Tomodachi Life 2026!

On the morning of Thursday, March 27, I swear I felt the ground shake and I thought I heard the roar of a cheering crowd. Then I forgot about it. That night, I opened TikTok to see that I had received a message from an old friend. The post she sent might as well have been a national emergency alert, announcing “Tomodachi Life 2026!”

I read this, looked at the background (which looked like clips of a trailer), and jumped out of bed. I held my breath until I searched it up and, to my complete shock, it was REAL. Then I celebrated, thanked my friend for sending me that post, and found the original trailer myself.

So apparently, the Nintendo Direct came out and I was completely unaware of it. I scrolled through the long list of trailers, announcements, and teasers to see the official Tomodachi Life video posted last.

I’ve made an entire blog about Tomodachi Life before, so I’m not going to discuss my memories or experience with it again. But I definitely want to talk about the Nintendo Direct trailer and my opinions on Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream!

I’ve watched this 1 minute and 7 second video countless times, trying to pick it apart as much as I can. The main things that I noticed were the insane graphics, upgraded Mii customization, and the island.

I’ll start with the whole look of it. I remember my first thought was “this looks like Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Of course, ACNH takes place on an island and so does Tomodachi Life, but the palm trees, furniture, and flowers in the announcement video look incredibly similar to ones in ACNH. I don’t have a problem with it, I think the ACNH graphics are amazing. I just thought it was really interesting. I have a really soft spot for the old 3DS graphics, though. There’s something about them that’s just so humble and charming, I’m still figuring out how I feel about this new look.

The Miis definitely upgraded with the environmental graphics. You can see that most of them look like they have dyed hair or some sort of highlights. Also, they have ears! It looks like we will get some new hairstyles, clothes, and Mii customization options. But that’s the bare minimum considering it’s been over 10 years, it’s just great to see!

Now I’ll be honest, I’m worried about the island. The first thing I noticed was the lack of apartments. Where are they? I feel like the apartments are the most iconic part of Tomodachi Life! How am I going to spy on my Miis with no apartments? It’s just not the same with houses… In the original game, your Miis moved into houses after they got married and it was a huge achievement! I feel like this might take away that feeling of accomplishment if everyone has a house. Another thing that made me really nervous was how insanely flat the island is and the “Quik Build” store. To me, this hints at the ability to decide and build things with complete freedom. I really don’t like this implication. I’m just afraid that we’ll have another ACNH situation where the game (in my eyes) failed because it had too much customization. 

You could literally rebuild your whole island, decide where everyone would live, and even decide how their houses would look. It was just too much and had barely any limitations. In ACNH, it felt like you were some sort of great leader even though you were just another member of the island. You couldn’t even customize that much when you were the mayor in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

I didn’t mean to complain about ACNH, I’m just really passionate about both of these games, and I’m really anxious about how Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will be.

Let’s discuss the things I do like! I’m really happy that Nintendo decided to keep the original Mii designs and voices! After seeing Nintendo Switch Sports, I developed a fear that Miis would get completely erased in Nintendo games. To some extent, I understand it. Miis were a huge mascot for the Wii, and as Nintendo moves away from that beautiful staple in my childhood and onto the Switch (and now Switch 2?!), I’m sure they want to move on to new things. But seeing my beautiful Miis back for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream gave me so much hope. Also hearing their robotic voices rather than unnerving AI voices (that they very much could’ve used, but didn’t!) gave me so much joy. All this to say, we are SO BACK!

More images from the Nintendo Direct:

They are SO tiny! I think all 4 of these characters have new hairstyles. Also, the flower effects are adorable. I feel like I’ve seen the fence, lamp post, and table and chairs in ACNH before. Also, see that city in the background? Very interesting… I just can’t get over how cute and tiny the Miis are! My babies…

Look at that blue-eyed stare. How charming.

This is a scene from a Mii’s dream. I’ve already seen a lot of edits of these two Miis being lovers. My TikTok algorithm knows me so well. I’m actually really happy that this might mean we have crazy dreams again. That was one of my favorite features. I would stay up late just to see all my Miis’ dreams.

This image really shows off how amazing this game looks. Also, I’m really digging this Mii’s look.

I’m incredibly excited for this game to come out. We don’t even know the exact month it’s releasing, but I’m already looking forward to the entire year of 2026. This actually really hits my heart in a way that I didn’t expected it to. After so many years of dreaming about a Tomodachi Life 2, I just gave up. It was hard to let go, but I did. And then, when I least expect it, I find out our prayers were actually heard after I had already given up and stopped caring! I feel mixed emotions as I play on a new Tomodachi Life island (named Stephtown). Of course, I’m so happy about it, but I’m also worried it’s not going to be everything I’ve dreamed of for the past few years.

Also, it’s releasing the same year that I’m graduating. I was 8 when I started playing Tomodachi Life. I’ll be 18 when Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream releases. That’s a sickening realization.