Feature: Five Reasons Why We Love Animal Crossing

Never tried it

I love animal crossing I even got the new limited edition 3ds xl just because I love it's charm! New leaf is definitely the best but I do miss going to a city it made the game feel more expansive!

@sandman89 Should give it a go sometime unless your not into the more peaceful side of games, Sims, harvest moon etc...

Hope we can get a new game someday. I need another chill game.

When can we expect "Five reasons why we hate Animal Crossing"?

Would have liked to see a demo for one of these on the 3DS because I've never understood the appeal and don't want to shell out $40 on the risk that I still won't.

@GrandDad oh hey now!

@ap0001 a demo is a great idea. It's definitely not for everyone and remains expensive due to its popularity. Maybe watch some play throughs online or borrow from a friend to get a feel for it? Or start with an older(cheaper) title in the series. Let me know how you get on!

@HyrulianOfHyrule same! I just don't want it to be mobile..

@DoctorOverbuild if they could somehow combine the two in a new title it would be perfection!

Only 5?

@Nik-Davies didn't wanna rant on for too long! There are plenty more though

@louisabhairam Exactly it would seriously take the amazing qualtiy of new life with the expansiveness of city folk it's truly a master peice! I honestly thought that would be what animal crossing Wii U should've been! My theory is as animal crossing games take a hell of a long time to make they skipped the Wii U over to the NX using the Wii U port they made. For the Wii U they made amiibo festival and we all know how that went down!....

@DoctorOverbuild oh please don't mention amiibo festival it broke my heart. I didn't really rate Happy Home Designer either. You're right, the games take a long time to write and translate, plus soooo much gameplay. I would prefer to wait for a better game then get another disappointment!

I tried Wild World like a decade ago, and I don't remember it well (I sold it) but I didn't like it very much. I sort of feel like I should give it another chance whenever the next one comes out, but I'm not really into the kind of games where you do a little bit every day over an extended period of time, and games that are addicting. So maybe I shouldn't try it.

@MetaSmasher Its a bit of a slow builder. When I first got New Leaf it was a bit different for me as someone who normally likes games a little more fast paced. I use it as my 'calm' game now and am always playing it alongside others to balance it out. It can be addictive though, I don't even know why, it just draws you in!

I like AC but I'm not sure I would play it again. It was the first life sim game I really liked until I found Fantasy Life, Rune Factory etc. AC seems just seems like it has so much less to do than those other games.

@Manjushri I had a similar experience. New Leaf is the first one I have fully immersed myself in. And I'm still learning too!

@Mr_Zurkon I have yet to play Rune Factory. I played Fantasy Life non stop for a few weeks and then dropped it and never went back. I must start playing it again!

Wild World was fun...couldn't stay into the series after that, though. Everything just got stale.

I agree with all 5 reasons!

One reason why I hate AC:
...Out of all the villagers, I share a birthday with the villager Stinky. XD

@Blue_Blur oh no! :')

Me and my wife finally decided to see what the fuss was about last year, both grabbing New Leaf.

We're biiiig fans now and both my kids are currently playing it.

@PikminFan22 OOOH I really hope there will be one for the NX!

@CTMike it's a fantastic game!

@PikminFan22 I remain hopeful, but unfortunately i think amiibo festival was the "best" we are gonna get :/

@Megumi Thats a shame! It happens though, I have tired of some popular games quickly and wondered what the fuss was all about. It's all trial and error!

I remember I saw a marketing add for AC on GC, I was amazed by the concept. I played it a while, then Wild World which one I (and my mother too) played so much. And the last one on 3ds, I play it once and a while but not much.
I found that the game didn't evolve enough, for me there is a LOT of potential but unexploited. The part I would love to see improvements are the relationship with the villagers. You talk to them for the 2nd time and after a year : the relationship is about the same... I would love a sort of "scale" of friendship for each animal (one we can't see) to evolve the relationship from neutral to best friend or at contrario to enemy.
I wish we could do more things with them, give them gifts in person (we have that wrapping paper!!), or have other activities with buildings in the village : football field, or snowball battles...
I wish they could bring AC a step further

Edit : damnit, now I have to turn on my 3DS and clean all those weeds...

@PikminFan22 hi five! Splatoon is awesome!

@Matbtz Funnily enough, despite all the reasons I listed, I agree with you ! I am a BIG fan of simulation games and the more customisable the better. I would have really liked if AC introduced relationships on a bigger scope. If i talk to my townspeople more than twice in one day they get sick of me! This is definitely something I hope will be introduced in future. ps: your mum plays AC? How cool!

@PikminFan22 Oh excellent! I shall!

@louisabhairam Yeah I look forward to see the next AC on NX (I was already amazed by the Make believe on AC of the bitblock).
Yes my mother love video games, she "bought me" a megadrive when I was 3... She is a big Zelda fan, and AC fan. She curse me cause she can't sleep much because I bought her Ocarina of time on 3ds !

@Matbtz Oh wow what a great gift you bought! Ocarina of time translated to the 3DS excellently in my opinion, I have been considering playing it again! And yes, fingers crossed the NX will bring more customisation and all our AC dreams will come true! Happy Home Designer already allowed a more customisable character, so hopefully this means they are already thinking about it.

I can remember the New Leaf previews coming out and my wife getting excited.
I was pretty new to Ninty at the time but it intrigued me.
Of course I had to keep this quiet because as my wife said "it's not your type of game, there are no exploding helicopters", so I went back to Resi: Revelations and Dead or Alive.

Course, now I'm 600 hours into New Leaf and would happily move there. I just love that there are no real objectives, other than what you want to do and make of it.

@Mii_duck LOL no exploding helicopters! As i think i said in a previous comment, I really like that it's different to other games I play as it's a nice change and welcome change of scenery. Plus, like you, I really want to move to my town! I'm always discovering new interactions and new things each day too, and I definitely always have a laugh. Thanks for sharing your AC experience!

@louisabhairam - so who are your favourite villagers? Walt, Tiffany and Sly are my 'keepers', though I still miss Merry and Leonardo.

I'm not sure if really living in a town with big cartoon animals would be a joy or terrifying though!

As a science nerd, I love collecting all the bugs, fish, and fossils. As a Gardner, I love all the different trees and flower breeding! It's strangely addictive...

@Mii_duck I don't have any of those in my town! My favourites are Opal, Rory and Mabel from the Able sisters(if she counts). Also KK slider is one cool dude. True, at least you can understand the animalese they speak though.

@PikminFan22 heh heh yeah I wrote it! That's why I'm here looking at all your answers!

@Jaredfrogman oh wow sounds like it was made for you! I love completing a dinosaur in the museum, and nothing will ever top catching a shark!

@louisabhairam oh yeah, Fantasy Life is addicting. I still have to play the DLC.

After nearly 700 hours in New Leaf I had pretty much done everything there is to do so at this point I am just waiting on the inevitable sequel, which will likely be on the NX. Not complaining though, I am eager for a home console entry in glorious HD and if the NX really is a hybrid it will still be portable too, the best of both worlds!

I wanted an Animal Crossing for Wii U. I guess it won't happen now. Oh well. I assume it will happen for NX.

@Dpishere - I've always thought New Leaf is ripe for extra downloadable content, maybe unlocked after xxx hours of play.

Not just new items in the shops, maybe a new neighbouring town, or island with different things happening.

I know all talk recently is about a new NX shiny thing, but really I don't need more powerful whizz bang graphics in AC, but more content would be cool.

@Mii_duck Yeah that would be cool but considering that the NX is just around the corner and the fact that New Leaf has been out for years makes that proposition highly unlikely. Hopefully they do that for the next game in the series though!

I really like all the animal crossing games but the same thing happens everytime.

I play everyday, making as many bells as I can. Then I start to slack off when I get all the house upgrades. Then when I remember to play it again almost the whole map is covered in weeds so blank that.

I kept the save file but actually deleted new life to make room on my 3DS for FE Fates.

I love this franchise. You do run out of things to do in time, and the risk of it becoming more of a chore than a pleasure is always there... but the appeal to me comes in the animals themselves. I am an animal lover, and there is just some charm to the games that I can't describe. I have owned every main line game in the series and have loved every one.

I never played Animal Crossing until New Leaf and it is such a relaxing game. As a matter of fact, I'm going to check my town tonight. I haven't played it in a while.

I can't wait to see this series reach its full potential on the NX!

It's very relaxing game.
I love everything in the game
Soundtracks, animals neighbours is so cute.

I definitely agree that Animal Crossing can be addictive, but
"the game somehow makes you forget the mundanity of adult life"
Hoo boy, I don't know about that. Animal Crossing becomes a huge chore after awhile.

I hate to say it... When I read allllll those comments by @louisabhairam , I thought It was weird.. Untill I saw she wrote the article, then I realized it was very cool of her to respond to all these comments. It shows dedication.

I always wanted to get AC, but I had an enormous backlog. Now after seen this, I think it'll be perfect for my breaks as a teacher.. Pretty sure part of my first salary will go towards acquiring AC lol

I just really don't like how it's linked to real life time.

@MGray haha! Yeah oops. I didn't mean to weird everyone out. But thank you. I was eager to see everyone's comments and I like to get involved in discussion. Definitely invest in AC, congrats on the new job by the way!

I like to start a new town once in a few months, play it for a week or two and then let it go again. It's definitely not a game that keeps me invested for months like Splatoon, Minecraft (the definite chill game for me) or Mario Maker and if it just wasn't for that real time-mechanic in AC, I wouldn't have to restart again and again.

Oh well, would love to see some Happy Home Designer mechanics being transfered to the eventual sequel.

I am a gamer, my wife is not. I got her a new 3DS to see how she would do and included this game. She, lol, loves it. Sometimes I try to fall asleep and I keep hearing "aaawwwwwww, sooooo cute", etc...I keep waking up. She uploaded her houses that she designed, sometimes needing 1-1.5 hour....so many people give her good rating. So I tried it and failed miserably at it...I lack in interior design, I am more into destroying and blowing crap up...

@HyrulianOfHyrule Give Fantasy Life or Rune Factory 4 a go. They both have RPG gameplay, but with AC elements too (more so in RF4)

Still never played one. Might grab the 3DS version to see what it's all about. Stardew Valley looks better to me though.

@PikminFan22 You're so right. Sometimes I spend more time reading the comments than the actual article lol.

@louisabhairam Thank you very much! Looking forward to your next articles!

do ic a nintendog. i had one, her name was mana. i also had a kitty named murphy (god was he cute) but he did not like baths. he was a good kitty. i later got a 3rd dog named snowball, a mmaltese. fun fact, maltese are said to have guarded the malta palace, because their hearing and vision were so good wat they'd do is they'd act as lookouts for the guards

tbh, i have a real love-hate relationship with this game. but i don't think i would get so frustrated with certain aspects if i didn't love it so much.

the thing that bothers me most is that i sometimes feel stuck playing it. i know i can take a break after i stop a mover, but that means if i want to play one day, i'll be playing every day for the better part of a week waiting for that attempt. i have limited gaming time and all these great games i hardly ever play because acnl becomes an obligation.

i hate that you can't change YOUR OWN PATTERNS if you've scanned them in. i spent hours creating my own patterns so i could change them easily, deleted them once i had qr codes, and learned the hard way i'm now stuck using an editor outside the game every time or i'll have to recreate them from scratch.

i think a lot of my other complaints have been echoed by the community. approving plots is the big one. i would also like the ability to remove home additions. i've avoided adding side rooms on my house because i'm not sure if i want them, and i'll be stuck with them forever if i get them.

i realize some of my troubles can be dealt with via time travel (which i prefer to avoid) and power saves (just don't want to go there). mostly i'm hoping the next entry will be even better - after all, i've put something like 500 hours into this game, so there's definitely appeal.

I do like the series for how simple it is, but there's some flaws here and there that usually makes me not go back to it if I'm invested in other games. Random villagers moving into areas of land you don't want houses to be in, "Animal Tracks", weed if you don't play the game in a long while, sometimes having your favourite villagers leave you just because you haven't played the game in a long time and etc.

@Iggly This is so that you will never leave the game. EVER. Your entire life is now this game. You have no friends, you have no family, you have no life. All you have is Animal Crossing.

@wjs700 Someone else could take that role since I'd rather not dedicate myself to Animal Crossing forever lol.

I think because it suits players of all ages, keeps people coming back daily, lasts a long time and can be constantly updated this really should be an NX launch game.

Before ACNL I tried Wild World on DS and never got the point of the game, partly was back then I had no one to play together with so the daily routine quickly became very boring. However! ACNL is just awesome! This game opens the gate to the whole AC series and I can finally understand why people were so fond of it. I became a AC lover ever since and never regretted the 480 hrs I spent on this game. LOl

I miss AC:NL so much. I would open it and play again, but I've been away more than a year and if I did now, one of my beloved villagers will have moved. Unacceptable. Changing the system clock will interfere with other games. There should be a giftable in-game item that charms villagers into staying until you decide otherwise.