Known as Personal Trainer: Walking in North America and Walk With Me! Do You Know Your Walking Routine? in Europe, Aruite Wakaru Seikatsu Rhythm DS is a QOL experience coming packaged with two Activity Meters and co-developed by NSD (who most recently worked on Miiverse) and Creatures Inc. (Pokémon X & Y and earlier Mother 1 & 2!) and more interestingly for me (hence the reason why it is being reviewed!) is that it resembles Tomodachi Life with the same Mii character being used to ‘play’ the game as in the original DS Tomodachi Collection.
Similar to my recent review of Intelligent Systems’ Atsumeru Egaocho (http://www.japanese3ds.com/post/91817737179) it’s difficult to know how to review a piece of software in 2014 with regards to context as the model is obviously now outdated in relation to its initial 2008 release. The Activity Meter doesn’t have any kind of screen like the recent Wii Fit U Meter (or even the Pokémon Mini for that matter) nor does it do anything that the 3DS itself really should do although it is compactly sized (slightly smaller than a GBA cartridge) and comes with a neat detachable clip.
The aim of the game is as the Western names imply and requires you to take your Activity Meter with you (up to four can be used with additional pairs selling for cheap) which can be used for friends/family and even pets! Sync the Activity Meter to your DS/3DS and create your profile (one Activity Meter = one profile). Unfortunately much like playing the original DS Tomodachi Collection, you need to create your Mii from scratch but once done the game really begins to take shape. Typically for a first party game, the presentation is amazing with a cute Activity Meter being your in-game guide.
The first mode is Check Your Rhythm mode where the Activity Meter (the in-game one) reviews your daily walkage. He then asks whether you’ve eaten sufficiently today before giving you an animal relevant to your walking prowess. Where-as in Atsumeru Egaocho I facially resemble an elephant (!), on review day in Aruite Wakaru Seikatsu Rhythm DS I resemble a tortoise! Thank you Nintendo! You then choose an emoticon for the day from laughing to happy to sad. Your Mii then reacts to whichever emoticon you chose. There’s actually a daily goal by the Activity Meter if you so wish.
The only other gameplay mode is Records which is slightly more than just displaying your records as as well as viewing them you also get to play with them. The View Records is split into Rhythm Details, Calendar, Rhythm Graphs and Step Graphs feeling very much like the 3DS Activity Log in layout. The Play With Records promises more than it delivers but does give the player the Walk the World mode where your actual steps taken correlate with your Mii forming animals and flowers etc (100 in total) by taking in-game steps. The graphics/animation are really charming although little gameplay is involved.
Similarly the Illuminate! (with exclamation mark!) mode lacks any real gameplay where you just watch your Mii on the treadmill with his/her steps correlating again to real-life steps made with the aim of generating electricity in your neighbourhood. Rankings is similar to the many rankings in Tomodachi Life with seven categories of your Mii challenging his/her friends, family or pets! The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode is obviously now redundant as is really the game as a whole in 2014 although it does have its uses (well singular use) and is full of the graphical charm and presentation you come to expect from Nintendo.
5/10
Review by Bri Bri. For more information on Aruite Wakaru Seikatsu Rhythm DS go to http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/imwj/index.html
