In 2014, Nintendo released the unique social simulator game Tomodachi Life on the 3DS. The game served as a sequel to the Japan-exclusive DS title, Tomodachi Collection, and proved to be a huge success for Nintendo, selling 6.6 million copies. It was simplistic, filled with charm, and provided hours of entertainment for players. However, Nintendo has elected not to revisit the series even though it really should.
Tomodachi Life was very similar to The Sims series, as players managed a collection of Miis on an island and they each had their own virtual lives. It also drew some comparisons to the Animal Crossing series, especially when it came to the customization and feel of the game. While it has been eight years since Nintendo explored the Tomodachi Life series, besides the stage it received in Super Smash Bros, Ultimate, now is the perfect time for Nintendo to bring it back
Tomodachi Life's Gameplay was Simple and A Lot of Fun
Tomodachi Life began by allowing players to name their own personal island and then either creating or importing their own personal Mii. The Mii would move into the apartment building and become the island's first resident. Players could then feed their Mii, give them fun items to play with, or customize them with some awesome clothes. The Mii quickly became lonely and asked the player for a friend, which unlocked the Town Hall that allowed players to make more Miis for their island.
Players would then go about creating more Miis to populate their island. Each Mii had their own unique personality with their own wants, fears, favorites, hatreds, best friends, and enemies. The Miis could participate in various activities like performing songs, playing games, eating food, hanging out with each other, and some would even get jobs. As more Miis joined the island, players would unlock more things to mess around with. Eventually, Miis could even even form relationships, get married, and have kids.
The gameplay itself was pretty simple, as the heart of the game was the Miis. Tomodachi Life mostly required players to click on various buildings and then interact with various menus using their 3DS stylus. The games that players could play with their Miis were mostly quiz games or matching games, and if the player won, they were able to select one of three mystery gifts. These gifts could then be given to other Miis to boost their mood and give them something to play with.
One of the most unique elements of Tomodachi Life was that each Mii could speak. Using text-to-speech software, the Miis were able to speak to each other and to the player. Sometimes, the voice could be pretty atrocious, but other times it would prove to be very humorous - especially when the Miis tried to perform songs.
What Tomodachi Life on the Switch Could Look Like
Since 2014, Nintendo has released the Nintendo Switch and ended support for the 3DS. The Switch offers more powerful hardware for video games than the 3DS did, something that Tomodachi Life could take advantage of. If the transition from Animal Crossing: New Leaf to Animal Crossing: New Horizons is any indication, a jump from the 3DS to the Switch can bring huge innovation and change to a video game series. Tomodachi Life could have the exact same jump in quality if Nintendo were to revisit the concept.
Tomodachi Life on Switch could take advantage of the hardware and bring players to a more expansive social simulator game. The game could have better Mii customization, higher caliber mini-games to play, a more expansive island that could be more explorable, and even deeper personalities for each Mii. The personalities of the Miis on 3DS were already deeper than many expected, so taking that concept and expanding upon it for the Switch version could take those personalities to the next level; the depth of each Mii could even rival that of The Sims.
Nintendo could also take the easier route and offer a port of Tomodachi Life to Switch with some added content, much like what it is doing with Miitopia. Players would still be able to get their hands on the title and spend hours creating Miis for their island, but if Nintendo really wanted to bring the series back, then a brand-new title would be the way to do it. With the impressive sales numbers of Tomodachi life, it would only make sense for Nintendo to expand upon the concept.