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Animal Crossing Review Leaf - Check it out! I dug up a 9!

ZAMtendo

ZAMtendo

Obliterating everything that's not your friend
This game will take over the entire world and put 3DS in the spotlight. It's happening...
 
R

rouken

Member
JpQkwVJ.gif
 
S

sqwarlock

Member
Ok, Animal Crossing GAF, sell this game to me.

I played the original on Gamecube, but it got a little tedious day-to-day; once the weeds and cockroaches entered the scene, I pretty much stopped playing. I then tried the DS version, and it felt like more of the same, but less at the same time. Didn't play that one much longer than a couple of weeks.

I love the charm that the game oozes out of every pore, but at the same time I get irritated by the squeaky, chiptune voices that accompany each creature. I enjoy the life-sim aspects, but hate the "punishments" for ignoring the game for a week.

I'm willing to give this one a shot, but I want to know why I should.
 
M

Maxrunner

Member
Mpl90 said:
If you're talking about Western third parties...It's not that far from the truth.
If you're talking about Japanese third parties...hell no: Namco, Capcom, Atlus, Level 5, probably Marvelous again in the future, as well as Square (DQ + BD2)...
Click to expand...

western studios run from any nintendo console so yeah. Even some japanese studios don't touch it, like k(oji)nami for example. even pes won't appear this time.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
There's a whole lot of "new" in New Leaf, but before I get to that, rest assured that the core mechanics that have kept gamers playing for years after the release of prior installments are as strong as ever. The main idea behind any Animal Crossing game is that players move into a new town and spend their days building up relationships with villagers, harvesting fruit, fishing, catching bugs, decorating their house, and tackling the almost innumerable other activities that comprise one’s Animal Crossing life. It doesn’t sound like a to-do list that would necessarily make for the most enthralling game, but that’s exactly what it amounts to.
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Youre right, it doesnt sound very interesting.

For those that want to slowly savour paying a mortgage, picking fruit and making friends with weird animals in short but sweet daily bursts, New Leaf is the best Animal Crossing yet.
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Sounds like Animal Crossing, yeah.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
sqwarlock said:
Ok, Animal Crossing GAF, sell this game to me.

I played the original on Gamecube, but it got a little tedious day-to-day; once the weeds and cockroaches entered the scene, I pretty much stopped playing. I then tried the DS version, and it felt like more of the same, but less at the same time. Didn't play that one much longer than a couple of weeks.

I love the charm that the game oozes out of every pore, but at the same time I get irritated by the squeaky, chiptune voices that accompany each creature. I enjoy the life-sim aspects, but hate the "punishments" for ignoring the game for a week.

I'm willing to give this one a shot, but I want to know why I should.
Click to expand...


You're not going to get away from the little cute character voices methinks. That said, you can do a town ordinance that prevents weeds from appearing and has your villagers water flowers and stuff on their own.

Not sure about the roaches!

That said, it's clearly still Animal Crossing. They didn't go and reinvent the wheel here, they just made a really awesome version of the existing wheel. At least as far as I can tell.
 
B

btkadams

Member
Pixel Warrior said:
Kind of a life simulation thing. You have a town, you're the mayor, you have neighbors which are all animal in case you didn't notice, you collect stuff, you build stuff, you customize stuff, etc. It's a nice little relaxing game. People love that it plays in real time, has real holidays, etc.
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so, is it basically like the sims but with the clock in real-time? i played a lot of the sims for ipad, which is exactly that actually. i'm wondering if this will be too similar for me. i got sick of the sims. although, that ipad game is probably 1% of the content in animal crossing. maybe this will be the game that i'd play for much longer.
 
P

Philia

Member
sqwarlock said:
Ok, Animal Crossing GAF, sell this game to me.

I played the original on Gamecube, but it got a little tedious day-to-day; once the weeds and cockroaches entered the scene, I pretty much stopped playing. I then tried the DS version, and it felt like more of the same, but less at the same time. Didn't play that one much longer than a couple of weeks.

I love the charm that the game oozes out of every pore, but at the same time I get irritated by the squeaky, chiptune voices that accompany each creature. I enjoy the life-sim aspects, but hate the "punishments" for ignoring the game for a week.

I'm willing to give this one a shot, but I want to know why I should.
Click to expand...

Uh... if you don't have time to play this game a HOUR per a day DAILY or at least every other day... well this game isn't for you imho.
 
A

AirBrian

Member
Damn, I was really trying to ignore this game. I played the DS version and it was fun for a bit and all, but overall sorta more "meh" than anything else. But these reviews are making me take notice of this game.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
btkadams said:
so, is it basically like the sims but with the clock in real-time? i played a lot of the sims for ipad, which is exactly that actually. i'm wondering if this will be too similar for me. i got sick of the sims. although, that ipad game is probably 1% of the content in animal crossing. maybe this will be the game that i'd play for much longer.
Click to expand...

They are the same genre, but they certainly aren't the same thing. For one, you're expected to micromanage every aspect of your sims (bathrooms, showers, etc). If any game would be a better comparison, I'd say it's harvest moon. You're building your town, interacting socially with the residents, etc.
 
R

Revven

Member
btkadams said:
so, is it basically like the sims but with the clock in real-time? i played a lot of the sims for ipad, which is exactly that actually. i'm wondering if this will be too similar for me. i got sick of the sims. although, that ipad game is probably 1% of the content in animal crossing. maybe this will be the game that i'd play for much longer.
Click to expand...

The main difference between sims and this game is the fact that your main character has 0 needs to manage. You can do whatever the hell you want to do that's available in the game. You can futz about with the animal neighbors, you can plant flowers, you can dig up fossils, you can shake trees for fruit, you can work as a barista at Brewster's, you can decide to enact a town works project and work up money towards that, etc etc.

Everything is up to you and what you want it to be. Sims loses its appeal very quickly because the Needs get in the way. It's much closer to how Harvest Moon works if you've ever played that franchise before.
 
K

kerotan_eater

Banned
Philia said:
Uh... if you don't have time to play this game a HOUR per a day DAILY or at least every other day... well this game isn't for you imho.
Click to expand...

Hmm... is it because of some punishment? I can't recall getting really strongly punished per se. It's been a while since I played wild world.
 
G

goldsoundz

Member
Might have to cancel my Amazon preorder and pick the game up at a store Sunday morning.
Glad Nintendo didn't skimp out and give us another half assed AC game.
 
B

btkadams

Member
KojiKnight said:
They are the same genre, but they certainly aren't the same thing. For one, you're expected to micromanage every aspect of your sims (bathrooms, showers, etc). If any game would be a better comparison, I'd say it's harvest moon. You're building your town, interacting socially with the residents, etc.
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i actually haven't played harvest moon. i'm trying to imagine this though. less micromanaging does sound a lot better tbh.
Revven said:
The main difference between sims and this game is the fact that your main character has 0 needs to manage. You can do whatever the hell you want to do that's available in the game. You can futz about with the animal neighbors, you can plant flowers, you can dig up fossils, you can shake trees for fruit, you can work as a barista at Brewster's, you can decide to enact a town works project and work up money towards that, etc etc.

Everything is up to you and what you want it to be. Sims loses its appeal very quickly because the Needs get in the way. It's much closer to how Harvest Moon works if you've ever played that franchise before.
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so can you custom build houses/gardens/etc, like in the sims? i like that you don't have to worry about character needs.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
Fair review by Sterling at Destructoid

There's plenty of fun and silliness to be had in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and obsessive fans will likely find the extra content, however fundamentally familiar, to be endearing and laudable. It's a good little game, but it's nowhere near as special as it used to be, and those hoping for more flexibility and interaction from their new political careers will feel let down by what is, ostensibly, just more goalpost shifting and further excuses to get you to shake bananas off trees.

A new leaf has not been turned. Rather, an old dog is on display. Faithful, loyal, and hard to dislike, but you know what it can do already.
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I wonder if the near universe high praise for New Leaf undermines the calls for something new in future revisions. Keep doling out 9s and 10s and you're going to get more of the same at this point.
 
S

Sora_N

Member
How will you be able to communicate via Wi-Fi? I tried playing the Wii one years ago and you had to connect to visit someone else's house. Same thing for this game? I already paid in full, so it doesn't matter. I just don't know if I have the time to really play online these days.
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I was on the fence but day 1 now. My goodness, there's no stopping the 3DS.

ib1p1w8Xth8AOF.gif
 
V

vagabondarts

Member
I had no doubts it would get great scores.
I'm anticipating cartridge shortages again (like Fire Emblem)

Jim Sterling is soft on it? Total surprise there....
 
R

Revven

Member
btkadams said:
so can you custom build houses/gardens/etc, like in the sims? i like that you don't have to worry about character needs.
Click to expand...

You can't really build houses per se, you live in one house that you choose to place down at the beginning of the game. And that house is the one you can customize and expand. The town works projects involve things like bridges between rivers, lampposts, new fountains, fences, etc. They are projects that have a set amount of currency that needs to be met to have them get built. You're essentially customizing your town. Think of the projects as glorified furniture you place down on the map. (Of course they aren't *literally* furniture). You can certainly create your own garden, though, using the flowers that you can buy in the game.

In Animal Crossing, you have to make money by either selling items, finding the money in the town via certain tricks/secrets, or you can take up a part-time job (which is something that's new in ACNL) working for Brewster at his coffee shop. So a big part of the game is having a large sum of money to do what you want, as that's also how you buy clothes and accessories to customize your character and buy things to customize your house (this also includes furniture).

Granted, you don't *have* to solely focus on making money, but it's one of the important things you will need to manage.

It's not like the Sims where you're managing a family, you move in with money already in your pocket, and command your character what to do. You actually CONTROL and move your character around the town like any old 3D game. You're literally moving the character with the analogue stick and everything. You start from 0 and go all the way up to 10, you have to work your way up and along with that comes events, sharing items between friends via online, talking to neighbors (possibly doing chores for them), collecting bugs/fish/fossils, and so much more.
 
D

Derkomai

Neo Member
I'm pretty hyped for this release.

I've been playing Fire Emblem for WAY too long since the game came out and I need something huge to knock me out of playing it for the fifth time. This might be the game.

All things considered, I have friends picking this up as well, so being social in this game shouldn't even be an issue.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
Boss Doggie said:
Now that's just downplaying the new stuff as though they aren't intricate. You might as well downplay the huge stuff each Pokemon generation added.
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Pokemon has great core mechanics. Animal Crossing doesnt it. Is the new stuff suddenly going to change my mind about this being a tedium simulator?
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
MasterBalls said:
Yeah I'd definitely advise it. There's only so much explanation you can give as to why the game is good, eventually you just have to nut up and play the thing.
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cosmicblizzard said:
Animal Crossing is the quintessential "this should be boring, but it isn't" series. Some people of course will find it boring, but the people that like it generally love it without being able to explain why.
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Yeah, Right now I don't understand it at all, so I'm really curious to what kind of experience this will be.

Boss Doggie said:
We all love to be subjugated by a naked tanuki wearing nothing more than an apron.
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Well that's for sure.

Neiteio said:
The appeal is the game is always changing. Your village is completely your own, right down to the geographical layout. You can invite over other people via local or online, and visit their town (even when they're not online, since people can upload copies of their village via the dream world). You expand your house, furnish it, customize it, inside and outside. You help shape your village, what public works go where, from benches and bridges to police stations and stores. Fellow villagers come and go, and you attract more by increasing the town's appeal. For example, donating fossils and fish and insects to the museum will make for a thriving cultural institution. Well-kept flowers and trees will attract villagers, as well.

The game world continues 24/7 in real-time, whether you're there or not. The time of day changes; different music and events occur on the hour; weather changes; holidays come and go; villagers and special visitors like traveling salesmen come and go -- all whether you're there or not. You can be wandering around, gardening, planting trees, digging for fossils, collecting sea shells, fishing for rare fish, snorkeling for treasure, etc, when you come across a new house, with no one home; you run around the village and encounter a new villager, one of the HUNDREDS, and you learn his or her distinct personality, teach them catchphrases that go viral, run errands for them, host them over your house, etc. If someone visits your village in local or online play, one of your villagers may jump ship to their town, or vice-versa.

The game is always changing, constantly. It's simple, subtle at times, striking at others. Just a great emergent experience to play a few minutes at a time, or a few hours.
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Oh, thanks for that! I've read a lot about this game before as well, without quite understanding the appeal. Sounds like a real time killer, that's for sure. I hope I'll enjoy this.


I've never been much of a SIM-X player though, but this sounds kind of different anyway?
 
Boss Doggie

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Crewnh said:
Pokemon has great core mechanics. Animal Crossing doesnt it. Is the new stuff suddenly going to change my mind about this being a tedium simulator?
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You only make it tedious if you play it as a tedious game. The new mechanics is more akin to giving you more things to do and letting you have long-term effects in your town. I can't blame you for thinking the new stuff as nothing much because the DS and Wii games were like that, but this one feels like a true sequel.

MasterBalls said:
There's clearly no persuading you, especially if you think Pokemon has particularly good core mechanics.
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It does have great core mechanics.
 
M

massoluk

Banned
Even with the score of 7/10 from Jim, his review seems pretty damn positive to me. Man, so close and yet so far, come out already.
 
M

mr.beers

Member
Neiteio said:
......

- The mall across the train tracks is vastly improved, with a disco club, dedicated shoe store, dedicated gardening shop, and so on. You can meet past villagers here and even hire someone to pull your weeds, iirc.

.......
Click to expand...


Oh gods please be true!
 
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