Animal Crossing made its name as a quaint, cutesy, somewhat bizarre life simulator where something new to do, collect or modify is always around the corner. This year, two spin-off games hone in on separate areas of that Nintendo life: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer on 3DS explores "work," and Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival on Wii U dives deep into "play."
Let's be honest here: the Animal Crossing series is not known for cultivating deep, original minigames. Playing hide-and-seek or solving a maze on a tropical island are at best friendly diversions to break up your villager's day-to-day life on the mainland, and at worst grind-fests to help you buy special furniture sets (shout out to everyone with a complete Mermaid set!). Unfortunately, this lack of depth is a tradition that amiibo Festival is all too keen to continue – despite minigames being pretty much the entire draw here. Amiibo Festival is chock-full of fairly simple ideas, some of which lack the necessary fun gameplay to keep you returning, and some of which have been done (and better) elsewhere.
The most notable thing about this package is that it's the first game from Nintendo built entirely around amiibo. You can't even get past the title screen without at least one Animal Crossing figurine, and most of the minigames require at least one Animal Crossing amiibo card. While we can't say that amiibo Festival makes the best use of amiibo, we can certainly say, without hesitation, that it makes the most use of the little trinkets. This is not always a good thing.
Each of the nine games on offer are designed with amiibo integration in mind. Actually, scratch that – "integration" might be too strong of a word, as the word implies amiibo play a critical role that these games simply couldn't function without. It's more accurate to say that, in most cases, amiibo are just wedged in there to take over a feature or function that could otherwise be accomplished just fine without having to scan a trinket over the GamePad's NFC reader. As such, the amiibo can actually feel like a hindrance to simply playing a game.
Central to this whole shebang is a board game where up to four players take turns roaming around, collecting stamps and experiencing the pleasant day-to-day life of an Animal Crossing village. The objective, as it were, is to collect the most Happy Points. Games last for one "month," where every day each player gets a turn; by the end of the month your collected Bells are sold for Happy Points.
The board game does a reasonably good job of translating the beloved Animal Crossing experience into this new format – for better or worse. Animal Crossing is generally a pretty slow-paced game, where peaceful day-to-day life is punctuated by the odd burst of excitement. This is reflected in the molasses-like speed of the board game: there's really not much going on, and when something does happen it's usually after long stretches of tedium.
Landing on a regular square gives a brief slice-of-life glimpse at what your villager experienced that day. Depending on what happens, the gods might giveth Happy Points and/or Bells or taketh them away. One day you might fish some trash out of the ocean and get stuck with the disposal bill; on another, someone might read your blog post and put you over the moon with joy. Each of these clips takes about 40 seconds to get through, and don't actually require your attention – once you roll the dice then you've done your part. These moments also cannot be skipped – no matter how many times you've seen them unfold, or how desperately you want to move on to the next player. There are no Mario Party-style minigames to break up the flow, which means there isn't a whole lot of diversity in moment-to-moment play.
The board game isn't completely monotonous, though. Series-favourite villagers like Katie, Redd, Katrina, and others stop by periodically and throw down special-event squares that typically yield a bonus card of some kind. And, like clockwork, good ol' Joan shows up every Sunday to sell turnips for the stalk market. Once the stalk market is going, a turnip sell price is added to each square on the board, with an arrow pointing up or down to indicate whether the sale price is better or worse than what you bought the turnips for – at the end of your turn you can choose to sell. The stalk market is the closest you'll get to having to pay attention, and even then there isn't much brainpower needed.
You can pick the month that you'd like to play, which brings season-appropriate special holiday events. October, for example, has players collecting candy for Jack leading up to Halloween. On Toy Day in December, Jingle shows up in a Santa suit to give out cold, hard Bells to everyone.
Instead of having a collection of game boards there's just the one town - the layout of which remains the same from month to month. You can customize the town by building up to 12 features, or invite up to eight of your favourite villagers to live there by scanning their amiibo card. If you've saved a construction from Happy Home Designer to an amiibo card your villager will move in to the house you designed for them. Pretty neat.
At least one player is required to use an Animal Crossing amiibo figure to play. Everyone else can either scan their own figurine or simply play as one of the eight pre-set human villagers (other than re-naming them, these villagers cannot be customized). Playing as a figurine offers a few minor benefits – you get one free Happy Point per turn and can unlock new costumes for your character - but requires you to scan the figurine every turn to roll the dice. Non-figurine simply press A to roll, which makes the constant scanning feel silly.
The game comes packaged with enough figurines (Isabelle and, for a "limited time," Digby) and amiibo cards to get the ball rolling – the board game requires at least one figurine, and six of the minigames require 1-3 cards to play. The remaining two minigames actually require six cards to play, which means you're going to have to shell out some extra cash on a pack of cards in order to play everything on the disc. That's pretty crummy.
The amiibo Festival is powered by Happy Points. Collect 100 of these bad boys to snag a Happy Ticket, which you can then use to unlock new minigames or spend on customizing the board game village. Games and town features are gated behind Happy Tickets, which means you'll have to play a buttload of games to get access to everything and build what you want.
When the board game begins to feel more like a bored game, you can turn your attention to the eight minigames on offer. These range in quality from "dope" to "dopey." While some are more conceptually interesting than what you'll find on the tropical island in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, they aren't necessarily more fun – and amiibo use can leave a lot to be desired.
Happy Camper, for example, is a Mastermind-style game where players scan six amiibo cards to choose the villagers that'll participate. Four of the villagers hide in tents, and it's your job to figure out who is where. Each turn you guess which four villagers are in which tent, and are then told how many of your guesses are accurate and/or close. Iterative guesses and deductive thought are the keys to winning here, and Happy Camper can pose a fun challenge. All the while your amiibo cards sit on the sidelines, and you wonder why you even had to scan them in to begin with.
In Acorn Chase three scanned villager cards line up in a V-formation and set out to collect acorns while being chased by a Cornimer. Tap their card to move the trio forward one square in their respective direction (for example, tap the left-villager's card to turn left). This is a simple concept that can get frenetic, as it exploits the tension between seeing where you want to go and tapping the correct card to get you there. It's hardly a compelling experience, though - were we not reviewing the game then we would've played this once and left it at that.
Resetti Bop similarly exploits the disconnect between what's on the screen and in your hand. Three scanned villagers take a swing at inflatable characters - when one pops up in front of them, scan their card to bop. However, both the pop-ups and your villagers are assigned a rock, paper, or scissor symbol. Win the match-up to get a point, and lose a point if the pop-up wins. The pace gradually speeds up until eventually devolving into frenetic guesswork. Resetti Bop is another novel concept that works once or twice as an experience, but play it once and you've seen it all.
Balloon Island has you dropping villagers from the sky to pop as many balloons as possible to then land on a moving platform. The villager's weight determines whether they bounce or crush through balloons, which adds a strategic element if you have a boatload of cards to choose from. Balloon Island's longevity comes from it being the easiest game to grind out Happy Tickets.
The less said about Fruit Path, the better.
In Quiz Show, two to four players scan a card to represent themselves in the game. An Animal Crossing trivia question appears on screen and a bunch of potential answers show up on the GamePad screen - buzz in and tap an answer to make your guess. Straightforward, right? Nope! See, there's a spotlight flicking around that shines a light on each contestant, and only the contestant with the light shining on them is eligible to buzz in. Heaven forbid you buzz in when the light is not on you – that'll forfeit the question. This "feature" is incredibly annoying and undermines an otherwise fine trivia experience.
Amiibo Card Battle sounds exciting, but in practice is a bore. Two to four players scan six cards total, and take turns playing cards against a dice value. What little strategy you can muster is undermined by all sorts of arbitrary variables.
Finally, there's Desert Island Escape – the single greatest thing on the disc. One player scans three villagers, which are then stranded on an island and must collect materials to build a raft and escape before the food supply runs out. Each villager has a special survival skill (breaking rocks, fishing without a rod, and so forth), which means you'll need to think strategically about who to bring along. With 30(!) maps to play and near-infinite possibilities for who to bring along – provided you shell out for amiibo cards - Desert Island Escape can keep you busy for a very long time.
The Animal Crossing art style, meanwhile, is absolutely gorgeous in high definition and whets the appetite for a full, proper entry on a HD console. The assets look to be pulled from New Leaf on 3DS - while there isn't much "new" to see here, the improved fidelity makes the familiar look fresh again.
Conclusion
Amiibo have only been around for a year, but there are already several examples of how the toys can add value to a game (or vice versa). Unfortunately, Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival does not seem to have learned from them, and brings questionable to downright annoying integration. Were all of amiibo Festival as clever and engrossing as the Desert Island Escape minigame then this package would be the real deal. However, that simply isn't the case. The central board game is slow and plodding, and is tough to recommend to anyone that isn't already a die-hard Animal Crossing fan willing to put up with it. That leaves the minigames, of which seven out of eight aren't compelling enough to continue playing for more than a week.
For the money you ultimately get two figurines, three cards and a game package with snippets of fun and charm - it's ultimately up to you whether that's worthy of your cash.
Comments 174
Love the tag line. I'm not interested in any of these spin offs Zelda or Animal Crossing. I want only the real deal.
I would rather get a real Animal Crossing game for Wii U,come on Nintendo....
It's a fair review.
I'll say this, you will either be in the minority that love this game or the majority that just hates it entirely.
I personally find this game to be a fun fresh take on Animal Crossing.
The biggest crime is that the visuals don't match the MK8 Animal Crossing track. Not played this yet, but it sure looks pretty on my shelf behind sliding doors along with the Amiibo set (which I'm hoping will be compatible with a future main installment on the NX).
no one need this game
I have to admit that I got suckered into buying this for the Isabel and Digby amiibos. I swore I wouldn't collect this new series of figurines, but here I am starting all over again. I'm insane. I don't even want to think what the entire series of Smash Bros. figurines has cost me...
@thesilverbrick
If it helps, think of all the people who bought Amiibo to sell at inflated prices thinking that there would be no restocks, then laugh at them
Sounds like you need quite a few Amiibo Cards to play some of the mini-games. That being said, this looks mediocre at best.
@Xenocity Are you really going to White Knight the comments in a review of an obviously bad game just to try and feel like you're not alone
The game, apart from the one mode, is objectively bad. It's a half-hearted money grab. This is fact.
Quit trying to get others to play this garbage just so you can feel better about your tastes in gaming. Thanks.
Agreed with everything in the review.
Although, it's factually incorrect to say that the little vignettes take 40 seconds each to get through. Jabbing (A) makes them go by in well under 10 seconds in my experience. I honestly think you should correct that line.
Also...scanning a figure or a card in the main hub section (as well as using them in the game) causes that character to be added to the hub. I wonder if scanning all 400 amiibo cards would cause all 400 to be jammed into the admittedly small area, or whether there's a limit.
@Xenocity
Team A does Splatoon.
Team B does Animal Crossing.
Both are released in Wii U in the same period of time. How's it?
I think they are using this basically as a spring-board for the real game. First we had the free Animal Crossing Plaza app. I think that came about when they were finished rendering all of the characters in HD. They wanted to show them off and keep up interest in the AC universe.
Now they seem to have finished with rendering the environments for an HD Animal Crossing, so now we get another item to keep us interested. However, with this terrible review, it seems like this game should have simply been another free app. The trade-off for Nintendo providing it free would be the increased likelihood of us trying to buy AC amiibo and cards.
But my point stands, I think these previous entries are stepping stones to a full game.
Called it. Amiibo cash grab. Wanna get the minigames? Shove out some extra cash for an already boring experience. No thanks.
Me: "So Nintendo, what do you do here?"
Nintendo: "Merchandising!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9OaCuUlCAU
The review basically said the whole game is slow and a vast majority of the mini-games aren't likely to hold your attention for even a week... and yet it got 5/10? I love AC but I don't think this game deserves such a high score.
Boy, this sounds pretty rough.
At least it looks cute.
For all the wasted time, money, and energy that they spent on this, they could have just made the Wii U Animal Crossing everyone wants.
I never had any interest in this but it's a shame the general quality/reception has been so bad. Between this and Mario tennis Nintendo seems to have blown their Xmas line up. I really hope xenoblade can make an impact outside of the hard-core fans, fingers crossed!!
Sigh. I just can't wrap my head around why this game even exists, when there was (and still is) much demand for a real AC game.
I'm not even going to touch this game nor its amiibo. Waste of software resources, IMO.
@Xenocity Dude, you say you're happy with your purchase and that you don't care if others post negative comments towards this crap of a game, and yet you continue to respond to every single comment when people express their disatisfaction with Nintendo backing money-grabbing projects such as this game, not to mention that some of your comments are pointless facts that do not justify the decision to make a stupid mario party clone out of a beloved franchise such as animal crossing. Go and play your beloved amiibo festival instead of pestering people that do not agree with you.
Watch your muth
throws up in background
Can't say I'm surprised though. Honestly, the review makes it sounds like it deserves a 4 at best. Thanks, @JonWahlgren! Some parts in this review made me laugh out loud!
I like AC and this game sounds goddamn boring. Nintendo looks every day more like an Indie studio: self-absorbed, mediocre and dull.
Bah.
Keep the discussion on the game and not users -Lz
I don't know why this even exists. Why didn't they just make Animal Crossing U. Sure the devs are still working on Splatoon, but it doesn't kill to have a new fresh of eyes! Look at Super Mario Land! Miyamoyo didn't make it yet it still turned out really good!
Can't say I'm surprised by the score. It's about what I expected; still sad to see a game get a low score, though. I'll stick with Mario Party or Fortune Street if I'm in the mood for a party game. Still hoping for a traditional AC game for the Wii U...
Oh look my tablet battery is about to go out, 5% and darkened screen. I think my tablet would rather sleep and recharge than write a rebiew.
@Captain_Gonru Happy Thanksgiving. (I'm sure you'll be here eventually.)
@Xenocity You do realize that the last statement you made was pretty stupid, right? Splatoon, along with smash u and mk8 are the three main reasons people are still playing their wii u, not to mention that the game is critically praised as one the best games in this gaming generation. I love animal crossing and would love a new installment, but to say that Nintendo should have made AC HD over Splatoon is simply stupid.
Having stated all of the above, that the main team of animal crossing were busy doesn't justify nintendo's decision to approve this crappy game, no matter what you say.
I still can't believe this got a 5. 2-3 sounds better.
Shut up and leave him alone already. Never once did he say anything about all of having to buy this game. And quite frankly I'm sick of people whining about not getting a true AC experience. Nintendo owes none of you anything and quite frankly you all need to grow up. Personally I will buy this game because it will be fun to play with my kids and that's all I care about.
I've played a couple games, some with my family and some alone, and it's a decent board game. Obviously the amount of content here is laughable, and there is no actual gameplay, but it's a decent way to relax after a long or stressful day.
The use of amiibo in this game seems infuriating.
@Pokefanmum82 How are you quoting?
To quote people:
"This game is not what I want, therefore this game sucks."
It got a five, that's middle of the pack, there is some fun to have. Go rag on something that deserves the negativity, something that scored a one or two.
Edit: Of course when these people aren't complaining about Nintendo trying to do something different, this is their reaction:
"OMG Nintendo, stop rehashing your games, make something different."
I was willing to give the game a chance, despite how mad I was. However the way amiibo is implemented is turning me off. $20 is the most I'll pay.
Lots of nice attitudes in a thread about a crappy game. Always brings out the best in everyone. Smh.
5/10? That's 5 points more than this garbage heap deserves.
I may get this down the road. My fiancé enjoys animal crossing and board game style gameplay (Mario Party, Wii U Party, etc). There's always the potential for free DLC down the road too.
@shaneoh No, this is not the game I wanted, AND it sucks. They can do something different and make it good, like Happy Home Designer. This just sucks. I would've preferred New Leaf HD, even.
I'm sorry, I just can't get this. It's an obvious cash grab, and the review just doesn't make it sound very appealing to me. If anyone wants to play it, have fun. At least it looks nice...
@TeeJay Nothing is "objectively" bad if you base it on an opinion.
Also folks, keep the discussion on the game itself
@TeeJay Nothing is "objectively" bad if you base it on an opinion.
Also folks, keep the discussion on the game itself
@link70222
The 5 rating suggests to me that the game doesn't suck, it also says to me that it doesn't wow either. You say you'd like ACNLHD, but I wonder if you'd be saying that if Nintendo were to release it.
Fair review, it's obvious Nintendo and other first party are focusing on the NX and they need something quick n cheap for the holidays.
I haven't played the game, but the score doesn't seem to match the wording in the review. Everything in the review points to "poor" but the score is "average". That's weird.
In related news, this game has now officially scored lower than Devil's Third on Metacritic.
I dislike how Isabelle was only available through the game bundle in my region, especially since the game seems to be disappointing.
But Nintendo probably didn't bank on me just hopping on eBay, searching for 'Isabelle Amiibo' and buying her for cheap from somebody who bought the game but didn't want the Isabelle Amiibo.
I'm Animal Tossing this outta my mind. Thanks for the review.
I've enjoyed what I've played of the game. Sure, it's a fairly simple board game and the winner is often determined by your luck playing the Stalk Market, but it's relaxing and charming in the way only Animal Crossing can be. There's also longevity in developing your board game town to add to the variety of vignettes that play out and which villagers show up. Plus the island escape game is pretty cool and the AC amiibo are adorable.
Whoa. I wasn't very interested in this because of amiibo alone, but that's-
Okay, I guess I'm not too surprised about the score.
@shaneoh You seem to be missing the point entirely, as you only see black and white.
Sure, there are nintendo haters who despise everything that nintendo puts out, be it innovative or the same old same old, and there are nintendo purists that praise nintendo for every decision they make, including "games" like these, but there are also gray people like me that while praise their efforts for things like super mario maker, splatoon, fire emblem fates and mk8, also calls them out for putting out crap like this, mario tennis ultra smash or their transition to F2P.
I don't hate everything that Nintendo does, but I'm not a blind fanboy who will justify everything they make, singing praises where they don't deserve them., simple as that.
Ouch.
It's one of those games that yeah... it may not seem like much for you or me, but if I had a 5-10 year old son or daughter this would be a game I'd buy for them. Seems to me like Mario Party Jr.
2015 seems to be the year of Nintendo cash grabs. They're that desperate huh?
Reading the review, it sounds more like a 3 out of 10. At least the game is functional, so it isn't broken, but the game itself is horrendous, with almost no redeeming factors. A 5 out of 10 is extremely generous, to the point that I wonder if the score got bumped up a bit because it's Animal Crossing. Because this is indeed Nintendo Life, I'm willing to bet that if this weren't a Nintendo offering, and did not feature a Nintendo IP such as Animal Crossing, the score would be lower.
Why were duplicate screenshots used in this review?
Why in the world they didn't stick to the classic formula is way beyond me. The amiibo should have been no more then an afterthought. So much can be done with this franchise that to me it's just another fumble by Nintendo!! Unbelievable
@TG1 What else is there to show?
Heh, Animal crossing: skylanders edition. Except for this skylanders the figurinres are being more shoved in your face!
Didn't NdCube (the guys on MP10) work on this? Edit: yes they did. If so they have to play Mario party 1,2 and 3 and have to build the next MP like those three games as punishment.
Oh, and about the ppl etting skivved for this not being the new Main Animal Crossing game. How bout you chill. M'kay.
@Pokefanmum82 the true original classic animal crossing formula would've been fun with the kids as well. We had a blast with the Wii version! To each his/her own but as a big animal crossing fan back to the GameCube version I feel disappointed!! But sure everyone has a right to their opinion and this review like all reviews is an opinion as well.
Enjoy your Turkey 😊
@PlywoodStick Any one of the eight mini games for starters. I was just surprised to see duplicate shots, when so many press shots are readily available.
@link70222 new leaf HD woulda been sweet!! Meanwhile posting the Wii and DS version up in the eshop wouldn't be a terrible idea either!! This is y NOA just pisses me off and they been tanking it a lot lately!!😡😡 and don't even get me started on the debacle that is the vc service! Ugh!! 1 vc a week for the better part of 3 years!! Like Chinese water torture!!
@FRANKLIN_BADGE
I'm not black or white either, I'm saying that 5 isn't a bad rating (as most people seem to be treating it), or a good rating, it's the middle of the pack, it's very much grey. Nor am I one of those who blindly defend Nintendo, there have been Nintendo games that I absolutely have not enjoyed (mainly looking at you Super Paper Mario). I'm also saying that people don't know what they want, they bag out this game because it isn't what they "want," but in situations where they are given what they "want," they moan again because it is using the same formula. There is no pleasing some people.
This is exactly why I asked for this for Christmas. I want it but not exactly worth spending my money on.
@shaneoh I think a lot of people would want a ACNLHD. Hell that's what half the people were hoping for when they saw the IsaBelle amiibo being scanned at e3
@Pie7
Wouldn't have stopped some of those people complaining that it wasn't different enough from the 3DS version
Amazon prime had it for $10 off, so you get two amiibos, the game and 3 cards all for about $50 bucks. I've been playing it with my wife and it's fun for us. A relaxing game with fun AC visuals and style. I'll enjoy it for what it is, but will go back to splatoon or (soon) to XBC depending upon the mood.
Looks awful... What was Nintendo thinking?
I just hate the arbitrary scanning of figures when really, there is no need to. Scanning once each at the beginning and end of the game should be sufficient. While I didn't completely hate Amiibo Party mode in Mario Party 10, I HATED having to scan amiibo every few seconds when it essentially served no other purpose than to arbitrarily incorporate the amiibo into the game. Unless data is being read/written to the amiibo, just leave it out of the game.
The amiibo cards are also far too expensive and fragile for me to even entertain the idea of using them with others. =/
@shaneoh @Xenocity
+1 each for the two of you.
This is basically the culmination of Nintendo's recent disregard for innovation. Maybe it's just a phase, but that doesn't change the deceptive baiting going on behind Amiibo Festival. It's nothing but an amiibo pusher, and even on that task it fails impressively.
By all means, I'm glad that Xenoblade X is giving me a good reason not to lend my WiiU to my mother, otherwise she'd have forked over some undeserved cash for this trash...
I still can't believe they didn't take the game board in a Monopoly/Fortune Street style. I mean, captalism is already a core part of Animal Crossing in the first place and building up houses for villagers to live in and earn money literally writes itself. No, I'm serious, I haven't put any thought into the idea I came up with of the top of my head.
But I wanna be honest with you. I don't like the board game. Not that the board wasn't good-looking or anything or that I had any problem with scanning in my amiibo every time I roll the dice (it makes it feel like I am really moving on with my piece tbh). But every fricking turn/day, a new guest pops up and with all of the spaces that guest has, one of us is bound to visit him. But the end results are basically completely random because you don't have to have any sort of skill in the board game whatsoever. Oh well, at least ndCube lost its "everybody is a winner and we need to even the playing field in the last few turns" mentality they had in Mario Party 9 and 10.
Also on a side note - why do we earn bells exactly if they do basically nothing? Yeah, I know they are summed up with your Happy Points at the very end but even though, I had like A LOT of money and I lost.
I'd give the game a 4 of 10.
I enjoy the game for what it is. Mystery Campers, Acorn Chase, Balloon Island, Quiz Show, Desert Island, and the main Board Game have all held my interest when playing with friends and family. For a local multiplayer party game geared towards casual players, I would give it an 8/10.
I personally much prefer Mario Party 2&3 to this, but those are only fun if I'm playing with gamers. With my more casual-playing friends and family, this game is a lot of fun.
This might be the first Nintendo game where fans complain that the score it got is too high lol
@sillygostly in amiibo party you actually can just press A instead of scanning the amiibo all the time
The concept has potential, but from the beginning we all knew this particular try would be a disaster. A really dull and expensive disaster.
I would get this game if it was 40$ and didn't require amiibo. In fact, the only reason people are buying the AC amiibo is because they look cool.
@MagicEmperor LMAO! Best comment on here!
I've yet to actually see any pictures of the preset human villager players. But unless you wanted to be one, you'll always be able to play a 4P game with amiibo somehow.
Animal Crossing is the Charlie Brown of video games. Simple, no much happens, but very charming.
Now I haven't played this game, and I'm not an Animal Crossing fan or fan of Amiibo...
I have no doubt that this game isn't the stellar installment that fans of the series wanted, but I do actually wonder how much of the criticism is warranted, and how much is the narrative being followed?
While I know technically a 5 is supposed to mean just average, we all know that in reality, video game reviews tend to grade a curve where 7 is mediocre and 5 is actually quite bad...
I wonder then: If this released alongside trailers and announcements of a full fledged Animal Crossing on Wii U, or had been part of a better received E3, would this review and reviews around the internet be slightly higher?
Would it even be possible for this game to get generally positive reviews even if it were a better game in terms of content and execution while maintaining the narrative.
It's an interesting question.
I just hope that the assets they used and parts of the engine are all part of there plan to release a animal crossing for the wii u
Instead of this, tri force heroes and mario tennis, they'd have been better off putting all those resources together for one AAA game in time for christmas
If you want a party game get Wii Party U instead. It has a ton of content and is even better than M.P. 10 imo
What a turd
@Soren Max number of cards needed to play all mini games is 6. If you have Happy Home Designer (whihc is a great partner for this) then you probably already do. There are 2 games that need more than the 3 cards that are bundled in the ACAF box.
@polarbear Young children can't play Wii Party U. That's who ACAF is for.
I'm probably the only person that actually has enjoyed playing this
To those who wanted a traditional AC game for Wii U instead:
Have you actually enjoyed playing another AC game after the first one you bought? I didn't. Because the game is all about collecting different items and doing jobs for the villagers... isn't just one game enough for that? Even with online play there's nothing exciting to do with friends and I could be playing something like Smash Bros instead.
Anyways, not excited about amiibo festival but I want to try my friends copy of the game at some point.
@Action51 Not sure, but if they released a big Mario game along with Mario Tennis, I don't think there would be less people complaining. Mario Tennis might've gotten less attention, but that doesn't change the fact that the game severely lacks content.
I guess the same is true for amiibo Party, it's a cash grab and they're trying to sell the game by using the popularity of amiibo.
I think the review is fair, although a mention of the target audience wouldn't be unwarranted. If you are in your 20s or later and get offended by AC games then it's probably time you grew up. I was expecting a 4/10 so 5/10 is surprising.
The apple picking game is unfathomly stupid and the balloon game could be a little more complex. The Island game is great. Yes some of the card stuff feels tacked on, but using the Amiibos to roll the dice actually makes sense for the young children. My Niina likes to pause and tap the silly emotion buttons before each roll.
Is it as deep as the other party games? No. But I'm a few years away from my daughter being able to play those, so I'm happy with this even though it's honestly a 4/10 game. A couple of tweaks via patch could make a huge difference to the longevity (fingers crossed).
BTW I picked up Wild World on Wii U VC recently and it's clear that AC is built on a very shallow foundation in the first place.
@GoldenGamer88 Bells are important. Last time I lost to my daughter she amassed a healthy collection of bells and I got shafted by the stalk market closing on the last day (of a timed game). We tied for happy points. She won by 200 bells. I threw her toys out of the pram.
Called it.
NL's conclusion that toys can add value to a game is rather a big statement to make without examples, unless it was a throw away statement.
A £12 toy to activate a code that could be activated a dozen other ways is not good value for gamers unless they happen to collect these overpriced toys as well.
This AC game is where I can see other games going. Very little content unless you buy Amiibo's. Wait for Starfox.
NL is sitting on the fence with this review and score. Nintendo are selling AC game packs for £112.00. Take a lead from Eurogamer on this one and print AVOID before the review. Otherwise every Nintendo game will need a plastic toy; or the so called additional content will become normal content, and without the toy a gamer will only have access to 75% of the game.
Is this because the Wii U doesn't have as much shovelware as it's predecessor so Nintendo feel they have to make up the deficit?
Seriously though what's with all these terrible spin offs and of games which haven't got a main release on that system or haven't had one for a while, this and Metroid the obvious examples. Why wasn't this simply added to a main Animal Crossing title as opposed to being a stand alone game? Nintendo really have had some shockers recently in between the few undoubted gems but those moments seem to be becoming the minority and lazy stripped down titles becoming the norm. Perhaps a slight exaggeration but there are far too many for a company that largely relies on its first party output.
@zool I fear Nintendo is already well down this path, this toys to life business has always been a huge rip off with on disc content locked behind a pay wall which cannot be justified. Nintendo does seem to be going further than most and we already know that the new Zelda will now incorporate theses things too. As you pointed out it is a lot of money to fully play this non game, with extra ammibo and cards required.
I was devastated when this game was first announced, since the rumours were that an actual Animal Crossing HD was going to be announced, but instead we got this piece of... Anyway, every time I see this title mentioned, it reminds me of how I felt when that happened, which wasn't/isn't great.
Goes back to playing New Leaf
@riChchestM If you are suggesting AC is for under 20's, then I would go further and say under 7. And a score of 4 may suggest that there is a very limited amount of fun to be had from the game, but it does not take into account the extortionate pack prices and another 2 should be deducted from your score of 4. Because there is little value for money
@TwilightAngel Haha! Thanks! Though maybe I should've said "Animal Crossing it off the list." Oh, well. Nice avatar!
I think this is the lowest Nintendolife score I've seen
@boatie
Lowest for Nintendo title or in general, because there are 1/10 reviews on this site too.
@Luffymcduck Just the lowest I've personally seen
@zool No. The £112 packs (while expensive) are for the game plus bonus amiibo and a carry case. I've seen the game for £39.99 and that comes with 2 Amiibo.
@zool You can't take points off my score. You can't score it until you review it.
@carlos82 I think it's more or less accepted that a most of the content on Wii U from now on will simply exist to plug the gap until the NX releases. Nintendo only has finitely many resources, and is has to choose whether to focus them on the present or on the future. After the insipid launch of the Wii U, which resulted in a drop in 3rd Party support that it never recovered from, I think Nintendo are keen to get the NX started with more of a bang.
That's why we're seeing a less content heavy games (anyone who says this game would take as much development time as a core series entry has no sense of scale), and games which are heavily reassembled out of pieces of their ancestors (ACHHD, LoZTT). I think I should say that I actually like LoZTT, but it must have been made with minimising resources in mind.
It's easy to understand why Nintendos end of year lineup is so poor. They have had to cobble together a release schedule as quickly and cheaply as possible while saving resources for NX and filling the gaps left by delays.
They need to be careful though. A reputation for quality takes a long time to earn and less time to lose.
@zool I honestly don't understand the praise games like Skylanders is getting. You can't even unlock the characters by playing and skill alone. Only those with the biggest wallet can unlock all of a game's content these days. I'm always glad to see games that don't have micro transactions and day-one DLC, but that should be the norm and not a positive.
I'm enjoying the game. I don't understand why people hate it for what it is. It's a board game! If you don't like this genre, stay away and rant at something else.
People are missing the point. Neither this (or Happy Home Designer) are aimed at the 'gamer' market. They're marketing tools for Amiibo Cards and Amiibo, put together fairly cheaply. As interactive toys they work fairly well and there's been a strong demand for the cards so far, I'm sure the amiibo will do pretty well with collectors and children too.
So despite the average reviews and angry comments, Nintendo will still make a tidy sum of money, so they won't really care. And their reputation won't be damaged at all because if the new Star Fox and Zelda games are good, and the NX launches well, all will be forgiven.
There's fun to be had here. It is what it is, and never pretended to be anything else. Yeah, it's just a board game. You might as well rage at Snakes and Ladders or Ludo for just being board games as well but plenty of people still enjoy them. The price isn't a huge issue for me because you get 2 Amiibos and a pack of Amiibo cards with it, the actual 'game' only accounts for about half of the RRP of the set.
I only bought all th AC Amiibo cause I always wanted AC figurines and I love using Amiibo with Happy Home Designer.
Yeah, a 5 seems way too much for this if 1) the main mode is dull, and 2) seven out of eight mini-games aren't worth it.
@carlos82 Wii U has plenty of shovelware especially in NA, it's just in the form of eshop exclusives rather than retail releases.
@Xenocity I'd choose Splatoon over Animal Crossing any day.
This game is clearly just an after thought.
The biggest disappointment here is that I can't get a K.K. Slider amiibo without 2 other amiibo I don't care about.
@allav866 I bought a KK slider from ShopTo.
http://www.shopto.net/video-games/wiiu/WIIUAM67-amiibo-animal-crossing-kk-slider
Probably only of use if you're in the UK, but at least it does exist and maybe you've a chance of finding one.
@riChchestM Yeah, I can see them being "important" when you're tight or pretty much on the same level Happy Points-wise. But the other day, I played with my cousin who had like 30 Happy Points more than I did and all of my tons of bells didn't help me at all. But other than that, they really don't matter, nor do Turnips really. The only thing to go after are the stamps and Happy Points and you're pretty much set - unless the dice block messes you up.
It would have been nice as an extra added to the main idea.
@PlywoodStick I also get the sense that this may have been a move to curb complete anarchy in the comment section. Nothing about this game says "Average" to me. It seems to work fine, and look fine, but the game and its fundamental elements seem boring and ill-concieved, if not obtuse. I feel like the words of the review point to a 4/10 at best, honestly.
As a download for under £20 I'd consider it - especially if you could play with cards instead of figures as my daughter has several packs (all but one being compensation from Nintendo for delays for the Happy Home Deigner shipment), but I'm not going to take a chance for £50 on a game that may bore us to tears. If it was more like Mario Party it would have been a safer bet; I don't understand what they're doing here...
@Pokefanmum82
Hahaha... best comment ever! You should post more often kind lady!
@MarioPhD I agree with you, at least Mario Party is focused, cough, used to be focused on mini games. It's not average, it's just a bad game that looks good.
@Sean_Aaron Animal Crossing is relaxing and boring enough -not a bad thing when you're stressed, I spent hundreds of hours on the GameCube version- to not justify this as a high-priced separated purchase. On the contrary, it would have been a nice extra to the main idea.
The developers themselves say the following:
Director Aya Kyogoku stated that the game was conceived as a vehicle for the creation of the first Animal Crossing Amiibo toys: "Honestly, we just wanted Animal Crossing Amiibo [toys]. We wanted the company to make Animal Crossing Amiibo [toys], so that's why we made a game that works with them."
Kyogoku distinguished the game from Mario Party by stating that the latter is more focused on minigames, while Amiibo Festival is more of a board game.
This game worst enemy is the game itself, and its best friend is its good looks.
I never taught I'd say this but after reading the review that 5 sounds like its way too high a score for this game.
@Aneira I like the genre, but the game ticket to ride is MUCH better.
I swear when this was announced they said it would be free to download, as you'll need to buy amiibo to make it work?
I feel ripped off with Happy Home - partly because Nintendo got it to me late, with missing things, and because the 'game' is not very good. So I will not be bothering with AC until New Leaf 2, or whatever.
Nintendo should have just branded it Amiibo festival, using amiibo and mii's to play the games, there would have been less upset/expectation and im sure the game would have sold the same.
When even Nintendo are dumping lazy cash-grabs on their own console, you know it's pretty much dead.
Cynical.
@riChchestM I seen the game being played, I seen the player, an Animal crossing fan of many years eBay it with-in 24 hours. £39 is way over the top for the game. Nintendo are ripping their fans off; £112 cannot be justified for a game and some plastic toys. Oh and the case.....must be a good case.
@zool Will you stop with this £112 thing? It's a £40 game that comes with 2 amibos and 3 cards. Not going to argue that it could be cheaper than that. But stop with this £112 nonsense. The Nintendo Store sells a bundle that has the game and it's 2 amiibos and 3 cards but another 5 amiibo and a carry case. Try buying that separately and see how much change you get from £112.
You need to stop being offended by a game aimed at little girls.
Don't mean to sound too pessimistic, but it really hasn't been a good year this year for Nintendo. All the goodwill from Super Mario Maker, Splatoon, Xenoblade X and the other success stories drowned out with censorship, their poor E3 showing, games being delayed and replaced with quick cash-in games that should be eShop releases but instead are being sold for much higher than they should.
Looking forward to next year though, hopefully will be a good swansong for the Wii U and Nintendo will get into gear again.
@MarioPhD True, I'm guessing the staff just didn't have it in them to deal with the aftermath of the worst rated 1st party Nintendo product in a long time on Thanksgiving. They probably didn't want to deal with moderation too much today. I suppose I can't blame them, but that 5 out of 10 is forever once it's submitted outwards; it's going to remain one of the highest ratings of any professional critical review website on the internet for this... uh... thing. It might make some potential newcomers in the future question the integrity of the reviews on this site, even though the actual content is accurate.
"Oh look, they gave this thing as high a rating as possible just because it's from Nintendo! Judging by the name of the site, they must be biased... Better look elsewhere for honest reviews."
@riChchestM Bought separately the savings would be £22.00.
So the Rip off price would be £90.
@PlywoodStick eurogamer
@Xenocity why are you so depretly defending this game it complete filler trash accept it
@PlywoodStick Unfortunately, any time we see a review that seems amiss, we tend to question the veracity of the review, and the integrity of the reviewer. So, to give Jon the benefit of the doubt, I don't want to simply suggest that he's so willing to be compromised or swayed, and that he'd give out review scores like candy just to shut people up, especially knowing that it's easy to draw these conclusions based on the score this game got.
Looking at the scoring policy, it seems that genuinely broken gameplay elements tend to be what leads to a "poor" review at 4/10, and that the 5/10 suggests it's the point to begin wondering if something is for you, which I think is a fair assessment.
What I will say, then, all that considered, is the the verbal description on the page ("Average"), the number of the score, and the written description on the scoring policy certainly have some dissonance between them. I don't know if it's enough for this to be a 4/10, but I think, hope, and assume this was an agonizing score to give, since it's not flawed, but it's not very good, and certainly not for everyone. No scoring system is perfect, but I think this may give cause to rethink some of the wording used on the site, since it feels like the word "average" isn't appropriate for something recommended with so many caveats. Maybe "Recommend with Caution"? Or simply "Caution"? Or better yet, "Mixed"?
Absolutely atrocious year for nintendo and this is the turd on top of the already ugly cake
The target audience shouldn't give the game a free pass for being terrible.
No offence I love this site but if this didn't have the animal crossing skin and still required amiibos this would of got a 3/10
@zool Their review system is different, though. On the Eurogamer review, their rating is "AVOID" in bold, blood red letters. Their reviews don't internally use a numerical system, so that rating is a visceral response compared to the softball score of "Average" on NL, even with the Eurogamer header of "too gentle and sweet to warrant the online bile".
As stated in their review policy: "AVOID is not so much for games that aren't to our taste as games that have serious flaws in design, technology or concept - flaws that make them impossible to recommend spending your money or time on. Again, we expect to use this badge only rarely."
If we translate that description into a numerical score, it's certainly below Average.
@TeeJay
Or the game just isn't for you. You don't have to be a jerk about it.
(FWIW, games isn't really for me either and looks pretty disappointing. However, I have two young kids and we already own a bunch of Amiibo cards because our family really likes the Animal Crossing seris. So despite being disappointing as a game, this might be an ok "family" purchase.)
The one things that I really question about this game is the value. It looks and sounds like it should have been a free download to add value to the (massively successful) Amiibo market. Instead it's pretty expensive because they packed in extra figures. It's like they saw how well Animal Crossing cards sell without any useful application and figured they could double-dip.
@Sakura Yeah, I'm in the US, so that won't work for me. It looks like importing is a cheaper option than buying all 3, though.
@Sakura Yeah, I'm in the US, so that won't work for me. It looks like importing is a cheaper option than buying all 3, though.
@MarioPhD From my experience, there is no precedent in professional review gaming journalism to use the term "Average" for a clearly bad game, as the review itself describes, even if the game itself does not have broken code. A 4 out of 10 is the maximum score that pretty much any platform neutral outlet would have given for this sort of effort over the course of history, and even that would be forgiving. NL can twist their meaning of the score as they please, but it doesn't change the fact that many people looking from the outside will simply see a biased, overly coddling fan site.
I enjoyed it. Not an amazing game, but light fun when playing with casuals.
I think it is what it is a digital board game if you like board games with friends then most likely you will find something here to like at my house we have played a couple rounds and it's fun for what it is ., PERSONALLY I will say after playing DESERT ISLAND ESCAPE I would love to see this become a full on strategy title on it's own add a few more features and some more depth even online play and I think Nintendo could have another hit on it's own - DESERT ISLAND ESCAPE is the best thing on the disk it's a blast to play I would love to see what Nintendo could and would do to expand it into a full game on it's own .
Hmm... I wonder how forced the amiibo integration will be for the next actual Animal Crossing. "Place K.K. Slider amiibo to the NFC reader for a CD every Saturday!"
@PlywoodStick The fact that NL was late with their review compared to others, suggests that they did not want to compromise the first weeks sales of the game.
I think this game got a 5 just because it was an Nintendo game on a Nintendo site.
The thing I am concerned about is the road Nintendo seem to be taking with the Amiibo's. A few Amiibo style games is fine in moderation but, if they insist on including them with all their future games then reviewers should include the negative aspect of these toys in a game and reflect this in the score for gamers who are not interested in paying for them.
@zool Agreed, makes sense to me.
My kids will still love this as a perfect Christmas present and it will make for a fun drinking game
@Xenocity Members were pulled from the animal crossing team to work on splatoon, not the whole damn team.
Wow, I didn't realise it was that heavily focused on amiibo. I know it's in the name, but I thought they would be more of an extra aside rather than compulsory. I love Animal Crossing, but I think I'll pass on this one. It would be nice if they released Desert Island Escape on eShop (a la Kirby Fighters) as it sounds like a lot more work has gone into that than the entire rest of the game, but I can't really see that happening.
Decent review, though it's much higher than what I'd rate it. $60 for what is essentially a starter kit for a digital board game that is already light on content seems absolutely bogus. The Legend of Zelda Monopoly set is $40 or less most of the time, and can be played with many people at once, with physical game pieces, and costs less than AC Amiibo Festival, which can only be played with 2 people at once unless you shell out more money for Amiibo.
Man, I remember when this thing was announced at E3. You saw HD Animal Crossing graphics and you were like "Yay! AC for Wii U!". And then you saw the board game tiles and you were like "okay..." and then you realised that it was just a board game spinoff to AC. But lets face it, the 3DS is a much better platform for games like AC. I guess it would be cool if you could play on your 3DS and then when you come home put it on the TV screen in HD. But anyway, that moment in E3 was the worst. In general, the chat was better than the stuff being shown.
/E3 rant 4 months too late
@Minotaurgamer your a real idiot if u think that's true
The game almost unanimously given the title, "The game no one wanted."
Of which I agree with. When we got that pointless Wii U app, that did nothing more than tell the time, we were hoping it was at least a stepping stone for an actual Animal Crossing game. What I was hoping for was a game that would complement New Leaf in some way, like Monster Hunter 3 app that lets you trade items back and forth.
But alas here we are. We have a pointless spin-off that no one wanted.
I really enjoyed the game, although since purchase I haven't had much time to play it with my partner. But the games I have played I quite liked, purely because it's not really that hardcore like some of the older Mario Party games. I don't like losing (I'm a really big sore loser), and I love party games, but I don't get agitated in this, which makes it really a chill, cute experience.
It is expensive, and I get that. It is really to push amiibo, and I get that too. I also get that it's "not what people wanted", because I was also in that same boat when I heard about it. However if you like the concept, and fully understand what you're purchasing, then I think there's plenty of people who can find fun and enjoyment like me. A really nice way to unwind at the end of a tough day.
I can't say I liked new leaf that much, it was Linda fun but it also feels pointless, nothing really went on for me and there's not much objective. Kinda felt like a waste of money.
bought game for amiibos.
sold game only today on interwebs.
buys AC: new leaf with money earned from sale.
#winning
5? That's quite generous.
@Captain_Gonru "I look forward to these being sold piecemeal in six months."
Just not on the eShop. And not on sale.
Activision and Disney do what Nintendon't.
This review was both funny and informative.
I'm up to about 20 hours play time on this game, I have found that as a game the core board game isnt that fun, but I personally really love the stock market side to the turnips. I have never played any past animal crossing games, but this was the one to draw me in, the side games with the cards are great, and most of the time I have been able to find a couple other people to play this locally with.
I got to the point in the game where you can tap all of the amiibo cards(that are not SP) and put them onto your board in interesting ways, I personally love all the little things in the game.
But the main board game is best for when you are in a group talking about something else, and you just want something to play together that doesnt require much energy, or focus that would take away from the conversation.
I would probs give it a 6.5/10 not a perfect game but it is a game that I am having alot of fun with.
Desert Island is amazing.
Fav is Ozzie the Koala, he is great.
@thesilverbrick Me too..... I was able to snag this for $37 on Amazon- I figured it was worth it for the two Amiibos- the game would then only be $10. As bad as this game looks, I could see myself playing it, at least for a few hours.
If you like board games such as game of life or monopoly then there is plenty of family fun to be had here. I got this for my youngest for Christmas and we have had three cousins stay with us over the holiday. We have all really enjoyed the board game, especially the turnip side of things. Some of the games have gotten quite heated towards the end! We haven't even tried the mini games yet. Honestly, if you accept that it is essentially a traditional board game on your screen then you'll know what to expect. It's not really that different to the video game versions of monopoly et al. Like I say, we've had a great time since Christmas playing it.
@TeeJay
I happen to completely agree with you. This game is just horrible and not anything like all the other Animal Crossing games. I was hooked on City Folk. My Bff and I loved playing that game and visited each other until Nintendo took away the wii speak and nintendo chanel, amungst other games that we own and no longer can visit. Nintendo made these games and took it away from havng fun and visitng each other.
I certanly will not spend the $59.99 that they want for the Amiibo Festival. However a family member bought it and is extremely upset that she even wasted her money on this game. Who in the hell wants to play a board type game with amiibos and cards?? You are better off going to play Mario party or better yet go play the board game Monoply, since that is basically what Nintendo is dong on this game. They Monopolized it. This Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival is a pure joke and has robbed us of what made this Series. I will NOT go buy a 3ds to play other versions, not all of us can afford to go out and buy every game console or hand held devices. I watched my niece play A new leaf on her 3ds and I thought "oh, how cool if Nintendo made a wii version) I would go buy the game if they had. Instead they made this horrible and pathetic game that might excite a yonger crowd, but to those of us who are older, its a waste of money and it certainly will NOT be a game that many of us will even play.
@zool
Exactly, not only playing with the amiibos but with the cards as well. As some have called it a cash grab. Hit the nail on the head I certainly do not want to see more games with amiibos. I love the Harvest Moon series as well as Rune Factory and several other games I play. Its great for the kids who enjoy this, but for those of us as adults, Nintendo needs to keep in mind not EVERYONE wants to play these type of games. If they do this further down the road with other games, I will be on my xbox more. I just recently recieved a wii u for Christmas some of the games out I do not play, however the ones I do I would like to see Nintendo upgrade the games, and as I previously said before I would like Nintendo to go back to having games where you can go visit your friends and having fun. Why they took this option away to me was just stupid. They made alot of games to be able to play like that. Now to have just original wii games that are now pointless to play if you want to visit your friends city and places. As they say if it isnt broke then dont fix it. Nintendo PLEASE LISTEN to your fans!!!!!
@darthstuey Is it collecting dust yet? Or still having fun? I just found it where I live for €12 with the figures etc... gotta be worth a go at that price... I think!
The kids play it with their cousins whenever they are together
Treat it like what it is
A board game
I think the critisism is really harsh
At that price it's definitely worth it
Found it on sale and I'm having a blast playing it. It helps to enter into the game with low expectations. Actiualy thinking about getting some extra AC amiibo and a 2nd pack of cards.
Paid about $22 for this and 2 extra amiibo figures (Tom Nook and Mabel; they were on clearance), probably less for the game itself since I get an employee discount. If I don't like it I'm sure my nieces, nephew and/or future kids will.
Likewise picked this up on heavy discount ($10 total invested for game unopened and two packs of amiibo cards on clearance). My three year old has fun with it, but the only game that is mildly interesting is the desert survival. So if you have Animal Crossing: New Leaf, just skip this and play that on there.
Its a very fun game for me (i`m 38) for a very cheap prize. You need 1 AC amiibo FIGURE to start a game.
I personally think that while this game is not the best, it does not deserve the hate that it gets. I have had fun with it when just playing with my brother to keep him busy.
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