Note: This is part II of my write-up of EA Sims Bloggers Day. You can read Part I here.

If you’ve played the original MySims, you will know the characters already. Family-friendly, cute voiced, and stylised - the MySims took the super popular Sims franchise and gave it a Nintendo spin.

MySims Kingdom takes the core gameplay from MySims - that of building things - and uses it within an RPG-styled storyline. Unlike the original game, you follow a series of quests, meeting up with many recognisable faces and unlocking various new lands as you go. These lands are themed - one is a wild west frontier, another is a mystical fantasy land. Tim LeTourneau, the Executive Producer, compared the design to that of Disneyland.

You play as a Wandolier, essentially someone who goes around collecting items and then fitting them together in order to solve various puzzles and improve the buildings and world around them. Building is now integrated into the game - no switching between game screen and build screen. Getting rid of the loading screens is a definite plus - and the wii-mote is surprisingly good at flicking parts into place, even for someone like me who has never used one before. To an extent the game almost feels like a modern version of the old point-and-click adventure games, where you had to collect items and fit them together in unusual ways. Unlike those games however, MySims Kingdom is squarely aimed at the younger crowd - despite many protestations from the designers otherwise. The difficulty level is fairly low, and although the characters are undeniably appealing, the story stays simple.

There’s plenty of humour, of the zany goofball kind, and the game itself is incredibly slick. Parents and pre-teens are going to love it.

What is most admirable about the game - as indeed in all Sims games - is creating compelling gameplay that doesn’t revolve around fighting. In a way, it’s a shame it is so family friendly. There is a lot to be said for a game that provides alternatives to violence and teaches socially acceptable skills without coming off as sanctimonious or preachy - but still deals with adult themes.

The DS version is somewhat different, and a lot more confusing. The same build mechanic is central to the game, but it is activated in a different way. You collect elements, which you then combine and mix up to create building pieces. These pieces you can then use to construct buildings, gardens and so forth. The DS version - at least what we saw of it - seemed to have less of a storyline. Someone is stealing buildings, and it’s your job to rebuild them. The really addictive part of this game (for me) was mixing up the elements and seeing what you get. Sadly, at the early stage of the game I was unable to get anything too amazing, and ended up building an awful lot of walls everywhere. I also lost track of what I was meant to be doing, perhaps because I kept switching between the DS and the wii version.

The wii game is more fun. Mining and treasure hunting feels more physical, and the overall style of the game is a lot funnier. Bouncing your pick off a wall makes you smile, and the various people you meet come across as larger than life. In its own way, the Sims franchise was groundbreaking, and whilst I am not really in its target audience (I prefer dark and dystopian gallows humour, and complex strategy games) it is good enough at what it does to make me appreciate it.

Next week we’ll be looking at SimAnimals. Just another cash-in on the Sims name? Or an exciting new addition to the family?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Wii, Previews, Casual Gaming, Nintendo, Roleplaying, Nintendo DS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.