PC Game Review: Viva Pinata

I have been waiting quite some time to get the nerve to spend $40.00 on a PC video game. PC gaming has never been my 'thing'. Besides the Sims, I really don't bother much with PC gaming, which is unfortunate because I own a pretty sweet PC gaming machine.

I figured why not put those graphics to work, why not take up a little space in my hard drive for something more than just Sims!?

I had my eye on Viva Pinata, but after reading numerous accounts of people having issues with the game crashing (or in some cases not even installing), I avoided the game, and figured I'd wait for a newer version, with perhaps a game patch to fix the issues.

Sadly though I hadn't heard any game patch rumors...yet I still wanted the game. Figured I'd just return it if I encountered issues. I actually picked a copy up at my local Best Buy, thanks to a gift card they sent me recently. The game was fuh-ree.
 
Installation:
 
Everything installed in about 10 minutes, which was pretty disgusting. My PC is like a desktop on steroids, everything should of loaded in at fast speeds. This worried me. I never waited longer than 5 minutes for a game to install.

Viva Pinata comes with 2 discs. You end up switching to disc 2 in the middle of installing. After disc 2 is done doing whatever it does, you are then asked to insert disc 1 to play the game.

Once I had disc 1 back in, the game began.

I was introduced to a chick who was crying in my garden. She looks half human, half pinata, only because she wears this odd feathered paper mask. She told me to clean up the garden, to bring it back to it's glory.

I figure, no problem, lady, chill out. I got this!
 
Controls:
 
Moving around the garden is easy, and enjoyable. The environment is so rich with color, that every turn I take I am more and more impressed. To move around you would use your right click button. To expand and look at things from a distance you move the mouse to the corners of the screen and things will either move forward, or back.

Everything is done using the mouse. But if you are weird, you can also use the keyboard for the same controls. Why you'd want to do that is beyond me... but the option is available.

You can also use a Windows XBOX compatible controller to maneuver around Pinata Island.

-As I mentioned, the first thing that will stun you will of course be the vibrant colors, and beautiful graphics. After becoming memorized with my environment, I then went to work.

In the menu controls I was given a shovel. This shovel is rusty, has holes, and will be needed to clean up the garden. You will notice that the garden you are given is not very big, but the more you improve your gardening skills, the larger your garden can expand.

Anyhow, you want to first begin cleaning up this garden. You will notice some dead grass, garbage, and dried out soil all throughout the terrain. To clear it out you will break up this trash with your shovel, cut the grass, and pat the ground with the shovel to unearth healthy soil.

Once you have cleared out the garden some Pinatas will show interest in your garden. The first pinata to visit my garden was a little black and white pinata worm.

Once I had laid down (endless supply) of grass, this little worm decided that my garden was worthy enough to call it a home. This worm became a permanent resident, and even turned from black and white to a glorious vibrant orange and yellow color. The worm was happy.

Now that he is a residence, I could name him. How cool!? Turns out when a pinata becomes a resident, you can name him, build him a home, and help achieve his needs.

Things were simple in the beginning. I bought my worm a home, and other worms moved in. Once I had a pair of worms, I could not romance them.

Romancing:
 
(AKA Breeding) can only occur when the two pinatas are satisfied with their surroundings, and have done tasks that allow them to romance. For instance, some pinatas need to eat a worm in order for them to be able to romance.

You also need that pinatas specie home in order for them to romance.

If you meet your pinatas conditions, you can then romance them. It's not easy though, because once they are ready to romance, you are taken to a mini game where you have to move the pinata to the other pinata through a maze filled with enemies. If you hit the enemies you cannot romance. You have 3 tries though, so if you fail 3 times your romancing pinatas will not be able to make a baby, and it will decrease their happiness.

If romancing is successful, a stork will deliver an egg, which in a few moments will hatch to make another pinata.

Experimenting with romancing different types of species couldn't hurt either.
 
Enemies:
 
There are a few enemies known as Sours in the game. Sours will eat your pinatas, or leave behind poisonous candy for them to eat and get sick. If you are a good player, you can actually tame the sours and have them become a part of your garden.

Also some pinatas by nature do not get along, so they will fight, which could result in death. You can read all about pinatas and their enemies in the encyclopedia.

Candy:
 
Each pinata is filled with candy. Some pinatas have special candy essences. There is romancing candy, candy that will make pinatas happier, and candies that can make them sick.

Depending on what candy your pinata eats will effect their value, or health.

Sell:
 
You can sell pinatas to make money. The more candy in the pinata, the more it increases their value.

Accessories which can be bought and worn by the pinatas also increase their value.

Besides pinatas you can sell fruit and vegetable's you have grown in your garden.

Buy:
 
There is an abundance of items you can buy for your garden. Fencing will keep out enemies, statues will attract other species of pinatas, lights will attract moth pinatas, and of course homes will allow your pinatas to breed.

Seeds:
 
Seeds can be planted in your garden to grow flowers, fruit trees, or vegetables. You can also leave the seeds on the ground without planting them. Pinatas love eating seeds, so leave a few out in the open sometimes.

Colors:
 
If your pinata eats a certain color seed, or vegetable, he or she may change colors. You can experiment with different food/seeds to see what odd color pinata you can create.

Upgrades:
 
There are many upgrades in Viva Pinata, you can have a shovel upgrade, which will result in your shovel being able to dig holes, tap fruit tress, dig ponds to attract frog pinatas...and in some cases kill enemy pinatas if you want.

Attracting Pinatas:
 
This can be problematic at times, especially if you are low in funds.

Whenever a new pinata comes to check out your garden you are given the chance to convince the pinata that your garden is worthy enough to make it its home. Attracting a snake for instance comes easy. It requires a home, and enough grass... but keeping it happy is another issue. You see the snake; in order to breed, needs to eat a pinata toad.

If you are willing to sacrifice one pinata to breed another, then so be it. For some though, watching your snake devour your toad could be a sad event. (There is no blood). Once the snake pinata has killed the toad, it will then burst and all of it's candy will litter the ground. After the snake has eaten, a heart will rise above it's head. The heart will remain there till it romances.

Remember you need 2 snakes to romance, so the sacrifice is 2 frogs.
 
Sacrificing a pinata may be difficult for a young child to do, especially seeing how that pinata may be named. Not that everyone makes connections with virtual characters.... some do, and it could be painful to watch one of your favorite residence's get eaten.

Life and death though is vital in this game in order for your garden to improve.

Shops:
 
There are shops that will open up as you advance in the game. For instance y a pet shop will open up where you can buy accessories for your favorite pinatas. The more accessory's a pinata has the more money the pinata will be worth if you decide to sell it. You can buy classes, masks and other fun accessory's for your pinatas.

Another shop that opens will sell you garden items from seeds, grasses, plants, and lawn ornaments.
The next shop o course is the building shop where you can have homes built for pinatas. Once paid for, he will come out and build the pinatas home wherever you want it located.

Other shops open up where you can hire workers to help make your garden better. Such as weed pickers, watering employee's, and pest removers.

Viva Pinata is an open ended game. It does not end, and keeps on going. However more rewards open up the more you play. A master pinata gardener will be able to have all species of pinatas living in harmony in the garden. I doubt I'll ever be a master gardener, but it is sure fun trying to get to that level of success.

As of now my garden holds about 10 different species. Keeping them all happy is more difficult then it looks.

Overall:
 
I truly think just about anyone would enjoy this game. It is a fun filled vibrant environment with tons to do.

As far as technical issues go, I have no yet experienced the game shutting down on it's own. I did though notice a few glitches in the beginning during the opening scene explaining what Viva Pinata is.
Other than a few voice glitches, the game ran smooth, and flawlessly. No complaints.

I feel the issues others are experiencing are due to a crummy sound/video card. Seriously, you want the best in order to get the est gaming experience. That $300 on a high end sound/video card is sooo worth it.

The version I purchased came with a month free of Windows Live. I've never been one to participate in online gaming, but the option is there (for a month) if you have the need to share items/pinatas with others online. A post office will open when you advance in the game, that will allow you to pack goods to send to others.

As I write this review, I cannot wait to get home, and load up my game. Till then, my garden waits.
I highly, highly recommend Viva Pinata. Rumor has it that the game will be releasing on the Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS sometime this year. I am anticipating the release day!