A villain freed, your town is in danger. You must catch fish, find items, help the townspeople... and you're a DOG! AWW!
And don't think this is a game for little kids, because I think that a little kid would either get lost in the excessive amount of reading, get totally lost and grow increasingly confused as to where to go next, or simply get too scared of the evil wolf at the beginning xD Puppies or not. Not for 5-year-olds, mmkay? But anyway.
The original Petz Dogz for GBA or DS was infact a cheap cop-off on Nintendogs. But Petz Dogz 2 for the Wii is a whole different story in that it's actually an intricate quest/exploration role-playing adventure game with a captivating story-line, an evil villain on the loose, and a young main character who's eager to help.
The game takes place on the island of Pawville, where your father has a mystical item called the Magic Hat in his possession. Out of curiosity, you and a friend 'accidentally' free Ivlet, an evil wolf, from the island's prison by allowing him to get a hold of the Magic Hat. Using the hat's powers, he gets out of jail and reeks havoc on your hometown before vanishing. From there, your friend takes your rightful place back in the jail cell so you can go out to set things right by helping everyone repair the town and and eventually, destroying Ivlet.
For the most part, however, it's your job to run around and figure out who needs what and then get it for them. There are enemies (wild animals) that will get in your way when you are out on a quest, and they can hurt you. You have a health bar that won't refill itself, but you can heal by 'resting' in your bed at home or by using medicine items that you purchased from the pharmacy. But don't worry about your health, because you'll mostly find yourself evading the animals rather than trying to stun them with your barking. You have to 'sneak' up behind the enemy and press the (-) button to bark, and this will stun them for a few minutes so you can pass. But you have to get reeeeally close in order for it to work, and they've often turned around by then and already hurt you by the time you can get close enough. And there's usually enough room to just walk around them. A little later, you learn how to hide and crawl through the grass where the wild animals will not notice you, that helps a lot as well.
There really are no major disappointing aspects to the game, though there are some areas that seem a bit sloppy. For instance, if you enjoy the talking segments of role-playing games, you might find this storyline pretty engaging, but at times you will be thinking, 'What? Why did he say that?', or 'Oh I see, he's trying to say this, but it's just a little choppy.", or even "Dude that was stupid. I felt like an idiot just reading that line.". If you're like me and you enjoy getting in to the story and reading the conversations out loud (or to yourself :p), you'll probably find yourself re-wording a lot of the dialog, simply for your own satisfaction if not for comprehension. It seems like the script was written by some inexperienced writer, and no one went back to double-check it to make sure it was any good.
Also, it seemed like the game's creators failed to do anything really special with the Wii Remote. You control your dog by holding the B button and pointing in the direction you want to go. The further away from your dog you place the cursor (which is a little bone), the faster your dog moves. Which is pretty awesome. I personally think these controls are very fun, unique, and easy to use. You wiggle the remote up and down to dig, which is how you find items you are looking for. Fishing simply requires you to pull up on the remote when you have a bite, then rapidly pull up and down to reel in. It is nice that you have the freedom to just be able to sit down and play without too many crazy motions, even though you ARE playing Wii, but none of the controls of this game are really that captivating that it makes you want to actually get up and over-exaggerate. Once you get going, you don't really feel like you're playing a motion-sensing game. But nonetheless, the controls are nicely done. The camera generally seems to adjust automatically and stays at a nice view of the back of your dog (just to let you know, there's no sarcasm in that last statement =P), but you can use the D-pad to change your camera angle in case anything goes funky. The 1 button resets the camera in case you mess up the angles on accident, and the (+) button is your start menu. You hold down the A button to sniff, and from there you can walk at the same time. While you're sniffing, a little meter at the bottom of the screen tells you if there is an item nearby and which way to go to find it.
Although it may seem a bit lacking in places, Petz Dogz 2 actually has a whole lot of unexpected depth to it. When you start the game, you can choose between like 40 different breeds of dogs to be your character (it took me like 40 minutes just to pick one, they're all so cute haha). Even then, there are like 2-3 colors or fur patterns of each one so there are a lot of choices. Whatever kind of dog you pick is the kind of dog both your parents will be, who are main characters in the game.
Even the start/pause menu is extremely intricate. Besides your standard list of items you own, there is also an encyclopedia of fish, bugs, flowers, fruits, and veggies you have seen, a list of records, all the walk-throughs of the game's controls, including images, and even a detailed journal telling what you have done and what you are in the middle of doing (in terms of quests). There is also a bigger, more detailed map (a small on-screen map is always there during gameplay), a little bio of your character, the options menu where you can adjust text speed, sound volume, etc, and there's even a help guide in case you get stuck. And there's a bunch more that I won't mention. And yes. All of this can be accessed from your START menu at ANY TIME DURING THE GAME!!! In that aspect, all games should seriously be like this. It's like Super Target, only it's a start menu! They should call it SUPER START MENU!!! WHOO! Mhm. Ahem. Anyway, moving on.
You can also accessorize your dog with up to 3 items, which are hat, glasses, and other. 'Other' includes necklaces, scarfs, ties, jackets, shirts, backpacks, etc. There are seriously like a MILLION different accessories that you can buy using the money you've earned from quests. And each accessory comes in like 7 or 8 different colors, some even have like 3 or 4 different patterns which also come in 7 or 8 colors... it's almost overwhelming!! (in a good way!) Even then, you can also buy accessories to dress any of the other dogs that you know from the town. That's right, you can even customize the computer characters! How cool is that? Makes you feel sort of powerful, like you actually have a say in something... for once. *awkward silence* Erm. Anyway. Moving on.
There's also a ton of different kinds of bugs and flowers to collect, some of which are needed for quests at various times. After a certain point in the game, you can use the flowers and bugs to decorate the flower beds around town. There are also a million different kinds of fish to collect, saltwater and freshwater, each of which have a unique size that you see when you catch them. After a certain point (early) in the game, there is an aquarium that you can put fish into where you can go see them anytime. There is also a zoo that's accessible after a certain point where you can go see the animals.
A lot of other things unlock as you play, including abilities such as crawling and riding animals, new accessories that you get for free, a higher maximum health, access to previously-restricted areas, and of course, there's a lot more that I won't bother mentioning. But trust me, it's all pretty cool.
So to sum it all up, this game is a pretty intricate adventure game that has a great unraveling storyline and tons of things to do. Most people would automatically assume that Petz Dogz 2 is a kids game. AHEM I beg to differ. Read the flippin' review before jumping to conclusions!! Mhm but anyway, the graphics are lovely and the controls are nice, and guess what. YOU'RE A DOG!! I mean really, in the long run, that's all that really matters. It's an adventure game. You run around and collect items. And you're a dog. What more could you want? So chyeah. GO BUY THIS GAME!!!