What Animal Crossing means to me
Animal Crossing has always held a
special place in my heart. I was only about 6 years old when the GameCube
original came out, and I remember that I’d play that game every single day for
months upon months.
It wasn’t just me, either. My parents,
brothers, aunt and uncle, cousins, and even more got hooked on the simple
pleasure of Animal Crossing as well. When I think of the series, one of my
first thoughts immediately goes to that feeling of family, and how much fun I’ve
always had playing with them.
After Wild World, which I didn’t like,
and City Folk, which I enjoyed, we got the magnum-opus of the series: Animal
Crossing New Leaf. New Leaf was everything I ever wanted in an Animal Crossing
game, and more. You can swim, build more than just bridges around your town,
there are dozens of shops plus a tropical island, loads of new villagers to
hang out with, special characters and holidays are back, and it’s all wrapped
together in a lovely package that would bring a smile to even the most cynical
of people.
The strange part is, no matter how
long I leave the game, I’ll always come back. Just this week, as I was taking a
break from Uncharted 4, I got the strange urge to play New Leaf again. I
started it up, and played around a little more. One hour turned to another, and
suddenly I had accomplished a lot more. I finished paying off the Moai Statue I
commissioned to be built months earlier. I was warned about and then able to
stop one of my favourite characters moving away. I finally accomplished
something I haven’t ever had the courage to do in an Animal Crossing game, and
catch the deadly bees.
Then, I came back the next day. And
the day after that. And the day after that. My 3DS is sitting next to me as I
write this, and I’m planning on playing again sometime later. Part of me has to
wonder, though, what is it about New Leaf that keeps me coming back over and
over again?
As I strolled through my small town of
Endor for what must be the thousandth time, I thought to myself about what
exactly made this game so special. I stopped into the Roost Café, spending 200
of my hard earned Bells on a cup of coffee that does absolutely nothing.
After leaving, I said hello to my
favourite villager: Alfonso the crocodile. He’s one of the final two villagers
who’ve been living in my town since Day 1, the other being Mac the dog. I’ve
heard almost all his dialogue before, but sometimes he’ll surprise me with
something new. Even if he’s just repeating the same things over and over again,
I never miss a chance to say hi.
With summer coming up, this meant that
the rarest bugs and fish would be up for grabs once more. I’ve decided to set a
goal for myself: before the end of the summer, catch myself a coelacanth, a
tarantula, and a scorpion. Those are the three rarest catchable critters, and I
haven’t been able to get my hands on them yet.
But still, I didn’t know why I was
doing that. It had been almost three years since New Leaf’s launch. Why was I
only setting this goal for myself now?
Then, it dawned on me. The reason I
kept going back to New Leaf. It’s because Animal Crossing does something that
no other game does. Instead of being a race to the finish line, you can take a
quiet stroll on your way there. Say hello to the wolves, cats, and anteaters
you meet along the way as well. Try and find that rare fish you’ve been looking
for, and if it doesn’t show up, try again the next day. Animal Crossing is one
of the few games where you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride,
without feeling pressured to complete your goal in record time.
I feel like New Leaf calling me back
came at the absolute perfect time. As I venture through Nathan Drake’s wild and
violent world again, it’s nice to take a break from guys shooting at you every
once in a while, and just relax and dig for some fossils to relaxing music.
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