Tamagotchi Plaza Review

Gamers in the mid to late 1990s will remember the anticipation of wondering which evolution the egg-shaped digital pets would become. Equally memorable, but less exciting, was experiencing a grumpy Tamagotchi due to stink pile build up – all because electronic devices had to be kept at home during school hours.

Over the decades since, digital pets improved in functionality and also morphed into entirely different games on a variety of consoles, including Nintendo systems. Tamagotchi Plaza finds a home on Nintendo Switch, but does it live up to the joy sparked by its ancestor?

Returning fans have an idea what kind of game Tamagotchi Plaza is from earlier versions, which were also shop simulation games. This review comes off the back of solely playing the original Tamagotchi device.

The beginning feels promising. The aim is to gain a high enough percentage of people liking the town of Tamahiko so the Tamagotchi King will award the it the prestigious Tamagotchi Festival. As seen here, the “Tamagotchi” word gets used a lot. There sadly isn’t a way to personalise any of the residents – they have preset, non-randomised appearances. For the most part, they are unique looking, although the Prince is more regal than the faceless King (who verges on horror, despite the bright colours).

The town itself is pleasing to the eye. There are plenty of shops which each have a unique mini-game that must be repeated many times to raise levels, Tamahiko’s reputation, plus gain income. Walking around the town square (which is actually round), seeing the shops literally gain a new floor when levelling up and spending money to improve the area builds a sense of achievement.

The vivid palette provides a relaxing vibe while navigating the time-limited minigames. Appease hungry diners by cooking their requested galette (a crêpe like dish) and take part in simple rhythm battles in the music store. There are slightly more ludicrous minigames, though, like the gym which provides an instantly changed body if the maximum score is attained.

Unfortunately looks are pretty much all Tamagotchi Plaza has to offer. There seems to be a bit of story at the start and simple NPC chat, but that is where the positivity ends. The noise of the character babble is irritating, but mercifully can be muted in the sound settings.

There are no tutorials for the numerous essential minigames. Some don’t need labels as they are easy to work out – simply press buttons. However, some – like the individual ingredients at the galette shop – are not even labelled. It makes it easy to mistake spinach for the other leafy green food, for example.

For those who have never met the named NPCs in earlier titles, it makes it impossible to select the correct character for the manga image without searching for a reference online. Furthermore, the backgrounds to the manga request are quite faint, which makes it hard for those with visual impairments. It could lead to a lower rating, which can be demoralising. The dentist shop was quite clever, but – again – the lack of both instructions and labels means only learning what to do through failure and even that can take a few tries to understand it fully.

The opticians are even worse. There is an eye sight test before picking frames and grinding lenses. If players take too long on the eye test, then the evaluation grade drops. At first only the top levels of the eye chart seem used, so cycling through each point until the patient creates a heart doesn’t take much time. But when the the entire chart comes into play, there are a total of sixteen icons to click, and almost no indicator of whether the required point is higher or lower. This was the only shop whose early game mechanic felt pointless as there is no way to avoid a long eye test.

Being left to RNG feels unfair and sours the fun experience of choosing an appropriate frame and carefully grinding the glass without affecting the lens on the inside. Heart shaped frames are trickier than plain round ones, and the chatting between the owner and the customer while the grinding happens can be distracting.

The base of operations in Tamahiko is called a house, but this feels like a misrepresentation. It is more an office than a true home, with no bed in sight. The rest of town it is a bare bones operation with an NPC to check in with, a board to choose improvements, and a place to display the trophies once shops reach max levels. Entering the house sometimes causes a crowd to celebrate reaching certain milestones.

There is further interaction on the player’s phone, but like everything else in Tamagotchi Plaza, it is simplified. The map feels pointless as there isn’t an ability to teleport instantly to any of the shops when clicking on them. Town decorations can be viewed and changed, but this does little to spruce the place up. It is refreshing having a micro bio for each resident, though, but other than giving encouragement, their dialogue isn’t extensive.

The shop games are varied in style and most are forgiving if a mistake is made. There are several occasions where the wrong element could be picked, so the anticipated final score could be lower, but the actual result was maximum points.

The price set by the shops for each game doesn’t always match the complex requirements. There are many times where cost of entry feels far too cheap for the level of the shop. This aspect makes saving money felt tougher than it needs to be. Researching the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS games, the touchscreen was an integral gameplay element. The Nintendo Switch has a touchscreen that is used in some titles, but not in Tamgotchi Plaza. It feels like a massive part of the Switch technology was ignored. Using a finger on the touchscreen in handheld mode would have boosted the nostalgic atmosphere for returning fans.

Despite all the limitations, somehow every mini-game (except the optician) remains fun to do, even when repeated a crazy amount of times. Residents do have their favourites, and it raises a smile when they leave satisfied with the service.