So this game is actually pretty damned awesome. I was expecting to like it, but I think I like it a lot more than I thought I might. This is well worth checking out for anyone that likes a sandboxy game, and while the kiddie stuph is there, it really feels a lot more intelligent and such than I expected it to be. The voices aren't completely annoying, the writing is actually rather sarcastic and funny at times (stuff that kids wouldn't appreciate at all), and the gameplay is both simple, fairly deep, and addictive. I think it really wins because it's consistently engaging, never leaving you without something to do. The fighting still irks me a bit, but you can really avoid it pretty well if you play watchdog and just start beating rogue pinatas with your shovel. It can be hard to keep a high population of mice, say, if you've got snakes about, but all you have to do is sell any resident snakes and then just give any snakes looking to move in a nice whack on the noggin. So I've been keeping out most of the predatory creatures and troublemakers, just keeping a few peaceful animals I happen to like.
And the game is truly funny. I've done some dumb shit that's gotten me into a bit of trouble, such as building a garden of toadstools before I realized they were poisonous. All my pinatas bumrushed the things and start devouring them, then all of a sudden I had like 10 sick pinatas lying around groaning in pain. Heh. And I had to pay like 230 bucks just to get rid of each remaining toadstool. So I have no idea what those things are good for, but it sure ain't eatin'.
Anyway, definitely check this out if you like sandbox games or life simulators. It manages to be more than either of those genre pigeonholes, but those are where the base fits most heavily.
