I’ve loved Nintendo games ever since I could remember, but I’m not as cool as most people who loved Nintendo as a kid, I had a 2DS instead of a 3DS because my dad thought they were cooler. Also, I was just an average enjoyer who didn’t understand half of the games I played because I was too young (and wasn’t conscious yet).
One game has consistently stuck with me for years, though, and that’s Tomodachi Life. It was released in 2013 in Japan, then a year later in North America. Unfortunately, I was late to the party and found out about it through DanTDM’s series on YouTube. By that time, I had moved to America and in the process, somehow lost half of my stuff (including my 2DS that I lowkey hated). So, I bought a brand new 3DS off of Amazon and Tomodachi Life, as well as Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I don’t think I could ever recreate that excitement that little 8-year-old me had for that Amazon package. When it finally came, I tore that box open and got to work.
Tomodachi Life is a simulation game where you make little characters then feed them, give them gifts, play games with them, and watch them creepily through their windows. Little 8-year-old me loved that apparently because slightly bigger 16-year-old me still loves it. I made all my best friends, family members, and whoever else I could possibly think of, and I took care of all of them like a loving mother.
When you first start the game, you get the chance to make a “lookalike” of yourself on an island you get to name. I have such distinct memories of making my lookalike and moving the mole feature to the bottom right side of my mouth and making it huge so I could see it. I would always set my height as short as it could be and make my shirt pink. When I think back on it, I miss those days like crazy, but I left my 3DS (which is the same 3DS I ordered when I was 8) at home.
One thing about Tomodachi Life that I have to talk about is the music! I spent so many hours playing that game that I have almost every song’s melody memorized. The second I hear the night theme, my mind goes back to all those times I played my 3DS past my bedtime under the covers. When I hear the apartment theme, I remember every time I would show my friends the character I made for them, and they would usually react with mixed emotions because I probably made them look really ugly.
One thing that I’ve been silently hoping for is a version of Tomodachi Life for the Nintendo Switch. I don’t know how they would adapt it because the 3DS and the Switch are really different, but a girl can dream! I know a lot of people talk about how great it would be if Tomodachi Life came to the Switch and I’ve been tricked a couple of times thinking it finally happened, which is so embarrassing.
I’m about to tell you a secret I haven’t told anyone, but I guess I just spill all my secrets on this blog. Whenever I’m feeling unmotivated to do a task, like laundry or cleaning, I just play Tomodachi Life music and pretend that I’m a little islander doing my chores with my lookalike watching after me. It doesn’t even have to be Tomodachi Life, sometimes I pretend to be a Sim from the Sims 4. I just realized I play pretend a lot for a 16-year-old… But try it and thank me later!
Thank you for reading my silly blog about the game that’s been festering in my mind recently. I think I’m more obsessed with it now than I have been because I forgot my 3DS at home and I can’t get it for another week. Also, I haven’t even thought about DanTDM in years until I started writing this so that was a crazy throwback.
I love DanTDM so much so seeing him brought up made my day! Also acting like a character to get a task accomplished is so relatable not even going to lie.
this is so real. i’ve always loved games where you can create your own little world and just live to your fullest potential. i’ve never played tomodachi life specifically but i’ve seen people play and it looks so much fun. i love the nintendo animation style so much. i’ve never played on anything other than pc/laptop, but my dream is to get a nintendo switch or ds at some point in my life.
I love the fact that you use your imagination to get through common/tedious chores! I’m definitely going to steal that and pretend I’m a Sim while doing my laundry.