Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

Welcome to Pinata Island once more!

Posted 4 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

Professor Pester has done it again! Thinking that he could steal the records from the Piñata Central database, he ends up erasing all the information instead, bastard! So guess who will be called to fix the problem? That’s right; Langston wants you to come back to Piñata Island and save the day. Will you accept the challenge?

Here’s our review for Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.


Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is Rare’s response to their first Viva Piñata game released in 2006. Like the original, the main purpose of this sequel is the same: build a garden, attract Piñatas, tame them, and then send them out into the world. The game starts off with a tutorial, which is not only great for beginners and kids since the game isn’t that easy to play but also for the experienced players as a quick refresher. Once you get past level four, you’re on your own to do what you want; the game is fairly open, allowing the player to play at the pace they are comfortable with.

As you progress, your garden will get bigger, allowing you to do lots of things with all the goodies that you get for completing the different challenges presented in the game. These challenges can be performed at any time, and the purpose of these challenges is simple: Langston wants them filled with candy so he can ship them out to a party. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well here is where the game takes off, because you can’t perform challenges without Piñatas, right? Creating the right environment by attracting new piñatas, make them become a resident, show them the Romance Dance and breed new ones are the major parts of the game. Now it isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Like in any game, there’s always something to stand in your way of completing the objective, or else it’s just too easy. So once again, Sour Piñatas and bad seeds will do the worst to complicate your second staying on Piñata Island. This is where the game will start testing your piñata breeder and manager skills.


Unlike the first game, Rare has added many multiplayer components in order to make your staying on Piñata Island even more interesting. First, Trouble in Paradise features an offline mode called Couch Social mode, which is a cool way to play without worrying too much. By plugging in an extra controller, the second player has access to all tools, actions, activities, and can help the first player to collect Magic Points, which fill up a magic bar that he can then be used to cast magic spells to heal a sick piñata and other things. Of course, by activating this “God Mode”, you won’t be unlocking any career skill points, experience or achievements since this “couch mode” is for fun and learning only. But if you want to bring the co-op fun to another level, the game also offers an online mode where you and three of your friends can work on a garden. Surprisingly, the online play, just like the overall offline experience, was fairly solid, lag-free and generally fun, if you play with people that you know.

The other new addition to the game is the Piñata Cards, which is used in conjunction with the Vision Cam. Hold up the card (25 in total around the site) to the vision cam, and voila! You have a new Piñata. These cards are a cute idea, and perhaps can catch on with the younger set. You can trade them with your buddies to get piñatas that you do not own by taking pictures of them. But there’s a problem, the Vision Camera doesn’t seem to recognize the cards all the time. Is it the bad lighting the problem or the cards themselves? It’s not a big deal….but if Microsoft plans to go marketing crazy on those cards; they better find a quick solution.

Overall, the game excels and many departments but where it excels the most is in its reward system. You can’t turn around without getting something new. You can catch new Piñatas, complete challenges for new items and new areas of your garden seem to open up all the time. As if that wasn’t enough, there are actual Call of Duty-like ribbons that you receive from breeding planting and a slew of other things. This type of action/reward system is more than enough to keep you saying “okay, I will stop after I do this one last thing” only to look up at the clock and its 3 hours later.


Graphics and Sound

With no huge graphical changes from the last game, Viva Piñata: TIP is definitely a good looking game. Of course, it’s not the Gears of War type next gen graphics, but the vibrancy of the color palette is a treat for the eyes. Adding to the fact that the cute characters and garden renderings are once again nice looking, most of the framerate slowdowns and loading times experienced the original have been increasingly fixed.


As for the sound department, nothing is better to hear the peaceful nature sounds after a hectic day at work. The character voice-overs do sound great and the piñata sounds are cool to hear. I can see how Rare has made an excellent job representing a funny, friendly and cute sound environment when my 19 month kid runs to the living room as soon as he hears the piñatas dancing and doing their own respective sounds. Talk about an attractive sound build.

Value

With all the new additions, tweaks and the 40$ price tag, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is sure a good deal. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and challenging game to play, especially with the new Co-op system that makes the game even more addictive to play with friends and even more if you’re a parent that is looking for a cool game to play with your kids and share some family quality laughs.


Conclusion

It’s hard to resist the Piñata call. Of course, some people will be turned off by the kiddy look of the game and some won’t even bother to try it after what they’ve experienced two years ago. I hate to say it, but the game sits in a very odd seat between its kid appealing and the more adult complexity. Still, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise will please the fans of the series and sure deserves a second look. Don’t say Rare hasn’t done their homework, because they did and it shows.

Verdict

If you loved the first one, this sequel will sure keep you busy and entertained for a long time. Still on the fence? Rent it but give it a serious look this time around, it’s a far better game.

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