Fantastic Pets Reviews

  • BrassBrumBrassBrum228,370
    11 Jul 2011
    12 2 5
    Let me start by saying this game is 'one of *those* games'. You know the kind I mean.

    Microsoft announce Kinect and Kinectimals. Another developer takes a brief look at what they deem will be a big seller to it's target audience, and rapidly knocks together a cheap knock-off (though not that cheap in this case).

    At the time of writing this article, Kinectimals has 3.7 stars out of 5, while Fantastic Pets scores only marginally lower at 3.0 stars out of 5. It's an unfair reflection and comparison as the number of votes received on each massively skew the average.

    The bottom line is this. If you're buying this for you children to enjoy, don't. Don't buy it instead of Kinectimals and don't buy it to compliment Kinectimals. If you're picking this up for yourself, then consider renting it instead. It's all you need to become bored of the content.

    Let's start by looking at what 'kind' of game this is. It's a mini-game collection, there's no mistaking it, and no surprises there. The Kinect integration, though it technically works, is minimal. The coding is lazy in that it is set up to only track the presence of movement and not context. It is possible to reach the maximum running speed for example, by not running as the game suggests, but by jumping, leaning from side to side, or even swinging both arms by your side.

    However, the real problem is the fragmented and isolated nature of each mini-game. There are only four or five mini-games that are actually worth playing, and these mostly revolve around throwing a ball, throwing a ball at targets, and throwing a ball at a different kind of target.

    The others, such as washing and brushing your pet, simply involve you moving one arm back and forth for a minute each until the 'game' ends. Then there's feeding your pet. You choose something, hold out your hand, and after five instances of this, the 'game' ends. Can these really be referred to as 'mini-games'? I'd certainly think not.

    Worse still are the mini-games with running in, which as we mentioned earlier, are lazy in design. The mini-game where your pet has to 'sit' in a designated area is essentially broken too. Your pet will not sit no matter what you try. At least I couldn't get it work, and I've been grinding this game for two weeks plus now.

    The mini-games are split to stretch out 'gameplay' into a heck of a boring yarn. Upon loading the game you'll see yourself, in your room, with your pet superimposed on the screen to stand next to you. Fun at first, until you realise the pet is imposed to be in line with your knees and so trots around in mid-air most of the time.

    From here you'll essentially either select to play a mini-game in isolation, or a talent show. Don't get excited. A talent show is the same mini-games thrown together in a random order played out to a different, (and more sterile) multi-coloured background.

    The talent show is restricted in the sense that you can only play once a day (unless you go offline and manually forward your Xbox's clock), so you'll be relegated to playing the mini games one by one again, and for little reward, as the 'money' (i.e.: gems) you can win each time drops lower and lower, to the point where the return is excruciatingly minimal.

    The only other place you may spend some time is in the pet customisation screen, though to be honest you'll only visit here to unlock some achievements tied to specific creations and won't bother to return as it will have no impact upon the game-play at all. For the kids the customisation will no doubt be enjoyable as the options are varied, and relatively in depth when all is said and done. A rare plus point over Kinectimals here, but one which is negated by the actual quality of the mini-games.

    With some mandatory awards thrown in for winning certain events, playing others ten times and a 'world map' via which you explore continents to unlock new pet customisations you'll have seen everything there is to see in this game within an hour or two.

    Redeeming qualities which prevent the one star rating are the fact that the games that do work, such as Fetch, Pet Rampage and Target Throwing do work well and can be quite fun. If more games with the fun factor like these had been included, the game would have been more palatable. Another small positive comes from the sounds, music, consistency of presentation and the fact motion recognition is lazy but working. It's nowhere near as good as Kinectimals on any of these fronts, but it's not a complete disaster. Some Kinect games are literally unplayable, and this isn't one of them.

    As for the full 1000 (or 1250 as it is now including DLC). There will be much grinding and spamming the offline date of your Xbox, so expect to put in a bit of work to achieve your goal.
    2.0
    Showing all 5 comments.
    Gunstar RedWow. You analyzed this game to a tee. You pretty much nailed my thoughts on the game exactly. A positive vote for putting such effort into your review.
    Posted by Gunstar Red on 18 Aug 11 at 20:01
    BrassBrumThanks!
    Posted by BrassBrum on 18 Aug 11 at 20:47
    TsubakiCalamityI like this review. I thought it might be good for my future children, but guess not! Anyway, thumbs up.
    Posted by TsubakiCalamity on 31 Dec 11 at 05:53
    Hampshire VeganI'm due to get this game as my next rental tomorrow, great review - but I regret reading it haha. Ignorance is bliss.
    Posted by Hampshire Vegan on 05 Mar 12 at 22:11
    BrassBrumHaha! 1k is within reach, just drink heavily as you play! :)
    Posted by BrassBrum on 05 Mar 12 at 22:21
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