#tomodailii

[tomodailii]

TOMODACHI FANS HIT THE DECK THIS IS NOT A DRILL

[tomodailii]

OK GANG LET'S TALK ABOUT MII MAKER!!!!!

my my! mii mii! my mii may mi mo! let's hop straight into this one!!!

the september 2025 direct showed us lots and lots about the mii maker! we get to see some of what we already learned there, plus plenty more in this one. luckily, facial features have been categorized for us already for like, centuries, if not millennia. this should be a breeze to sort through!

OPENING MENU:

i will definitely be covering more about menus in another post...there's a lot we can learn from icons and buttons that we're shown, even if we don't get see exactly what they do just yet.

here in the opening menu, we can see 4 options! 2 are big and wide at the top, and 2 more are grayed out and listed at the bottom. what we see:

get help

create from scratch

create from mii on console

create based on existing island mii

exciting!!!!

we only really get to see "from scratch" - which would be the most important to most players anyhow, but already we can see our horizons expanding!

we've unfortunately lost the "from photo" option, since the switch did away with our beloved camera feature...so "get help" seems to be a sort of replacement for that! the direct narrator explains that choosing that option will let the player select some prompts that will help determine what their mii looks like. cool! if you're in a rush or not too interested in the from-scratch style of mii creation, this looks like it could be a good option! we'll probably have to wait til launch to see what it actually looks like, though. i'd count myself hyped to take a look!

everything else is pretty self-explanatory! as in the previous game, we can import miis from our console's mii maker and adapt them to our liking in the new creator.

what's really awesome, though, is that final option! it looks like we, in some way, will be able to take our existing miis' likenesses and make more miis based on them! i imagine this would entail the creation of a duplicate mii, identical to the one you choose to base your new mii off of, and creativity from there. good if you want to make a bunch of similar miis, like siblings or creatures of the same species (heck actually maybe that's where milk/latte, mocha's counterpart, comes from?)! all speculation, of course.

HAIR:

YES!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!! THE MIIS HAVE HAIR!!!!!!! IT SHINES!!!!!! IT BOUNCES!!!!!! IT FRIZZES!!!!!!! IT CURLS!!!!!!!!!!!! IT CAN BE STYLED IN MORE THAN THREE WAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i mean, all things aside, the 3DS era hairstyles were pretty good. the miitopia wigs were extraordinary! both expanded on what we had before and allowed a great deal more creativity than we ever had before! and uh, after the glitter wore down...they were kinda limiting!

now we've got a greater expansion upon both! a convergence of sorts with a soft new art style and a grand many more options!

in the first teaser, we saw that the hair can be bouncy, highlighted, dyed, and textured. in the second, we saw that it's separated into 3 categories: sets, bangs, and back.

now, we've seen just about everything!

sets, bangs, and back: the 2 and a half horsemen of hairstyling...hooray!

"sets," to me, looks like preset hair options that pre-include both bangs and back, sort of like we always had before but presumably with more options. i don't think we've gotten a proper glimpse of those, so i won't comment too much on them for now.

"bangs" (or UK "fringe") are as you would expect! this is a feature we were first granted in miitopia's wig styling settings, wherein we had a dozen or so options of bang styles to pair with or two or so dozen wigs. like before, depending on which bangs you select, you can leave them as-is or mirror the shape if it fits the character better. neato!

"back" is also as you would expect! we're being absolutely spoiled with the amount of variations here...length, style, shape, texture...yes!!! YES!!!!!!!! for certain styles, some "tied-up" options appear that look like they let you decide how it should be styled (one bun, two buns, sideswept, the like...). certain backs can be mirrored as well!

we also get to see the color options! i forget if we've already seen them but either way we are TALKING ABOUT THEM AGAIN!!!

(it's pretty simple actually...)

as is standard for every mii on planet nintendo, you initially choose one main hair color! given the game's customizability (and also hugh morris and bubbles's glorious hairdos), this can probably be any color.

you can also check off a box that will let you give it a sub-color! which can also be any color! then you get rad color-faded highlights, a lot like with miitopia's wigs! can't wait to play with this feature myself!!!

EYES:

what fun what fun!!! we were wondering how miitopia makeup might have evolved and by golly how fundamental it has become?!??! windows to the soul more like windows to all of nintendo's deep dark secrets??!!

that's right, folks! miitopia enjoyers of all shapes, sizes, and eyelashes! our eye tab has recently been split into 7, count them, 7!!! 7 new tabs! i'll break em down bullet point style because that will probably be ever so slightly less hellish to read idk you tell me

shape:

many of you have heard news about many features now being totally optional! unfortunately, it does not look like eyes count amongst em...BUT we have a bunch of cool new shapes now! as is the switch mii standard, it looks like they can be any color. the various manipulation options (move, stretch, rotate) remain as they always have.

top lash

oh but this is a development! we had the addition of self-prescribed eyelashes in miitopia, and the same thing is sort of going on here! players can choose a shape for their mii's top eyelash (including none at all!) and it can be moved, stretched, and rotated.

bottom lash

same as above (except, you know, below)!

line above

so some mii eyes have lines below them...some above....and now, you have control of them! pretty similarly to the lashes, you can choose from two shapes (or omit the line entirely) and manipulate its size, width, angle, and position to your liking.

line below

same as above (but, like, below)!

sparkles

aaaaaand once more familiar to miitopia fans, the eye shinies! the little sparklies! your proof of sentience, emotional capacity, and vitality!!! these are a bit more restricted than miitopia's version because players can only choose one shape to put in their mii's eyes...but like the other features, they can change the sparkles' size, width, position, rotation...the works!

NOSES:

this one is short, sweet, and to the point. we have most of our same ol' good ol' noses...a few new ones...and FUCKING FINALLY!!!!!!!! THE OPTION!!!!!!!! TO HAVE NO MORE SNIFFER!!!!!!!!!!!! NO MORE HONK!!!!!!!! NO MORE SNIFF SNIFF!!!!!!!! WE CAN BE OUR TRUE AUTHENTIC SELVES!!!!!!! NOSE GOES????????????!?!? NO NOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry i got excited

anyway basically! a few more options, including nose purge! this is absolutely hype! they're pretty standard and all their manipulation options remain the same.

MOUTH:

another very awesome set of additions here!!! we get tons more shapes and some exciting new options in general!

in addition to new mouth shapes (very fun new mouth shapes at that!!!), we one more have the option to omit a feature whatsoever! no mouth! i have no mouth and i must mii! so sayeth @/prismjiinx!

we also have the option to add or remove lips/lipstick to just about any mouth shape. i have no idea if this feature applies to those few mouths that actually feature lips, please do not ask me because i am scared to find out! also, following general themes, they can be any color.

(i jest, i'm actually curious to know...i, myself, doubt the lipstick will be removable for those shapes...)

one more exciting feature of note is that, in addition to our existing ability to move and stretch the mouth, we can now angle it as well!!! the potential mischief triples in an instant!!!!

EARS:

could they even hear us if we screamed...

jokes aside, kickass new feature! we can choose from 4 shapes (2 circular, 1 pointed, 1 double-arched) or none and manipulate size and position. they conform to the mii's overall skin tone. cool beans!

GLASSES:

ANOTHER EXCITING ONE!!!

miitopia showed some promising glasses shapes and now tomodachi life really delivers! we have grand sweeping swathes of versatile visual prosthetics to choose from! glasses, sunglasses, monocles, shaded monocles...anything you could ask for, whether you're visually impaired or pretend you are because the frames make you look smart!

in addition to size and position, we can now change the glasses' width, too!

frames can be, as always, any color! hooray! and, wonder of wonders, sunglasses lenses can also be color swapped!!! i'm unclear on whether regular glasses can also swap lense color or if it's just sunglasses - we'll just have to see for ourselves.

OTHER FACIAL FEATURES:

another expansion on previous limitations! truly, we are caged birds no longer! how is it we sing? free at last!!!

"other facial features" incllluuuuuuuuude:

eye wrinkles/creases

cheek wrinkles/creases

facial hair (shadow)

mustache

beard

beauty mark

eyeshadow

blush/freckles

each in its own manipulable category! most of these, we don't get to see in the direct itself (as far as i know?)...so we'll have to leave those up in the air for now, but we can imagine based on everything else we've seen that we should have some new options mixed in with the old which should allow more creative freedom, self-expression, representation...etc!

we DO we do we DOOOO get to see the last category though! blush and/or freckles!

previously we could only select from 2 blush shapes of 2 shades, OR freckles...now we can choose freckles, blush, or freckles AND blush of multiple shapes! what's more, we can make that blush any color we like, and we can manipulate its size and position! miitopia's legacy blesses us again!!!

BODY TYPE:

same as always! tasteful, in my opinion. cute!

GENDER:

LEGENDARY??!?!?!? GROUNDBREAKING??!?!?!?!?!?!! compile the collective scream each tomodachi fan produced at this very moment and you could shatter glass.

they can be masc! they can be fem!!! they can be neutral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we fucking won!!!!!! woketendo forever!!!!!!! fuckin!!! wokemadachi life!!!! oh yeah baby!!!!

aside from representation excitement, this is about what you'd expect! we do away with the gender icons and choose the word alone. choose one gender for your mii! presumably, unlike in the previous game, this would be changeable at any time. don't hold me accountable for this but uhh i don't see why they'd have to gender lock anymore! yahoo! (some questions do still linger but maybe i'll post about that another time...i gots work to do for now...)

SEXUALITY:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA LETSGO???!??!?!?!?!! THERE IS NO LOSING TODAY??!?!?!??!

well, kinda!

you can make your mii straight! you can make em gay! you can make em bi! you can make em pan! and...best of all? you can make them completely indifferent!!! that's right!!! after 14 long years, aromanticism is real!!!!!!! as is homosexuality!!!! and various other options in-between!!!

honestly not much to add here either, this is just awesome. not even sugarcoated or anything, it's just like. it's just fuckin there this is just how we roll now?! let's literally go to the moon and back forever?!

lol yeah i definitely have to talk about this more but for now we can just bask in it

PERSONALITY:

standard, as we love it! as expected, some wording has changed, and it's always different between regions, so there's not too much to read into here for now. more on that when the game releases, i do believe!

however, something i noticed is that up until they're given their personalities, the miis in the trailer don't have a sweater color...but when they do finally appear ready to move into their new houses, they sport a sweater matching their personality's main color, and their house walls match it. ...why? well, here's what i think...

it could be just a cute detail nintendo added offscreen in whichever menu controls favorite color!

or maybe miis don't have favorite colors anymore? there's a noticeable lack still of that menu that determines age, birthday, favorite color...personal information like that. more on this tangent later!

CUSTOMIZATION:

we get a brief glimpse of this with mocha's conception! we'll take a closer look at the menus later, but...

beyond what we've been given now (which is already miitastic beyond belief!!!!)...we can do anything! we have the power to draw directly on our miis' faces! really, what else could you ask for?

in the direct's case, this power was used to draw a plushie pattern on our little stuffed bear. it's a lot less awkward than the "mask/sticker" options we had to influence shapes/markings in miitopia!

our customization powers look an awful lot like the custom design tools in animal crossing new horizons, so we can put our skills (or lack thereof) to the test thanks to those! anything you can imagine is something you can draw, so get ready to put your imagination to the test!

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

rapid fire!

default skin tone choices remain the same as provided in switch launch (i think, so more than doubly inclusive as 3DS era by default)

skin can be ANY color

no new face shapes (all same as before, as far as i can tell)

"done" and "exit" buttons in US ver are "i'm done!" and "i give up" in UK ver (and that's just cute lol)

we got an undo button! ("X"!)

can choose name pronunciation!

WHAT'S MISSING?

what we've seen is amazing!!! revolutionary!!! nothing like anything we've ever seen before!!!! never has a mii game been so customizable or inclusive!!!! this truly is the new decade!!!! (,,,even though we're nearly halfway through now....progress is progress, as it were...)

the biggest problem at the forefront of my mind, accounting or not for all this glorious news, is one previously prevalent menu...i talked about this in my initial analyses as well...

where is the personal information menu? there, in the previous game, the player entered a mii's first name, last name, birthday, age, gender, favorite color...how now?

this is a lot of personal information...it makes sense, kind of, that if they wanted to keep users more safe (or, more restricted), they would remove this part of the game

however, if we can't share miis to begin with, would it be a problem to keep it?

nintendo switch's mii maker doesn't have first names, last names, or birthdays - only nicknames and favorite colors

we can give miis one name, but what about their favorite color? no menu was shown where we could choose that...

in angie's personal menu, we COULD see the icons designating whether or not she's a child, so there would have to have been confirmation of her birthday, or at least birth year...that we didn't see...

so...are they omitting the portion of mii maker where we choose birthday and/or favorite color, or has that part been scrapped altogether?

well...i can only speculate for now. what do y'all think?

masterpost

[tomodailii]

hai!!!! so there's the whole....20 minute long....tomodachi life living the dream direct tomorrow (or today if you're in many other time zones besides mine)......i dunno about you but i am......fairly hyped......

heh!!! haha!!!! despite everything, i am actually surprised!!!! i didn't think they'd give us a direct for this!!!! i didn't think they would!!! <3 (although i allowed myself the inkling of a thought when i saw that there'd been one for the mario galaxy movie...)

i'm so excited!!!!!! i'm!!!! so!!!!!! excited!!!!!!! :D !!!!!! when i say i never thought it would happen it's less cynicism and more just.....disbelief!!!!!! joy!!!!! surprise!!!!!!!! i honestly thought we'd have just those two trailers to go off of.....maybe a third out of a larger direct late may or early spring like last year (a year passed?!??!!? when??!?!!).....that's one of many reasons why i finally went in and really scoured those other trailers....only a few days ago!!!! the timing is...delectable!!!!!!!!!!!

i've been a tomodachi fan for longer than i could even comprehend it....like i'm...i'm so happy right now???!??!?!?!! i guess i can give full on confessionals later if there's time..... really, i was caught off guard by even this! i was ramping up with all my nonsense analyses and research essays precisely because i thought i'd have at least a month or two before something like...something like this would happen??!?! hahah!!!!! i have so many incorrect theories left to talk about, though i guess i can still do that even after they're proven wrong...

anyway! people have been tossing out tomodachi life direct wish lists and predictions left and right since it was announced! i haven't watched or read any of them!!! -i wanted to form my own first....so...

actual predictions:

romance of course!!!!!

something i only realized today....they showed the whole town hall menu n the 2014 direct (4:28), including a hint at the child info tab....it's...it's possible guys...

makeup/mii customization

island customization/expansion

the café

and if i had to guess...probably at least one mii eating something

and at least one event!

RELEASE DATE!!!!

and for my wishlist...i won't hold back!!!

RELEASE DATE!!!!!

romance?!??!

babies..?

some kind of hint about new traveler/similar connection features...

hints toward more buildings to unlock...

anything about item tabs? there must be more to see if they completely hid it in the last trailer....(or i'd like to think so!!)

seasons?

weather?

I WANT ONE MII TO SING. JUST ONE.....

any events?

mii items (cats, dogs?)

miitopia ties?

anything!!!! everything!!!!!

i have limited time to speculate now....the direct is uh...premiering...literally right in the middle of my finals...so i really need to go study for those....uh but those are just some of my thoughts and wishes!!!! i feel SO MANY feeling sabout this haAHAHAHA!!!!!! i'm excited, anxious, curious, nervous, ecstatic....so many things all at once!!!!

i know i keep saying this, but i never expected i'd be so lucky as to see the sequel to this game that captured my heart nearly 10 years ago like this, and it never even crossed my mind that i'd have people to share it with...so thank you!!! i'll see you guys after the premiere tomorrow! i hope all your dreams come true....and that we'll all get to live them together!!!!

[tomodailii]

OK GANG LET'S TALK ABOUT LITTLE QUIRKS AND CATCHPHRASES!!!!

this should be a shorter one to cover, luckily! this is a fun new feature that sums itself up pretty well. we can ask questions, and inference will fill in the vast majority of info gaps.

so, little quirks!

you all know that hugh morris gif! you've sent it! don't lie to me! we're all in the same discord server!

quirks can influence a mii's behavior in lots of little ways. be it how they walk, how they greet you, how they eat, how they present themselves, various other small habits...pretty neato, yea?

they're represented as these round orb things that you can give to a mii, which they promptly absorb and become a bit more like themselves.

here's a little list of all the quirks we see, first off!

in terms of moving around:

floating, waddling, dancing (JP only), slouching (assuming this isn't a personality thing instead)...

greeting:

polite, bodacious, exaggerated courtesy

"i finally feel a bit more like myself" whatever the shit that was (+ the little hand flap in UK ver)

eating:

flamboyant, vigorous, exaggerated disgust, absolutely monstrous voracity

misc:

wipe sweat (US only), eepy toss/turn

it's adorable! it's hilarious! it is, in essence....quirky!!!

so these quirks exist to give miis an opportunity to express their individuality. even though plenty of the actions are mundane enough, it's...invigorating just to see them act as they would! it adds...human interest! it makes them feel more authentic as funny characters that do things their way.

now....i dunno about you, but i sure as hell have some questions. i have also thought of answers to those questions! now you get to read both!

*keep in mind i am a lowly teen fan who has never come close to any dev in its short miserable life, im no authority this is ALLLLLLL guesswork/speculation!!

will quirks overshadow personality/will personality play less of a role or have reduced influence on everyday character traits?

i think it's not impossible for this to happen, if the devs want these quirks to influence a mii's character more greatly than their personality, thereby giving them more individuality.

personality did have influence on some things that now seem to be delegated to little quirks, like how a mii walks or small habits they have (like how only miis of a certain personality group would cry when they were upset...).

they haven't removed the personality system altogether (how could they!), so i doubt there will be no personality influence at all over a mii's behavior. i think at worst, their personalities will be toned down to let their little quirks shine brighter.

it's also possible that personality will be exactly as it was before, and little quirks will just override certain small aspects of personality...such as how they walk!

where you you even get these quirks?

it's not like there's some kind of little quirk store so where the FUCK did that freaky clown learn to do THAT?????

i mean actually, there could be, right? namely the marketplace. probably. in the old game, you could get rare treasures, clothing, food items, and interiors from the night market's mystery bags. now all we know about mystery bags is the LION?????? WHY IS THERE A LION IN THERE??????? WHAT??????? so it's not hard to believe that these "little quirk" spheres could be tucked away in some of those bags, cozying up to our feline friends, ready to invade our house and home and hugh. they could be on sale at another time of day at the marketplace as well...who knows?

aside from that, it's possible we could win them from minigames or get them as gifts from miis. maybe less possible...would be fun tho! maybe you could get them from events too? if there is such a thing?

will you start the game with any on hand?

i dunno, maybe? probably not? it depends on how you get them and how rare they are, i think. it'd be fun to have a few little options of ways to influence your brand new mii right off the bat, but it might be weird to fit it into the tutorial.

~~ essentially thinking out loud here pardon me ~~

i'm gonna go with probably not since it would be weird to throw traits at your mii before you've even taken them out to dinner first, but maybe once the tutorial is either over or in late-stages once you start unlocking more things...

once you discover a quirk, will you have an infinite supply of that quirk?

i suppose i could go either way on this, but i think not? since it's an item you physically give to a mii, maybe you could have multiple of the same kind of quirk in storage, but your total number of stored quirk would probably decrease.

in other words: probably not!

once you give a quirk to a mii, will it be limited to only that mii?

meaning, if you give a certain quirk to a mii, does that mean you can't give that quirk to any other miis, so that it's completely unique to that mii?

also probably not because that would be silly and limiting and nobody would like that...although if the system were somehow this way, it would have to influence the answers to the next few questions.

can you remove a quirk from a mii?

i don't see why not. why should we have to doom them to one mannerism forever? people change. miis can too! there would probably be a menu or some other way to swap them out.

if you can remove a given quirk, can you get it back or is it lost to spaghetti code forever?

in other words, can you get your item back, or is it used up forever?

i could go either way on this. historically, once you give a mii an item, unless it's food and they're too full to eat it, or it's a toy and they're too upset to play with it, it's gone forever.

if we think of quirks in terms of the hair dye item from tomodachi life 2014, it's a temporary modifier whose effects can be undone, but can't be recovered afterward.

however, if quirks are rarer (or completely locked to one mii/there's only one of each), maybe the merciful thing for the player would be the speedy return of their mii modifier.

...but based on how item consumption usually works in these games, i think once it's given, it's gone, and you'll probably have to decide for yourself if you want to give a mii a quirk that you might choose to sacrifice later if a better one rolls around.

would they be considered a collectable?

like food, interiors, clothing, treasures, items, etc? yeah probably

can miis refuse to accept a quirk?

maybe if the quirk you're giving them is one that would get in the way of a quirk they already have, or even spicier...if it doesn't match their personality?

in the former case, they'd probably tell you you'd need to switch it out (or like "i'm happy with how i am now, thanks!" and you'd have to remove the old quirk standing in the way of your new one). the latter case probably wouldn't happen because it would be restrictive but it'd be kinda interesting!

can miis have multiple quirks that influence the same kind of trait in different ways?

see previous question because that's what i think would happen if you tried, but never say never. maybe it's case-by-case!

can you sell quirks instead of giving them away?

in the old game, you can sell treasures, but that's it - everything else, you either keep or give away. some things, like "rite price" and "my treasures" are still a mystery, so we don't know how any kind of selling system would really work...so based on past examples alone, i'd say probably not unless we can sell other stuff too.

will little quirk behaviors influence mii relationships one way or the other?

like, will the actions they take or the way those actions are taken make the miis around them like them more or less? this is something i can only speculate about, i just think it would be really cool if true. some quirks making certain miis more or less compatable with each other...spicy! dramatic! flavorful!!!

are some quirks rarer or more common than others?

might depend on how we get them! if my idea about the marketplace being the primary source of quirks, then it could be totally random! items from daily mystery bags (2014 edition) do give different sound effects depending on the mystery item's value, but that's not really the same as rarity.

items that miis gave you for solving problems, on the other hand, did have something of a rarity system - they were way more likely to give you something common like cold medicine or a bath set than they were to give you something truly coveted like a sewing machine or a travel ticket. i have no idea if treasures have rarity! i think they're randomly generated! do not trust me on that one!

...so, aside from depending on the initial source for all things little and quirky, it also depends on what kind of item treatment they receive - gift like food or clothes, interactive item like hair dye or travel ticket, or profitable like treasures?

if your mii reproduces, will the baby inherit any of their quirks?

i dunno! i hope so! i think that would be cute and funny!

i will keep thinking up more questions forever if nobody stops me nobody should let me post on the internet i keep telling people this

WE ALSO GET TO SEE CATCHPHRASEEEEEES!!!!!!!

or, like, they're called expressions in the video....so yeah! this was a major feature in the old game, and i imagine it's improved here. we don't get to see much more than a glimpse, so we kinda have to infer beyond that point?

but what we do see is a menu the same make/build as the new mii maker menu, where you can input a phrase for a mii to say at a certain time. in the example given, the mii is given a phrase to tack on to the end of a sentence. then we get to see how they would do that and it's so cute??! it is so cute??!?!!

miis have had catchphrases since the olden days, so this is a familiar concept - they're implemented differently here so far, but it's the same idea. formerly, you could give them a short phrase to say depending on their mood, and they'd often say it when they greeted you, but it would be its own standalone message.

this time, the catchphrase is more integrated in their speech pattern, essentially taking the animal crossing approach of tossing it in every once and a while. based on the UK example, we can see that their end-of-sentence phrase doesn't actually follow every single sentence, and i've thought of a few potential ways that'd be integrated...

could be a countdown (like - a rule is set that every 5 sentences, they say their phrase, and then the countdown resets and goes again like that)

could be randomly generated (there's a dice roll for every sentence to see if they'll say their phrase)

certain sentences automatically trigger the phrase

some combination of these?

i imagine it would either be randomly generated, or maybe rng with some specific triggers? i dont make games dont trust anything i say pls...

my main other questions pertain to other phrases we could give to miis - if there's one at the end of a sentence, could there be one at the start, too (...probably not the middle...), and will there still be emotion-specific phrases like in the old game?

the "what should i say when i'm [feeling]?" problem will plague me into adulthood but i think i'd find myself lost without it....

anyway i think that's all! agree? disagree? other questions? vile slander? hit me in whatever format is most agreeable for you!

masterpost

[tomodailii]

OK GANG LET'S TALK ABOUT INTERACTABILITY!!!!!!

initially, i was going to combine this post with the customization one but i don't really think it fits, having thought about it some more...

interactability, to me, is interactability for miis! as in, how can they interact with the world around them? in terms of an anatomist's 10 characteristics of life, this would include movement, responsiveness, and uh. anything else that would apply, depending on what these interactions entail.

customization, on the other hand, i ended up classifying completely within the confines of what we, the players, could influence or interact with. both concepts certainly go hand in hand - after all, we'll be the ones designing our island to be interacted with! - but i ultimately decided it would be easier to split them up for now so we could have a proper look at each, because frankly, thinking about all this custom-mumbo-jumbo makes me so nervous i can feel my windpipe becoming more of a stirring-stick than a straw!

(IM JOKING BY THE WAY!!!!! ITS JUST INTIMIDATING TO THINK ABOUT!!!!!)

so, interactability! because i wasn't planning to cover this at length (more of an append to the larger customization post!), this will be a pretty short discussion. unless i start getting ideas! then it will be a long one! let's call this one improv.

miis interacting with their outside environment was a hugely integral facet in the old game! as you unlocked more locations, they could go out and do more things! so many features like this, that highlight a mii's humanity in relatable circumstances - laid out to complement their inherent quirk! - are what make tomodachi life so special! they could sunbathe or build sandcastles on the beach, jog at the park and take walks around the fountain, zone out at the café, get dizzy on the rides at the amusement park...and they'd go whether or not you were there to stop them! chances are, your miis are doing all of those things right now! i know mine are!

humanity in miis is something i've been thinking about more and more frequently for the past few weeks. that's gotta be one of the most enticing elements of tomodachi life (and miitopia! and other mii games?) because as much as it's a fantastical, idyllic concept - an island just for you and your friends, supplied with everything you could ever ask for, and the total price of anything cowers to undermine your infinite friendship! -, our miis still do the most quotidian things! they get hungry, they fight, they ask for new outfits, they hate everything you give them...they laugh, they cry, they play, they give you advice you didn't ask for and fart regardless of who's present...they sell you scalped goods and scorn you for window shopping, play tricks on each other, build lasting relationships, and fall in love. it is so completely and utterly...human! i adore it. i have 900 hours in this game...

well! it's now the modern era, 2026, and nintendo's been hitting the upgrade button on cozy game customization nonstop for, like, 6 years now? probably more. not gonna get into that one because it will make me feel both young and old at the same time!

all this to say, there are new and modern ways to watch your mii amuse itself! completely by hand, no less! from start to finish! purchase to placement to forceful coercion!

WHAT CAN THEY DO?

before i go to crazy, i'd...better enter bullet point mode to set us all a little more in order. there are 3 main modes of interaction that i want to highlight! this is exclusive to what miis have the ability to do entirely on their own, independent of player input (disregarding the effort it takes to place items on an island or gift items to a mii).

A) building interactions (things miis can do inside and outside of buildings)

B) island interactions (just about anything they'd do outside, especially if it pertains to some kind of placed item...barring A and C)

C) personal item interactions (interactions with personally owned items that miis likely obtained as level-up gifts)

because the game is so outside-focused, we don't really see much indoor action...and i can't speak to what would be interactive there, aside from those personal items. if i'm being totally honest, the rooms feel like they're smaller to encourage miis to get out during the day...lol (we've seen NOTHING!!! about player-gifted items...im talking like...the bath set and the sewing machine and stuff...on the edge of my seat waiting to find out more....)

now!!! my rough observations!

building interactions:

sit on fountain!

chat in restaurant

ride ferris wheel

and, of course...work in building!!!!!!

island interactions:

sit on benches!

sit at tables! chat! short miis sit on cushions because they are tiny and pathetic!!!

get splished by water fountain...become sopping wet!!!

give a healthy boost to the island's electricity bill by blinking the street lights on and off! (not sure if that was in this direct but it was in the last one and i just think its really funny like who let you do that!!!! stop!!!! thats public property!!!!! get your spherical lil hands offa that!!!!!)

use vending machines! soda pop? ramyon? only thing that's missing is the couch!

play in sprinkler ofc

smiff flower

eep on beach chair

YAHOO on the ridey animals!

personal item interactions:

read books (in addition to horror from the september trailer, we've now added quiz books and comic books! and whatever rosa is reading during the tutorial!!)

play on laptop (hey jus tlike me!!!) - true to its function, this item is now portable...to the outside world!!!

knitting?

play guitar! this has been seen both out and inside now!

paint and easel!

CAMERA/!?!!!! WAIT SORRY I JUST NOTICED THIS I AM SO GIVING THAT TO XIO

MARACAS!!!!!

crystal in the US direct and hina in the JP direct are both messing with what appear to be treasures (crystal ball and clay doll), not actual items - guess this is a thing now?

wave around/spar with toy swords that look suspiciously like that one type of weapon from star wars, you may have heard of it... (mocha has one! we also saw something like this in september...now with better clarity!)

PLAY ON NINTENDO SWITCH HAHAH!!!!

this is all stuff they can do on their own with a little outside nudging from the player! doubtless, many more interactions will be available - for the most part, this is only what's shown in this particular direct (all 3 versions!), which ends up leaving out much of what might have been shown in previous trailers. i need this game out already. auGH!!!

BY THE WAY WHAT IS UP WITH THE DOG

I DON'T KNOW??????? HELP?????

sorry i almost forgot to talk about THE OUPPY????W???!?! wHAT IS THAT THING??!?!

everybody knows about the rent-a-pet coupons ofc!!!! i made a weird gag reference out of them like a year ago that nobody should have gotten because i am the proprietor of that particular vault of knowledge for which no other mortal has entered!

ANYWAY WHATTHE FUCK IS THAT

well, this is another instance of palette house ruining my life because I DO NOT KNOW and I AM SCARED and it possibly means that pets are returning only as custom items, which would be a little disappointing, endlessly funny, and/or both (now...now i'm thinking about catpetterz....god do i need to make a post about this too)...

it looks like we either get the custom pets or we get the custom pets AND the regular pets (yet to be seen, so...) but we most CERTAINLY will get the custom pets please never get them wet

WHAT CAN WE DO?

now, aside from setting up the island (customizing and decorating!) and giving gifts (presumably through level-ups), there's one more crucial way players can set the dominoes in place.

or, like, if this is a hamster maze, and you're building the maze up with toys and treats, then this next bit is the act of taking the hamster out of its cage and placing it in the maze proper...because the next best thing we can do is pick them up ourselves in our enormous, photo-realistic hands, and bend them to our will!!!

that is to say, as has been common knowledge since september's trailer opened our eyes following a late spring and broiling summer of uncertainly...miis can be picked up, moved, and dropped somewhere else to do something more interesting!

previously, this feature was demonstrated in a purely social setting, and it's shown the same way here again. truly an invaluable tool! for now, since it isn't quite time to cover socialisation and mii-to-mii interaction just yet, this aspect will be regarded through a material lense.

SORRY I TOOK A FEW DAYS OFF WRITING THESE TO READ LITERATURE AND IT DID SOMETHING TO ME I THINK

ahem so! in september, we saw that a mii could be picked up and made to meet with another mii and they could make friends that way! thank goodness i'm not a mii because i think if a disembodied hand interrupted what i was doing and dragged me over to a stranger and told me to introduce myself i would just start crying and never stop ever! anyway we saw that again in the january direct so we're very confident that's a thing now

cool detail though! whereas in september, the miis we saw meet up were quite idle, not really interacting with anything in their environments since there was nothing of note near enough by (although one was reading, if i recall). to contrast, during the direct's brief recap, the miis of the hour are sitting on benches.

why is this noteworthy?

benches are both decorative AND interactive AND they are also very good nap spots! our concern is with the former 2 qualities. more specifically, the latter of those former! specifically, interactive!

they're an item that can be placed down as decoration by the player. yes, good! they can be sat upon by miis. even better, still! miis can be placed upon them by the player. this truly is the future!

although later, our main character's initial suitor will show this mechanic to us properly during his not-so-chance encounter with a sprinkler, our first glimpse at player-initiated interactions between miis and inanimate objects is offered here.

for a brief moment, between when the player picks up our dear whimsical friend-to-be (crystal, alex, or hina), their former perch sports a notable white outline. beside our captive friend's head is an orange word! beside crystal, "show," and beside alex, "interact" (later, resident cocky boy toy will appear much the same when presented with resident evil and intimidating sprinkler).

hAHAH!! i tricked you into listening to me talk about menus again!!!!!!

when the social victim is moved away from the bench and its white outline, that orange word changes to a simple black "drop" command. the player presses "A" to fulfill either action! when moved close to another mii, the option becomes "meet" (or "make 'em meet!" in alex's case!) which we will come back to another time!

all this to say...our influence stretches far! our miis can interact with things, places, and other miis at their leisure, but we have the power to move it along... unlocking buildings, setting out decorations, gifting items, and now, even moving the interactions along by our own hand!

i didn't have a concrete thesis going into this and no matter what i say here i'll probably try to close out pretending i did, so please remember to never listen to me!

thinking about how inherently player-shaped this new world is leads me to wonder a little bit. earlier, i was waxing praise about tomodachi life's unique humanity. i think it's still true and will still continue to be true! ...but there was something off-putting about all this new customization that i couldn't really put my finger on until i managed to shine a light on just how much player influence really exists in this new game.

there was plenty in the old game, sure- i've played this game for a billion hours over a trillion years, i know how to play god! was that necessarily the most fun for me, though? not always, i don't think? although it's certainly the most successful playthrough i've ever had

what strikes me is that the grand majority of mii interactions (interpersonal and otherwise) in the 3DS version were out of the player's control. sure, if somebody wanted to be friends with somebody else, you could say yes or no and keep that up for as long as you wanted, but you couldn't initiate interactions yourself. they may be able to interact with their environment in a certain way, but you couldn't make them do it. they leave their apartments to hang out around the island, and you can't talk or play with them unless you call the, home...now, you can shape their world just right and line up the interactions as you like!

i don't mean to paint this new latitude in a bad light - in fact, writing it out now, my points sound pretty weak. There is beyond plenty of power and control already present in the old game, if you know how to wield it! I'd tell you about it someday but then i'd probably be put on several lists!

the crux of the matter is whether or not our upgraded marionette's crossbar will underhand any degree of that sort of quirky, everyday human spirit that we experience by just watching our miis go about their daily lives...

...but that's for you, the player, to decide! everyone's experience is unique. some people will like certain features more than others, and they may enhance or inhibit a person's experience, per preference.

i know that may have been kinda gloomy- it's something i've been meaning to articulate for a while but hadn't yet the right words. i have hope and confidence in this game! the more i think about it, the less dire my worries seem to me. i'll be discussing this more in the customization post, which incidentally should be coming out just after this one!

in the meantime, tell me your thoughts! how do you think our new freedoms might positively or negatively affect player experience? which mii items/interactions are you excited to see coming back? what are some things you hope they'll be able to do?

theoretically if you're reading this then the customization post is already written and scheduled too bUT ITS OK BC IM CURIOUS!!!! feed me your thoughts!!!

[tomodailii]

its gonna take me a WHILE to go thru every little tidbit of news we got today!!!! for now, what are your guys' thoughts on the direct? what did you get to check off your wishlist? was there anything that diappointed you? made you laugh? what do you still have questions about? i know i absolutely fucking screamed at least 3 times (extra credit if you can guess what did it lol)

[tomodailii]

OK GANG LET'S TALK ABOUT CUSTOMIZABILITY!!!!!!!!!!

THE BIG ONE!!!!! IVE BEEN SO AFRAID OF THIS ONE!!!!!! AAAAAA!!!!!!

i'm really tired!!! we're just gonna go for it!

ladies, gentlemen, mii fans of all shapes and styles...not only have we been fed heartily this fine day...but have, i daresay, been given the keys to the kitchen!!!! we are now!!!! the chef!!!!!

in terms of dishes in our repertoire, we have about 4 main sauces we can branch off from. they often tie into each other. very strongly themed establishment we've found ourselves in! or, in other words - there are like 4 or so big categories of customization that can be divvied up into smaller chunks that tend to tie back into each other. pplenty of it directly influences mii interactability (as previously covered) as well, which is why i initially paired the two topics together.

MIIS:

we've talked about mii maker at length before! i don't have to go over every detail again, i'm sure- you can find plenty of sources for that! it's exciting though, so it's worth mentioning again!

we get something new about basically every feature, or if it wasn't explicitly new, it's made more convenient in some way (such as mii skin tone)! just about every tab has at least a handful of new variations and some go above and beyond to let you completely personalize each and every detail (like eyes)!

(people have discussed the return of shaky mii-making tutorials, but i wonder if direct replication like that is even possible at this point...)

and - what's this?! a whole custom design menu?! well, this is a fun twist!

only a glimpse is offered, but a telling one indeed, of our new customization menu, which will be shown again in several other contexts later in the palette house segment. what we see for the time being is mocha's synthesis as the peculiar little bear we know and love today! long story short, instead of pasting different shapes together to create a mask of one's own face as in miitopia, we can now draw directly on a mii's face to simulate those features not available in even our extensive new mii maker!

as will be seen later, the menu for drawing on a mii is near identical to the menu used for customizing items. here are my rough notes on the features included, going from left to right, top to bottom:

"L" to undo, "R" to redo

move drawing

select and move drawing

TEXT?!?!?!?!? ON MY MII'S FACE?!??!?!!?!?

stamps

shapes

bucket fill

pen

eraser

color picker

special effects

settings

zoom/move camera (joysticks, typical)

colors!

to reiterate, all of these features are available in the exact same positions in the shown custom items menus, so this appears to be the standard.

specifically, what differs in mocha's customization screen compared to all others is that, seemingly because mocha is a mii, a small icon shows up in the middle-left region sporting a default smiling face. i'm of the idea that this icon will let you switch the mii's expression as you're customizing them, which would let you see how your variations would appear accordingly! we had a similar feature in miitopia's makeup menu, and this new icon's placement looks like a more convenient version of that since it's more easily accessible.

i also had the thought that it could let the player draw different designs for different expressions (which would be very cool) - though i think that's probably not the case...exciting hypotheticals!]

another note - i've noticed what look to be layering features/tools in some inanimate object customization showcasing later on, none of which is directly shown during the mocha customization clip. in terms of layering, all we've seen is drawings that show up underneath integral facial features such as mocha's eyes and mouth. because of how layering worked in miitopia (and how, no matter what you tried, you just...couldn't cover the nose), i'm curious to see what limitations may or may not be in store for this feature.

another another note...technically, we could draw on our miis' faces before - while they were asleep! if you'll recall, it was a very simple menu with limited colors and only 3 pen sizes, and the drawings were wiped away once the menu was closed out (or when you hit erase, then the mii's face would be removed along with the drawings...). not that is is a direct carryover but its still interesting! unlike what we saw of mocha's manifestation, these nocturnal prank drawings were layered exclusively over top of the mii's facial features.

DÉCOR:

alright! we've talked about quikbuild before, we're already familiar with this concept!

players can buy decorations, move buildings around, shape their islands, and toss their miis into the fray and explore the consequences of their godly actions. so...let's take a look at the fundamental parts that make this possible.

forever foremost is quikbuild! it's introduced with a scenario, actually, in which local old lady implores local nintendo employee to please, think of the environment! or, simply put - shows another example problem! miis can suggest changes to the island's scenery such as, in this case, the addition of greenery (planted directly on concrete....also, the plant placement is slightly different in each direct for some reason! not sure why)!

anyway it's at this point that our crazy new hardware store is established! as discussed before, it divides our decorative options into 5 distinct categories - items, fences, plants, buildings, and custom items. also as discussed, the shop segment shows us only the former 3...but it's possible that we can see the others indirectly in other places!

each of these categories seems to be interactive for the miis in some way (except for maybe fences? remains to be seen), more or less! let's chat about em for a sec...

items...

represented in quikbuild's menu by a streetlamp! tasteful! street lamps really stand out to me at this stage of the not-having-the-game yet because of that one 2025 trailer (i want to say september? but it could have been march) where the sapphic mii switches the street lamp on and off seriously who let her do that

doubtless some items will be more decorative than entertaining, but it looks like more of these than not, at least as presented in the direct, have more interactability than not. benches, tables, sprinklers, street lamps, vending machines, water fountains...i believe we have ourselves a very well-equipped torture nexus!

jokes aside, these seem made by miis for miis...or at least, by somebody who likes miis for miis! there is a plethora of fun items that miis and players alike can admire and engage with as they please...i can't wait to see what's in store!

fences...

out of every other option, these are probably the most obviously decorative. i imagine they'd offer some navigation obstruction (you could probably trap miis with them that'd be pretty funny actually), and beyond that, just something nice to look at/landscape with. they were the leading building block in That One showcased island, after all!

plants...

our introductory decoration! nature's nature! it hardly gets more natural!

there are trees, flowers, flower beds, hedges... weeds already on the island, to be dealt with when we first move in...one of the first things a modern mii has ever done is admire some flowers' natural fragrance!

note that plants in different seasonal variations have been seen - green (summer), blossoming? (spring), orange (autumn), white/snowed upon (winter). this raises questions about seasons that i'll be tackling again in a moment...

buildings...

this is one of the two tabs we don't see! presumably, since the integral tutorial buildings (food, clothing, interiors, construction, fountain) have plots that we don't see of any other buildings (photo, restaurant, news, marketplace, etc.), the remainder would originate from this tab of quikbuild. maybe! they could be from somewhere else, too! this just makes the most sense to me!

buildings were something to be unlocked in the previous game, and based on the tutorial plots system shown in the direct, the same rings true here. as to whether that extends to buildings beyond those initial 5 is something i can't confirm now...

...but, i've also noticed that some of the example islands shown include more than one of the same shop - so like, 2 or more food marts on one island, for example...

...so you'd have to set that up somewhere! what makes most sense to me is that you'd buy it from quikbuild and set it up from there. maybe for certain buildings, like the marketplace or the photo/art studios, you'd still need to meet certain requirements before you were allowed to purchase one (kind of like the special interiors in tomodachi life 2014)? or maybe it's all $$$$$$$!!!! €€€€€€€€!!!!!! ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥!!!!! we'll find out eventually!

custom items...

this one is kind of uncertain so i might skip it for now and come around later once we hit the palette house and adjoining topics...

note that, as mentioned in my shops post, it looks like a certain items' color variations are each considered to be individual items (like, pink flowers vs white flowers or blue fence vs yellow fence). that is...partially why the color picker confuses me so much.

could using it bring up a list of items that have similar colors to whichever one you initially picked?

would it open the menu to the specific item that you used the color picker on?

would it...let you customize the island in some way with that specific color?

cool flamboyant 4th option?

...and that's that for the time being! sort of...because we still have to go over....the menu!!!!!! the decoration placement menu!!! hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's pretty simple, don't worry...here's what i observed:

we DON'T get to see what the menu to choose a certain item looks like

we DO get to see a certain item being placed - its name is listed in the top left corner, along with its total amount in storage

in terms of buttons, when moving an ITEM...the player can use "L/R" to rotate it, "A" to place something, "X" to undo a move, joysticks to control the cameras, and... "ZR" as a color picker?

what would you need a color picker for ???

as you place items, the number indicating its total abundance in storage decreases accordingly

players can move houses, too!

the settings for this are slightly simplified - there's no undo or color picker button, only rotate and place

...but when the clip's player places down the house it was moving, we can see some of the more basic menu!

"-" to exit the island builder mode

"ZL" to reset the island as it was before

"ZR" to enter...binocular mode? daftness aside, this is probably a zoom in/out feature

"Y" toggles something called either "single mode" or "batch mode" which i'm...not really sure what means? my guess is some kind of multiselect feature

aaaaand in the far right is something that i'll be coming back to later during my menus deep dive! it's a larger, illustrated square icon of a construction hat and hammer, advertising the word "build" which the player can initiate with "X..."

...would that open the menu to place down decorations? pick up buildings? build new ones? ...can you make purchases through that menu?

-or is it related to our next topic?

ISLAND SHAPING:

another animal crossing-reminiscent feature! except....a lot more convenient this time!

in these modern times, we don't expand our territory to new lands...we expand our lands for new territory! is it still colonialism if you deny all rules of geology and primary succession! at that point i think there just may be bigger things to worry about!

jokes aside, we've got an island to expand and a handy set of tools to play with as we attempt to do just that. so...menus again!

when entering the island expansion menu, the player enters a pretty standard square grid situation that they can draw on using a pen tool. doesn't look too hard to navigate!

in the top left, the type of terrain being created is signified (in this case, grass)

standard undo/redo/camera settings

"Y" lets the player open setting for the tool they're using

"X" lets them switch between the pen and bucket tools...

and "ZR" is a color picker once again!

(btw, we can see the island's oceanic periphery at some points - but some island examples look way huger than that small box would allow!!!! will there be a way to expand that?)

the color picker confuses me in a similar fashion to the item placement menu's one did...but i feel like this one makes more sense. this is probably the same menu as the one that allows players to place down pathways, pavement, etc., and maybe the color picker would allow them to make any color path...or quickly find a certain terrain in their menu otherwise. i dunno!

something i noticed while observing the example islands shown during this decoration/customization portion is that the island has point of varying elevation. - well, par for the course, since it's an island with a beach...it's only natural that elevation would be variable! but i thought it was worth noting...if the player can control the land (and we can see beaches of different shapes on the various examples), then they can control the sand as well. there are staircases leading down to the beaches, so they're definitely lower than the mainland!

all elevated land looks to be flanked by this kind of whitish support material, including grass!

i worry every day about what will happen to these islands when the water raises like 5 more centimeters. they will be. gOne.

as for the types of terrain/paving i've noticed, well...

grass ofc!

sand! looks like there are variations for both lower and higher elevation

wood blank

brick! clay and concrete

concrete

there's this thin concrete-brick-looking lining at certain points

asphalt

...water?!

dirt?

dirt but lighter?

snowy?

????blue?????? ice??????

autumnal/leafy

custom!

i...don't think they wanted me looking at the direct this closely...BUT I DID!!!! DEAL WITH IT!!!!

anyway of course any one of these could be custom but it's of my belief that, aside from that yummy cookie cracker-looking paving we saw during the palette house segment, the rest of these are legit in-game paths/terrain. including water! it'd be weird if they let us shape our islands as we wished but not return them to the sea if we were dissatisfied with our work, right?

water can be landlocked, too! i dunno how interactive that scenario would be - presumably, if you really wanted, you could make, like, a donut island and have a landlocked beach (oh no that sounds fun now i kind of want to makeone....oh no)... on brand with what we know of this game, the sky does appear to be the limit-

-kinda! because while we have some control over elevation, you'll recall in joke(s) i've made before that this baby is FLAT!!!! if it rains for more than a day then this island is absolutely FLOODED!!!!! underwater!!!! modern atlantis!!!!! midcentury modern atlantis if you would!!!!

something i adore about tomodachi life 2014 (and admittedly, that phrase applies to most things) is the island design - the glorious, freshly green (or less-than-fresh, or white...) rolling hills! they influenced me so greatly that for a time spanning multiple years, i couldn't draw land any other way...hilly! that's the way the world should be!

-but it's simply not anymore! that used to be a stronger concern of mine, but i think i'm okay with it at think point, especially considering just how much freedom we've been granted- implementing so much free reign in terms of building and decor movement would likely be too chaotic if hills persisted as a design element. cliff elevation would still be something to consider - another acnh-type feature! at this point, it hasn't shown up, so i doubt it's included in the game as we know it now, but i'm keeping my mind open to a lot of currently unlikely possibilities with regard to potential updates and DLC.

CUSTOM DESIGNS:

big one!!! big big one!!!! luckily, we've already covered it a little. palette house's customization menu appears to be ubuiquitous with customization in general for this game, so we already saw the overview when they showed us mocha's conception...and of course we can only expand from here!

what all can we customize? dunno....everything? here's the list we're given during the palette house segment though:

pets?!

food!

indoor items/gifts? (that would be jess/bubbles/iko's TV)

clothing!

house exteriors

pathway tiling

that's very unlikely to be all though - or it's just the smallest sampling of everything! recall that in basically every shop menu that we saw, there was at least one additional unshown categorizing icon that included a telltale paintbrush...indicating customizability! food and exteriors, which we did see, were one...interiors was another one - which we didn't see!

something that confuses me is that TV item...and to that degree, that weird little ouppy does as well... both puppy and TV are examples of items that you'd give to your mii yourself - kind of? in the old game, the mii only ever showed up with a TV in the first place if they were given the Wii U level up item. similarly, ouppy only showed up if you gave them ouppy.

presumably, either way, you'd be giving them something to interact with - unless they can pull the TV out of thin air now, without any player influence, but that doesn't seem very toy story 5 of them. you'd be designing it to give it to them...right? why do they have that???

the whole concept of "items you give to miis" to watch them play around, like the swings, bath set, hair dye, sewing machine, etc....that's been bothering me lately - will it carry over? is this TV one of those? it doesn't seem like it...can you give stuff to miis outside as well as inside?

seriously, does the puppy still count as one of those items???? is anything sacred????

the universe leads and we can only follow...

disregarding that for now, weeeee....can finally circle around back to our menus! i am nibbling at a slice of cake while i talk about this because i am so excited!!!! i love menus!!!!

everything (with one exception!) that we saw in mocha's HMU debut carries over!

building upon that...the text, fill bucket, pen, and eraser icons all appear to have dropdown menus which would presumably support adjustability

i didn't mention this before but there's also a menu in the middle left that showcases what the customized item will look like in-game!

in addition to adjusting the many options on our top-bar menu (that would include the pen and the stamps and stuff!) with "X," we can also adjust our palette with "Y"

another thing we get to see: stamps! each feature will probably have its own menu adjustments - most of which we won't get to see until release, of course....unless there's...some kind of demo...(which i doubt)

RIGHT BUT THE STAMP OPTIONS!

"L/R" to rotate!

"ZL" mirror image

"-" to delete the particular stamp being edited

right joystick to adjust size

"ZR" to change layer!!!!!!!!!!!!! holy ibispaintx this is such a hype feature!!!!

"+" to....duplicate? i think it's to duplicate....i'm not sure....

AHA!!!!!!!!! i slowed down the footage just before the stamp menu comes up and for the briefest of nstances, you can see the stamp placement! this doesn't honestly tell you much...it shows the stamp's icon in a small circle that shows an arrow pointed at where the stamp will end up.

that's about all for placement until you manually go in with your select tool to move it, i think. we...don't get to see any menus where we might choose stamps, but we can safely say that our miis' faces are among them! the balls on florian's flashy outfit...might be included in those stamps? or they could be custom! if we can have stamps in our customization menu, why couldn't we have custom stamps to go along with the theme?

moving on, we see the fill bucket in action with the house exterior and tiling clips. here's where that change from the mii maker (re: mocha's grande naissance) comes into play!

notice that icon next to the "change view" button - the dot surrounded by lines? in the mii maker menu, that icon instead shows the default smiley face signifying a mii's neutral expression! i wasn't sure, initially, what this new icon could be - i thought it had something to do with the pen feature, but...looking at it again, i imagine it must signify time of day! that is to say, interacting with that icon would probably change the example preview's lighting to signify different times of day to give the player an idea of what their design will end up looking like among the elements.

another fun piece of info to note is that designs like sweaters and exteriors show the full unfolded faces (i think these are called nets?) of each 3D shape so that you can see every facet of what you're customizing at once! it reminds me of making my own minecraft skins as a kid...nostalgic!

transitioning into the topic of custom exteriors - it looks like there are 4 main shape variations here...pointy, smooth, smooth with a pointed roof, and fully rectangular. these would apply to specific miis' houses - and there are showcases of multiple identical custom houses, so it looks like you can make one design and apply it as many times as you like...no need to redraw from scratch for each individual house! ...thank goodness!!!

aside from the smaller custom buildings (which are clearly mii houses!), there are some larger ones shown that i'm less sure about...most likely, since they're larger...they're probably sharehouses - though there's still the possibility that they could be custom shop exteriors and it's nagging at me...but we haven't seen any indication that shops are customizable...but what if they were...urgh...

WELL! another good thing to remember when entertaining that dilemma is that, while quikbuild has a menu icon for buildings (presumably!) and t&c reno has a menu icon for custom exteriors (presumably!!!!), neither has a menu icon for custom buildings (presumably!!!!!!!!!!)...so, assuming t&c's menu applies to mii homes specifically, shops would probably be left alone. probably! sorry if that made no sense! TLDR i don't think shops will have customizable exteriors but i will not say never until long after this game goes out of print!!!!

between pets, items, food, pathways, houses, and even our own miis' faces...our customization powers stretch near endlessly, and we haven't even tasted all of our menu features yet! as the trailers suggest, we could make...just about anything our hearts desire!

EXTRA NOTES!

pretty much everything in this direct can be somewhat attributed to this idea of creativity/customization! arguably it's the whole theme...and also arguably, maybe has been this whole time! the entire idea has always been to let you, the player, unleash your imagination and run wild with your friends, family, characters, and their funny quirks! it's always been about you and what you can make happen. that's why the first mii you ever make is supposed to look just like you!

(well, that bit may or may not have been left behind for the sake of some fun storytelling, but y'know...)

so other things that could count as customization! let's do a rapid-fire!

phrases/conversations - telling miis what to talk about and hearing them say it? that's your power and yours alone!

giving miis specific personality quirks? sure why not! that counts too! you're making them that much more uniquely themselves...and more uniquely yours!

picking them up and having them interact with items - and each other - at will? this can be made to count too! another nod towards your very seldomly limited power! you can decide who they meet and when!

fourth really cool and completely formed thought!

by the way, and sorry for cramming this right in the middle of the end here, but i noticed something that will probably be of more common interest...that being with regard to seasons: i don't think there are any?

*all found within 12:08-12:09 of quikbuild segment (US ver)

there are seasonally themed plants and pathways - orange autumnal trees and terrain, pink spring blossoms, green grass and leafy trees, and white, snowy ground and frosted plants - but instead of those seasonal variations representing an entire island, they can inhabit smaller chunks of the island regardless of one another's presence. in other words: multiple seasonal variations can exist on one island at one time, which leads me to belief these variations aren't tied to real time as much as they are to the island designer's whim.

so...the island's terrain probably won't change with the seasons

which is a shame...that's always been one of my favorite parts of cozy games like this - tomodachi life, animal crossing... - to watch the seasons change in time with the real world...it was comforting, y'know?

but maybe you could toggle it? maybe there could be a setting that enabled your island to change seasons in real time or not, depending on how you prefer your decorations?

that...probably wouldn't happen...but i think it would be my ideal

more than likely, you'd just have to purchase a certain season's themed memoraibilia and set it up yourself...

but how would you get it? would it be completely randomized, or...would the stores' selections be seasonal anyway (fresh kingdom does note the date on its menu...)?

another thing that'd be cool would be if there was a brush mode on the island shaping menu that would let you change the season of the area you touched it to, and only that area (that would be another ideal for me! i just...really like the changing seasons aspect...i really hope it exists in some capacity....i'm not sure i have enough executive function to change out my plants and grass every few months...)

i mentioned earlier that i was worried this customization power would take away some of the humanity/personality that made mii games so popular in the first place. depending on how it's played, i think it has the potential to do either - maybe both? to me, it feels odd to want to rely on these some of these especially personalizable features to make the game interesting instead of letting miis go about their lives with the resources they already have...but the more i think along these lines, the more i realize this might just be my own biases steaming up to cloud my view...

COMMENTS/CONCERNS:

urgh...that being said....guess i'll actually talk about how i feel about the design mechanics....

i'm nervous! i am most certainly and undeniably nervous! i'm not really sure why that is? i talk about this a lot but so much of this new game reminds me of animal crossing, and maybe that's pandemic nintendo kid retrospective coming to bite me in the ass (truly, when will the side effects of growing up in a pre/mid/post-pandemic society wear off...), but i can't shake the idea that all this customization is hiding something a bit lackluster underneath.

acnh was really fun and i have hundreds of hours in it and sometimes it could be really boring because it was adorable and gave the player so much freedom but there just! wasn't! enough! personality underneath! it felt almost skeletal beneath all that fluff! i don't mean to dunk on it too much i'm sorry i swear i'm a die-hard animal crossing fan!!!

it's just...what if this game lets me down and it's these new custom features that end up being the culprits, y'know?

i don't...love...how they look, honestly... they've got that blurry, slightly crunchy look to em in-game that i vaguely recall from my however many hundred hours playing animal crossing new leaf a little over half a decade ago. it feels...i dunno...a little disappointingly underpolished for a 12-year wait...?

it could also be that i just used to be bad at customization in animal crossing when i was. what. 7 years old? so i gave up on it and gaslit myself into thinking into thinking all personal customization was evil...i dunno that was a long time ago!!! i think before i point fingers and start screaming and crying i ought to give it another shot, and i certainly intend to when i finally get my hands on this brand new scrumptious addition to my personal tomodachi collection (friends in discord remind me to show you my hoard!!!!)!

so...normally i try to put the most positive spin on these features that i possibly can! the amount of freedom we have to create and customize is truly amazing! genuinely, i never in my wildest dreams expected so much amazing opportunity at once!

i have my qualms...i'm ready enough to admit that...and with that said, i'm ready to put them aside and look to the future, try out these new features, and live my dreams knowing what they have to offer!

how about you guys? what are you excited to create - do you like the look of the new buildings? what do you like or dislike about these new features (or lack thereof), and what do you want to see more of?

masterpost

[tomodailii]

OK GANG LETS TALK ABOUT SHOPS AND BUILDINGS!!!!!!

i'm not talking about palette house. not now. please odnt make me. im not ready.

HAHA SORRY IM NOT SCARED WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!

no, but really, there's so much to look at in the shops...where to start??? where to end????? well, i have specific enough interests and enough years trying in vain to 100% tomodachi life purely through my weird daily rituals that i know what i look for in a shop. what we've seen most recently...makes me very curious!!

right now, we're gonna take a look at the food mart, the clothing shop, the news tower, the interiors shop, the marketplace, the photo studio, and the hardware store (and touch a little on the places we didn't get to see into!) because they align with my double-standards on what i'm willing to talk about in terms of shops and buildings!

(mostly i just want it to show a menu and/or some purchasing power...palette house doesn't, and its segment is, for the majority, pure customization, so it'll be better covered when i get to my customization-focused post...some of quikbuild will be covered in more depth there, too...)

so...LETSGOSHOPPIINNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!! MY TREAT!!!!

FRESH KINGDOM:

the first stop...and, presumably, the first building we unlock...our scrumptious, postively delectable new food mart!!! isn't it a sight for sore eyes? it's sweet, savory, cute, and candid! heck, it's wearing its internal organs as a hat!

(maybe i ruined the image there...)

but, yeah! it presents as a grocery store and it is passing with colors flying at breakneck speed! unbelievably large bread! more ketchup than any earthly being should ever consume in one lifetime! enough cabbage for one billion stir fries (seriously, try slicing up 1/4 of a regular-sized cabbage, it will fill your entire wok practically before you've even started)! i won't acknowledge the milk! it's fucking taunting me!

perhaps more humble the glorious fruits sported by fresh kingdom's flashy shopping-cart hat, we can see crates of produce stacked around the shop's entrance. yes! a grocery store for the people!! the miiple!!!

truly - that's just the outside! as i'm sure you all know, while it's what's on the outside that counts, the inside is where the money's at. the cash money. sweet cold hard buckaroonies. there is also food. so let's go in! everybody choose a snack, i'll pay!

i'm having too much fun with this and i won't apologize

now, the inside! the menus! oh by jove the menus! food mart here sets a precedent for all other stores that deliver or defy expectations to varying degrees. it is also so charming i could almost cry (it has this in common with most aspects about these trailers, actually!)...

it does have the unmistakable vibe of a grocery store-type establishment! the whole main salesfloor, as it were, is formatted like some kind of coupon - and has personal touches like the time, date, fresh kingdom logo, and even a note on the location ("yoomian branch," it says...quaint)! to me this feels like...the kind of mass-produced false personalization that you get from most chains but i really love it honestly i can't justify it beyond this i just think it's very charming

we get 4 daily specials as opposed to our former 5! prices seem to be retained from the original game (take that, inflation!!!!), as do many of the food items' graphics (some may be replaced, or even edited...for example, the gummy candy's graphic is the same, but it's been duplicated and color swapped to make it seem like there are more gummies when originally it was just the one photo...lol).

whereas the former game divided meals into 4 categories, which varied by region but roughly translated to "large meal," "small meal/savory foods," "desserts/snacks," and "beverages," we now have more like 3.5 categories which seem to be "savory foods," "sweet foods," "beverages," and "custom foods," conjecture based purely on iconography. it's possible that these divisions will have subdivisions (which i think would be cool, like - sweet could be divided into desserts, candy, snacks, fruit...likely not....i'd be overjoyed if true though...), but we have no way of seeing that in any of the trailer or direct content we have now, so that remains up in the air for now...i'll be back for you, food systems...

at the bottom of the screen, we can see a jovial shopping basket! to the righthand side, there's a cash register rung up by one of our adored beloved mii friends!

when you select an item, it hops skips and jumps down to your basket and a little number appears on its menu icon letting you know how many are currently in your basket! you can re-select its icon and put back however many you like before completing a purchase...because at the same time you're browsing, putting items in your cart...the cash register reflects the total price of your trip!

this is quite handy because in the past, you could only purchase one type of food item at a time. up to 99 of that one item at that one time, but still slow if you've got a more complicated order in mind...

and finally, my most favorite detail of all time forever...recall how items have funny little descriptions? tells you about the food, clothing, interior, or treasure in an adorable blurb bursting with personality? back when our shopkeeps were mostly stand-in buddies, it was pretty up in the air as to just who was expressing these sentiments to us - as we know, narration and subliminal metatext are notorious in the tomodachi life community (to be perfectly clear this is a joke i've never heard anyone question this ever)...BUT NOW.....

our robotic/wooden block/tastefully masked friends seem to have stayed behind when we embarked on this journey to live out our dreams. that's right, now, as established, our mii companions gleefully perform acts of retail service...and are bestowed the honor of delivering our fan-favorite item descriptions!!!

sometimes the text fits some characters' vibes better than others (in my wildest dream of dreams, the description text would differ by individual personality, but i would never ask this of anyone except maybe myself)...which is par for the course. juxtaposition is a valuable comedic tool!

anyway, that about wraps up our cursory dip into all things grocery! we've got a new menu, slightly altered iconography/categorization, more convenient purchasing system, adorable descriptive delivery, presumably minimum wage...that's about what we know is in store for this particular store! how bout the others?

if you can't tell i love the food mart

WHERE & WEAR:

heeere we aaaare the clothing shop hooray! its distinctive color scheme sets it apart from the other stores - even unbuilt, its land plot's sign tells you that this shop will be a cut above the rest.

its exterior is a cool gray-blue accentuated with striking pinkish-purple details. the roof itself resembles a collared shirt and, looking closely at the fashionable adverts on its walls, we can see our own miis modeling its diverse catalogue!

(hopping out of tour guide mode for a moment, i will admit this is probably my least favorite building design, though i can't deny it's grown on me...i for sure prefer the 3DS's whimsical art-deco clothing shop...maybe it's the color scheme that throws me off of this new one?)

confession time: this shop is still something of a mystery...there's plenty to see and get excited about, but something's nagging at me...it feels like something's missing...

ah, well! it's probably nothing! let's grab ourselves some fresh new outfits!

or...fresh new socks? shoes? skirts? shirts? any of the above?

that's right! at long last, outfits are not purely ensembles...although they certainly can be! we're presented with several full ensembles (dolly/dungaree dress, sunny-side up outfit)...and their individual components! it looks as though we now have the choice to buy a full outfit as well as the option to buy individual components! combining the price of each component does amount to the full outfit's same price, so there's no loss or gain for a particular purchasing style - in other words, clothing consumerism is currently an equal opportunity optimization!

maybe you just really like the dolly dress socks! not to worry, you can buy yourself 14 pairs just like that! maybe you like the whole dolly dress outfit but you REALLY like the socks! you could buy 1 dolly dress outfit and 13 pairs of socks! it adds up! this is purchasing power, folks!

we can see, looking at the different clothing options, that they're divided into different categories for sure. i don't see any explicit demarcations, so here's what i figure:

full outfits/ensembles

full-body clothes (like dresses, costumes, or suits...)

tops (ex, shirts...)

bottoms (pants/trousers, shorts, skirts...)

hats/head accessories

glasses (these may fall under head accessories...)

backpacks (or items equipped on the back)

socks

shoes

note that glasses are both a mii feature in and of themselves and now, seemingly, a clothing item to be equipped (as seen in the JP direct...). in the past, certain clothing items HAVE modified mii appearance (like a hat that hides a hairstyle...), so maybe equipping in-game glasses would temporarily negate that facial feature? i dunno i just work here

we can also see here, after 2025's mostly toned-down trailers (clothing-wise, anyway...) that costumes have returned to overwhelming quirkiness! they are funny! they are silly! they are high definition! - unfortunately, they have fewer color options as well...wonder if this will be changed because the hot dog suit is now monocolor but i distinctly remember being able to turn my miis into radioactive blue hot dogs if i so pleased in times past...please nintendo peak IS within reach....

AHAH but anyway! clothing being exclusively divided between ensembles and hats has been a point of interest for a long time! tomodachi life's outfits are stunning for their time - i've asserted since i was a small child that i would absolutely wear just about each one and this will hold true until the day i die. please can i have my mii's wardrobe!!!

the clear divide between hats and ensembles was interesting, and perhaps it did make sense at the time - as juicy and fresh as the nintendo 2DS, 3DS, 3DS XL, etc. were, it was also the early 2010s and our games, consoles, and devs could only handle so much. considering how versatile the concept of a hat on its own is, it makes enough sense to recategorize clothing in this way. just imagining trying to manage so many different clothing varieties on my little 3DS is making me quite nervous, actually...(although, animal crossing new leaf managed it quite well, come to think of it- let's not go there or we'll be here all night! more shops to visit still!)

BUT NOW!!!! now we are in a future of customizability! switches, switch lites, switch 2s, for goodness sake! it's been 12 years!! we can do what we want!!! fuck it mii ball!!!

all this to say, nintendo has the tech, the mettle, the artists, the time, and the businesslike drive to pull this off. another point for upped customizability!

something is still off though...what could it be...i already covered the hat situation - erasing the dividing line between ensembles and other articles of clothing already covers that (no need for a hat shop if you don't need a sock or shoe shop either, huh? ...sorry, kicks...) - so what could it bE OH CHEESE AND CRACKERS THAT'S IT?!??!!

THE MENUS.

THE MENUS?!??!?!!?!? WHERE ARE THEY??!?!?!

well, we DO get to see the purchasing menu for individual outfits! it's cute, simple, reminiscent of miitopia with that vacantly smiling gray mii mannequin (not that that wasn't present in tomodachi life 2014, but the sleek graphics make one think of miitopia 2021 fondly...).

here, we can see our mannequin donning the outfit of interest. we can see the outfit broken down into its individual parts (shirt, socks, shoes, etc.), and we can see our different color options, should there exist any. we can see the total price of purchase and how many individual parts we've selected. unlike the food mart, it looks like we do still have to look at one outfit at a time and purchase that way (this would make sense since most outfits consist of individual parts anyhow), but...there's our problem! that's our mystery! we don't KNOW if it's like the food mart or not because...

they never show us an overall menu!!! we get to see individual outfits, but we don't get to see a larger selection menu as we do in the other shops! we have no idea which categories we may be able to sort through, speaking nothing of daily, weekly, or monthly specials...the items also clearly have to be broken down into their own categories (as mentioned above, shirt, socks, shoes, etc...), but we don't get to see precisely how they're sorted, or how we get to interact with those distinctions.

so...we've learned that outfits can be sold as-is or broken into constituent components! we don't need a hat shop because hats now count as those components (will they be sold on their own? well, that's being kept from us for now...). we DON'T know what the overall categorization system will look like, how the specials system will work, or what the opening menu looks like. something, presumably! we'll have to wait and see i guess.

MII NEWS (MNN):

aha! we have arrived at last at news! do you guys wanna watch a news with me?

spoiler alert it's exactly the same (gleeful)

essentially, the whole thing's just been renovated. per our modernistic, whimsical theme, it's amped up for the new decade (although note that tomodachi life buildings have always tended to lean in the modern-yet-gimmicky direction!) - sleek, shiny, improbably shaped...its downstairs lobby curls around the glass-panelled elevator that passes through sharp blue broadcasting screens, straight up to its signifying, single-ringed globe of a recording studio. truly the ideal woman, draped in blue and somehow both chaste and fervent in its marriage to the grind!

aside from its charming new look, as established, the news tower is about the same as it always has been. yes, the graphics have been updated, but its typical tales remain as tall as ever before. no "bystander commentary" segment is shown in the direct, though it's too early to claim if it's been removed or not (probably just omitted for efficiency, right?).

thanks to the new studio shape, it's taken on a more "global" theme, and the graphics reflect this - we've seen as much in teasers past! this to say that the updated graphics feature ringed globes resembling the actual building's glorious noggin.

players can progress text with the "A" button as shown in the corner textbox! this was a feature in the last game as well - players could either press the "next" button on the bottom screen or press "A" to skip a line, but this wasn't completely necessary because the stories automatically progressed regardless of player input (all you really had to do was open the broadcast and then it would play out in full and exit the newstower once it finished...the news waits for no one!).

as in the old game, players can also rewatch old news broadcasts! also like in the old game, they can "lock" certain old broadcasts to prevent them from being deleted once they maximize out their backlog.

now that we're caught up on current events - new building, new graphics, new packaging, same delicious flavor! - it's time to give our wallets a workout once again!

T&C RENO:

anybody in the market for a new bedroom? i know i am! i've needed to repaint mine for nearly 12 blinding years!

we find ourselves at T&C Reno, the new interiors shop! T&C? uhhh... tomodachi & collection? renovation? once more i do not know i only work here and when i say here i do not mean nintendo (would do concept art for sesame sticks pls it would be such a good deal)

ANYWAY!!! if i was waxing poetic about the news tower before, i will be shining epic about THIS. STORE. i am ABSOLUTELY taken with it!!!!! my extremely rusty vocabulary shudders because to use my 5 remembered praising lexicon would do this design injustice. under threat of immediate death lest i declare my undying love for just one tomodachi life: living the dream building design, this glorious shop's name would have no trouble bursting to the forefront of my mind (although the next one is probably my favorite overall, our current mistress's design just can't be overstated...because obviously that's not what i'm doing right now...ofc...)!

the shape language...by mr. nintendo himself, the shape language! many things are called deceptively simple but i'd almost (and with endearment) call this building deceptively complex...it has a main body shaped like a rectangular prism, accentuated tastefully with various triangular projections. these shapes, distinguished by color and angle, offer our building a classy, mature shape without the limitations of truly bizarre architecture. this building drinks its whiskey with water on the side. an intellectual!

what gets me more than anything has to be the top portion - shaped like a cube, 3 of whose faces are paneled with glass to give the viewer a hearty glimpse of a charming living room scene. the cube's remaining faces are brick, plaster, and wooden paneling respectively, giving the displayed room an air of modern sophistication. sealing this look both inside and out are plants of various make and shade, a classy accent to a complete establishment that i desperately need a model of.

only normal things happen on this blog!

anyhow, let's head in. we're greeted with a pretty classy catalogue showing off the store's great many room décor options, once more presented by one of our existing residents (they get to deliver the room descriptions!)! hooray!

the catalogue lines up 3 interiors and shows a straight view of the interior's entrance and surrounding walls. some interiors carry over (generally with some modification) from the previous game (ex: log cabin, midcentury modern, garage)! underneath each interior, we can also see...color choices?! oh hell yes!!! interiors, like clothing, now come in an extra variety of colors! some have more choices than others, and have different palettes as well (poppy, minimalist, monotone, etc). let's actually go?!

the menu bar at the top shows us 3 categories...currently, we can only see the one, but the icons look like "preset interiors," "custom interiors," and "custom exteriors" respectively. that said, the tab the direct shows open is the first - the one i listed as "preset interiors," which is described in the game as "weekly specials" as opposed to previously established daily specials, which does raise a few questions...

will it keep a catalogue of formerly purchased interiors like before?

(like, if i buy a weekly special for the first time and it's no longer available as a special next week, is there a way i can still buy it next week?)

think i had another question but i forgot it...

just a funny detail i noticed as well, but in each direct, the furniture displayed behind the vending mii is different? i wonder what affects that...

personality? (that would be REALLY FUNNY considering patrick has a bunch of hearts and cute pink stuff behind him lol...its ok if you're into that kind of thing patrick...be true to urself)

season? (direct came out a little early for valentine's day and nobody else has hearts stuff...)

preset by player? (possible!)

randomized when you open the shop/randomized by day? (possible!)

depends on your last purchase or viewed interior? (possible!)

combo? (maybe???)

cool 7th option????

well, we have no reason to judge...live and let live!

*UK ver doesn't have the weekly special button, fsr?

when i gave the last two shown icons the "custom" title, it was in reference to that paintbrush which general signifies customization in video games...you guys play games you know what i'm talking about...so i guess this means we can make our own custom interiors?

that means drawing tool, i'm sure...

could you use things you bought from quikbuild? like, existing furniture or paths?

....that's assuming you could put furniture in a custom room...

could you make your own???

soundscapes? particle effects? other stuff that animal crossing has and that tomodachi life interiors sometimes have?

answers pls!!!!!

based on so many other customization factors in this game, it really only makes sense that that'd be the case...but why would that be in T&C Reno and not the palette house? suppose it tracks with the whole interiors theme, of course...but what about custom exteriors? would that be better off in quikbuild or palette house? - i suppose i always assumed that exteriors would naturally fall under quikbuild, but thinking about that more, it probably does make more sense for it to belong to...y'know...the home renovation store...heh...

SO WE'LL SEE!

as established, the interior shop's exterior looks EPIC and we can see now that we have lots more choices of different interiors and their potential colors and customization! it looks like we can adjust custom interiors and exteriors here as well. looking forward to seeing more of this one for sure...

MARKETPLACE:

NOW IT'S TIME FOR MY FAVORITE OF FAVORITES!!! THAT'S RIGHT!!! I CAN INDEED GO MORE FERAL THAN FERAL!!!!!! I WANT TO BITE THIS ONE TO PIECES AND RIP IT UP AND GO BACK FOR MORE!!!!! OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!!!!!!!!!

quite literally the SKETCHIEST place on this blessed island (apart from our lovely palette house)?!?! WHO MADE THIS???!?!?!! WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS??!?!! I WILL BITE THEM!!!!!!

no this is amazing it's so good it PERFECTLY conveys the whole resident daily market type vibe - it was already beautiful, gorgeous, glorious in the original game - and they just consolidated it into the most exquisite crime scene you ever did see?! get dunked on, redd?!?!

as per usual, let's start with what we see! an absolute treat for the eyes! if our last stop was a tasteful, full-course meal, this is an absolute FEAST of candy wrappers, soda bottles, cans of various other beverages...some empty some not....but there are so many that you'd never have a chance of telling which was which... that's right, folks! we're at the marketplace buffet!

really though, this place is marvelous. vending straight from a literal shipping crate, we've got our beloved marketplace! noted, we only see it in action late at night, but we're told its wares differ by time of day, and we can see this aspect of its conception on its flashy lights display indicating time of day.

there's an awning over the vendor's window (underneath which are some tastefully placed wooden planks for shorter customers to reach...) that notably does NOT extend over its pristine-condition CRT, balanced atop a wheeled cart replete with crates of unknown substance...

closer inside, we can see a CD player or radio that entices customers forward....within, there are TV screens which, at least at night, promote an atmosphere of mystery (by displaying question marks....that's about it). there's room in the vendor's space to display a surplus of goods and the CRT, which sports an image of said goods, most certainly does NOT visibly buffer or flicker because this is a trustworthy establishment with only the highest quality equipment!

it is so funny i could die. or cry. or both. at the same time/?!?!?!?!

GAHHHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!! I LOVE THE MORNING MARKET!!!! I LOVE THE AFTERNOON MARKET EVEN MORE!!!!! I LOVE THE EVENING MARKET MOST OF ALL!!!! I COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED A MORE PERFECT REALIZATION OF EACH ONE QUITE LIKE THIS?!?!?

a real genuine concern of mine was that they might remove the daily markets from the game altogether since it's more - sort of - open world/custom setting kind was sort of incongruous with the daily markets i grew up with - stalls that miis set up in the morning, afternoon, and evening to sell one thing and one thing alone (and ream into you if you browsed without buying...). i didn't know what nintendo may or may not keep in the new game, or how they might change it...in the first few trailers, we hardly saw a hair of anything like this...until this direct (and still! it took me a few rewatches to confirm it for myself), i wasn't even sure if the fountain would be an integral feature of the island or just another decoration, and the ferris wheel hadn't been shown either...and even now, there's not really a "park" equivalent...

...but those were the main locations for the 3 daily markets! without those places explicitly present in-game, how could the daily markets' legacy be carried over? it made no sense!

...UNTIL NOW!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T KNOW WHERE TO PUT EM??????/ THEN MAKE YOUR OWN SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!! not only does it solve the space problem - it also solves "what if i don't have this unlocked yet!" and "what if those places aren't in the game anymore?" BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE AN EVEN BETTER PLACE AND IT ALL HAPPENS RIGHT HERE IN ONE SPOT!!!!!

as much as i wish we could have seen more, i'm glad we didn't because i am PSYCHED to discover more about this place on my own. the daily markets are one of my all-time favorite parts about tomodachi life 2014 and i'm unbelievably ecstatic that they've not only been carried over but given the royal treatment and offered their own palace in this new game! we truly are living the dream!!!

that being said, we are granted a hearty glimpse into the marketplace's night life, so let's eat our fill and express our thanks by dissecting it with our rudimentary brain scalpels.

the moon is low...the marketplace, crooning us over by way of its incredibly advanced sound system, is awash with gentle light. on the CRT, the tantalizing image of a red checkered bag adorned with a curious question mark - the very same lined up on the vendor's shelf, several more visible behind them further inside the marketplace crate building.

the vendor presents us with a clipboard. clearly, in yellow pricing tape, we can read a grand "$50.00." the clipboard is adorned with 4 symbols - clothing, treasure, food, interior - and 4 question marks. overflowing with anticipation, we fork over that good good cash money and receive our mystery bag! at last!!! come on my 3-pull!! i can feel it!!! this one's gonna be an SSR for sure!!!! let's go gamblingWHAT THE FUKC

yeah so this fucking lion has been haunting my nightmares for 3 weeks

remember the clipboard i mentioned earlier? the one with the symbols on it - clothes, treasure, food, interior? so, this could be nothing, and probably is nothing, but those symbols are specifically a t-shirt for clothes, a bunch of bananas for food, a cube with lines indicating walls for interior, and...a duck....for treasure....

before thinking about it for another second, i did assume the duck was treasure - i think that's still the most likely explanation... like what, they're replacing the random chance of getting a treasure (OG game's mystery bags gave you either food, interior, treasure, or clothing as implied here) with the random chance of getting a random fucking wild animal? probably not! so. what else could that mean?!??!

is the lion a treasure?! (can i sell a lion for cash money?!? or give it to someone to convince them to go out with me ???!??)

is the lion???? clothing???

IS THE LION FOOD?!??!??!?!?!

i cannot live inside the lion

do the mystery bags give you things other than the 4 things shown on the clipboard?

do the 4 question marks symbolize up to 4 items other than those previously established that we could get?

could the lion be....a pet?

is it a custom design or stamp you can put on stuff and/or use as a pet? (most sane answer award goes to @genderfluidblob)

are the nintendo direct gods just absolutely fucking with us?

WHY IS THERE A LION HERE/?!??!?!?!??!?!!!?!?!?!??!

i will talk about this more later. or join my discord server and search for lion as a keyword youwont be disappointed

i can offer exactly one trillion questions and negative as many answers! i don't know what the fuck's going on! please help! my entire soul rejects this lion! i can't tell you how many rewatches it took to make me stop screaming out loud when i saw it! i literally can't tell you that because i still sometimes scream upon witnessing it!

crazed speculation aside (but if you have any of your own pls let me know pls pls pls pls if anybody has an inkling i want a taste), that's about all we've seen of the marketplace. another thing we'll just have to wait for...

as mentioned in the direct, its wares change depending on time of day, so presumably there'll be a morning and afternoon market too! in the old game, those were the more innocent-looking ones (the evening market was always meant to be shady, after all...), so the marketplace's presentation may not always be so crazy, but doubtless it'll be as scrappy as ever!

we've seen a glimpse of mystery bags and are left with more questions than answers...so let's just call it promising and move on before i commit some kind of felonii.

PHOTO STUDIO:

i will be covering the majority of the information we learn about these next 2 shops in my post about customization (yet to be written. i am so scared)! in the meantime, let's check out the exterior and basic features.

if t&c reno and the marketplace hadn't already stolen my heart, i'd probably have married this building already (daily reminder that i am normal!)...while most of the buildings' roofs render a clear symbol representing their theme or purpose, the photo studio's building quite literally IS its symbol! that is to say, it takes the shape and form of a camera to impressive detail.

foto-tomo's architechture represents a camera in every earthly way. from its overall shape to the way its roof's fixtures resemble settings buttons on a handheld camera, there is no mistaking this building from what it is! its arched doorway resembles a camera's lense and shutter, and its door's round window offers the idea of a lense's sunny gleam. along its side is a purple strip of film (which, based on its blank iconography, looks like it could show off images that you've previously taken on your switch?). finally, and this is possibly the detail that excited me the most - the structure has a window on the top righthand side of its frontfacing wall...one which would resemble a camera's flash...cute...

(*i dont know cameras!!! i could be so wrong about all of this!! never trust anything i say!!!)

inside, the studio's very simple...but, as is typical, i don't think we get to see all of it. in the previous game, upon opening the studio, a player could select between an option to take new photos and an option to view old photos (THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!!!!!!! THE LOADING SCREEN TAKES SO LONG!!!! MINUTES IF NOT TENS OF MINUTES!!!!! BECAUSE MY ENTIRE 3DS CAMERA ROLL IS OVERRUN WITH PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME!!!!! BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR 9 YEARS AND THE SCREENSHOT BUTTONS ARE REALLY EASY TO ACCIDENTALLY PRESS!!!! THIS STILL HAPPENS!!!!! DARK LORD HELP ME!!!!!!). upon selecting the take photos option, they had 3 to 4 more options: pair photos, group photos, whole island photos, and child photos (only available if they had at least one baby actively growing up on their island).

then, of course, they could choose from a variety of templates of scenes for each category and put whichever miis in whatever situations as they desired! as i recall, you could reach certain requirements to unlock more of these scenes.

what we see scrolled through in the direct, i think, is just the "pair photos" category being scrolled through initially, where we can see the menu - standardly a bunch of pre-made photo scenes that you can place your characters in. we also see a collection of group photos! in fact, the direct's thumbnail just so happens to be one of these! cute, huh!

when a scene is chosen in the direct, we aren't directly shown a screen where the player chooses individual miis (presumably where their costumes could be changed, as was a feature previously) - instead, we jump straight to your standard nintendo switch game camera menu taken straight from animal crossing new horizons as per usual...where you can adjust zoom, filter, and mii expressions.

so, to recap, we HAVE seen photo selection, specifically for a pair of miis, but we haven't seen mii selection, and we also haven't seen which specific categories of mii pictures we can take.

now for the, ah, elephant in the room of sorts...the lion in the bag, as it OH SHIT IT'S A CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG JOKE I'M REALLY UPSET NOW

ahem! so let's take the lion out of the bag and talk about what you probably already know or have heard about by now! i've even mentioned it on my blog before!

so, i haven't been able to cover it in detail yet - i'm still leaving it until later, but you've probably heard that tomodachi life: living the dream will be limiting online play - most explicitly mentioned was image sharing, although that might have been to downplay the more serious announcement that mii-sharing also seemed to be a no-go. i'm still planning to look closer into this and i would encourage those worried to do the same, since i'm only claiming what i've heard here, not what i'm sure of.

i'll be covering this more in-depth in a later post and i'll leave it here for now...just figured it shouldn't be left unsaid.

QUIKBUILD:

i lied i said i wouldn't talk much about foto-tomo because i decided it was mostly a customization feature but i think i take that back (but i still have time to change my mind bc canonically at this point in the essay writing i have not yet touched customization bc as established i am SCARED)...so let's go in and get ourselves some traffic cones!!!

i have plenty to talk about regarding quikbuild - both in terms of what i want to cover here and in terms of customization...so let's start from the exterior and go from there.

quikbuild seems to be a pretty standard hardware emporium! as i know them, anyway.

from the outside it makes itself clear enough - it's a practical enough establishment, all glass doors and iron framework. it has a delightful signifying roof, bright green and shaped like a construction worker's hard hat. flowers, fences, and wooden planks lean against the side of the store. like the food mart, it's reminiscent of a larger chain store of its type with these signifiers out front, while remaining charming and small in its own right! adorned on the front of its "hat" is its logo: a cartoony gloved hand holding a building block. cute!

at this point, we all know what's up...screw the exterior, we gotta see the new decorations! we've never seen anything like this before!!! show us what you've got, tomodevs!!! amping up for some super exciting treats!!!!

after we politely let ourselves in like the courteous, gracious customers that we are, we have a chaste look around our love of loves, the shop menu. by this point, it looks quite familiar! it's like a combination of fresh kingdom and t&c reno - down to earth, showing off a shopping basket and your price at the register (with our now-familiar mii cashier delivering witty one-liners! my favorite is the US's description of the oak tree...), but less flashy, and organized more like a furniture catalogue (hardly for the first time, animal crossing comes to mind...i should probably write about that at some point).

as we can see in the short building segment, each item of a certain type that you place is an item that you have to purchase individually, which seems to be supported by an numbered icon on each item in the furniture catalogue that could denote...one of several things (how many you have in your inventory, how many you have in your cart, how many you have on your island, or how many are available for purchase? i'm not sure...). this number is shown as a "1" next to every item in the US and JP directs, but not the UK one for some reason...shrugs flamboyantly

everything we see beyond this point is island shaping moreso than actual shopping, so i will save my thoughts for when i feel brave enough to tackle customization....scary......but i should sum it up, shouldn't i...

using quikbuild's wares, we can expand our island in size, shape, complexity, and character! decorations include everyday items that are interactive for miis of all backgrounds (so street lamps, tables and chairs, sprinklers, bonfires...), fences of all shape and color, plants that please miis young and old, and...some unknowns! likely, this is where we'd go to purchase(?) more locations for the island, such as some of the ones we've seen but not experienced...

RITE PRICE, MY TREASURES, MII WHEEL, & TOMORIA:

...such as...these!

they're not complete mysteries - we can figure out what they are well enough thanks to past experience and context clues.

rite price....

probably the pawn shop! no other direct alternative is presented (except possibly for my treasures? but...), it has the look and feel of such an establishment, and...if the name fits, then should not the shoe as well?

it's easy enough to draw the connections! "rite price" sounds like "right price" which is something an appraiser at a pawn shop should, with any hope, offer to a selling patron. money for goods and services, goods and services for money! simple at that.

our old pawn shop looked more like an antique or thrift shop than, like, some kind of courthouse - this new version's visual symbol happens to me, of all things, the motherflipping scales of justice - but both still share key features such as looking like a pawn shop??? sorry i mandela effected the heck out of myself with this one, they don't actually look similar at all, i just got that vibe for some reason? in any case, rite price has a green roof, white siding, and brown wood paneling...and the OG pawn shop has a red thatched roof, off-white siding, and dark brown woof paneling. resemblance? maybe???

treasures display so much continuity, in fact, that many of the images used for treasures in the 2014 edition carry over completely unedited (save for a quality boost) in the new version, as seen in the very first trailer! can you believe it's been nearly a year already?

my treasures?????

heck if i know?!

previously, visiting the pawn shop was our main method of keep track of our treasure inventory, as far as i know?? there was of course the town hall wherein it was possible to check, like, progress when 100%ing a collection - but it didn't tell you how many items you actively possessed of a certain type???

-- and that's what i assume this? store? thing? would be used for? less of a store, and more of a storeage unit, based on its name and its shape closely resembling a treasure chest. speculation rises as to whether or not this may be the pawn shop instead (in which case, rite price would be. what. a divorce court???? decide here if your roommate gets more custody over your tiny baby with bodacious broccoli hair here???)- and it's not impossible! i could go either way...but i think it puts me at risk of slightly fewer heart attacks later in life if i accept this as Probably Not the Pawn Shop.

urgh so...in summary, i have a few ideas of what this could be, and i'm sure others have ideas too (if you have any!!!!! share!!!! pls!!!!!)...i could see it as a storage unit, possibly a pawn shop, some kind of 100% tracker (note - we haven't seen a replacement for town hall, although that could legitimately just be some kind of menu, you'd hardly need a building for it...)...this is super unlikely, but it could even be the concert hall's replacement...it is vague and frustrating...please help...feed me your theories...

mii wheel!

you will never guess what this is!!!!

it's a ferris wheel!!!! for miis!!!! bet you weren't gonna guess that!!!! hahaaaaa!!!!

yeah no that's pretty much it looks like this is the stand-in we get for the amusement park which is cool, we don't get to see inside (maybe there isn't an inside and we just have to be ok with that!) which means all we know about it is the big wheel, and maybe that's all it is (no indoor carousel, no indoor roller coaster...)...and that's about it!

it's a low-ceilinged glass-and-steel blue building that opens for this big ferris wheel! angie confesses to hugh morris here...marie to bubbles, and marie (furugana) to carlo. as the last game's whole amusement park only unlocks after a confession (whether or not it's successful!), this seems to track.

tomoria!

our restaurant, taking the shape and color scheme of what was formerly redfurt, the well-loved café. i used to be totally zonked out by how much bigger tomoria was than EVERY OTHER BUILDING but i think i've come to terms with it! ....maybe!

briefly, a glimpse inside shows us that it. well. it's like, basically ihop, or some kind of diner. cozy! "restaurant" was a confession location option, as i recall, which would undoubtedly be this building. so, uh, cool!

i dunno, the café was a fun concept but it was just about the least interactive part of the island (although the chats, pity party, and romantic interactions were fun!) in the previous game, so really i'm just hoping there'll be a little more to do or see here. if not, it's a cute enough feature that i'll be happy either way.

MISSING?????:

WHERE?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?! WHERE ARE MY LOVELIES!!?!??!?!?!?!??!?! MY DARLINGS MY SWEET SWEET DATA AND INTERACTIVE GOODNESS?!??!?!! HOW COULD THEY CURTAIL OUR SELF EXPRESSION IN THIS WAY?!??!?!?!???!?!

ok i'm exaggerating i don't think it's too late for us yet guys!!!!

here's my list of places that i'm fairly to quite confident we HAVEN'T seen...

hat shop

debunked! nothing to worry about here!

import wear

streetpass and spotpass aren't really a thing anymore, and we have that whole debacle about online sharing, so...

campground and dock...

basically has to be same deal as import wear above, but it stings...i want to talk more about this later...

town hall...?

could be the my treasures building, could be a menu, could be eradicated, could be...something else we haven't seen? maybe its features are now split between other powers-that-be?

compatibility tester

anachronistic, it was fun but not too surprisingly probably left behind

watchtower

maybe there will be an item for it? or maybe miis can hang out on their rooves when they have roommates - because, when it's not a full house, they do have roof porches...entirely possible this just didn't make it over either. shame, because it was a really fun place...

rankings board

this is something that my treasures could potentially be utilized for! maybe it could be something purchasable from quikbuild as well, as an item or treated as a structure perhaps? islander stats are very fun to look at...many would miss these (i am many!!!)!

CONCERT HALL??!??!?!?!

WHERE IS IT?!??!?!! WHERE DID IT GO?!??!?!?!?! THEY RESTRICTED ONLINE SHARING,,, WHICH ADMITTEDLY USED TO BE A PART OF THE OLD GAME - YOU COULD SHARE LYRICS WITH YOUR FRIENDS - BUT WOULD THEY REALLY GO SO FAR AS TO REMOVE MII SINGING FROM THE GAME ALTOGETHER/?!?! THERE'S NO WAY!!!!

ahem sorry i have thoughts about this

it's clear as day that we didn't see close to everything there was to see in that direct! ...although we were pretty clearly shown by the ending which buildings were and weren't there...

i believe in my heart of hearts that mii singing will return in some shape or form. if it has to come in an update or a DLC later down the line, so be it, because this feature is TOO POPULAR and TOO BELOVED!!!! not to carry over.

or maybe it is because people will get around filters and guidelines forever and they know this...even by just making this game and releasing it in 2026, they are inviting trouble...like i've said, if it comes to it, we'll write our own songs and see how they restrict that!!! hahah!!!!

--i'm playing the outraged part up for the bit but i'm not actually the biggest concert hall aficionado, so i'd like to hear others' opinions on this as well...will they bring it back, how, what do you want to see, etc?

THRILLING CONCLUSION:

i've spent the grand majority of the last day writing this! i started at 21:00 last night! it is now nearly 22:00, 25 hours later!!! i know i should read through everything i've written so far before i write a conclusion or summary, but i don't think i want to!

if you couldn't tell, i'm absolutely in love with shops in tomodachi life... i could go on for as long if not longer about those in the original game (and really, i only brushed on stuff here, so i could have doubled the word count here as well if i really wanted to...i have my limits too lol...kind of on an informal deadline of Before We All Perish...). the building designs alone can get me going for hours! they have gotten me going for hours! this is literally all i've done all fcukcing day! god help me!

-not to mention the menus though! i can't believe i of all people am writing this but i think i want to marry this game's ui! i'm not even sure it's that good i'm just having such a fun time analyzing it!!! i am aromantic and do not know how to design games!!!! help!!! i'm losing it!!!!

augh okay but yes! i can't wait to have miis and put them on an island and make money and SPEND IT!!!!!!! on fun things with flashy colors and music and funny little blurbs and a billion possibility of ways to play! i might also be developing a free-to-play gambling addiction! don't worry about it!

all this said, forever and ever, i am so excited to play this game and experience all of this for real instead of just through videos, notebook pages, keyboards, and tumblr blogs which is truly so much worse, never do what i do please! (or do because i wanna talk about this with someone) (but don't actually it's very bad for your health i think idk the grind keeps me going)

i'm about to see how many words this is! wish me luck! i will not tell you how many! up next should be some topics others might be more interested in: mii interactions and customization! my favorite part of this game is the shops and the miis...so i'm nearly set...and if you can't tell by now, i'm absolutely dreading talking about customization (THERE'S SO MUCH?!?!?)...and i will, of course, and i will sound like a lunatic as i do!

shout at me in tags! in comments! in asks! in my discord server! probably not in my tumblr messages because i never look at those and am now far too scared to check them! have an awesome day! follow your heart! live your dreams! iam going to bed!!!!!