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Chibi Robo: Park Patrol (DS)

Status: Finished playing
I started playing this game on Wednesday 9 February, 2011  //  I stopped playing this game on: Thursday 17 March, 2011
Current opinion of this game
A little bit too long, but definitely sweet and cute in a good way.

March 17, 2011 05:18:40 PM
Chibi-Robo is probably the sweetest game I know that ISN'T really a kids game. It's sweet, cute, tragic and incredibly humane... I was curious about Park Patrol and wondered whether or not it would deliver a touching experience as compelling as the original.

It doesn't. But that isn't a bad thing per se. I was pinning my hopes on the sequel maintaining the sweet innocence of the original. In that sense, the game does succeed. This time around you're tasked with improving (landscaping, essentially) a park that has fallen into disrepair. You also meet a variety of different toys that help you out (you have to pay them in "watts" though...).

The scope of Park Patrol is much smaller, there are fewer places to go and fewer things to do (unless you consider all the "toys" you can add to the park). Also, you spend most of your time "grinding" by spraying flower buds, dancing and cycling around to the next area of the park. It's the grinding part that got tiresome for me, especially later on when smoglings appear and you need to take them out. Not only do you have to grind, but you are also interfered in your grinding!

In the end though, the game does provide an enjoyable experience that is chibirobo-like. This isn't a game where you are incredibly powerful (crossing the street can be dangerous) yet you do feel empowered into making positive changes: one flower at a time.


 
kudos for original design to Rodrigo Barria