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(The final frontier.). The Xbox could easily handle twice as much space with twice as much going on - look at those humongous sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto.VP:TIP is a deep and engaging game that quickly punishes it's players with an unnecessary build cap. So for the first few hours, I zipped around aimlessly, trying to figure things out. It's ridiculous. I'm entirely new to the Pinata "universe." I've seen the colorful boxes on store shelves, and kept thinking, "That game looks way too girlish for a 30-year-old man such as myself." But last week I picked up Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, loved it, and learned that this title was from the same developer.
There's no way that a baker's dozen of animals and a few stationary trees can tax the computing power of the Xbox 360 to the point that the game decides I can't fit any more "stuff." It becomes so frustrating because you end up having to sell off pinatas that you NEED to continue your food chain just so that you can build a house to romance a different species (of which you've been trying to meet the romance requirements for over an hour.).This quickly - and I mean QUICKLY - spins VP:TIP into an "almost good" category. It's challenging, and it does certainly whittle away the REAL hours of your life. So bad in fact that it lost a star simply based on this issue. In an industry that could really use some creative insight, VP:TIP builds us up just to let us down. My garden has a pond at one corner, with a river that stems from it and runs "west to east." I have a few trees, two small areas for planting soil-only seeds, a patch of sand to attract crustaceans, and then a general fenced area where I pen up the pinatas I'm trying to "romance," protect, or hide so as not to scare off other pinatas. I keep trying to manage my space - selling off one pinata home so that I can build another.
I decided to give it a try.You probably understand the premise of this game by now from other reviews - you have a garden, which you can easily reduce to a flat piece of dirt if you'd like, or turn it into a lush environment with trees and flowers and rivers, all while little pinata animals run amuck. I've spent way too many "work nights" up until 12am. But I often end up having to sell EVERY structure (homes and fences) just so that the game will let me build ONE house. The instruction manual tells you how to handle the major chores, like getting pinatas to live in your garden, or getting them to mate, but it never really tells you WHY, or how to get started. I have MAYBE 14 pinatas total - most of which are two-of-one-species. SPACE.
I'm still unsure on a lot of things, such as how to become a "Master Romancer" of a certain species of Pinata.But the game is very colorful, it's "cute," though doesn't make me laugh quite like Nuts & Bolts does. There's always "one more thing I gotta do," or something else suddenly pops up that you have to tend to - I can admit it has a LOT more value off the shelf than games like Animal Crossing, which can quickly get repetitive.But I have one, significant pet-pinata-peeve with VP:TIP.
Go check out Banjo: Nuts & Bolts while you're at it, as well. My girlfriend loves it, I love it, and quite frankly LOOK AT THAT PRICE. Rare Inc. is one of the most creative, unique game-makers of this generation, and they prove themselves yet again with this one.
I was wrong ,Teenagers and adults will enjoy it. Viva Piñata: Trouble in ParadiseAt first I was skeptical about this game,I thought it was only for 10 year olds and younger.
He'll began to appear when your level is higher. When they first enter an alert appears at the bottom of the screen. This can be tricky if you haven't already have the necessities to get these animals. He will go into your garden nearly invincible and destroy your pinata's, particularly your most valuable ones.
This is a game that will keep you busy. You can also try to build a fence around your garden but be aware that other pinata's outside won't be able to get in, and Pester can open gates. At this point your up a creek with no paddle. There are many, many events going on within just one garden that you'll have to be ontop of everything to make your experience with Viva Pinata as smooth as possible.
The only way to rid of him is to pay him coins, get a fire-breathing pinata or the ape pinata. Also make sure to make as much chocolate coins in the beginning in the game, as the chocolate-craving store owner will gradually rise the price on the Tower of Sour pieces, making them expensive. The sours will constantly keep you on guard as well, and if they are not taken care of early in the game they can eventually over-run your garden and ruin every plow, plant, and pinata.My only complaint is the lack of alerts every time a sour enters the garden. After that there are no alerts, and you'll have to rely on scouting the garden to make sure a sour isn't eating a pinata or plant while you attend your flower-bed on the other side of the area.Professor Pester fits to his name.
My answer is if you liked the first Viva Piñata game enough and want more of it, then yes, it is worth the buy. However, like all games of similar type and genre, it feels more like 1.5 rather than a 2. After all, it isn't the same game. Again, worth the buy. I played, own and beat the first one. Not really a "review" per say, but rather just my rating for the game in written form. This game is great. A lot of people say if you are new to the series, then to start with this one.
So I guess the question is weather or not Viva Piñata: Tip is worth the buy if one already had their fill with the first one. I know it may have sounded like I am contradicting myself by what I just said, but that aside, if you enjoyed the first one and would really consider playing it again, this is something fresh and new. Framerate and loading issues in the first one have been polished out a bit. However for those new to the series, I personally recommend trying your hand at the first one. That's all one could ask for in a sequel of this type of game. It's a little harder and complicated that the original Viva Piñata. There are more gimmicks, more shops, more characters, more seeds and more Piñata animals. I rated it 5/5.
There is a small graphical update. But all the charm and greatness of the first one is right here in Trouble in Paradise. You either like the game for what it is or you don't. There was a lot for a person like me to learn and get used to after playing the first.
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