Viva Piñata

The Good
I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to get into this game as much as I have. It's weird, very kiddie, and weird. I said "weird" twice on purpose. As much of an oddball as this game is, I found it nearly impossible to stop playing. I found myself spending hours trying to coax a "Mousemallow" to decide to stay in the garden so that I could use it (and its offspring) to in-turn attract a "Syrupent". It's ridiculous, I know, but I couldn't stop. Graphically, this game is no slouch either. If you zoom in on a critter, you can see their "fur" is really finely cut tissue paper. Not only that, but if you zoom in close to the ground, you can see that the grass is just as detailed. Another nice touch is how the creatures interact with the environment. Birds will perch on trees and houses, bugs will crawl up the side of plats, etc... It's actually pretty impressive.

The Bad
My biggest gripe with this game is the interruptions. They slow down after about the two hour mark, but they're really annoying. Imagine enjoying yourself, building a home for your new resident or what have you, and then Leafoss (your guide to the world) jumps in with some info, such as a new species visiting your garden. That by itself isn't too bad, but then imagine it's about 45 seconds later, and you're deciding where to place a "Buzzlegum" hive, when suddenly, she interrupts you again to tell you that visitor from 45 seconds ago just became a resident. Now, after an cut-scene you can't skip, you have to go back to the builder, select the hive, find a spot for it, etc... The fact that this type of thing happens all the time makes it pretty hard to over-look.

The Bottom Line
It's like someone tossed Pokemon, the Sims and Animal Crossing into a blender and hit "liquify". Then they took this goop and rigged it to pump directly into your veins. This game is item-collecting, animal-raising, world-building crack.

The Good
Viva Pinata is a simple little Sim great for burning large amounts of time. It is non violent, generally slow-paced and relaxing. The colors are vibrant and the pinatas are nicely detailed to the point you can even see the way the strips of brightly colored paper hang down from them.

The Bad
This game chews up large amounts of time very fast. It's also a little easy to get lost in all the menus at first. It's definitely a family/kids game, so don't expect any realism here, though some people like the whimsical nature of things. The Pinata AI isn't the best and often pinatas you want to enter the garden won't find their way in if you have large amounts of water or any other obstacle bordering things. Also, it is hard to get a full collection of Pinatas without an Xbox live subscription, so if you don't have one you may want to consider it.

The Bottom Line
Even though this game is a major time-eater aimed at kids, it's actually not a bad game if you have lots of time on your hands and are looking for something fun and relaxing to do. Even though it can be frustrating sometimes and nearly impossible to complete without Xbox Live, Viva Pinata is a nice alternative to the traditional Sim for those looking for something different .