By Jen Griffiths (StreetPass North Wales)
Whether it’s just to check the mail, say “hi” to my villagers, see if Redd is selling dodgy artwork or commit to a long session of harvesting perfect peaches, there isn’t a day that’s gone by that I haven’t visited my town of “Gwyngyll”!
I was a bit later than everyone else getting Animal Crossing: New Leaf because I actually didn’t know anything about it. The first I’d heard of the series was from some friends I’d stayed in touch with from Mario Fest 2012. One of them in particular was really hyped for it, but it wasn’t until they got into it after release day that I actually thought it looked really fun. I was used to RPGs, Platformers and racing games, so finding a game which is so freely laid out was perfect.
It’s a shame in some respects because, as soon as Pokémon X & Y came out in October, everyone stopped talking about their towns! The turnip trading all but stopped and the villagers were forgotten about. It would seem now that people are too scared to go back to their towns for fear of the weed content they might find! I was a bit behind to start with and I still had many objectives to fulfil by the time Pokémon came out: The golden house for one, as well as completing my encyclopaedia and finding my “dream” villagers. The Island Tours are also a great way to bring friends together. Although this feature can often be overlooked, it still has a lease of life within communities as, whether online of offline, it’s great fun to go on some high-scoring adventures with different groups of friends.
Apart from the obvious “Nintendo Items” I love the more subtle references to other Nintendo games. The “Famous Mushroom”, the Triforce that can be seen at the back of Katrina’s tent, Gulliver’s reference to Paper Mario with “the Overthere”, and of course the 1-Up sound when you hit the rock with the bells in it!
It’s also lovely to meet all the different animals; the fact that old ones can reappear on Main Street means I can essentially collect them too. There was the one really creepy rabbit at the beginning that I couldn’t wait to get rid of (who coincidentally hasn’t reappeared yet) but also the favourites that appeared which I want to hang on to. The logistical puzzle of making sure you have a good balance of personalities, and not getting stuck in the middle when two of them have a fight! Amusing but slightly annoying is when a villager bugs you for something you’ve just found because they’ve been wanting it “forever”, only to turn around ten minutes later and suggested the same item will look great in your house…
My personal favourite experience of the game is simply living through my character; living through the seasons as they happen, and taking part in the festive occasions too, like the recent “Festivale”. I have always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights, it’s certainly on my “bucket list”; alas I missed it that one evening recently in the UK, but ACNL didn’t disappoint when it produced its own version above my house!
And of course, there’s the experiences you can only have with your friends when they visit the town: Sitting swinging your legs on the wall, having picnics on the grass, and of course smiling (or frowning) through the standees in the various festive seasons! There were times when trading, too, where friends would pause by the station and have an “emotion contest” with me!
Oh and of course, not forgetting the music! As a musician I’ve always got my ears open to a game, and Animal Crossing’s Audio does not disappoint! My favourite track so far is from the Fireworks Festivals in August, closely followed by the fact that your villagers hum your town tune when they’re happy, and the inherited villagers can occasionally be found whistling their previous town tune too. Who can forget the legendary K.K. Slider with his renditions of various genres? I had to make sure I had ‘K.K. Sonata’ in my piano room, and ‘K.K. Parade’ was always the favourite amongst friends! Dr Shrunk’s lessons were invaluable, not only for the aforementioned contests, but also for standing in Retail and getting multiple characters to do the Shrunk Funk Dance simultaneously!
Every aspect of the game is full of both amusing and really bad puns; namely when catching bugs and fish for your encyclopaedia. The villagers will say some really strange things at times, and of course when you venture to a friend’s town, you’re never quite sure what catchphrases they might have given to their villagers either. We ignore the fact that Blathers…erm… blathers on… and Joan tells you her life history every Sunday. It’s made better when Gulliver washes up on the shore when you least expect it, and Katrina will always finish with “And remember that bad times… are just times that are bad.” Thanks Katrina, I’ll always make sure to take that on board!
