faces by defeating his new minions. While you can use existing Miis, Miitopia’s built-in suite offers better options than previous Nintendo consoles provided, like make-up and wigs, letting players get creative.

Travelling across Miitopia’s different realms via an overworld map, our protagonist quickly realises how woefully unprepared they are, but fear not. After some divine intervention, you can choose a character class, though some aren’t available until later. Standard RPG classes like warriors and mages are present, but if you fancied something offbeat, chefs, flowers, or vampires may suit. As you progress, you’ll also obtain equip new weapons or armour.

Once our journey begins, characters have pre-determined story roles, but players choose who represents them. Miitopia has pre-selected Miis if you aren’t feeling creative, yet not using your own misses the point outside skipping the odd NPC. In my playthrough, close friends are made into party members and a Dark Lord, while my Dungeons and Dragons group were guarding Greenhorne’s King. Using your own Miis adds a lot and Miitopia’s main appeal comes down to what you put into it, so mileage will vary.

Your team automatically follows a set path, sometimes picking a split in the road to follow. Treasure chests can be found during exploration and there’s random enemy encounters too, leading into turn-based battles with (usually) a team of four. Thanks to the Dark Lord’s face malarkey, every enemy looks comically ridiculous, between goblins with bright blue eyes to sentient slices of bread. Players only control the protagonist once fighting begins, leaving your crew to a helpfully competent AI.

Combat is straightforward, giving us a standard attack, special skill that uses magic points, a selection of snacks to restore HP/MP, or retreat. Unlike many RPGs, you don’t have endless items for fixing status ailments, but if an enemy inflicts an ailment upon you, placing that Mii in a “safe spot” for one turn heals them. Outside normal turns, you’ve got a limited quantity of “sprinkles” system to revive HP, MP, revive KO’d members and more. Battles could benefit from more in-depth mechanics, though it's enough to avoid feeling completely shallow. As an accessible experience for younger players, this works well.

Your team earn food, gold coins and EXP upon emerging victorious. Should you level up, that’ll increase stats like magic, attack, HP, MP, defence and speed. I won’t spoil why, but stats reset upon beginning a new story chapter and that happens several times, so there’s little reward for grinding. Consequentially, that also means you don’t need to grind, but this structure gets inevitably repetitive, meaning Miitopia’s better played in smaller sessions.

Once you’ve hit the path’s end, players reach an inn, of which there’s an extraordinarily large number across this world. Here, you can develop relationships between characters to earn new battle abilities by sharing rooms, witness event scenes or go on special outings, adding comedic shenanigans to a game filled with wholesome humour. You can also buy Miis specific items they’re thinking of — no open shop system, I’m afraid — feed them to improve stats, or even visit the arcade, potentially winning new items and extra gold coins.

Anyone who played the 3DS version might wonder if there’s new content, and thankfully there is. Alongside those expanded Mii options, we’ve got new events, additional monsters, and you can now obtain a horse to bond with at the inn’s stable. Small additions and not enough to justify a second playthrough, but an improvement, nonetheless. Miitopia’s also boasting a significant visual upgrade, bringing in a sharp 1080p resolution over the original’s 240p.

It’s important to remember that Miitopia’s an RPG aimed at newcomers, so veterans looking for new adventures won't get much from it. Though it contains basic combat and repetitive structuring, there’s an accessible gateway into the genre for younger players. With a light-hearted adventure, colourful presentation, and good humour, you need to put in the effort to realise Miitopia’s full potential. If you’re prepared to do that, you’ll have fun.

6/10

Miitopia was reviewed on Nintendo Switch, and a review code was provided by the publisher.

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