Review: Milano’s Odd Job Collection Is Cute

Milano’s Odd Job Collection is such a surprise. An obscure and rare PS1 game made with girls in mind that combines minigame and life sim elements? It’s not surprising we didn’t see it in 1999. While there are some elements that show its age and lead to tedious experiences, it’s an absolutely adorable game and I’m glad it showed up everywhere after so many years.

The premise behind Milano’s Odd Job Collection feels plucked from a slice-of-life anime. Milano is only 11 years old. Her life is upended one summer, as her mom is going to be in the hospital for about one month for an unknown reason. Her uncle was supposed to watch her, but it turns out he went out of town. So when she gets to his home, there’s a note left behind and it is empty. Basically, it’s sort of a Home Alone situation, only without the Wet Bandits thieves. Milano has 40 days to do odd jobs around town, do chores and relax in the evenings, and even decorate her current place during her stay before family returns again.

Since Milano’s Odd Job Collection is a life sim, going through its campaign means plotting out her days and even doing some stat and mood management. Every day begins with Milano able to go to one of the minigame part-time job minigames open to her depending on the weather, her mood, and her skill level. (Said stats also determine the difficulty levels available for available opportunities.) After a round of doing things like working at a fast food joint, picking fruit, milking cows, washing plates at a restaurant, or making deliveries, she immediately gets paid a fee based on your performance. (If you fail, no money for Milano!)

Once Milano gets home after work, you get enough time to take part in two actions. These don’t earn you money, but might help with stats. For example, she could have something to eat or drink, do laundry, vacuum, feed her pet cat, or perform other actions if you purchased things like a recorder, TV, or plants. Once the day is done, it is off to bed to perhaps wish upon a star, buy things, or read a book that could also affect stats, all before eventually sleeping. 

While this pattern works well and is generally sound, a few elements show its age. During the morning “job” part of the day, you can hang around in the square to advance time or check stats. However, if you purchased recipes to cook or new items to place in the house, you need to waste that part of the day to enable or place them. The recipes part of that is especially annoying, since there’s no notice that you need to perform that extra action for them to be available in the kitchen area menus.

This comes up a bit in the actual job minigames, though being able to rewind or make save states helps with that. Some of them are very obvious and easy, such as the fast food cashier and delivery tasks. So much so that it’s almost effortless. The flying cow milking is well-balanced, though I found sometimes the timing can be a bit awkward to figure out to avoid the constant chicken being chased by another creature around the ring. (It’s easier to, if you’re actively milking a cow, to let it fly up into the air rather than attempt to jump over the duo.) The rhythm game tied to her singing career is enjoyable, while rudimentary. The bakery matching game is among the best efforts, since it requires quite a bit of thought and strategy to complete the puzzles and eliminate blocks. Meanwhile, the dish washing and fruit gathering ones felt more awkward. With the former, it comes down to the controls and dodging elements, and the latter’s physics make it very easy for fruit to miss the basket completely due to hitbox issues when dropping. Meanwhile, the nursing game involves a whole bunch of button mashing that feels more stressful than entertaining. Your mileage will definitely vary when it comes to these.

The repetitive nature can also be an issue. If you’re not interested in some of the furniture and accessories for the home, it might not feel like there’s much reason to keep repeating the handful of minigames. The extra money from the higher difficulties can be helpful, but things like washing dishes, picking fruit, and even milking the flying cows can get really annoying when you max that out. Since there aren’t events with other people around town and we don’t see any of her friends or family, the only personality comes from the artistic direction and animations shown when she does her jobs, performs chores, or plays at home. However, you can essentially fast forward by going not taking on any job or going to bed early, which helps.

Milano’s Odd Job Collection is absolutely adorable and an example of an inventive import PS1 game, though it shows its age at times. It’s absolutely fantastic to see it more accessible everywhere. There are some elements that can feel a little tedious, as working at the jobs every day can blend together a bit. Especially since there are no scripted events or interactions with other characters. But the some of the minigames can be entertaining and even challenging at higher difficulty levels, and the items we can buy for her temporary home are quite cute.

Milano’s Odd Job Collection will come to the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on December 9, 2025. 

The post Review: Milano’s Odd Job Collection Is Cute appeared first on Siliconera.