Nintendogs + Cats: Post-Script.
I decided to review this DS staple after being prodded by Club Nintendo to rate my experience.
I bought this game as part of a fairly nice sale at Toys R Us some weeks back, so I didn’t pay full price for it, but as far as experiences go, it’s still the best pet sim out there.
I know that I generally “Eh” about Nintendo’s casual fare, but I am actually quite fond of Endless Ocean and the original Nintendogs. I thought it was cute, and with multiple releases, kind of a “Puppy Pokemon“. (FUN FACT: I’ve never played a Pokemon title. Not one. Gasp all you want, but I actually do intend to rectify this on the 3DS Virtual Console when they’ll likely re-release the originals). The game can technically go on forever, and while I eventually quit the first title, I grew fond of my virtual pooch.
I picked the same breed (Yorkie) with this new title. While there are some new breeds, I’m pretty disappointed that the majority of the dogs are recycled from the first batch of titles. I would have liked to have seen a feature where players could download new breeds (such as a cairn terrier), but you have a few choices. I just wish there were more.
Gameplay is basically the same with some cosmetic changes. The puppies are furrier and more detailed, they respond better to verbal commands, and are cuter to interact with, if that’s possible. If you’ve played the previous title, you’ll know exactly what to do.
There are a few notable changes, however. You can take your dog on “real time” walks based on the built-in pedometer. The farther you go, the better presents your pooch will find you. Miis are now integrated into walks, and they actually fit quite well here. StreetPass is also an option, so you can meet other real people and their virtual dogs. Something about this adds to the overall experience that makes me realized how sorely missed this type of interaction was in the first game. You could meet other dogs, but this feels better. The game even uses AR Cards, so you can take pics of your pup. Nintendo even sends out random StreetPass events. Former President Teddy Roosevelt visited my neighborhood, and my dog and his played at the park for a while. At least there’s some unexpected interaction.
The 3D works well in the game. Nothing astounding, but does give depth and a sense of space. The boomerang is a nice effect. Pet trials are fun little mini-games, and you don’t seem penalized in wanting to attempt multiple walks or competitions in a single play session anymore.
The cats… don’t do much. Maybe that’s the point, but I don’t think it really adds anything significant. And there’s only three breeds of cats, so if you don’t like any of them… sorry. The whole cat thing feels like an afterthought, and not really fleshed out.
One thing I would have liked to have seen to add to the whole “sim” experience are vet visits. Granted, I don’t want to see my pet hurt or what have you, put it is a part of life in being a dog owner. Simple things, such as a flu or an upset stomach likely wouldn’t traumatize younger players too much, or even just getting booster shots to stay well. I don’t think it would throw off the “gentle” theme of the game. Hopefully, the in-game vet bills wouldn’t be like the real-life one, or your Mii would have to get a real job instead of winning pet competitions all the time.
Nintendogs + Cats isn’t quite the innovative or groundbreaking title as the first series, but it’s still pretty cute, and has some nice new features that show off the 3DS capabilities. It may not be everyone’s “dream game”, but it’s still charming in its own right.
Filed under: nintendo gaming • post-script
The Dread Pirate Guy
Nice to see something like Nintendogs on your blog, a lot of self-proclaimed hardcore gamers would turn their nose up at this. I remember when the Tamagotchi craze hit my school, we were all caring for mythical animals and alien blobs within the week.
Having played it myself, I do actually very much agree with the review. Although…the whole virtual pet thing never really catches or keeps my interest. I think maybe it's because I'm not able to really ascertain or appreciate the animal's virtual personalities.
@Drake: I'll play anything, as long as it's done well. Unfortunately, a lot of games skewed for the casual market are so bare bones and unimaginative that it hurts the chance of these gamers ever evolving into more types of games.
"I know that I generally "Eh" about Nintendo's casual fare, but I am actually quite fond of Endless Ocean and the original Nintendogs. I thought it was cute, and with multiple releases, kind of a "Puppy Pokemon". (FUN FACT: I've never played a Pokemon title. Not one. Gasp all you want, but I actually do intend to rectify this on the 3DS Virtual Console when they'll likely re-release the originals)."
Odd, I thought I had already commented on this…
Anywho, I own Endless Ocean: Blue World, though I haven't played it much at all, and will start a new game when I pick it up again.
Like you, "FUN FACT: I've never played a Pokemon title. Not one.", unless you count a store demo for 2 minutes…if that long.
"The whole cat thing feels like and afterthought, and not really fleshed out."
That's kind of crazy, I figured with the amount of development time between the first game and this one, that the cats would have played a bigger role.
Interesting, I guess my last post never published?
@Drake: I'll play anything as long as it's good and well done. So many of these proclaimed "casual" titles either milk and established concept to death, or don't try to present anything creative. That's my real issue with a lot of these games.
Nintendogs is a a very well done pet simulator without getting too unnecessarily gimmicky.
@Player_1: Nintendogs is one of the few "pet sim" games that ever caught my attention. The one before that was Seaman on the Dreamcast, and oh, how I wish Sega would rerelease that one.
@Coffee: The cats aspect doesn't bring a lot to the table, especially how limited (three) the breed choices are.
Endless Ocean was a great casual title due to its heavy emphasis on exploration and discovery, without the time limits or set in order goals.
I have Blue Ocean, but I haven't played it much. I think I'll wait until Wii 2 to ensure that the disc doesn't get eaten.
"Interesting, I guess my last post never published?"
I don't know if you're aware, but Blogger was down for maintenance Wednesday night, and some major issue happened…and they had to "back date" the whole Blogger system to Wednesday morning.
They're still trying to restore any blog posts that were put up on Wednesday, and they're trying to restore the comments as well…taking a lot longer than I expected for a company the size of Google though.