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.