Miitopia is an RPG that often takes a rather hands-off approach. You only directly control your avatar. The other three party members handle their own tactics. In inns, every character goes shopping on their own after being given money, maybe getting what they intended to buy. But even though you might not always have complete control, you can at least decide your party make up. It is up to the player to assign jobs every time the Dark Lord forces you to start from scratch, and the 12 main jobs all offer quite a bit of depth and variety.
The initial roles your character can take in Miitopia are mostly typical. You have a warrior, which is good at taking hits and dealing out damage. The Mage deals magical damage. Clerics heal, cure, and revive party members. Thieves set traps and steal. If you have played a turn-based JRPG before, you will know what every one of these initial characters can do. There’s a comfort in that, as you can always fall back on the familiar classes.
It’s the two unorthodox initial jobs that show Miitopia is going to offer unexpected things. These roles are the Chef and Pop Star. The Chef reminds me a bit of Final Fantasy’s Red Mage. They can deal decent damage to a single target with their normal attack. Their special attacks involve fire-based attacks, involving hot pans and spicy foods. This character can also heal allies, by cooking single servings or feasts that restore the health of one or all characters. The Pop Star is more about buffs. It has a normal attack that hits all enemies. Meanwhile, its special attacks can distract enemies, removes negative attitudes, temporarily boosts relationships, restores allies’ MP, and might heal the character. Each one offers a different sort of support.
After the Dark Lord begins abducting party members, six more classes are added. First, when you reach Neksdor, you get the Cat, Imp, and Scientist classes. The Cat is a physical attacker that reminds me a bit of a Ninja. It attacks one enemy with its normal attack. Meanwhile, its special attacks can boost its down damage, attack twice, steal food, or heal their own health. The Imp is a little like a dark magic user. Its standard attack only hits one enemy. Its magic attacks can cause allies to attack in its place with slightly stronger attacks than usual, apply buffs to allies that restore MP and increase damage, steal HP or MP from an enemy for itself, lower an enemy’s defense or maybe even immediately defeat every enemy. The Scientist is about helping allies. Its normal attack hits one foe. While it does have some magical spells that deal damage, its best skills restore HP and sometimes even MP to friends, prevent status ailments, and add elements to improve allies normal attacks.
Once you head into the fairies’ territory, the Dark Lord abducts your allies for the last time. This introduces the last round of jobs. You can then make people Flowers, Princesses, and Tanks. The Flower is a lot like the Chef, in that it can heal allies and hurt enemies. Its normal attack hits every enemy. Also, its first two skills will restore health or revive a fallen friend. After that, you get nature-based attacks to damage enemies, more healing and curing skills, and eventually even an ability that makes allies angry so they can attack more than once. The Princess is about nullifying enemy attacks and aiding enemies. The first skill is a dance that can make enemies skip a turn. Eventually, you can learn skills that will prevent enemies from damaging you, restore the MP of you and one other character, ignore status effects, and distract enemies. Finally, the Tank is a heavy hitter. The Tank is your Tank. Its standard attack hits one enemy, but many of its special skills hit multiple enemies. While a few have a possible friendly-fire effect (which can temporarily damage relationships), many will hit a group or all enemies. There is also a helpful skill that restores the Tank’s own HP, which means it is a class that can keep itself alive even if everyone else falls.
Editor’s Note: The next paragraph offers a minor spoiler, mentioning the two secret jobs. If you want to be surprised, skip the next paragraph.
There are also two secret jobs in Miitopia. However, you have to unlock both of them. After defeating the Dark Lord, you can access and unlock the Traveler’s Village that allows you to have tons of Miis that can join you on adventures. You can pick up a quest there that gives you access to the Bat Amulet and Vampire. It is one of the strongest characters, with a normal attack that hits every enemy. This is a character who first learns skills that will let it restore its own health or revive after dying. After that, it will learn poison, ice, and fire attacks. The other is the Elf. This class is unlocked in the post-game, as you need to defeat the final boss and complete the island challenge. This character is all about helping the party. Its normal attack only hits one enemy, but its initial healing spell will take care of all characters in your group.
Spoilers over.
Miitopia’s jobs have a surprising amount of range. You end up getting so many different classes to choose from. Not to mention, the game encourages you to try new things by stealing away party members and power twice, forcing you to assign three different classes to your main character during the adventure and eventually have nine party members. These jobs fill various roles, allowing you to strategize and create a well-rounded group of warriors that can handle any situation. I recommend always having a Cleric, Chef, Flower, or Scientist in a party, since they can take care of their companions. A Cat, Tank, or Warrior is also helpful, since they can deal some of the most damage. For the last two slots, you may want a Flower, Imp, or Mage to deal magical damage or a Pop Star, Princess, or Thief for their support skills. But, considering the game is often giving you extra characters throughout the story and eventually allows you to bring tons of new party members into the group, you’ll absolutely have enough options to experiment with all kinds of setups.
Miitopia is available for the Nintendo 3DS.
