I loved Wild World but barely touched City Folk. It quickly became evident City Folk was a WW Ver. 1.2, with regressive features like turf degradation. Plus, being tied to a TV for a game as lackadaisical as Animal Crossing just doesn't seem right nowadays.
But that's why I'm looking forward to New Leaf: Aside from some major new additions I outlined in
a previous post, the game is portable and even available as a digital download this time. Now it's easier than ever to boot up the game for a few minutes' play, or a few hours -- whichever strikes my fancy. It looks really nice, having Wii-like power behind it and being tailored for the 3DS screen (rather than, say, playing the sub-HD City Folk on an HDTV).
And what makes those few minutes of play (or few hours) so appealing? It's not some form of "escape" -- I don't role-play like that when I play games. No, it's simply seeing a town unique to my game and how it changes in ways unique to me, and how that impacts the meta-community, whether I'm sharing custom patterns via QR codes with other players, or furnishing my house in creative new ways before guests come over (and all of the collecting, trading and buying that entails), or trying to complete the insect, fish and fossil catalogues at the museum to create a thriving cultural institution that will attract even more amusing villagers.
Now you can even upload copies of your town for others to explore online, whether you're there or not, and since it's a copy, there's no risk of vandalism. This is even more incentive to create an exciting town with interesting landmarks and layouts and eye-catching design, populated by happy villagers and funny viral catchphrases and so on. And when not playing with others, it's just fun seeing the changes that occur daily, both subtle and striking. The villagers say and do the most amusing things, and you never know when you'll chance upon a rare insect or fish, or when someone will move in or out, or what will change with the time of day, the weather, the season, the holidays. It sounds simple, but it's "the simple things in life" that add up for an addictive ongoing narrative.
Just speaking for myself. I tend to gravitate to action games these days, but I think it's time to return to the world of Animal Crossing. This latest installment looks excellent.
