OK GANG LET'S TALK ABOUT MII MAKER!!!!!
my my! mii mii! my mii may mi mo! let's hop straight into this one!!!
the september 2025 direct showed us lots and lots about the mii maker! we get to see some of what we already learned there, plus plenty more in this one. luckily, facial features have been categorized for us already for like, centuries, if not millennia. this should be a breeze to sort through!
OPENING MENU:
i will definitely be covering more about menus in another post...there's a lot we can learn from icons and buttons that we're shown, even if we don't get see exactly what they do just yet.
here in the opening menu, we can see 4 options! 2 are big and wide at the top, and 2 more are grayed out and listed at the bottom. what we see:
get help
create from scratch
create from mii on console
create based on existing island mii
exciting!!!!
we only really get to see "from scratch" - which would be the most important to most players anyhow, but already we can see our horizons expanding!
we've unfortunately lost the "from photo" option, since the switch did away with our beloved camera feature...so "get help" seems to be a sort of replacement for that! the direct narrator explains that choosing that option will let the player select some prompts that will help determine what their mii looks like. cool! if you're in a rush or not too interested in the from-scratch style of mii creation, this looks like it could be a good option! we'll probably have to wait til launch to see what it actually looks like, though. i'd count myself hyped to take a look!
everything else is pretty self-explanatory! as in the previous game, we can import miis from our console's mii maker and adapt them to our liking in the new creator.
what's really awesome, though, is that final option! it looks like we, in some way, will be able to take our existing miis' likenesses and make more miis based on them! i imagine this would entail the creation of a duplicate mii, identical to the one you choose to base your new mii off of, and creativity from there. good if you want to make a bunch of similar miis, like siblings or creatures of the same species (heck actually maybe that's where milk/latte, mocha's counterpart, comes from?)! all speculation, of course.
HAIR:
YES!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!! THE MIIS HAVE HAIR!!!!!!! IT SHINES!!!!!! IT BOUNCES!!!!!! IT FRIZZES!!!!!!! IT CURLS!!!!!!!!!!!! IT CAN BE STYLED IN MORE THAN THREE WAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i mean, all things aside, the 3DS era hairstyles were pretty good. the miitopia wigs were extraordinary! both expanded on what we had before and allowed a great deal more creativity than we ever had before! and uh, after the glitter wore down...they were kinda limiting!
now we've got a greater expansion upon both! a convergence of sorts with a soft new art style and a grand many more options!
in the first teaser, we saw that the hair can be bouncy, highlighted, dyed, and textured. in the second, we saw that it's separated into 3 categories: sets, bangs, and back.
now, we've seen just about everything!
sets, bangs, and back: the 2 and a half horsemen of hairstyling...hooray!
"sets," to me, looks like preset hair options that pre-include both bangs and back, sort of like we always had before but presumably with more options. i don't think we've gotten a proper glimpse of those, so i won't comment too much on them for now.
"bangs" (or UK "fringe") are as you would expect! this is a feature we were first granted in miitopia's wig styling settings, wherein we had a dozen or so options of bang styles to pair with or two or so dozen wigs. like before, depending on which bangs you select, you can leave them as-is or mirror the shape if it fits the character better. neato!
"back" is also as you would expect! we're being absolutely spoiled with the amount of variations here...length, style, shape, texture...yes!!! YES!!!!!!!! for certain styles, some "tied-up" options appear that look like they let you decide how it should be styled (one bun, two buns, sideswept, the like...). certain backs can be mirrored as well!
we also get to see the color options! i forget if we've already seen them but either way we are TALKING ABOUT THEM AGAIN!!!
(it's pretty simple actually...)
as is standard for every mii on planet nintendo, you initially choose one main hair color! given the game's customizability (and also hugh morris and bubbles's glorious hairdos), this can probably be any color.
you can also check off a box that will let you give it a sub-color! which can also be any color! then you get rad color-faded highlights, a lot like with miitopia's wigs! can't wait to play with this feature myself!!!
EYES:
what fun what fun!!! we were wondering how miitopia makeup might have evolved and by golly how fundamental it has become?!??! windows to the soul more like windows to all of nintendo's deep dark secrets??!!
that's right, folks! miitopia enjoyers of all shapes, sizes, and eyelashes! our eye tab has recently been split into 7, count them, 7!!! 7 new tabs! i'll break em down bullet point style because that will probably be ever so slightly less hellish to read idk you tell me
shape:
many of you have heard news about many features now being totally optional! unfortunately, it does not look like eyes count amongst em...BUT we have a bunch of cool new shapes now! as is the switch mii standard, it looks like they can be any color. the various manipulation options (move, stretch, rotate) remain as they always have.
top lash
oh but this is a development! we had the addition of self-prescribed eyelashes in miitopia, and the same thing is sort of going on here! players can choose a shape for their mii's top eyelash (including none at all!) and it can be moved, stretched, and rotated.
bottom lash
same as above (except, you know, below)!
line above
so some mii eyes have lines below them...some above....and now, you have control of them! pretty similarly to the lashes, you can choose from two shapes (or omit the line entirely) and manipulate its size, width, angle, and position to your liking.
line below
same as above (but, like, below)!
sparkles
aaaaaand once more familiar to miitopia fans, the eye shinies! the little sparklies! your proof of sentience, emotional capacity, and vitality!!! these are a bit more restricted than miitopia's version because players can only choose one shape to put in their mii's eyes...but like the other features, they can change the sparkles' size, width, position, rotation...the works!
NOSES:
this one is short, sweet, and to the point. we have most of our same ol' good ol' noses...a few new ones...and FUCKING FINALLY!!!!!!!! THE OPTION!!!!!!!! TO HAVE NO MORE SNIFFER!!!!!!!!!!!! NO MORE HONK!!!!!!!! NO MORE SNIFF SNIFF!!!!!!!! WE CAN BE OUR TRUE AUTHENTIC SELVES!!!!!!! NOSE GOES????????????!?!? NO NOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry i got excited
anyway basically! a few more options, including nose purge! this is absolutely hype! they're pretty standard and all their manipulation options remain the same.
MOUTH:
another very awesome set of additions here!!! we get tons more shapes and some exciting new options in general!
in addition to new mouth shapes (very fun new mouth shapes at that!!!), we one more have the option to omit a feature whatsoever! no mouth! i have no mouth and i must mii! so sayeth @/prismjiinx!
we also have the option to add or remove lips/lipstick to just about any mouth shape. i have no idea if this feature applies to those few mouths that actually feature lips, please do not ask me because i am scared to find out! also, following general themes, they can be any color.
(i jest, i'm actually curious to know...i, myself, doubt the lipstick will be removable for those shapes...)
one more exciting feature of note is that, in addition to our existing ability to move and stretch the mouth, we can now angle it as well!!! the potential mischief triples in an instant!!!!
EARS:
could they even hear us if we screamed...
jokes aside, kickass new feature! we can choose from 4 shapes (2 circular, 1 pointed, 1 double-arched) or none and manipulate size and position. they conform to the mii's overall skin tone. cool beans!
GLASSES:
ANOTHER EXCITING ONE!!!
miitopia showed some promising glasses shapes and now tomodachi life really delivers! we have grand sweeping swathes of versatile visual prosthetics to choose from! glasses, sunglasses, monocles, shaded monocles...anything you could ask for, whether you're visually impaired or pretend you are because the frames make you look smart!
in addition to size and position, we can now change the glasses' width, too!
frames can be, as always, any color! hooray! and, wonder of wonders, sunglasses lenses can also be color swapped!!! i'm unclear on whether regular glasses can also swap lense color or if it's just sunglasses - we'll just have to see for ourselves.
OTHER FACIAL FEATURES:
another expansion on previous limitations! truly, we are caged birds no longer! how is it we sing? free at last!!!
"other facial features" incllluuuuuuuuude:
eye wrinkles/creases
cheek wrinkles/creases
facial hair (shadow)
mustache
beard
beauty mark
eyeshadow
blush/freckles
each in its own manipulable category! most of these, we don't get to see in the direct itself (as far as i know?)...so we'll have to leave those up in the air for now, but we can imagine based on everything else we've seen that we should have some new options mixed in with the old which should allow more creative freedom, self-expression, representation...etc!
we DO we do we DOOOO get to see the last category though! blush and/or freckles!
previously we could only select from 2 blush shapes of 2 shades, OR freckles...now we can choose freckles, blush, or freckles AND blush of multiple shapes! what's more, we can make that blush any color we like, and we can manipulate its size and position! miitopia's legacy blesses us again!!!
BODY TYPE:
same as always! tasteful, in my opinion. cute!
GENDER:
LEGENDARY??!?!?!? GROUNDBREAKING??!?!?!?!?!?!! compile the collective scream each tomodachi fan produced at this very moment and you could shatter glass.
they can be masc! they can be fem!!! they can be neutral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we fucking won!!!!!! woketendo forever!!!!!!! fuckin!!! wokemadachi life!!!! oh yeah baby!!!!
aside from representation excitement, this is about what you'd expect! we do away with the gender icons and choose the word alone. choose one gender for your mii! presumably, unlike in the previous game, this would be changeable at any time. don't hold me accountable for this but uhh i don't see why they'd have to gender lock anymore! yahoo! (some questions do still linger but maybe i'll post about that another time...i gots work to do for now...)
SEXUALITY:
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA LETSGO???!??!?!?!?!! THERE IS NO LOSING TODAY??!?!?!??!
well, kinda!
you can make your mii straight! you can make em gay! you can make em bi! you can make em pan! and...best of all? you can make them completely indifferent!!! that's right!!! after 14 long years, aromanticism is real!!!!!!! as is homosexuality!!!! and various other options in-between!!!
honestly not much to add here either, this is just awesome. not even sugarcoated or anything, it's just like. it's just fuckin there this is just how we roll now?! let's literally go to the moon and back forever?!
lol yeah i definitely have to talk about this more but for now we can just bask in it
PERSONALITY:
standard, as we love it! as expected, some wording has changed, and it's always different between regions, so there's not too much to read into here for now. more on that when the game releases, i do believe!
however, something i noticed is that up until they're given their personalities, the miis in the trailer don't have a sweater color...but when they do finally appear ready to move into their new houses, they sport a sweater matching their personality's main color, and their house walls match it. ...why? well, here's what i think...
it could be just a cute detail nintendo added offscreen in whichever menu controls favorite color!
or maybe miis don't have favorite colors anymore? there's a noticeable lack still of that menu that determines age, birthday, favorite color...personal information like that. more on this tangent later!
CUSTOMIZATION:
we get a brief glimpse of this with mocha's conception! we'll take a closer look at the menus later, but...
beyond what we've been given now (which is already miitastic beyond belief!!!!)...we can do anything! we have the power to draw directly on our miis' faces! really, what else could you ask for?
in the direct's case, this power was used to draw a plushie pattern on our little stuffed bear. it's a lot less awkward than the "mask/sticker" options we had to influence shapes/markings in miitopia!
our customization powers look an awful lot like the custom design tools in animal crossing new horizons, so we can put our skills (or lack thereof) to the test thanks to those! anything you can imagine is something you can draw, so get ready to put your imagination to the test!
ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
rapid fire!
default skin tone choices remain the same as provided in switch launch (i think, so more than doubly inclusive as 3DS era by default)
skin can be ANY color
no new face shapes (all same as before, as far as i can tell)
"done" and "exit" buttons in US ver are "i'm done!" and "i give up" in UK ver (and that's just cute lol)
we got an undo button! ("X"!)
can choose name pronunciation!
WHAT'S MISSING?
what we've seen is amazing!!! revolutionary!!! nothing like anything we've ever seen before!!!! never has a mii game been so customizable or inclusive!!!! this truly is the new decade!!!! (,,,even though we're nearly halfway through now....progress is progress, as it were...)
the biggest problem at the forefront of my mind, accounting or not for all this glorious news, is one previously prevalent menu...i talked about this in my initial analyses as well...
where is the personal information menu? there, in the previous game, the player entered a mii's first name, last name, birthday, age, gender, favorite color...how now?
this is a lot of personal information...it makes sense, kind of, that if they wanted to keep users more safe (or, more restricted), they would remove this part of the game
however, if we can't share miis to begin with, would it be a problem to keep it?
nintendo switch's mii maker doesn't have first names, last names, or birthdays - only nicknames and favorite colors
we can give miis one name, but what about their favorite color? no menu was shown where we could choose that...
in angie's personal menu, we COULD see the icons designating whether or not she's a child, so there would have to have been confirmation of her birthday, or at least birth year...that we didn't see...
so...are they omitting the portion of mii maker where we choose birthday and/or favorite color, or has that part been scrapped altogether?
well...i can only speculate for now. what do y'all think?
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