Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Review: A Hilariously Surreal Life Simulator

The first Miis I created in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream were based on my wife and me.

I was able to designate that we are in a real-life relationship, which presumably expedited the process of my Mii falling in love with my wife's. It was perfect: we live together in real life, having spent the better part of the past week or so playing the game together on the couch. We've already taken our relationship to the next level in person, so why not do the same in Tomodachi Life as well?

Everything was all planned out: I was going to take her out to a hot new restaurant in town and confess my true feelings. There was just one problem: I wasn't the only person crushing on her. It turns out that Sam, the Mii based on our little Pomeranian, also had feelings for my wife. When it was time for her to choose, she went with Sam. My Mii was crushed, but hey, technically, he was around first.

Ironically, it was Sam who consoled me after the rejection, and we've all since become good friends, but the Jake who lives on my Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream island remains hopeful.

There is no better way to explain what playing Tomodachi Life is like, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Living the Dream Retains the Same Absurdist Humor That Made Tomodachi Life a Cult Classic

If you never played Tomodachi Life on the Nintendo 3DS, then it's easy to mistake the game for being a Nintendo clone of The Sims. Sure, both are, at a surface level, life simulators and inherently cozy games, but that's where the similarities end.

Tomodachi Life is less of a full-blown life simulator and more of a life spectator. Most of the time, you're focused on setting the stage for your island by creating Miis, giving them personalities, and watching the action unfold. You are able to meddle in people's affairs, and in fact, that's strongly encouraged, but it's certainly not required. You're instead a caretaker for the Miis that populate your island.

As the caretaker, you're tasked with growing your island from scratch. This includes populating it with Miis, terraforming the land as you see fit, and populating it with new buildings as you progress through the game. Unlike Animal Crossing, there's no timegating in place here. You can marathon the game as you see fit and build as much as you want after first booting the game up. At the same time, you're never punished for skipping a day or two. Again, you're not supposed to be overly proactive in shaping the lives of these people.

Having said that, I strongly encourage meddling in everyone's affairs. Tomodachi Life thrives when you're planting the seeds for relationships to blossom. Sometimes those relationships are friendly. Other times, the Miis become more than friends. Of course, as I alluded to in the opening, not everything always goes to plan.

The Mii Creator is Surprisingly Great, But I Wish I Could Download Designs

One of the reasons for the game's trademark surreal humor is the ability to populate your city with anyone you see fit.

Sure, you can use the randomly generated Miis based on the game's suggestion. You can also create Miis based on people you know in real life. For many, though, this is a chance to let our pop culture fantasies come true. My island, for example, features my wife, our dog, and me. There's also Samus Aran, Matt from Wii Sports, Pim and Charlie from Smiling Friends, Hank and Peggy Hill, and Isabelle from Animal Crossing. You get the idea.

It's been impressive to see how certain Miis are acting with one another. Pim and Charlie have taken a liking to each other, even though they've gotten into their fair share of arguments. Isabelle, who was created in hopes of building a relationship with my dog Sam, has taken a liking to Matt from Wii Sports, of all people. As for Sam? He's living with Samus.

The biggest issue, though, is when you hit that creative wall and aren't sure who to create next. In the year of our lord 2026, I cannot believe that there is no way to download Miis from the internet like you can in other games. Having said that, I've seen the Miis the internet is populating their islands with, so maybe Nintendo was streets ahead on this one.

Note to self: Maybe I should make Pierce Hawthorne next.

The Humor of Tomodachi Life Remains Timeless

It's the time of the review where I bring up some of the more iconic memes from the original 3DS version. Tomodachi Life's comedy feels straight from the minds of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim during one of those random 2:00 AM Adult Swim specials. If I'm not careful, Too Many Cooks will start playing during a cutscene.

I'm happy to report that this style of humor is back and better than ever.

Part of this is driven by you, the player. You'll often be prompted to give your Miis certain topics to talk about, catchphrases, and other mannerisms. For example, I can have Pim talk to people about Smiling Friends. That's pretty on brand. I could also have Pim talk about why people don't shower at card game tournaments. A little more out there, albeit sadly true. Now imagine him and, say, Leela from Futurama bonding over talking about why people don't shower at card game tournaments.

Best of all, some of these moments happen organically. You'll stumble on the people you'd least expect, building a friendship over dinner, talking about random topics you set up for someone else. You'll get news recaps covering not only the day's events, but also random nonsensical stories, complete with irrelevant commentary from your Miis. It's been a week, and I can't stop laughing every time I see a cutaway.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream's Gameplay is Light, but That's Also Not the Point Here

If you're looking to see if there's a "point" to Tomodachi Life, there honestly really isn't one other than observing what's happening on your screen.

There are some gameplay elements at hand here, such as various mini-games you can play with your Miis, but they honestly get repetitive rather quickly. You are able to score some various items you can use to give your Miis from these, but they're not exactly essential.

Other than the inability to download various creations from others online, this is the biggest issue with Tomodachi Life. Those looking for more meat on the bone will be disappointed, especially in the wake of Pokémon Pokopia. On the one hand, it's a little disappointing following such an impressive gameplay experience from Pokopia. On the other hand, anything resembling deep gameplay was never the point with Tomodachi Life.

Instead, the point is to open a window to a surreal world of our own creations. We're populating them with people who shouldn't interact. Or, in the case of people who are close-knit friend groups, seeing how they react. Watching my dog steal my wife from me? Both heartbreaking and hilarious.

For what it's worth, my wife has come around, and we are now dating and preparing to move in.

While Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream isn't the full-blown life simulator some people may have been hoping for, fans of the original will feel right at home. Despite lacking any concrete depth, I'm still impressed by the wacky scenarios, conversations, and relationships that blossom. It's been a smash hit in the Valentine household, and that won't change for quite some time. I never thought we'd see another Tomodachi Life game, and I'm so happy that we did.