Summary
Animal Crossinghas never been more successful than it is today, but I miss what it used to be, and I’m not just talking about cut features inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons. Although the franchise has remained consistent in a lot of core regards over the years, it’s also undergone some substantial shifts. The gameplay options found in the original entry are all familiar, but they ultimately pale in comparison to everything offered by the timeAnimal Crossing: New Leafrolled around for the 3DS.
Games are a lot more than just features, however, and certain elements ended up getting left by the wayside over the years. My first exposure to the series was withAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldfor the Nintendo DS, and it’s easy to position the game as rudimentary compared to more modern entries.Nostalgia certainly plays some part in the fact thatWild Worldis still my favoriteAnimal Crossinggame today, but I think there’s a little more to it than that, and I wish I felt more confident that afutureAnimal Crossinggamecould someday claim its throne.
10 Things You Probably Still Don’t Know About Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Despite being out for over four years, there are still many things that players may not know within the cozy game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Wild World’s Atmosphere Made Me Love Animal Crossing
It’s Not About How Much There Is To Do
PlayingAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldfor the first time is implanted in my brainin a way that very few gaming experiences are. The product of a particularly exciting expedition to Toys “R” Us, it was an unusually decadent treat compared to the average third-party DS games that came in at cheaper prices. I played it for the first time as my family continued onward to my grandfather’s lakeside cabin, and all the winding mountain roads in the world couldn’t shake my attention from the game.
Going intoWild World, I had a misconception that the player took on mayoral capacities in the game, something thatNew Leaflater happened to fulfill. Figuring out the truth could have come as a serious blow, but any disappointment thatWild Worldafforded no such power had no chance to set in.What hooked me so fast was the game’s atmosphere, which felt rich in a way that most things packed into a couple of three-inch screens usually aren’t.
10 Nintendo DS Games That Should Come To Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch Online library could definitely benefit from the addition of some Nintendo DS games, and some would be especially compelling.
Wild Worldis very fundamentally comforting, but not in the way that most cozy games today try to be. It’s a touch moodier, with a landscape that’s a bit dirty and villagers that can be a bit mean. The color palette leans toward darker shades, a substantial difference from the pastels ofNew Horizons.With the wider access toAnimal Crossingthat I can now enjoy, it’s easy to see the origin ofWild World’s atmosphere in its GameCube predecessor, but the continuity gets a lot shakier when tracing a line fromWild WorldtoNew LeafandNew Horizons.
Wild World’s music also remains a common favorite among the scores for the series, although none of the games really drop the ball in this regard.
Making Animal Crossing Nice Sacrifices A Lot
I Miss The Personality Of The Older Games
The thing that I always focus on is the dialogue, which started to move in a different direction with theWii entryAnimal Crossing: City Folk.Each successive game afterWild Worldmade the villagers slightly nicer than before, doubling down on the cozy pleasantries of the franchise while scrubbing away at the more sardonic edges. This might not be a net negative for everyone, but it has the effect of heavily flattening villager personalities. By the timeNew Horizonsrolled around, “cranky” villagers were barely any ruder than “normal” ones, taking away a lot of individual flair.
Animal Crossing Villagers Used To Be Real Jerks (& Way More Fun)
Villagers used to have more personality and charm during conversations in the original Animal Crossing games, but now they’re repetitive and boring.
Maybe it has everything to do with what media I happened to experience growing up, buta lot of things that set their sights on being cozy end up feeling a bit sickly sweet to me. I’m very capable of loving simple, comforting stories and worlds, from Tove Jansson’sMoominworks to just about any fantasy that feels likeThe Fellowship of the Ringat the start. I need atmosphere, though — just a little dash of weirdness, or a few characters who aren’t only there to be welcoming.Wild Worldexcelled there, and modernAnimal Crossingdoesn’t.
This shift in direction definitely isn’t isolated to theAnimal Crossinggames, and the course of the 2000s and 2010s ended up sanding away the weirder edges of a lot of Nintendo franchises. The odds of picking up one of the company’s modern first-party titles and finding something with an atmosphere to rivalSuper Mario 64, Majora’s Mask,or the originalPikminare generally low, and not just thanks to the shine of modern graphics.Super Mario Wonder’s flights of fancyproved that this course doesn’t have to stay unaltered, but it’s in the minority.
There’s Still A Lot To Appreciate In New Horizons
The new games obviously aren’t objective downgrades, andthere’s a reason whyNew LeafandNew Horizonshave so many ardent fans. Setting aside the value of interesting conversations, there’s more to do in them, and even the basic tasks can feel more seamless thanks to tweaks like item stacking. Anyone looking to curate the perfect town will find a framework to support it in modernAnimal Crossing, whereasWild Worldmore or less lets the chips fall where they may.
Animal Crossing’s Kind Community Has Shown Me How Well Fans Understand The True Meaning Of The Game
Redditors show that New Horizons players are a kind and welcoming bunch — something the community continues to show me every day.
Although I’d love it ifNew Leaf’s fulfillment of my childhood mayoral fantasy satisfied me enough to make up for its change in tone, it’s never really managed to.New Horizonscertainly scratched a social itch shortly after the pandemic hit, but as my friends drifted away, I did too.I can’t bring myself to care about terraforming in the way that I care about chatting with villagersor basking in a quiet evening, and I can go back toWild Worldtoday and have a better time in those latter regards.
I’m glad that many people do adore modernAnimal Crossing, andNew Leafis the game that I most often see people crown as the best. At the same time, I do fear that the celebration of the modern style (common criticism of someNew Horizonschanges notwithstanding) means that there won’t ever be a newAnimal Crossinggame that can rival my passion forWild World. If that is what it is, I’ve mostly made my peace with it, but I’d love to be surprised by seeing anotherAnimal Crossingthat I can truly adore again.
