I’ve now spent a few hours with Viva Pinata and I like what I see so far.
Visually, it’s very pleasing and really entertains the two little mashers. My daughter loves naming the pinatas, which is a lot of fun (but I must admit that I was hesitant to name two pinatas of the same type with my daughter’s name and my name. Seeing “[Daddy’s name] and [daughter’s name] are romancing” was disturbing. If you’ve played the game, you’ll know what I’m talking about.) The sound and music are also pleasing. I’m getting a serious “Zelda” vibe from the music. That’s not a bad thing.
I love the variety of the new pinatas and watching the bigger pinatas feast on the smaller ones is comical. I think my garden is getting cramped, because my pinatas are getting testy. Fights break out among the same pinata type all the time. Getting them to “Romance” and do other things isn’t always straightforward, but the in-game “encyclopedia” answers just about question you have, and once you get the hang of it, it’s not a big problem.
This is definitely a “kids game” (plural, not possesive) as in, “I can play it with the kids.” That is a very good thing. It’s slow enough that they can follow it but deep enough that it keeps my interest. It also get a thumbs up from Mrs. buttonMasher. I’m looking forward to lots of fun in my pinata garden.
I’m going to mail you some high priced raisants. They’re my speciality. 😀
I know what you mean about the naming thing though. I learned that real quick. Now I just use a simple method. My best raisant is named Squint’s (because of his glasses), and his “partner” is named Squint’s Ho.
I follow that pattern now with all my piniatas. Makes it easy to get the romancer achievements as well.
Ack, I just remembered, my 360 is kaput for a while and I just sent Viva Piniata back to Gamefly. (I think I’m getting it for my birthday, however).
ag – I will welcome any and all gift pinatas. I think I just had some raisants take up resident in my garden, but they’re not breeding yet. So far I’ve only got Whirlms and one of the birds to romance.
So if the pinatas romance with the same pinatas, is that better? I always thought it was weird when the parents were romancing with the kids.
I would be going crazy without my 360. I feel bad for you.
Now, here’s a 360 game I’m actually interested in playing. That, and Kameo. But no one around has a 360 I can hijack. 🙁 Your sneak peek has further piqued my interest. Nothing I can do about it, I suppose.
Yes, if the same pairs mate and have five or six (I cannot remember) offspring you get a master romancer award for them. Watch out, though, because the more of one species you have the less chances you have in the mini-game to hit the walls. It’s easy at first but gets annoying later on with the more difficult mazes.
Joy – I don’t think Viva Pinata is a game that would justify the purchase of a 360 but it’s still a great addition to an exisiting library. If you do get your hands on a 360, definitely give VP some time.
ag – I took your advice and renamed some pairs of pinatas to make sure they’re “monogamous.” I’m going to be a Mousemallow romancer extraordinaire
wtf are you talking about i just wanna know how to get piniatas!!!!
yo mama – piniatas? Not really sure what you’re looking for. Care to elaborate?