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Expression
Expressions, known as phrases prior to Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, are a feature in the Tomodachi Life series where a Mii can say a phrase chosen by the player. Phrases have a chance to be activated by simply entering a Mii's apartment, or, in Living the Dream, under various other conditions.
The types of phrases and the conditions a Mii will use them under vary, such as an angry phrase for when a Mii is in the middle of a fight, or a sad phrase for after a breakup or rejection. In Tomodachi Collection and Tomodachi Life, a Mii can possess 5 total phrases, with one being giftable when the Mii levels up, and four others only giftable when a Mii asks for them.
Phrases have been renamed to expressions and are greatly expanded in Living the Dream. They are now handled entirely through leveling up a Mii's happiness. A Mii can now possess up to 12 expressions, with 10 different expression categories covering a wider variety of options. When a Mii is given an expression of the same type, they will randomly use it along with their other phrases of that type.
Tomodachi Collection
In Collection, there are five types of phrases that can be given to a Mii. Four of these phrases are emotion-based, and can only be given when a Mii gets a problem asking about them. The 5th phrase can be given when leveling up a Mii's happiness. These phrases are all used whenever the player enters the Mii's apartment.
| Types of giftable phrases in Collection | |
|---|---|
| Type of phrase | Used when... |
| Level-up (neutral) | Occasionally instead of greeting the player |
| Happy | Whenever the Mii is feeling happy |
| Angry | Whenever the Mii is feeling angry |
| Sad | After the player leaves and re-enters the apartment when a Mii is feeling sad |
| Worried | Whenever the Mii has a love problem |
A Mii's level-up catchphrase can be edited at any time, unless the Mii has fallen asleep. However, the emotion-based phrases cannot be edited once gifted.
Examples during gameplay
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A Mii using their level-up (neutral) phrase.
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A Mii using their happy phrase.
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A Mii using their angry phrase.
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A Mii using their sad phrase.
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A Mii using their worried phrase.
Tomodachi Life
The same four emotion-based phrases as well as a level-up phrase return from Collection. Like Collection, all phrases are obtained and used by Miis in the exact same scenarios as they were used in that game. Unlike Collection, however, all phrases are now able to edited at any time after being gifted, as long as the Mii isn't asleep for the night. In Japanese copies of Life, a first person pronoun (自分の呼び方, jibun no yobikata) was added, which, like a phrase, can be given to a Mii as a reward for leveling up.
In all copies of Life outside of Japan, each type of phrase now has 8 accompanying animations that can be given to the Mii with the phrase; however, any animation can be chosen for any type of phrase. Miis may use these phrases when the player enters their apartment, but will not always use the animation for them.
Examples during gameplay
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The list of a Mii's phrases. -
A Mii using their level-up (neutral) phrase. -
A Mii using their happy phrase. -
A Mii using their angry phrase. -
A Mii using their sad phrase. -
A Mii using their worried phrase.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
Phrases, renamed to expressions, return in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream having been greatly expanded on. There are now 10 types of expressions, all of which can be given to a Mii when they level up and edited at any time.
| Types of giftable expressions in Living the Dream | |
|---|---|
| Type of expression | Used when... |
| Starting a sentence | The Mii will add this expression at the beginning of most of their sentences, sometimes in combination with their ending-a-sentence phrase. |
| Ending a sentence | The Mii will add this expression at the end of most of their sentences, sometimes in combination with their starting-a-sentence phrase. |
| As a catchphrase | The Mii will use this expression randomly when in a neutral mood, either by pausing while walking around the island or simply while hanging out in their room by themselves. They can also sing this expression when singing a song while using their guitar |
| When happy | The Mii will use this expression when feeling happy after a positive interaction with another Mii, occasionally pausing while walking to do a little dance and use the expression if they're by themselves. |
| When sad | The Mii will use this expression when feeling down from a negative interaction with another Mii, or after gaining sadness from a rejection, breakup, or divorce. They will either stop while walking by themselves to say the expression, or say the expression when turning away from an object they've been dragged to. |
| When angry | The Mii will use this expression when feeling irritated from a negative interaction with another Mii, or when angry due to being in a fight with another Mii. They will either stop while walking by themselves to say the expression, or say the expression when turning away from an object they've been dragged to. |
| When greeting | The Mii will use this expression when greeting the player or another Mii in a neutral mood. This expression is often replaced by an emotion-based expression when the Mii is feeling that emotion instead. |
| When sleeping | The expression is added to the possible random things a Mii might say in their sleep. |
| Shouted at the sea | The expression is added to the possible random things a Mii might say when shouting at the sea in a neutral mood. This expression may also occasionally be shouted at the player as a greeting, with the Mii quickly apologizing. |
| Before eating | The Mii will use this expression before eating a food item in place of the usual quip. |
Unlike in past games and with the exception of starting/ending a sentence, any expression gifted to a Mii will be said with orange text to indicate it when subtitles appear on screen. A Mii can possess 12 expressions total. Due to this, once a Mii has been gifted multiple expressions that fit a category, the Mii will use them at random. A player can also occasionally hear a Mii's expressions in the gibberish that can be heard during conversations with other Miis.
Examples during gameplay
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A Mii using their expression that begins a sentence. -
A Mii using their expression that ends a sentence. -
A Mii using their catchphrase. -
A Mii using their happy expression. -
A Mii using their angry expression. -
A Mii using their sad expression. -
A Mii greeting the player with their expression. -
A Mii saying one of their expressions while asleep. -
A Mii shouting one of their expressions at the sea. -
A Mii using their expression before eating something.
Trivia
- In Living the Dream, after having a child, that child's name will be written in lowercase after the beginning-sentence expression in the Mii's speech bubble, if the parent that introduces them has one.
