The Smurfs: Village Party Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, & PC)

Well, I mean, after Smurfs Kart (2022), it was only a matter of time before Microids gave us The Smurfs: Village Party. And if the new game is anything like the former, then fans of the little, adorable, cute little Smurfs, and every gamer alike, are in for the time of their lives. Any skepticism will probably come after playing Mario Party and realizing how it completely knocks the ball out of the park as far as a fun time with friends is concerned. So, the question becomes whether The Smurfs: Village Party matches the standard Smurfs Kart sets. Even more so, does the new game offer a better multiplayer experience compared to its alternative, Mario Party? Just how worthwhile is the new Smurfs party game? Be sure to read till the end of our hands-on The Smurfs: Village Party review to find out.

Everyone’s Invited

Papa Smurf is preparing to throw the biggest Smurf party yet. He’s calling it the Village Party and expects potentially over 100 Smurfs to attend. Anyone can come to the party, and to help spread the message, you’re tasked with running around an open-world Smurf village, inviting every single Smurf you see. This is how The Smurfs: Village Party kicks off. The premise the game sets is as simple as it can get: A huge village party is underway. Help bring it to success. 

While exploring, you’ll run into all sorts of Smurfs. Each one will be busy tending to a task they’ve been assigned by Papa Smurf in preparation for the party. So, you throw yourself into the traditional task of helping them complete their jobs. These are the quests that you will be undertaking in Smurfs Village. There are quite a ton of quests that you’ll need to complete in adventure mode. So, you’ll often be up to something engaging.

Besides the quests, the world itself boasts a good enough amount of content variety. Smurfs Village has ten different regions you can explore. You’ll run around across enchanted forests and snowy mountains. At certain points, you’ll be within the confines of the Smurfs’ Village. But you’ll also venture out into Gargamel’s Territory. 

Everyone Except Gargamel

Gargamel is The Smurfs: Village Party’s big, bad villain. He holds a grudge against the Smurfs throwing a party. Something about festivals just doesn’t sit right with him. So, every chance he gets, Gargamel will chase you down. He will try to stop your progress in helping to set up the village party at all costs. But as long as you can avoid him, you’ll be good to go. 

Busy, Busy

Meanwhile, there are over 100 iconic Smurfs to meet. You’ll run and jump all across the village, talking to all sorts of Smurfs that light up your day. While prancing around, you’ll also keep busy collecting all sorts of items. You’ll run into random goodies and materials you can use to build your home. As you progress the story, you’ll engage in more things to do, including discovering treasure and competing in a ton of mini-games.

That’s right. The adventure single-player mode packs loads of fun mini-games you can compete in against AI. Furthermore, you’ll run into special events, including one where you’ll be chasing rodents away from the village and another where you’ll be exploring the village through a maze. The Smurfs: Village Party keeps your run-through constantly refreshing, it’s pretty hard to get bored.

Quality of Life Add-Ons

If you find running around tiresome, you can always use fast-travel points to explore the world faster. However, the low difficulty doesn’t have a workaround. See, The Smurfs: Village Party’s mini-games can be too easy. A few pose a challenge. But for the most part, seasoned gamers will find the mini-games a breeze. As such, The Smurfs: Village Party can become frustrating and often feel more suited to younger gamers.

To Be Young

On that front, Village Party is the perfect game to play with friends. Now, it only offers local multiplayer options of up to four players. It would have been great to have online multiplayer, too. Still, the party local multiplayer mode is a blast to play. It features 50 mini-games that pack immense variety. Some are standard games you’ve probably already played before. But most of them feel distinct in the Smurfs universe. 

You’ll compete against friends, testing your skill, memory, quickness, and accuracy in a diverse range of fun mini-games. Some are sports games, while others launch a full-scale battle. Naughty knock-out rounds, fishing games, pirate smurfs treasure hunts, and greedy baking rounds are just but a few of the mini-games you can play. Each mini-game draws heavy inspiration from the cheerful spirit of the Smurfs, you’ll no doubt spend your time bursting into laughter. 

You can always switch your Smurf, too, with up to 19 playable Smurfs available. Moreover, you can customize your chosen Smurf with quirky costumes that show off your personality. With over 30 outfits available, The Smurfs: Village Party packs enough variety to hold your attention, at least for worthwhile hours before craving for something different.

A Charmer

Alongside the environment's bright and colorful aesthetic, the Smurfs bring to life an adorable and charming world. It’s pretty fun to hear the Smurfs comment about the environment. They look and sound overwhelmingly cute, prancing around the village as they pour themselves into their assigned tasks. 

Combined, the charming world and cute voice acting bring to life a light-hearted adventure that feels enticing to be in. Add to that the music score, which is upbeat and energetic to fuel the ton of quests you’ll be helping to complete all across the village, and you have a full package you can’t help returning to.

Thumbs Down

Now, worth noting, the one-liners can become annoying at times. The Smurfs will often say silly things that will, most of the time, be funny. But hearing the same phrases over and over again can take its toll. Besides the bland one-liners, The Smurfs: Village Party can become confusing to navigate, with nearly all the environments looking similar. It’s easy to run through the same sections over and over again and waste precious hours in the process. 

At times, adventure mode can cram too many things at once. It would be great if there was a distinct feel to the different levels of the game as you progressed. It’ll even add a sense of progression. The same goes for the party mode, which can become quite chaotic on a fixed split-screen of four players. 

It would have been great to have a more cohesive way to play the minigames in multiplayer. At present, you can select a mini-game from a list or play a marathon and crown the best player. Perhaps a board game will add structure to how you choose what games to play.  

As for the controls, they’re pretty fluid and responsive. They’re let down, though, by stiff camera angles. It would be great if you could manipulate camera angles to investigate areas without having to physically prance around to every place and around every corner there is. And finally, the game runs pretty well. There are times when the Smurfs will run through bushes and crash into walls. Overall, The Smurfs: Village Party does a great job providing a mostly seamless experience.

Verdict

If you have played Mario Party, you will enjoy a soft landing playing The Smurfs: Village Party. The two are pretty similar, with mini-games that are downright the exact same. Yet The Smurfs: Village Party stands on its own two feet, thanks to the charming, blue Smurfs that add a unique and light-hearted personality. Unfortunately, the gameplay can be straightforward enough for seasoned gamers to find the experience boring. There’s very little to motivate you to climb the ranks to the top, with the main goal being fun above all. 

It’s a shame that The Smurfs: Village Party packs a ton of mini-games, yet for the most part, they can all be completed pretty quickly. If there were fewer mini-games with depth and a higher difficulty, perhaps The Smurfs: Village Party would have been a better alternative to Mario Party. Still, fans of the Smurfs should most definitely take The Smurfs: Village Party out for a spin. There’s plenty to love in the gameplay, from over 100 iconic Smurfs to meet to a charming Smurf village to get acquainted with.

The adventure mode packs lots of things to keep busy with. You’ll discover treasure, collect goodies, and complete a ton of quests around the village. Meanwhile, the party mode is perfect to enjoy with friends. It may only offer local multiplayer. However, the 50 mini-games available ensure that every minute will be well spent.  As long as you don’t mind the straightforward gameplay of the mini-games, and have an irresistible love for the Smurfs, you should have a blast tinkering around with all The Smurfs: Village Party has to offer.