Animal Crossing: Continued - It's a Wild World After All!

Hello again! Thanks for stopping by again! 

This week I am going to be covering the second game in the Animal Crossing Series! 

Animal Crossing: Wild World

If you haven't read my post from last week concerning the first game to this series, don't worry! This game isn't one for spoilers. I would like to start off by reiterating that I love love love this game series. As mentioned last week - my two best friends and I all got tattoos to memorialize this game. 

So let's begin! 

This game was just what I needed. The Nintendo DS is one of my favorite consoles. My grandparents bought it for me for my birthday the year it came out and I was hooked again! I thought - how could this game get any better - what's the purpose of making a new one? 

In a world so simple and perfect the idea of change almost made me hesitate. I was mistaken though. 

This game exceeded all my expectations on how great this game could be. The quadrant feature was abandoned for a smoother and rounder world. This made the game a little less clunky. Also, the game opened up a multiplayer feature where the former police officers are now gate keepers - allowing and forbidding people to visit your town. This was AWESOME TO ME! I was in high school when this game came out and so naturally all my friends got it and we all chopped down each other's trees, smacked each other with nets, and barracaded you in a circle of holes. 

The adventure had opened up into an experience you can enjoy with friends - LIVE! I should note that in the first game you could also visit other towns but it was only by having a memory card with another village on it and you couldn't interact with other players. So the appeal in this is obvious. Finally this game is perfect. 

Now admittedly because the Nintendo DS still had work to do on graphics and stuff - looking back the game was visually "okay". The characters were difficultly rounded out, somewhat pixelated, and a little unclear. But that opinion is from someone who has been playing on a 3ds XL for a year or so. At the time- the graphics were great and I loved this game. 

Another cool function was that you could all live in the same house! This idea was disasterous for my sisters and I considering our age difference and commitment to the game. I was deeply invested in getting a perfect HHA score while my sisters didn't care and threw anything in their rooms. Eventually when they became disinterested with the game I was able to focus on decorating. I think there is a feature where you can move into your own separate house but I'm not entirely sure and looking it up wasn't much help... 

Overall, this game was a huge improvement in a surprising way. You'd think that the game was great the way it was and a lot of things that changed weren't necessarily a nuissance before so I didn't think to complain. 

Look out for next week's coverage of Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii! 

Thanks for reading and leave your comments below!

Animal Crossing: Let the Games Begin!

I am back! The last two months have been ridiculously crazy and I have a lot to share on my personal blog but for today I will talk about another one of my favorite games: Animal Crossing! 

My two best friends and I all have the same Limited Edition: Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past 3DSXL. We got them all on the same day together and just a couple of weeks ago all got the same Animal Crossing tattoo. (We know, awesome!)

(Picture to come)

So for those of you who haven't played Animal Crossing before I'll start with a little prelude so that you can get the general gist of the game before I start spouting off random jargon that won't make any sense to you. Since there are 4 games in this series I am going to break these up into 4 posts! Here we go!

This was the original Animal Crossing released on GameCube in 2004. I got this game around that time but not after hearing about it from a group of guys in my class. They talked about it all day nonstop and would say how they were up all night playing. There was never any preface to this conversation and they only spoke about random things like "Tom Nook..." "fishing..." "centipede..." so I never understood the game at all until the summer after it came out when I received it for my birthday from my grandparents. I was ELATED! After so many months of hearing about it and being curious (and I wasn't old enough to use google searches at this point...) so I was eager to experience the magic first-hand. BOY WAS I NOT LET DOWN IN ANY WAY! I don't think that people would say I have an addictive personality. I tend to be pretty rational and responsible about my interests and hobbies. This game changed everything for me. I played this game all summer long. I only stopped to allow my sisters a turn to play which pissed me off greatly because they liked to pull the, "I am trying to find a bug - then you can play" card. The aggressive relationship in my family drove this hostility to the point of being unable to play for longer than 2 hours. My parents mandated a timer be set and supervision to occur when playing. It was a nightmare for me! But of course, someone always has to ruin the fun. 

Anyways, I'll explain the game! You start the game on a train on your way to a place you've never been. You're greeted by a friendly cat named Rover. He asks you a number of questions which are prompts for town decisions. You decide what your name is, what the name of your town is, and there are a variety of questions he asks that determine how your face will look. That's about as customized as you get in this game! When you leave the train you are then greeted by Tom Nook - Local Store Owner/Real Estate Agent. He sells you and remodels your home throughout the game. You also work for him for a small time in the beginning of the game. The whole point of the game is to make money, renovate and make your home perfectly decorated so that it is feng shui. You do favors for your townspeople, dig up fossils, collect fish and bugs, plant fruit trees, and turn your town into a beautiful garden! And did I mention your townspeople are adorable anthropomorphized animals? YES! They are. 

These cute bundles of joy are your citizens! They all have different personalities and interests as well as special customized homes. The kind of homes that in this game - you can't mimic. But that will come later! 

Some other cool features of this game is the island adventure! If you have a gamecube connector cable to the gameboy advance you can explore the island by taking the boat at the dock! Kapp'n the wise-cracking bard of the sea takes you on a short boat ride over to the tropical island accompanied by an adorable song. On the island you'll meet a villager who lives there. The island has coconuts - which you can sell for a high price on the mainland - and it's always summer on the island so you can catch summer fish all year round! 

Want to make big bucks? The best way to is through the "Stalk Market". This cute little pun of a business venture works through Joan! Joan sells turnips on Sundays before noon for a small price per bushel. Throughout the week the price that Nook will buy them for changes, so if you check everyday you can make a profit! There is also a ton of holiday events, weekly events, monthly events, surprise visitors, and special contests! 

This game is fun for all ages, easy and yet complex. There's plenty to do in it so you won't ever be bored. This game is definitely a game that needs to be played if not daily than definitely regularly. If you don't play daily not only will your townspeople be mad but your home will be filled with cockroaches and your town will be covered in weeds (over the span of a week or so of not playing - a day or two won't hurt). 

I love this game and since I am a huge fan of all things cute it's definitely a great game for me! Plus, since the game isn't stressful really it's good for winding down after a long day of work. 

Leave your comments below! See you next week!