Ten.Ten. in Pico and Pigg: [Review] あそんで♪HuggPet

CyberAgent wasn't joking when they meant they were pushing for rapid expansion. CyberAgent will be releasing 33 new applications between now and October. One of those releases is titled [あそんで♪HuggPet], which I will review today!

あそんで♪HuggPet or HuggPet is a pet raising app that was released in beta on June 6 and has since then been released publicly for the Android market on June 12. Growing up during the virtual pet "era", I had gigapets, tamagotchis, pet rocks, you name it and I had it! The first Nintendo DS game I had was Nintendogs. Needless to say, I have a soft spot for virtual pets. Therefore, when CyberAgent made the announcement for HuggPets, I was doubly excited. Not only am I fan of CyberAgent and their products but the advertisement made the game look adorable, and I soon realized that what my smartphone was missing was a virtual pet.

June came around and unfortunately, CyberAgent pushed the release back. However, June 6th came and I found out that they released the game in beta. I searched Android Market for the App but it was nowhere to be found. Then it hit me that HuggPets is a browser game. I don't play browser games, aside from Mogg, but I figured I'd do it for HuggPets!

So, here I am a few weeks later ready to tell you my thoughts and opinions on the game.

Traditional to all CyberAgent games, we are first greeted by the game's character, in this case [ハグミ] ,and she lets us browse through the various breeds of dogs and cats that we can choose to raise as our pet. I chose a male chihuahua that I named [ミソ].We are then led to our new home and ハグミ shows us the ropes as much as she can and then we are left on our own.

This game is really confusing at first but even when I think I understand, something else throws me for a loop. The game is really adorable but it is not what I expect when I think of virtual pet game. The game does include features such as feeding, playing, and dressing your pet. But the biggest incentive to continue playing-I mean, how are you going to get the money for food, toys, and items?-, is to work towards learning new tricks, entering contests and engaging with other HuggPet players.

I'll start with what I didn't like about HuggPets. They are mainly technical issues that I am sure will be remedied in time.

Number one is the fact that HuggPets is a browser game. I just feel like my phone is working really hard to keep refreshing and going to another page every time I need to do something. I guess it doesnt help that I sometimes get half loaded screens. I've tried different browsers and the game lagged considerably in some of them.

I'm also baffled as to why I'm getting symbols instead of the Japanese font which makes it hard for me to understand at times what is going on because all I see is symbols. :( I have no clue if it's just my phone but I tried different browsers and there were still symbols.

I'm also a little annoyed about the random error pages I run into. I mostly get them when receiving a letter/comment or going too fast for the browser/game. Last but not least, I'm not happy about gacha making an appearance. Almost all items (clothing, furniture etc.) are randomly given out through gacha (free and premium) and that just makes my little heart hurt a little. Please give us a shop!

Now, for the awesome aspects of HuggPets. First, I love how adorable it is! All the pets are adorable and the tricks they learn are too! I'm also impressed with how complex the game is. If you are looking for more than just raising a pet, then this game might be for you. There is a bit of competitiveness that makes you want to keep playing and level up higher and higher.

I also enjoy the ability to interact with other HuggPet player's pets. You can feed them and play with them, all while getting money, and leveling up your tricks; making everything you do in HuggPet's beneficial.

Sadly, I couldn't imagine myself playing this game if I didn't understand Japanese. Of course, overtime, I'm sure someone who can't read or understand Japanese could get the hang of it, but there is a lot of reading involved and directions that need to be followed that are crucial to advancing in the game.

Why don't they hire someone to do an English translation of their games? I'd know lots of people who would probably enjoy the game if they could understand it!

Anyway, I'd give HuggPets a 3 out of 5 stars. It's new but I'm betting it will get better and better as more people play and time goes on.

I tried to access the game from an Iphone and got this screen telling me it is not out yet but if you are on Android, check it out! See ya there!

Links
HuggPet Blog
HuggPet Link (PC)
HuggPet Link (Access from Android Device)

Random Screen Shots