Moco Moco Friends Review (3DS)
Moco Moco Friends is a game I’d not heard of until I was asked to review it and, with it looking like a super cute magical girl version of Pokemon, it wasn’t difficult to say yes!
Moco Moco Friends revolves around apprentice witch Moco who’s training to become a Plushkin master. In their world, Dreamtopia, Plushkins are animal-like creatures who, on top of being adorable, look like plushes. Plushkins co-exist with humans and those who’ve graduated from The Plushkin Magic School can wield magic to tame them, and then use them in battle to tame further Plushkins. Becoming a Plushkin master is the dream of many girls who attend the school, and many hope to reach the highest ranking of Charisma Master. Moco and friends soon find themselves wrapped up in an adventure where new malevolent Plushkins are appearing, and it’s up to them to to get to the bottom of it.
The story and characters are fun and lighthearted, making Moco Moco Friends enjoyable even though it’s not heavy on character development. Thankfully, it doesn’t need that so much as the gameplay is fun and the writing is enough reason to get on with my journey whilst befriending plenty of Plushkins! It’s strongly reminiscent of Pokemon but it does enough to differentiate, so please don’t write it off as a clone because it’s good fun that’s great to chill with.
Its turn-based gameplay is simple. You use the D-Pad to choose to physically attack or use a skill for each of your Plushkins, then rinse and repeat. Obviously some elements are better against others when it comes to battle, but all in all it’s very accessible and easy to play. Defeating Plushkins will sometimes give you the chance to form a contract with them, allowing them to be used in battle, but you can give them items to sweeten the deal if they’re not budging on their freedom. You can also visit Moco’s teacher, Michiru, if you have yarn as she can create Plushkins out of them, but they’re from the same cookie-cutter and only their colour will change. Of course, there’s rarer yarn out there that’ll breed better results, but I preferred the ones I captured as it’s far from a challenging game.
When you’re not battling or befriending some of the cutest things in the universe, you’re going to be navigating dungeons or the world hub doing missions. Navigating is easy and I like the dungeon design, and although many dungeon-crawlers fall into the trap of becoming visually repetitive, Moco Moco Friends is easy and the dungeons never feel like they outstay their welcome. Don’t let the simplicity of the game put you off because it really is fun, and I think it’ll find a good market now that it has released.
If you haven’t guessed already, this game is visually adorable and I adore it – I’ve not played a game this sweet in a long time! The Plushkin, character and dungeon designs are delightful, the abundance of pastel colours and general merriment of the game oozes into every aspect of the game. Playing the game is a joy and the visuals do everything they can do compliment and reflect that, and it was one of the reasons that kept me coming back for more. It’s calm and happy, and it put a smile on my face. The below screenshot shows the more generic Plushkins Michiru can summon, whilst the icons show the unique Plushkins who you’ll fight and form contracts with – they’re amazing. All of them.
The OST and voice-acting, which is available only in Japanese, is just as pleasant as the rest of the game with upbeat, chirpy tunes with one in particular that’s still playing around in my head! Aksys and developer Racjin clearly had a lot of fun making Moco Moco Friends, and I imagine it takes a group of very positive people to create something this incredibly lovely. I wouldn’t be adverse to listening to the OST in my spare time if I could get my hands on it!
Moco Moco Friends isn’t going to be a strong contender when game of the year awards come at the end of the year, but it’s joy is infectious and I’ve had a lot of fun with it, and it keeps pulling me in. Something this cheerful should be experienced by more people than who will likely give it a go, and that’s a shame because I’ve become really fond of it. Should you buy Moco Moco Friends? Yes. Even at its £26.98 price point but if you’re not convinced, then I strongly recommend buying it when it likely someday goes on sale.
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