Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a sequel to my favorite 3DS game, and I think it's already packing the charm that inZOI lacks

• Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream closed out the latest Nintendo Direct
• It's the sequel to a much-loved Nintendo 3DS life sim
• It's currently slated for a '2026' release window

I couldn't believe my eyes when March 27's Nintendo Direct closed with a trailer for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. The sequel I never thought would happen actually is, and it's arriving in 2026 for Nintendo Switch and presumably Nintendo Switch 2.

In terms of gameplay and features, this initial announcement trailer doesn't reveal much. Even Nintendo's own listing page for the game is bare bones, offering naught but a handful of screenshots from the trailer, and a one-liner description that simply states that after more than 10 years, it's back. In pog form.

But Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is hitting the right notes; an island populated by player-created Mii characters, an abundance of shops and landmarks for them to interact with, and the overtly silly sense of humor that made the 3DS game before it so memorable.

There is one interesting thing to note about Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. The US and UK trailers both feature text-to-speech Mii voices that are found in their respective regions. So much like the 3DS game, if you're playing in the UK, your Miis will have British accents, for example.

Sometimes, a good chuckle is all you need

So, why am I comparing an extremely unserious Nintendo Switch game to inZOI, the Korean Sims competitor that's making waves in Steam early access? Well, it's largely because I think inZOI can learn a thing or two from Nintendo's cheeky life sim.

It's clear that inZOI hasn't gotten off to the best start, with a dearth of meaningful content besides its (admittedly incredibly impressive) character creation tools and object import features. Its relatively high system requirements are also something that could firmly keep many life sim enjoyers sticking to The Sims 4 for the time being.

But what strikes me most about inZOI at this early stage - besides its lack of reasons to actually play it - is that it rings as quite a soulless experience. It's an extremely impressive visual showcase, for sure. But it's quite clearly lacking the charm of games like The Sims and indeed Tomodachi Life that routinely keep me smiling through the sheer absurdity of it all.

For the record I'm not bigging up Tomodachi Life as some kind of innovative comedy masterclass. Its sense of humor is incredibly stupid, ditching sharp wit and instead leaning into the utterly ridiculous. But that's kind of why I adore it.

Whether it's a news broadcast about a Mii bathing in a tub filled with ravioli, a feverish dream sequence showing a gaggle of the lads ritualistically dancing around a giant corn cob, or simply a Mii telling you in no uncertain terms that they have an eggy fart brewing, Tomodachi Life rarely fails to have me laughing hysterically.

The incredibly deadpan (and highly customizable) text-to-speech only makes things funnier, too. Yes it's beyond childish, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

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