Miitopia

Miitopia is a 2016 role-playing video game by Nintendo originally released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2016 and worldwide in 2017, with a remastered version released for the Nintendo Switch in May 21, 2021. The game features customizable Mii characters in a turn-based battle system and follows the story of a group of heroes battling the Dark Lord, who is stealing the faces of Miitopia's inhabitants. The game received mixed reviews, with critics praising its creative life simulation elements and humor while criticizing its combat system and repetitiveness.

Gameplay
Miitopia is a role-playing video game with life simulation elements. Playable characters are created with Mii avatars and have certain personality traits which influence their role in combat. Each party member has one of several standard character classes or "jobs" such as warriors and mages; as the game progresses, more classes become available. Like Tomodachi Life, the relationships between Miis outside of combat affect the game: for example, Miis not getting along with one another can make combat more difficult. Miitopia supports the ability to import Miis and their trait settings from Tomodachi Life, as well as from players' friend lists. The game supports Nintendo's line of Amiibo figures, which allow players to use unique cosmetics on their Miis.

The Nintendo Switch remaster introduces a new makeup and wig feature which allows players to further customize their in-game characters, including options not available on the console's Mii Maker application. The Switch remaster also adds a horse that can help in combat, outings that let characters gain relationship experience points, and the Tower of Despair, a secret final dungeon unlocked after the Tower of Dread.

Plot
The game begins with the main protagonist, a Mii of the player's choice, arriving in Greenhorne Town. Soon, the Dark Lord, who can steal faces from Miis and use them to control peaceful creatures and turn them into monsters, attacks the town. The hero chooses a character class and is sent on a journey to stop the Dark Lord. Along the way, the player creates more companions, meets the Great Sage, and reaches Greenhorne's castle, where the quest continues after the Dark Lord steals the faces of the King and the Princess. The team then enters the kingdom of Neksdor, but the Dark Lord attacks, stealing the hero's companions and rendering them without a class. After the guardian gives the hero new powers, they journey through Neksdor, meeting three new companions and the Genie of the Lamp. The team continues on to the Realm of the Fey, where the Dark Lord attacks, stealing the hero's companions and their character class again and prompting the guardian to provide a new group of character classes. The hero is tasked with saving the three Fab Fairies of the Realm, who show the team the way to the Dark Lord's castle in Karkaton. However, before they can open the door, the Dark Lord steals their faces. After retrieving their faces, the Fab Fairies open the door to Karkaton; when the team arrives there, the Dark Lord attacks again, stealing the hero's new companions but not their powers. The hero is tasked with saving their friends with help from the Great Sage.

The team fights and defeats the Dark Lord, and afterwards, it is revealed that that it was a common Mii who a wisp known as the Dark Curse possessed. The Dark Curse attempts to possess the hero, but the Great Sage intervenes and is possessed instead, becoming the Darker Lord. The team tracks down the Darker Lord through the lands of Powdered Peaks, Peculia, and Nimbus before reaching the Darker Lord's Domain in The Sky Scraper, fighting previous bosses along the way. After reaching the top of The Sky Scraper, the heroes go to the Otherworld for the final showdown with the Darker Lord; although it evolves into the Darkest Lord, it is ultimately defeated. Afterwards, the Great Sage is freed and traps the Dark Curse, then explains its history to the hero. It was once a ordinary Mii who was rejected because they had a boring face; they decided to get rid of their face, and over time became a soul of hatred, malice and evil, which became the Dark Curse. The hero is given the choice to either destroy the Dark Curse or provide them with a new face and body. If the hero provides the Dark Curse with a new life, the Great Sage takes them on their travels to have them atone for their mistakes. If the hero decides to destroy the Dark Curse, they use their divine power to destroy it. Regardless of the outcome, they are praised for saving Miitopia.

Reception
Miitopia received mixed or average reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Famitsu awarded both versions a score of 31/40.

Many critics have drawn comparisons between Miitopia and Tomodachi Life   due to the two involving Miis and having similar mechanics, despite having different premises. Jeff Cork of Game Informer described Miitopia as a hybrid between Tomodachi Life and an old-school RPG, allowing for a "simple but effective" player experience. While Jonathan Leack from GameRevolution draws a similar comparison between Miitopia and Tomodachi Life, his opinion of the former was less favorable, noting that the interactions between characters in Miitopia were "let down by uninteresting writing", and were less humorous compared to Tomodachi Life.

He also criticized the lack of player involvement, describing how the lack of player choice in exploring areas made him feel like the game was on autopilot most of the time. Similarly, Heidi Kemps of GameSpot felt that Miitopia was a "slow slog you mostly watch rather than play", and Jon Mundy of Pocket Gamer also discussed the lack of challenge and player input. Allegra Frank of Polygon had similar feelings, saying that the game often let the Miis "do their thing", but found that this was often enough to entertain her. She highlighted that the uninvolved segments of the game were balanced out by its overall dynamic nature, saying that the game periodically shaking up the cast, map, and combat occurred often enough to keep her engaged.

Despite the combat being an essential part of the game, it was not universally praised. Leack criticized the unchallenging combat in earlier parts of the game, while Frank criticized the high frequency of battles causing repetitive gameplay. They found that the auto-battle mechanic mitigated, but did not completely solve, this issue. Also criticized was the fact that all party members except for the play Mii were controlled by AI. Kemps and Frank both noted that lack of player control over the party's actions could lead to frustrating gameplay. Despite this, Frank praised the creative "hidden intricacies" of the battle system, due to characters' jobs and personality traits affecting their combat style.

Most critics cited creativity to be Miitopia's greatest asset; Cork, Kemps, Leack, and Frank agreed that the creative spin on a more traditional RPG concept was ultimately its main highlight.

Sales
By February 2017, the 3DS version had sold over 168,000 copies in Japan.

During its first week in the UK, the Switch port sold 36% more copies at launch than the 3DS version, debuting at #2 behind Resident Evil Village. In Japan, the Switch port launched at #2 behind Rune Factory 5 with 72,725 physical copies sold, three times the sales of the 3DS version. By its second week of release, the Miitopia Switch port surpassed competition to take the #1 weekly sales spot in Japan, with 34,451 physical copies sold. According to Media Create, the Switch port debuted at #1 in South Korea.

The Nintendo Switch version has sold 1.79 million copies as of November 2023.

Legacy
Two music tracks from Miitopia, "Boss Battle" and "Boss: The Darkest Lord", were featured in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A Nintendo Switch port of the game, developed by Grezzo, was released on May 21, 2021.