Animal Crossing: City Folk

Voices of: N/A
Developer: Nintendo
Directed by: Hisashi Nogami, Isao Moro
Rating: E
Genre: Life Simulation
System: Nintendo Wii
2008

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: A social simulation in which the player controls a character who moves into a village populated by anthropomorphic animals. The third game in the series.

Review:
Tim: After becoming a huge fan of the original Animal Crossing, years after concluding my play of that game, I was excited to dive back into this world. I never played Wild World for the DS, so Animal Crossing: City Folk was my second time in this franchise. After at least 6 years between finishing the last game, I couldn't wait to return to the village. I was quite pleased to see the game was as I remember it- much of it is recreated from the original, but the depth of the experience has increased in a few ways in this sequel. Just like the first time, I got a bit lost in this whimsical world, focused on the game's objectives (collecting bells, building my house, filling the museum, etc.) and had a fun time moving forward through time, living in this village. The newness of the experience was gone this time around, but it was just as much fun and the familiarity of the experience was comforting.

The gameplay was mostly the same, but the graphics were definitely an improvement from the Gamecube to the Wii. There were more holidays and new characters this time around. The Bug-off tournament was a ton of fun. I liked being able to customize the village to a certain extent with the fountain and lighthouse/windmill. It is weird that there's fewer villagers in this one than in the original- that didn't make much sense to me. There's a few other aspects where this game feels less than the original, although it has a number of newer features, too. The big attraction in this game is the ability to connect online and travel to the city. I have to say, this felt less exciting to me. There was definitely a novel component to it early on, as it expanded the game. However, after a considerably short amount of time, traveling to the city started to feel more like a chore and I did it less seldom. It ultimately feels gimmicky and pointless.

I find it interesting that this game improved on the original in some ways and in others, represented a step backward. I still played it a ton over months and did a considerable amount of what you can do, but I definitely played it less than I did the original. I gave up sooner. I felt like I'd done all that I needed to do earlier than in the original game. I didn't do everything, but I more quickly got to the point where I felt like I'd accomplished enough. That doesn't make this a bad game, but it felt more like an iterative step forward verses any kind of evolutionary leap. Still, Nintendo knows good game design and this game will provide hours and hours of entertainment. I'm absolutely a fan.

Animal Crossing is definitely a nice break from the typical video games. It's relaxing, peaceful, fun in a different way than most games out there. It offers a wonderful little simulated life to step into when the challenges and complexities of actual life got to be too much. My time spent with this game was wonderful and it certainly cemented this series as an essential one for Nintendo. I might not have obsessed over this game as much as I did the original, but man, I still had a ton of fun with it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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