I love mysims but with the last game, i was disappointed for a few reasons- firstly, you had to second guess most of the time, the mini games were either too easy or really difficult (the ski jump and the canooing were impossible to get gold on) and generally i felt it was missing some of the original magic. I was reluctent to get this, but in the end, i decided to give it a try, and i'm really glad i did!
Like the previous two games, you arrive in a town and have to help it back on it's feet. Unlike the first two games, here you have to get people to move in by playing in 12 different festivals and 40 minigames. First, you choose your mysims gendre, then the usual haircuts and colour for eyes etc, but there's more choice this time round. Then you're asked to chose the stats you want to have. These are power, speed and technique. You have six points to play around with so use them wisely as you can't change them afterwards. You then get shown around your town (unlike the first two which is nice) and enter the first festival. After this, you are free to meet the locals and take it at your own pace. There are a few reasons why i love this game:
Firstly, you meet characters from the first and second mysims games on the ds, but you also meet some characters that were only on the wii/pc versios, which is nice for those who haven't played these versions. I liked all the characters and they all have different personalities and looks!
The look of the game is polished and this time, when you hold down the B button, you run straight away! This was one of the biggest niggles of the last two games but it finally seems it has been sorted out- horray!
The mini games are varied and require a little bit of thinking, which is always a good thing! It makes you think about how quickly to turn a folk or to trace a symbol very carefully. I also like the fact that there are four settings- weak, normal, strong and powerful. It really seems they've thought about their audience and understand the age range that play this game. So, far, i've only tried it on weak, but in the later festivals, they seem to get stronger (but not too much that you can't win!). It allows people to get used to the mini games then challenge themselves by going to the next strength level. You can also practive the mini games and try to beat your best scores. They use all features of the ds which is a nice touch too. You also have festival cards which make it more interesting to play and tactics are required to survive and win.
The game has clocked up 15 hours to complete all the festivals and do most of the tasks set by the townspeople, but i still have to buy quite a few more items and get a few more sims to be my friends. I played this over a lazy weekend so for those who don't have much time on their hands, this will last a while. I've played much more hyped up titles and they haven't been half as good, half the gaming time and half the replay value.
There is a wide variety of clothes and hairstyles to collect, but this time you can also change the outside of your house, which is good- it's fun to mix and match different house parts and have a unique house to go home to!
When playing the mini games, you can either use the sims you befriend, or create your own team. So far, i've saved 10 sims, which i think is good!
There are one or two things which would have made the game perfect:
The inside of your house is decorated and you can't change it. This would have been a nice addition but i like the inside of the house anyway so it's not a big deal.
Although the festivals are fun, it's hard to get the money needed for different house parts and other things. Some of the later items are expensive and take