Also available on DS, 3DS, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows You ever play a game or do something expecting it to be just awful, and you're only doing it so you can laugh about it later? Yeah, that's kind of how this game was for my friends and me. Over the weekend, I was in Virginia Beach for my dear friend Anna's birthday, and there had been some talk in the group chat about some of the shovelware in my Wii U collection, and some of my friends wanted me to bring my Wii U and Barbie Dreamhouse Party thinking that it would be fun to play a hilarious trainwreck of a game while drinking. Then we ended up actually enjoying it. Then we tried watching the show and loved it. Now we're arguing over which Barbie sister is the best and whether or not Ken should be president. This was a rabbit hole I never expected to find myself in, but DAMN, I like it down here. The game is basically a collection of minigames with a VERY loose thread tying them together. Barbie, Teresa, Nikki, and Rochelle are all chilling in the dreamhouse and playing video games when Rochelle goes and decides to do something stupid and Rochelle-like and accidentally makes Closet, Barbie's wardrobe-managing AI computer system, put the dreamhouse into lockdown. In classic video game logic, the ladies have to complete some bizarre minigames to open up parts of the dreamhouse. The game's plot exists solely to offer some context to the minigames, but the dialogue is well written enough that it doesn't become as bothersome as such things often do. The game has a total of nine minigames which are unlocked once you complete them during the "campaign" mode (which only takes about two hours), and while the minigames are all extremely simple in nature, they can get surprisingly competitive if you have the right friends playing. One requires you to catch stacks of falling boxes, one requires you to collect the most cupcakes that are being spewed from some bizarre machine, one requires you to bathe and groom a cat, etc. None of them are complex, and you'll probably get bored of them quickly unless you've got a whole group of silly friends with you, but if you DO have that group of silly friends, it can actually be really funny. Barbie Dreamhouse Party isn't what I would call a "good" game, but it's definitely an entertaining game with the right group of friends. It's basically a gateway drug for the tie-in Life in the Dreamhouse web series (which is a legitimate drug, I swear), but if you have a group of at least three friends you regularly hang out with and who have goofy personalities, then it's definitely worth checking it. It's bizarrely addicting and leads to an even more bizarre legitimate enjoyment of the web series. My Rating - C |
I'm a teacher.And I like to play video games. I like to collect video games. I like to talk about video games, and I like to write about video games. During the day, I teach high school history; during the night, I spend my spare time gaming. Then I write about it. Archives
March 2024
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