MySims: Cozy Bundle (Nintendo Switch) Review

As mentioned before, MySims: Cozy Bundle includes two separate titles that in and of themselves would be deserving of their own review each. Only being similar insofar as both use essences to build things to appease certain other sims, the settings are completely different, including controls.

Therefore, let's start with MySims. For any newcomers, this title deals with the player's sim that freshly arrives in a new town, and is now in charge of using essences and woodworking skills to help other sims get their perfect homes. It is very adorable indeed, with chibi-style and generally simplistic but colourful environments.

The first thing that jumps out at the player is the controls. Having made sense on Wii, they do not really translate well to a handheld console - especially camera movement and grabbing motions. Here, the developers could really have reprogrammed the controls to create a more instinctive way of playing. Be that as it may, after a few hours, one does get used to them eventually.

When thinking back to MySims on Wii, one thing that always dampened the experience was the long loading times between areas. These are now significantly shorter, making for a much smoother gameplay. Gameplay in general is much less jittery, and apart from the occasional glitch, it runs well. For anyone only having played the Wii version previously, there is now an additional area and new sims to discover, making this version that much more desirable.

Of course, with these types of games, gameplay does tend to become repetitive after a while. It is the old song and dance of inviting a new sim into town, receiving requests from said sim, collecting the necessary essences and building and delivering the requested items. This all leads to the town's star level increasing, unlocking new areas and with them, new essences. Reaching the highest star level for the town is not particularly hard. It is a game for people who enjoy these types of low stake, relaxing, cosy games. What it does allow for is creativity, as essences or different shapes of woods can be used to build furniture and colour them in a variety of ways. Playing around with designs and ideas can be a fun time-consumer. Unlike the normal Sims franchise, MySims do not have needs such as hunger or tiredness, so players can enjoy collecting and creating furniture to their heart's content.

MySims: Kingdom, on the other hand, has a bit of a different story. Controls seem to be more intuitive here, and again, apart from the occasional glitches the game runs pretty well. Rather than helping a town, the player's sim is tasked by the king to use magic to fulfill the kingdom's citizens' requests. Instead of building individual furniture items, items can be acquired and added to the library and then magically conjured, as long as enough mana is available, anywhere in the kingdom. Players are tasked to build bridges or houses, but also complete little puzzle objectives, for example by connecting electrical currents to machines. It is generally a fun concept that requires creative solutions, however, the objectives are not always clear, which can be confusing. This title is not super long either, but there is always the choice of going back and changing certain creations or work on your own piece of land.

It is fun though to solve everyone's issues, and it is really nice to be allowed some creativity while doing so. As always, stakes are low, creating the ideal relaxing atmosphere for playing.

The soundtrack for both games is cute and adorable, but can become a little repetitive after a while. Graphics have been improved since the release on Wii, but since these titles were not graphical marvels to begin with, there is not much more to say about this here - only that it looks a little crisper than before.