Well folks. All I gotta say is...
Trouble in Paradise rocks =) I'm so glad that RARE was able to develop this sequel to
Viva Piñata. The last few days I've just been grinding through acquiring as many of the pinata species as I can, though I have been romancing several species as I went, enough to earn the
Wildcard Variant Master achievement for 10 different wildcard species. Some more things I love about
TiP. - The shops have really been streamlined. In Classic, you would always have to return to the shop after you were done buying stuff to say goodbye ( ? ) to the shopkeeper (or perhaps buy more items). In TiP, once you're done you just hit "Back" and you're in the garden with your stuff.
- The labelling of crates is a godsend, now I mail stuff to myself pretty much all the time. Especially the lower level "prey" pinatas that keep coming into your garden (flutterscotches, mothdrops, tafflies, etc.) In this regard, I can go right to the "master romance wildcard hunt" part of the romancing by residing 6 of a species before romancing them. I've also got a bunch of the tinkered stuff in my mail too for whenever I need it.
- People have been complaining that the wildcards are too easy to obtain. While this is true for the lower level species, I would gather the higher level ones take a lot of practice in the minigame. On that note, I love the ability to retry the mini-game for 50 cc's. In my opinion, the wildcards really add a lot of variety and longevity to the game. Can you collect them all? (Oh, and we still don't know if they've put something in for those people that liked the grinding aspect for wildcards in Classic).
- The pinata finder is great. Not only does it show you the pinata, but you can just hit "A" and it will select the pinata for you. Then, while you've got the pinata's attention, you use the pinata finder again to find a suitable target (like another pinata or seed/flower) and off it goes.
- Statistics tracking! Here's a breakdown of my statistics after 5 days (including a marathon weekend):
| Gardener Level:
58
|
Gardener Cash:
154483
|
Number of Gardens:
4
|
|
Time in Gardens:
133d 13h 54m
|
Photos Taken:
26
|
Cards Scanned:
21
|
|
Highest Piñata Value:
39691
|
Total Piñatas Unlocked:
72
|
Highest Garden Value:
328918
|
|
Awards:
262
|
Total Crates Sent:
4
|
Total Crates Received:
1 |
(I'm currently ranked 64 for highest garden value)
| Just for Fun Gardens:
0
|
Awards Left:
579
|
Pinometers of Long Grass:
0.1399555
|
|
Pinometers of Grass:
1
|
Pinometers of Water:
0
|
Pinometers of Soil:
0
|
|
Pinometers of Hard Soil:
0
|
Pinometers of Snow:
0
|
Pinometers of Sand:
0
|
|
Surface That is Locked:
0
|
Piñatas in Garden:
19
|
Most Piñatas in Garden:
38
|
|
Props in Garden:
11
|
Most Props in Garden:
14
|
Helpers in Garden:
1
|
|
Most Helpers in Garden:
7
|
Traps Triggered:
0
|
Desert Visits:
9
|
|
Arctic Visits:
10
|
Animals Scared:
92
|
Trees Grown:
19
|
|
Plants Grown:
205
|
Vegetables Grown:
213
|
Weeds Grown:
42 |
(Not sure which garden the above applies to...probably my most recently visited, grassy groves)
| Harvested by Harvester:
22
|
Watered by Sprinkler:
100
|
Weeded by Weedling:
0
|
|
Weeding Mistakes:
0
|
Produced by Mine:
10
|
Times Ruffians Bribed:
70
|
|
Spent Bribing:
30209
|
Times Helper Tipped:
2
|
Spent Tipping Helpers:
700
|
|
Challenges Completed:
22
|
Wool Produced:
0
|
Milk Produced:
0
|
|
Honey Produced:
2
|
Times Piñatas Hit:
89
|
Times Helpers Hit:
2
|
|
Times Ruffians Hit:
13
|
Times Piñatas Poked:
4
|
Times Piñatas Watered:
74
|
|
Times Helpers Watered:
0
|
Times Ruffians Watered:
0
|
Piñatas Smashed:
23
|
|
Pests Smashed in Credits:
0
|
|
|
(I'm still not a big fan of the helpers... I've fired them all except for the diggerling.)
| Online:
0d 0h 0m
|
Online in Full Garden:
0d 0h 0m
|
Couch Social:
0d 0h 0m
|
|
Longest Time Online:
0d 0h 0m
|
Offline Sessions:
24
|
Online Sessions:
1
|
|
Sessions Joined:
0
|
Joined Your Sessions:
0
|
Couch Social Cursors:
0
|
|
Races Completed:
1
|
Races Won:
0
|
Shows Completed:
0
|
|
Shows Won:
0
|
Holes in One:
0
|
Balls Hit:
0
|
|
Holes Scored:
0
|
Long Shots:
0
|
Longest Golf Shot:
0 |
(I don't really want to go online until I've beaten the game myself =)
| Cards Scanned:
21
|
Piñatas Scanned:
1
|
Trees Scanned:
0
|
|
Plants Scanned:
0
|
Seeds Scanned:
0
|
Eggs Scanned:
0
|
|
Pests Scanned:
0
|
Wildcards Scanned:
0
|
Variants Scanned:
1
|
|
Time Warps Scanned:
0
|
Weather Changes Scanned:
0
|
Biggest Balance Scanned:
0
|
|
Biggest Credits Scanned:
0
|
Most Valuable Card Scanned:
0
|
Ruffians Summoned:
0
|
|
Yellow Cards Shown:
0
|
Red Cards Shown:
0
|
Cutscenes Watched:
0
|
|
Crates Sent to Self:
272
|
Piñatas Unpacked:
149
|
Trees Unpacked:
0
|
|
Plants Unpacked:
0
|
Seeds Unpacked:
0
|
Eggs Unpacked:
0
|
|
Pests Unpacked:
15
|
Wildcards Unpacked:
14
|
Variants Unpacked:
4
|
|
Biggest Credits Unpacked:
0
|
Most Valuable Piñata Unpacked:
15584 |
(I haven't been using the cards much... I think they tend to bypass gameplay. Though I will be using a decoy pinata card a lot now that I've created it, to avoid having to go to the general store each time.)
| Romances:
115
|
Biggest Romancer:
17
|
Biggest Romancer Tag:
Reddhott
|
|
Piñatas Hatched:
151
|
Twins:
42
|
Wildcards Hatched:
86
|
|
Wildcard Twins:
39
|
Illnesses:
87
|
Illness from Guardians:
0
|
|
Illness from Poisoning:
4
|
Illness from Trampling:
0
|
Illness from Spade:
15
|
|
Illness from Trapping:
19
|
Illness from Overcrowding:
0
|
Illness from Unhappiness:
0
|
|
Illness from Bad Sweets:
37
|
Illness from Fighting:
12
|
Healed:
30 |
So there you have it - Level 58 in five days... And 220 gamerscore (note I have not been gaming for gamerscore - just playing normally, without very much "looking up" answers - just experimenting and such). Not too bad for a guy with fatherly responsibilities =) Anyways, I'm still highly suggesting anyone pick up this title. For only
$39.99, it's amazing value. I'll be back later today or tommorow with some answers to frequently asked questions. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.
Comments