‘Viva Piñata! Filled with fun! Filled with fun!’
I don’t say that because of the vaguely suggestive undertones (for which the game maintains good, child-friendly taste, especially through this bizarre and biologically inaccurate concept of ‘the romance dance’). I say that because once you get under the games skin, you uncover something that requires a lot of time, effort, and a sophisticated level of thought and strategy if you have any hope of getting the most out of your cash. The Mexican, candy-filled, party-time premise is a deceiving guise that gets kids to buy a game that will fly over their heads. That said; this is a terrific game that will gobble up many of your hours provided you have the motivation required to play on, and you will… The premise revolves around you crafting a garden to attract different species of piñatas and there’s something refreshingly appealing about the games presentation that makes you WANT to see what piñatas are out there. The game works in such a way that the bigger and more exotic piñatas are the ones you have to work hard to see, and so I found myself constantly digging, harvesting, buying, refining, planting and watering just so that I could see more. And with over 60 different species of piñata, each one characterized by its own unique personality, the sheer depth is quite incredible. It will keep you hard at work on your beloved garden for hours and hours.
While Viva Piñata is impressively complex, that may be its turn-off. It can be pretty discouraging finding out that you need to do fifty things before you can get a certain piñata to visit let alone take residence. Sometimes perceiving the work ahead can cause you to sigh in exhaustion as it may mean demolishing certain aspects of your blood, sweat and tear-stained garden to meet these criteria’s. That said though, it can often be a good idea to run multiple gardens so as to avoid too many major renovations bumming you out, rather starting anew on a new piece of land meeting the criteria more directly from a fresh start. Similar to this, it can also be extremely discouraging when ruffians just come in and smash up your beloved garden. You learn to really hate their guts. The game’s visual style makes it hard to dislike. The environment and especially the piñatas look fantastic which inspires pride in your hard work when you look over your creation.
Overall what this game boasts is an extraordinary personality that enriches a deeply complex and immersive garden simulation that will steal a good portion of your life. Enjoy.