Since Tamagotchi Uni became available globally last summer, it feels like a product with a lot of untapped potential.
Please note that I say this as someone who loves this device and has used it daily since its release. But in addition to all the basic activities one would expect from the digital pet toy at this point, the Wi-Fi-enabled Tamagotchi Uni promised users the “Tamaverse,” a virtual playground that would expand the Tamagotchi experience like never before. So far, it really hasn't been.
Sure, players could send their characters there to “meet” others, go on vacation, and buy clothes, but those small activities don't really add much substance. The “journey” experience involved watching a short animation and occasionally getting a plate of food, item, or special achievement badge. Even the socializing aspect was very limited, allowing players to send only one Heart (a “like” to recognize another player's Tamagotchi) per day.
The Tamaverse has been slow to live up to the expectations set by Bandai, despite being Uni's biggest selling point. That seems to be changing in a big way.
With an update that released on March 19 (version 1.6.0), Bandai opened the Tama Portal, an area of the Tamaverse that has been cordoned off this entire time. A few days later, it released the first two DLC packs for Tamagotchi Uni in the form of “Tamaverse Tickets”, which allow users to travel to new locations through that portal. In a further, unrelated move to Tamaverse, the update also answers players' desperate pleas for more item storage by adding “My Box,” where leftover items can be stored so items no longer need to be deleted. older ones to make room for the new ones. .
The first two Tamaverse tickets, as the DLCs are called, are now available. One, which takes you to Very berry landis free, while the other, for the LoveMelo Concert, costs $6. Each new area comes with a host of additional characters you can raise (including some that are new to the franchise), a themed minigame, and a store with new foods, items, accessories, and furniture you can purchase with Gotchi Points. .
This is the kind of depth that virtual space always seemed to imply. Now it looks like we're finally seeing what the Tamaverse can really be. Hopefully, it's just the beginning.
There will undoubtedly be some who will balk at having to pay for DLC beyond the freebie, and while I can't say I blame them for that, it doesn't bother me for what we're getting. Purchasing a ticket gives you access to a download code that can be used three times. Once the code is registered on a device, you will be able to visit that location as many times as you like and freely switch between the different locations you have downloaded. That means I was able to use the same codes to download Very Berry Land and LoveMelo Concert on both of my Tamagotchi Uni devices, and still have one use left for each ticket in case I ever have to restart.
As was the case with the Tamagotchi Smart DLC, the physical appearance TamaSma Cards, only one Tamaverse Ticket can be active at a time, so switching will remove any location-specific items or foods in your inventory, but you won't need to re-enter the code to switch back. All of a person's downloaded locations can be found in a new list called DL Area when they visit the Tama Portal.
It's not just one or two characters that come with each location either: you get six. Some people buy completely new devices for that kind of expansion (definitely not me…haha…). And the free Very Berry Land brings back the fan-favorite adorable strawberry, Ichigotchi, which feels like a win for everyone.
The DLC also reintroduces the method of obtaining specific characters by feeding your fledgling Tamagotchis certain foods or playing with a particular item three times before they reach adulthood. I was excited to try to get the new character, Tanghulutchi, that comes with Very Berry Land, and I gave my teenager Tama a large amount of Fruit Candy snacks in the hopes that it would make her appear. It worked! (now I'm also a fan of the real candied fruit candy of the same name, Tanghulu. Thanks Bandai).
Once I'm strong enough to break away memechi On my other device, running LoveMelo Concert, I'll probably try to get Drumcrubitchi, a new character who is literally a drummer with a face.
All the things you can buy at Tama Portal locations are as of now much cheaper than Tama Mall's usual offerings, with furniture and accessories costing between 200 and 500 Gotchi points. It's really nice to have some new mini-games to freshen up the daily routine, as there aren't many built into the device when it's offline, and the ones they added to the first few Tamaverse locations are great.
In Very Berry Land you can play cake factory, where you have to move your character to place strawberries on top of the cake slices as they come down the conveyor belt. It's a style of play we've seen before, but it's a little more exciting than other similar versions because the pace really picks up in the second half of the round.
LoveMelo Concert recovers the popular Guitar Herostyle rhythm game format we saw (twice) at the Tama Arena Nyanoe Dancebut the new Happy happy harmony Features a different song for you to try and stay up to date. It's actually quite challenging and it's the kind of game I'll have to obsessively revisit until I perfect it. Nyanoe Dance was clearly well received, and I'm sure many fans will be happy that a version has found a permanent home at the University in one form or another.
One of the best things about previous versions of the modern Tamagotchi, like the Tamagotchi On, was the joy of discovery when you unlocked a new location. Tama Portal's new destinations create the same feeling, and I can only hope that Bandai keeps it up even beyond the additional expansions it introduced with the 1.6.0 update.
The announcement materials indicated that there are at least three more DL Areas on the way, including the Tamamori Fashion Show that will drop at the end of May. That world features some more absolutely insane Tamagotchi character designs, like a pair of anthropomorphic work boots called, I kid you not, Bootsbrothers, and I really can't wait. The other areas have not yet been revealed.
