Beating the stuffing out of Moco Moco Friends’ Plushkins

I don’t feel bad when my Pokemon faint. I’m aware this makes them love me less, but affection only matters when I’m attempting to level up certain Eevees. They’re tools. The same goes for my Yo-Kai Watch spirit squad. If someone passes out, it’s fine. They’ll be back the next round. But when it comes to Moco Moco Friends, physical damage dealt to my Plushkins pains me. Seeing the stuffing fly out of them is brutal.

Moco Moco Friends is a very visual game. It relies on adorable characters, bright colors, and other pleasing aesthetics to captivate the audience. After all, there are quite a few collectible critter games on the market. This property pulls people in with Plushkin monsters that are essentially the most lush, lovable toys brought to life. It stands to reason it would use imagery in other important ways.

The way being battle, and the imagery that of the stuffing being beaten out of the Plushkins.

You read that right. As you fight through Moco Moco Friends‘ dungeons, you’ll see the damage done to your fuzzy friends. When any Plushkin takes damage, you’ll see stuffing start to ooze out of them. The closer they are to “death,” the more fluff falls out. Imagine the goriest fight you can, then pretend there’s cotton in place of blood. That’s what the final round of a boss battle can look like in this game.

The first time this happened, I found it amusing. It was an unexpected surprise and another indication of the level of detail that went into Moco Moco Friends. The characters are restored to full health after every battle, so it isn’t as if the idea of taking damage is devastating. The little guys are going to be fine. Even the enemies that come along, wanting to buddy up after a battle, are immediately healed by Moco if a contract is made.

It’s when you start thinking about it that the fate of Moco Moco Friends characters becomes more tragic. These little guys are having the stuffing beaten out of them every day. Even though they’re basically stuffed animals, they’re sentient creatures. Their plight hits harder because we see their “lifeblood” fly out of them and character collapse. Their less fluffy than usual selves lie motionless on the battlefield for however long the fight takes.

And what happens to the ones that don’t ally themselves with Moco? It’s a Plushkin Master’s Dreamtropy that heals hurt critters. The wild ones don’t have such benefactors. Could that be where resources like beads, cloth and yarn come from?

Think about it the next time you look at or play Moco Moco Friends. Consider what your plushie pals go through in every fight. Their health is in your hands.