Viva Pinata (360)

Game Diary / June 4, 2007 / John / 2

Call me jaded, but it’s been a very long time since my first reaction to a new game was one of shock. Yes, shock – Viva Pinata is a strikingly beautiful game. Sure, it’s derivative – Rare have taken the best bits from a dozen Nintendo titles and rolled em together to produce a gardening/breeding/animal care/social sim/game/type thing, but it all works so well together that that’s a GOOD thing.

Basically, you start out with a garden which is in a bit of a mess. So you flatten it out, maybe plant some grass, flowers, or veg and you might attract some pinatas (who are wierd colourful creatures). Through some careful nurturing, these weirdos might become resident, at which point you can breed them and look after them. And that’s as far as I’ve got.

It’s very pretty, very silly and promotes the pokemon philosophy of “must collect every creature possible”.

John