Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is a game developed by Rare, and published by Microsoft Studios. It is a simulation video game, that picks up where its predecessor left off. Released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in 2008, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise was a major commercial success, even if critically it was seen as a marginal improvement from older titles.

The Ultimate Piñata Land

Players take the place of a gardener that constantly receives piñatas creatures on its private land. Each piñata looks like different types of real-life animals, such as crabs, geckos, gorillas, vultures, frogs, foxes, horses, and raccoons. The objective here is to tend to your garden by planting seeds, cultivating them, and creating an attractive environment for all types of piñatas. Players have a progression system that allows them to level up, unlock upgraded gardening tools, and care for larger gardens.

The way you attract piñatas varies and is dependent on the amount of spill available, types of plants and other animals present on your own farm. Creatures also grow more complex and require increasingly harder demands to become available or interested in your land. Players are given an encyclopedia in-game, which guides them towards the requirements needed for each type of creature. Once you have enough piñatas and create a good enough environment for them, you can make romance two of them to create baby piñatas.

Sharing is Caring

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is surely an improvement upon its predecessor. Rare alongside Microsoft included a multiplayer option, support for Xbox Live Vision Camera, over thirty new types of piñata creatures, and two new trap areas. These last areas are a novelty mechanic that allows players to go to special locations and set baits for unique piñata creatures, and bring them back to the garden. Also, new types of soil such as ice and sand were included at later stages in the game. Lastly, special events surrounding piñatas, as well as unique racing minigames were made available in this game.

Conclusion

Playing with friends or online is a new experience that allows up to four players to join the same plot of land through Xbox Live or local co-op. The original gardener of the land is able to set some boundaries and restrictions as to what changes can be made by friends and family.

Alone or as a team, the game’s most challenging mechanics such as monetary restriction, evil piñatas, and sour species that corrupt regular piñatas are about every challenge available. If you are trying to game with kids, or young players, a “Just For Fun” mode was available which removes basically all the barriers previously mentioned.

PROS:

• Bigger, Better, Larger than previous Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
• Family Friendly
• Multiplayer Enabled
• Good Simulator Mechanics

CONS:

• Very Similar to Its Predecessor
• Those Who Didn’t Like The Prequels Won’t Like This
• Small Confined Spaces Might Frustrate Players
• Finding All Creatures and Romancing Them Can Feel Like a Chore