Gotchi Nostalgia

Design and quality

I won't lie - at first, I was quite bummed about the design. I'm not a fan of the minimalist approach of recent year. I don't know what happened after the Mix and On models - those were so colourful.

Still, I'm very glad to see Tamagotchi returning to the formula of separate, big devices instead of a write watches. I love how chunky and massive Paradise is - it actually feels like a proper device.

The shells are pretty cute and grew on me. I love the Pink Forest - it looks like my first Tama ever. But my favourite one must be the Jade Forest. The colour combo is just amazing and looks even better in real life than on the photos.

When it comes to the quality of the devices themselves... kind of a mixed bag. Pink Land feels more flimsy than Jade Forest. I think it's a rather classic thing for the later editions to be better-made than the first one. The shell itself is pretty good, though I'm afraid that the perfectly smooth and shiny surface will get scratched up. The issue is the antenna which you rotate to zoom in/out - in my Pink Land the rotating ring is a bit shaky, making sound when I move the device around. No such problem on the Jade Forest. The buttons on JF seem to be more responsive as well.

The screens are nice. I like the smooth animations and movements. I wish the colours were a bit warmer and more vibrant though - it would really bring out the pretty backgrounds.

2. Unique mechanics

Paradise has quite a different gameplay mechanics from other models. As a caretaker, you are less involved in raising individual Tamas - your goal is to develop a whole planet by releasing more and more Tamas into the wild. You can have up to 5 characters on your map at the same time. There is always one "main one" that you are currently taking care of - that's the one you feed, play with etc.

There are a few levels of zoom on the screen - each one has a separate menu. That replaces the classic menu used to check statistics, clean poop, play games etc. There is also a whole big menu (Tamagotchi Lab) with even more options after pressing the rotating antenna disc - there you can play more games, buy food/items, access settings and more. It's a cool way to cram more functionality into the device. I generally like this antenna a lot.

There isn't that much to do with your pets - Paradise falls is on the "non-demanding" side of Tamagotchi Attention Need spectrum. Getting them to be happy might take a moment, but with the games it's not an issue.

As you release more characters into the wild, your planet evolves, unlocking more functions on the device. I think it's a good way to keep the player interested as they want to see what else can be done.

3. Characters and growth cycle

A big part of the ad campaign around Paradise was the gene mixing. People loved Mix and On for precisely that - personally, I consider gene mixing to be one of the best things the Tamagotchi franchise has ever come up with.

The new characters on Paradise are less unique and flashy than Mix/On ones, though. This is due to the basic character designs being strongly toned down - they feel less "alien" and more animal-like. It's one of my biggest pet peeves with this model. Still, the critters you can obtain are pretty cute and the new ones are often silly-looking. It ends up being cool anyway, even though the designs still feel a little bit less Tamagotchi-like. I hope this is not a new trend in general.

The "style" of the characters is dependent on the field the Tama lives in. Every device has 3 fields - Land, Water and Sky (Sky is replaced with Forest on the Jade Forest edition). If you take a Tama born in one area to another one to raise them, they will likely have mixed traits from the two field.

The field you start on depends on the shell you have, but the next fields are unlocked later on. Fields also have weathers, which is a very nice little detail.

Your Tamas do not die of old age, so if you really love your silly guy, you can basically keep them forever.

4. Games

Paradise comes with 2 types of games.

The first type are the games you play with your pet to make them happy. You don't get Gotchi Points for that. The games are all pretty cool. Jade Garden replaces the first out of the 4 - instead of the classing arrow game (exactly like the one from P1) you get a card matching one, like one of the games from Pix. I like it, it's fun. Also, the last game on the list uses the antenna rotating disc, which is honestly a super cool idea.

The second type are the games in the Tamagotchi Lab menu. Each game has 3 difficulty levels, which reward you with different amounts of GP. I don't know if I've seen a different model having such functionality. My favourite game is the "tower climb" with a white blood cell. What a cute idea in a science-themed Tama!

5. Aesthetics

Generally, the games are cool and I've very happy that there are quite a few of them. Recent models often have few games and not very fun ones - Paradise feels like a return to the good old times of fun Tama games.

As I've said before, the shell designs could be more detailed. Still, the devices are more sturdy than the early design previews suggested. The only shell I don't like is the Sky one.

The backgrounds of environments are very pretty and detailed. I love the smooth animations on characters. Also, it's very cute that you can give your pets toys and they randomly play with them. All animations are adorable - I like just lighting up the screen to see what my silly guys are doing.

6. Battery life

I like the science-planet theme a lot. It's so much cooler than the recent Internet theme - it feels way more like the original Tamagotchi which I missed.

7. Connection

Very good. Very good. I use re-chargeable batteries and they simply don't run out, even though Paradise is a big device which a colourful screen and a lot of smooth animations going on. When I don't want to play with it, I have to take the batteries out, because waiting for them to run out would take way too long.

Since I actually have 2 devices, I could test the connectivity (which usually is not the case for me when it comes to the more expensive colour-screen devices).

I've encountered some issues due to the way the two devices connect - the top "eggshell" part opens, revealing a slot where the other device can be connected. It's very reminiscent of the Osutchi & Mesutchi model from 1997 (Japan-only). But since Paradise is a big and chunky thing, you need to hold both devices up to avoid possible damage to the mechanism. The connection itself doesn't always register and you need to click the B button in a specific moment, otherwise the connection will fail.

Good idea, but the execution could use some more work. Also, the Tamas bond with each other very quickly - a bit too quickly, for my taste. Raised on the Connection series, I'd like a bit more dedication and effort needed for my Tama-breeding attempts.

Paradise is a cute and fun Tamagotchi model that's a good balance between low-maintenance and cute aesthetics, combined with some cool games that will keep you interested. The character designs could be better, but at the end of the day I think it's still a very solid device. The more I play with it, the more fond of it I grow. I honestly recommend getting one.