New Restrictions in ‘Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream’ Leave Fans Scratching Their Heads

A full breakdown of the upcoming Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream was given during a Nintendo Direct.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the long-awaited sequel to 2013’s Tomodachi Life. These games are social simulators, in which players can create their own islands and personalize their inhabitants to foster a virtual community.

TL: LTD seeks to up the ante by adding more customization options, including the ability to give their Miis face paint, create their own pets and hand-design patterns for architecture and clothes.

However, a statement on Nintendo’s official website appears to contradict this level of creative freedom.

The statement mentions that “this freedom can sometimes lead to humorous, surprising, or unpredictable moments during gameplay. While these moments are often fun for players, we recognize that out-of-context scenes may be misunderstood or may not reflect the spirit in which the game is intended to be enjoyed.”

In lieu of this, Nintendo has “decided to place restrictions on certain image sharing features. These limits help to make the world’s players create in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream remain fun and safe, and ensure that the game can be enjoyed comfortably by all players.”

This has confused fans because not only does it counteract the game’s branding of giving players immense control over their worlds, but it also leaves questions about how these restrictions will be implemented.”Players can share their created Mii characters and items with others via local communication. Mii characters and items received through local communication cannot be passed on to other players. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream does not feature any online communication features. In terms of the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 system features, the image transfer function to smart devices, direct posting to social media, and automatic image upload function (only on Nintendo Switch 2) are not enabled for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream,” Nintendo of America told Polygon.

This explanation doesn’t account for streamers who intend to play the game for virtual audiences. Will their images be able to be shared on a livestream?

Another point of contention is that fellow Nintendo property Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a recent social simulation game akin to Tomodachi Life, yet it has none of these restrictions. Players of New Horizons can also build their islands with meticulous detail, leaving the potential for people to create images that Nintendo deems “inappropriate.” However, it has yet to receive a statement from the company outlining these rules and regulations.

As it stands, it appears that players of TL:LTD can only share their creations with people that are physically nearby. No images can be saved to phones or shared on social media.

This decision befuddles many. Nintendo seems to have anticipated this backlash because they ended their statement with “We understand that some players may find these restrictions limiting. However, they reflect Nintendo’s ongoing philosophy of creating experiences that bring smiles to everyone who plays.”

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will be released for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 16.