In a magical, pastel-colored land live creatures called Plushkins.  They are like stuffed animals that are alive.  Wild Plushkins live in dungeons and other outside areas, and can sometimes be dangerous to people, so it’s up to trained witches to tame Plushkins so they can help everyone out.  Play as Moco, a young girl witch-in-training and help her to become a Plushkin master in this entry-level dungeon crawler RPG for the Nintendo 3DS.

In the town area, you’ll first take a request, usually from your master who is training you, or from one of the other elf-like critters in the plaza.  Then you must venture into dungeon mazes to find whatever it is they need at the end of the area.  But you won’t have to do it alone.  You’ll bring along three Plushkins in your party to battle.  When you find a Plushkin in the dungeon, a battle will start.  Fights are typical turn-based RPG affairs, and certain Plushkins are weak and strong against certain elemental types, so you’ll have to keep that in mind when figuring out which stuffed toys to take with you.

While in the dungeons, you can also find treasures and items that you can use back in town.  You can plant seeds in a special garden that will, over time, grow into plants that render other items you can use like cloths, fabrics, buttons, and stuffing (keeping with the plush toy theme).  You can then combine these items at a giant sewing machine to make healing items and other goodies for your Plushkin party.  Sometimes after a fight, an enemy Plushkin may want to join your team.  You can even use items that can increase the chances of that happening!

The problems in the game are minimal, but include a little bit too much text (and it’s very small to read, too).  Sometimes it can be hard to tell which elemental types the Plushkins are, and as an entry-level RPG, things start out pretty easy and slow at first.  It gets a bit more challenging later on, however.  But if you enjoy dungeon crawler RPGs with an extra dose of cuteness, this would make a good entry-level game for less experienced players or anyone looking for a simpler Pokémon-type experience.

Kid Factor:

Moco Moco Friends is rated E for Everyone with ESRB descriptors of Alcohol Reference and Mild Cartoon Violence.  While the Plushkins fight each other with fancy attacks and magic spells, you don’t actually see them hitting one another.  But they do beat the stuffing out of each other, so to speak, because when a Plushkin’s hit points are low enough, you’ll see tufts of fluff sticking out.  So that’s about as violent as it gets, which isn’t very.  The alcohol reference must be buried deep in the text, as I couldn’t find any.  Speaking of text, reading skill is a definite must in this adventure.  Any kid who enjoys Pokémon might like this game, too.

Tags: Game Reviews