My thoughts on Trouble in Paradise

[jimmcq]

I'll keep this one short and sweet (no pun intended)

After playing the game for the past two or three days I think I can pretty safely weigh in on this one. No, I haven't finished the game yet, far from it... and you could of course consider my opinion to be pretty biased when I run a site dedicated to the Viva Pinata franchise.

With that said, I think it is pretty fair to say to that if you liked the first game, then you will be very happy with Trouble in Paradise. It has everything that was in the first game, and a LOT more.

It is obvious that the developers really listened to feedback from the community, because they went through and addressed just about every single concern that people had. Even minor little tasks that were tedious in the first game have been streamlined. So even if you didn't like the first game, give this one a try (either via the upcoming demo or even a rental)... because it is a much better experience overall.

[the spammer81]

Wow! Now I'm really hyped up for this game!

[Wh1te Out]

Thanks for bringing us an early opinion. Are you under some kind of NDA or can you be more specific about some of the new features? For example, how is the feel of cooperative play? I've been worried that it would be too clunky and you'd end up with two cursors competing over which direction to move the screen. And also, how are the minigames integrated, and do they play well or do they seem like throw-ins? Are the new romancing minigames tougher, because they sure look like it in the screenshots I've seen. Just a few questions... answer if you can. If not, we'll all find out in a few days for ourselves. :)

[Pretztail4eva]

sounds great! you're so lucky to already have the game

[jimmcq]

Thanks for bringing us an early opinion. Are you under some kind of NDA or can you be more specific about some of the new features? For example, how is the feel of cooperative play? I've been worried that it would be too clunky and you'd end up with two cursors competing over which direction to move the screen. And also, how are the minigames integrated, and do they play well or do they seem like throw-ins? Are the new romancing minigames tougher, because they sure look like it in the screenshots I've seen. Just a few questions... answer if you can. If not, we'll all find out in a few days for ourselves. :)

I haven't really gotten a chance to try out any multiplayer yet.

The minigames (Pinata Paperchase racing and the P-Factor fashion show) are more or less separate entities. You can ignore them completely if you want, but they might be a fun diversion during co-op. Basically you choose a pinata from your garden to participate in the event, and their candiosity can be raised as a result.

I haven't done too many of the different romance minigames yet, but it doesn't seem too difficult to complete them. Where it gets difficult is if you want to collect ALL of the hearts before time runs out. That can make things more difficult.

[Wh1te Out]

What benefit is there in collecting all the hearts? Does that have to do with a new way to obtain variants, or wildcards perhaps?

Also, on the events, can you control how much the candiosity is raised by how well you do in the games, as opposed to the set value the candiosity was raised when sending pinatas to parties in the original version?

(Sorry for being so inquisitive... I just wanna pick your brain.)

[jimmcq]

What benefit is there in collecting all the hearts? Does that have to do with a new way to obtain variants, or wildcards perhaps?

Also, on the events, can you control how much the candiosity is raised by how well you do in the games, as opposed to the set value the candiosity was raised when sending pinatas to parties in the original version?

If you collect all the hearts in the maximum difficulty of the minigame, you improve your chances of getting a Wildcard offspring.

I'm not sure I understand your candiosity question. Winning the events will raise candiosity more than losing.

[Wh1te Out]

Sorry about that, what I'm getting at is that the candiosity gained from attending a party in the first game was set amount, you couldn't affect how much the value of your pinatas increased. This seems to be different in that you get to directly affect how much the cadiosity value increases (by way of winning or losing). So if you skip playing the events, I assume you get a set amount of candiosity increase, and can you win MORE than that by actually playing the events? Make better sense?

[VPplaya]

Have you seen any new pinatas that no one has heard of yet?

[steph2790]

New Pinata Vision Card If You Don't Have It Already, Its From The Strategy Guide :D

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/pattty25/CIMG4035.jpg

[jimmcq]

Have you seen any new pinatas that no one has heard of yet?

All of the pinatas from Trouble in Paradise are listed in the species guide (http://pinataisland.info/viva/List_of_Viva_Pi%C3%B1ata:_Trouble_in_Paradise_spec ies).

[crowla_egg]

cool now i really want to play it i like the for name the peacock

[VPplaya]

Speaking of the peacock, what is with the name?

[crowla_egg]

oh i think it the like the assorted bag of random chips and what not called chex
or sumthin not sure

[VPplaya]

Its still realllllllllly weird sounding :P

[crowla_egg]

i wonder how to pronounce it?

[the spammer81]

Speaking of the peacock, what is with the name?

It's name is Peckanmix.

[VPplaya]

It's name is Peckanmix.

I know what the name is, but I was wondering why it is called that. Its very weird

[jimmcq]

I know what the name is, but I was wondering why it is called that. Its very weird

If I had to guess, I'd say it is related to Pick 'n' mix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_%27n%27_mix) candies (aka Bulk Candy).

[Kawigi]

I got a chance to try the game at PAX. I'm not sure if it was a demo or a full version, though.

Pros: the tutorial portion seems to rely less on frequent modal popups and instead has a part of the screen that more gently suggests that you follow the ring that shows you what to do to fill the next challenge. It centered around Langston's challenges fairly closely, but they're not just the generic "I want one/two of a specific pinata/your most valuable pinata" challenges, but challenges centered around advancing in the game.

Cons: Following these challenges doesn't seem to be optional, at least for the first few - you won't be able to advance through the game unless you pay attention to them. I assume it gets less linear after awhile.

As far as progression, it seemed like the Bispotti is the new "tutorial" pinata, so you get to see a new pinata right from the start :-)

[BIGsheep]

Cons: Following these challenges doesn't seem to be optional, at least for the first few - you won't be able to advance through the game unless you pay attention to them. I assume it gets less linear after awhile.The three initial "tutorial" challenges are completely optional, you don't have to do them if you don't want to. They introduce players to the basics of VP along with the new sub-gardens, but people can ignore them if they want to. Each can be skipped and the pinata/house that would have been discussed in that tutorial will be sent to you in a crate so you don't miss out.

You can basically play the game without ever completing a challenge set by Langston, if you so wish. They are just another feature for people wanting a goal to focus on.

[the_galagoogoo]

Yep. It's up to you. Whether teaching tricks to Pinata's or helping Langston, you can do anything!

[Kawigi]

The three initial "tutorial" challenges are completely optional, you don't have to do them if you don't want to. They introduce players to the basics of VP along with the new sub-gardens, but people can ignore them if they want to. Each can be skipped and the pinata/house that would have been discussed in that tutorial will be sent to you in a crate so you don't miss out.

You can basically play the game without ever completing a challenge set by Langston, if you so wish. They are just another feature for people wanting a goal to focus on.

Ok, perhaps it's just my perception, as I took longer than I thought it should take to figure out how to build a house, and I blamed it on having to follow the candy-cane-colored ring's instructions. I suppose I could have not sent the pinatas to pinata central and still gotten things done.

[jimmcq]

Ok, perhaps it's just my perception, as I took longer than I thought it should take to figure out how to build a house, and I blamed it on having to follow the candy-cane-colored ring's instructions. I suppose I could have not sent the pinatas to pinata central and still gotten things done.

As BIGsheep mentioned, you can completely ignore the beginning tutorial/challenges. Building a house is no different than before... it may jut be that Willy hadn't shown up yet for you.

[jimmcq]

As a follow-up to my original post, I will say that this game is definitely a little more... I guess less forgiving would describe it.

The Ruffians are nastier, and Professor Pester is an outright pain in the behind.

I finally got the Captain's Cutlass (5 levels later than expected) and it only scares away Ruffians, not Pester himself. Apparently only the Dragonache can scare away Pester(?)

Generally Pester comes in and destroys your most expensive pinata... but recently he came in and destroyed my Cutlass... so I had to buy another one.

The new sours are nastier too... The Limeocerous came in and destroyed my mine! and I still don't have a Dragonache... so I built a new mine... but then Pester destroyed my Cutlass again... and that allowed the Ruffians back... next thing I know a Ruffian destroyed my mine!

In this game you definitely have to spend some time with sours terrorizing your garden... in a lot of cases it seems like you don't get the thing needed to tame a sour until a level or two after it visits your garden.

Back to trying to earn some money I guess... and don't get me started on the weeds! They aren't something that can be easily ignored now.

Oh, and don't think you can just use your shovel to defend your garden either... It doesn't work on the tougher ruffians... doesn't work on Pester... if you whack a sour pinata, it spills out weed seeds... and it is really hard to deal with weeds using your shovel because if you whack a weed it drops three seeds... and you can't whack all three seeds before at least one or two of them replant themselves... Ughh...

It's getting late, and I need to get some sleep.. and I still don't have a Dragonache!!!

[sonictomas]

<snipped>
:eek::eek: i might just get pocket paradise insted,i dont think i could cope with the sours and the ruffians/pester.

[Chuzzlewit]

But there are new ways to defend yourself from Pester... don't give up :)

[sonictomas]

il buy a batch of super trained monkeys to help me find out how to get rid of pester

[pinatalover500]

Aw man, this game sounds harder. Well, as long as Pester or Ruffians don't come TOO early, I'll be OK. And I heard about a weed that can turn pinatas to non-resident! :eek:

[zach]

:eek::eek: i might just get pocket paradise insted,i dont think i could cope with the sours and the ruffians/pester.That sounds a bit extreme, it won't be that bad...

This sounds more challenging, in a good way.

[jimmcq]

:eek::eek: i might just get pocket paradise insted,i dont think i could cope with the sours and the ruffians/pester.

It is challening in a good way... if those sound a little too intense, then you can always stick with Just For Fun mode.

But there are new ways to defend yourself from Pester... don't give up :)

I know that you can pay him off by giving him chocolate coins the moment he enters your garden, and you can also purchase 'Decoy Pinatas' that he'll destroy instead of a real one, but after the Limeocerous destroyed my mine and I rebuilt it, I couldn't afford to do either.

[sonictomas]

oh yeah i forgot about paying him :P

does he still come in your garden at lvl 20:confused:

[Kawigi]

As BIGsheep mentioned, you can completely ignore the beginning tutorial/challenges. Building a house is no different than before... it may jut be that Willy hadn't shown up yet for you.

I think my problem was that in the original VP, once you got two whirlms they pretty much instantly gave you a house, and when it was done, you could instantly romance the whirlms. In VP:TIP, you have to satisfy two bispottis' other romance requirements, and then Willy shows up. I'm used to building the house and then worrying about the other requirements.

[Sharkbite]

I sure hope you are right about this game.

My daughter wants it so badly (she's 7) that, against my better judgement, we headed out to see if we could get it this morning. On the way I explain to her that we probably won't get it this early, blah, blah, blah, and the next thing I know, BAM! I get a flat tire. Do we have the game? No! No we don't. :lol:

The things I go through to keep the kid happy! :p

Hopefully we will have it tomorrow. The best part is that I now know I can change my own tire. :mrgreen:

[BIGsheep]

I'm impressed about how you've found a silver lining. I hope your daughter helped you ;)

[Sharkbite]

I'm impressed about how you've found a silver lining. I hope your daughter helped you ;)

If not for that silver lining I would surely go insane. ;)

[bionicjohn]

I think it's a brilliant idea i'm getting it the day it comes out

[Pretztail4eva]

hm, all that stuff with the sours, ruffians and pester is a little off-putting, although i have coped with a sour mallowolf destroying my captain's cutlass in VPC, thank god pretztails arn't worth alot!

just as long as all the trouble doesn't start until later on in the game i'll be fine

[alison]

I'm getting it this evening. I'm in the UK but my friend works in a game shop and they got the delivery today so she's taking it home for me. However, my boyfriend (whose xbox and gamertag I will be playing on) seems to think he could get in trouble for playing it early while connected to live, even though it's already out in the US. That's not going to happen is it??

[BIGsheep]

Nope. They're scaremongering, nothing will happen to you at all. My brother lives with a games journo and has been playing it since last Friday and he's still online. Don't worry about it.

[blueberry]

I love it so far! I've only had it five hours, but love the new arctic and desert pinatas...and the new items to tinker! Can't figure out the multi-player yet, though....

[jimmcq]

Can't figure out the multi-player yet, though....

Are you trying to do online co-op? Or Couch Social? The one catch about couch social is that both controllers must be signed into an Xbox Live account (offline accounts work fine for this).

[Hoser Daddy]

Only had an hour with the game so far. I didn't mind the tutorial as I wanted to get a handle on what was new and different this time around. I like the fact you aren't starting completely from scratch. I still find the garden area to be small compared with the amount of Pinatas that come visiting and take residence. Or perhaps more to the point, as in VP 1 it doesn't take very long before a bunch of Pinatas start coming into your garden and taking residence and thus you have to quickly start managing your space and what is going to occupy it.