Little Friends: Dogs & Cats

If you’ve been hungry for a pet breeding simulator to arrive on the Nintendo Switch, this will certainly scratch that itch. But, if you’re after something more satisfying to chew on, the shallow and repetitive gameplay are likely to disappoint.

Little Friends: Dogs & Cats is a great virtual pet simulator for children but I feel sadly it doesn't cater for much more than that. It's adorable and there's nothing better than some doggo's in a game but my play-time felt shortened by some of the restrictions. It has a lot of potential but with no real originality I just felt something was missing whilst I was playing it.

Little Friends: Dogs & Cats is a game that will appeal to animal lovers who miss the days of Nintendogs. While it does have some adorable breeds and some cute customization options, it won’t appeal to those that want to take care of their pets for long periods of time.

Little Friends: Dogs & Cats allows the player to live a simulated experience of raising a pet. It is a shallow one, clearly aimed at kids, but it can work as an idle game if you’re after this kind of experience.

Adorable they may be, but having a virtual dog or cat was an already old idea that somehow has even less features and charm on newer hardware. Proof that not everything needs to come to Switch.

Little Friends: Dogs & Cats invites comparisons with the Nintendogs series with its structure and overall presentation. However, once you’ve enjoyed petting your fill of digital 'good bois', you’ll be left marvelling at how little there is to do even compared to that most lightweight (though fondly remembered) of Nintendo offerings.

Unlike Nintendogs, Little Friends isn’t a meditative game in which you joyfully play with and e-cuddle a bunch of adorbs animals. Instead, it’s a laborious slog in which strengthening your bond with your virtual pets takes too long, and the end results aren’t worth the time invested.

Thought this would be the Nintendogs replacement. Clearly not, because those games are actually fun.

I hesitated buying this game for a while and sadly regret it. Its such a huge waste of potential, like a soulless recreation of Nintendogs It's insane to me that there are only 6 breeds of dog, and even less of cats, in a game that revolves entirely around the dogs/cats you have. The actual dog graphics are pretty decent but the accessories and items glitch through the models repeatedly and make it very off-putting. Another huge missed opportunity was to allow voice commands through the switch online app, it would have made it so more interactive. The dog just randomly teaches itself tricks which you can hardly utilise, the only grooming is a single brush to clean whatever fungal disease you dog has contracted away (no bathing? why??). There's also no mention of an XP/friendship cap so you're left wondering why you can't gain any more friendship levels - yet the game constantly bombards you with instructions on how to do every activity every time you do it. The walks are tedious and boring, the visuals on these walks are also extremely boring and pretty ugly too, especially the obnoxious balloons. I don't know why they had to lock the ability to obtain a cat so deep into the game, I'm sure most kids playing would have lost interest by the point you're a high enough level to obtain one. Overall its just a very empty and boring game and total waste of potential. If this game had any heart or substance it could have easily been huge, many players both young adults and children alike would love a reincarnation of the Nintendogs franchise - this isn't it.