I admit that the concept of people playing Animal Crossing alone everyday, decorating an imaginary room no one else will ever see and conversing with characters that dangle from rigid dialogue trees, is somewhat frightening. However, thats no reason to discredit what the game is actually attempting to do. I picked up Animal Crossing way back when it came out and thoroughly enjoyed it for over 2 months, which is a lot longer than most games last. My girlfriend and roommate played the entire time as well, and we got at least four or five other people significantly involved in the game during that period of time. To me Animal Crossing is about the fun I had playing with other people. Its a multiplayer game, and it was clearly designed that way. The game became a source of artistic expression, light competition, and most importantly an arena for jokes with no consequences. Towards the end, the game deteriorated into a pure abuse of the system for laughs, as we were signing on as one another, jumping the time counter by dozens of years, etc
but we were still having a blast. The games been packed away for about 2 years now, but it still stands out as one of the highlights for me this gen. Its really just a tool set for having fun, and you will enjoy it as much as your imagination allows you to.
People who describe animal Crossing as a series of menial tasks with no reward are really way off base. First off, do any games reward you for the work you are doing? Is getting a plus 6 sword to replace your plus five sword really that mind blowing, particularly when the sword doesnt actually exist? If you want to talk about menial tasks with no reward, look at games like Diablo. Im exploring a maze, Im clicking on enemies, Im rewarded with a numerically more powerful character that still controls exactly the same
Why pay money for this when you can play a
better one for free?[/QUOTE]
Its worth noting that Animal Crossing doesnt force you to do anything; there are no menial tasks in the game. If you dont pay Tom Nook a dime, no one cares. You are completely free to do what ever you want, with absolutely no objective, and youre rewarded no matter how you decide tom play. For me that is part of what made the game enjoyable. Animal Crossing is often compared to the Sims, but the two games couldnt be more different. Among the main differences, The Sims does indeed force a player to complete menial tasks, Sims can even die if those tasks arent completed. The worst thing Animal Crossing will throw at you is a couple of cockroaches for not playing often.
Most people in this thread seem to think the only reason people were playing Animal Crossing was to unlock the NES emulators. When I played the game, I never touched the things. I thought they played terribly on the cube controller, and found the world outside the games much more enjoyable. But Animal Crossing as a game allows people who enjoy unlockables such as NES games to be just involved as people who want nothing to do with them.
Id be the last person to say Animal Crossing is above criticism. If you ask me to write a list of what I enjoyed in the game, followed by a list of complaints the complaint list would be far longer. I see Animal Crossing as an experiment gone right, an indication of things that arent quite here yet, but will one day be perfected. And yes I realize there are other games like it, and based on current trends I dont see Nintendo being the ones to bring this idea to fruition. But one day someone will expand upon this idea in full and make a game that appeals to people who arent just looking for reflex tests or experience calculators; A game that focuses on your relationship with other players and the environment in a fun and accessible manner.
