Review: Nintendo's MOVING OUT Is a Lot of Fun
Team 17 is back this month with their game that puts players in a job that just about everyone has done but nobody likes. Moving Out may make players move and organize all sorts of furniture in a plethora of different places and around many obstacles, but it doesn’t mean that players can’t have loads of fun doing it.
Moving Out is not a terribly complicated game, players start at a house/apartment/building with a bunch of furniture/boxes/objects that need to be moved into a moving truck. Players can grab/throw/carry things however they want with each other or by themselves (different rules apply when playing single or multiplayer). It is a pretty open game and just a mad dash to beat the timer. Overall, the gameplay is a lot of fun and the more players on screen the better. This game thrives on chaos and silly antics for the majority of its entertainment. For example, it made much more sense for my wife to break a window and throw down all the boxes in the house instead of us both walking down the stairs.
I was impressed with the customization of characters, inclusion of various body types and people/animals. The number of levels and variation in them is also pretty great. Map layout is important and well thought out, but there are also a number of special obstacles specific to certain levels like pools, animals and even possessed pianos that really round out and bring variety to each level.
Along with the main task of moving objects to the moving truck, there are three medals on each level that players can earn by completing the move in a certain amount of time. There are also three specific challenges on each level which gives some replayability, but not much beyond just having fun with friends.
Even though I just listed a lot of great things about the game, those things aren’t particularly profound or enduring. Customization is good, but not great. Moving things can be fun, but also very tedious, especially when some of the level designs seem different, but feel ultimately identical to past levels. A big issue is that general control of the characters can be terribly clunky, unresponsive and feel more frustrating than funny. It can be quite comical to have characters accidentally grab things or objects that move and shift unexpectedly. But when players are running around, rushing from place to place trying to beat times and fulfill challenges and movement feels clunky and players’ characters keep grabbing the wrong things, it becomes more annoying than entertaining. I understand that this game isn’t trying to become an Esport or triple A title, but tighter controls and movements would make for a better experience, especially when trying to hit those harder times and challenges.
Moving Out is a lot of fun, but it isn’t much more than a fun party game even though it tries to be. If it focused a little bit more on being a party game or a strong, puzzle-arcade game, then it would have succeeded a bit more. Cool levels, hilarious mistakes and antics can make the game entertaining for an hour or so with friends. But anything deeper than party level entertainment in gameplay or puzzle mechanics just doesn’t exist here.
