Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (Xbox 360) Review

Two years after the original Viva Piñata‘s release, its sequel, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (which this review will refer to as Trouble in Paradise), was released. Trouble in Paradise is more of an upgraded version of the original Viva Piñata than a new game, which isn’t exactly a bad thing in this case. This review will judge Trouble in Paradise on its own merits.

The gameplay of Trouble in Paradise is unlike almost anything else outside of its series. Players control a garden where they can grow plants, attract piñata animals and interact with them from there, add decorations, and creating buildings with useful functions. As the player tries new things they gradually level up, which gives them access to even more new things to try in a garden of growing size. The controls while doing all of this are intuitive and never interfered with the reviewer’s enjoyment of the game. This is a very satisfying gameplay loop that is cut unfortunately short by a very strict object limit that is likely more of an issue with the Xbox 360 than the game to be fair. While this happens players will also encounter sour piñatas that attack your piñatas and damage your garden. These sour piñatas are the biggest source of weeds which rapidly grow and will destroy your garden if they are not dealt with quickly, which is thankfully not too hard to do. Eventually these sour piñatas can be made friendly through special conditions. There are also multiple evil characters that will run into your garden and do the same unless you pay them to leave or have a piñata that is powerful enough to scare them away or physically remove them from your garden. Essentially all of this is also true of the original Viva Piñata but to a lesser extent. Trouble in Paradise does add a few significant features like visiting the desert and tundra to catch piñatas but none of these features are particularly noteworthy. Overall Trouble in Paradise provides a unique and very open experience that is extremely replayable despite limitations that are likely caused by the Xbox 360 hardware. All of this can be done with a friend with surprisingly few issues, too.

The sound in Trouble in Paradise is far above average. Grant Kirkhope provides this game with a fantastic soundtrack as he usually does for the games he works on. Sound effects are about what one would expect and the voice acting is nothing spectacular but acceptable, especially considering the type of game. Overall the sound in Trouble in Paradise is very well made and holds up despite the games high potential for time spent playing.

Technically Trouble in Paradise is impressive in some ways but disappointing in others. The visuals are extremely appealing and highly stylized, giving them a timeless look. It also runs pretty well without any particularly obvious or frequent dips in performance. Online multiplayer also works surprisingly well. The way that everything interacts with other things on its own is also impressive. The main problem with the game technically is that there are a lot of bugs, though it is understandable with the games open nature why they couldn’t fix all of them. Also the object limit for gardens feels like it should have been higher, as it is extremely limited in this game. Overall Trouble in Paradise is well made technically but is somewhat held back by its ambition.

The story in Trouble in Paradise is heavily deemphasized. There is very little explanation for what is happening in the game but this type of game doesn’t really need explanation. For those interested in the story there is a lot of reading they can do hidden in the menus. This aspect of the game neither helps nor hurts it.

In terms of value Trouble in Paradise is easily worth it. There are easily dozens of hours worth of fun to be had alone, friend, or even with a stranger if you are that trusting. Anybody who isn’t put off by casual games of this type should give it a shot.

Overall the reviewer would give the game an 8.5/10.

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