Developer: U-play Online
Publisher: Raiser Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Youtubers Life 2 – Review
There is no denying that YouTube and its content creators are a (big) part of our lives. They provide us with free entertainment in exchange for our interaction. Some might dream of becoming one of those famous YouTube stars themselves, but the road there is long and harsh. Luckily, just like most things in life, there are video games simulating that exact desire. In Youtubers Life 2 you start your career in Newtube City and meet many other influencers to help grow your channel.
Story
The story behind Youtubers Life 2 is quite easy; you are a new face that moves into Newtube City and wishes to become one of the most famous Youtubers ever. You will have to work hard to grow your channel, meet new people, and become someone that fans look up to. The route to stardom is long and harsh, but you have great mentors to help you along the way. In the beginning, Xavier will help you set things up, and he will also give you a helping robot to get things started. On top of that, famous YouTuber PewDiePie will join your side. The story is quite simple and linear but it fits the purpose of this game quite nicely.
Graphics
Visually the game closely resembles titles from the MySims series. The game looks really kid-friendly and aims towards that demographics with its smooth cartoonish graphics. Each location in the game is unique and there is some attention to detail, yet some assets are blatantly reused, and in a game this small; you’ll quickly notice that some in-game items have the same artwork. The game also contains a lot of easter eggs and references to real-life franchises and games, which is always fun if you can spot a few of them.
Sound
The game just uses simple sounds and music, so simple in fact that it’s barely worth mentioning. It would have been great if the famous YouTubers that are present in the game were actually voiced by their real-life counterparts. Sadly, this is not the case, and it actually feels like a huge missed opportunity, as now you just get simple-looking avatars representing stars such as PewDiePie.
Gameplay
Youtubers Life 2 is a simple Sims-like game where you must grow your YouTube channel and become a celebrity. The game starts with a short tutorial on how to do the major actions and how you best manage your resources (time, energy, trends, viewers, income) and customize your living quarters to fit your needs. You start off really small, only being able to create vlogs and reactions to those vlogs, but shortly hereafter your gaming career lifts off when Xavier gifts you a gaming console. Your main goal is to interact with your fans and grow your channel, so pumping out content on a daily basis is a must. To make your content interesting, you’ll have to select the right interactions. These interactions fill a combo meter and once they fill up, you’ll receive quality stars. Later in editing, you’ll have to puzzle together the right footage to optimize your score. This might sound like much but it is rather easy once you have done it a few times.
The game is nothing more than grinding content, earning money by pumping out videos, and doing random tasks for others. After a short while, this gameplay loop might become a drag and it is made even worse by the constant loading times. Even though the game looks and feels really small, it needs to load in every single location separately. Sadly this makes it so that literally 50% of your gameplay is waiting and watching a bland loading screen. Even on the Switch, most modern open-world games don’t even have loading screens anymore or simply have one long one when you boot up the game. This makes Youtubers Life 2 feel poorly optimized.
If you look past the loading issues and really want to complete the game, then you’ll be doing the same errands over and over again, for the entire duration of the game. With the money earned, you can buy better gear or other games to stream. Overall this grind is somewhat doable and fun if you want some simple entertainment, but certain timed quests can be tricky to pull off in a timely fashion.
The control scheme for the game is pretty simple. It’s easy to navigate yourself through the city, while taking pictures and staying up-to-date with the latest trends. Overall it’s a very accessible game for a younger audience.
Conclusion
Youtubers Life 2 was initially a pretty fun game, but the long loading times have seriously impacted the way we feel about this title. The simple and fun grinding gameplay where you must pump out tons of content to keep your viewers happy is entertaining enough if you want some mindless entertainment but once again, the constant loading times spoil the fun and overall flow of the game. The game is accessible for young and old, and the overall visuals are pleasantly handled, but we do hope some optimization patches will follow in the near future.
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