Now I’m playing through Animal Crossing: Wild World again. Maybe for the third or fourth time. You see, I put down the DS when college started, save for when the new Pokemon games were released. Nevertheless, Animal Crossing was one of the games long abandoned.
I don’t know why, but I picked it up again recently, and though maybe I shouldn’t have put it down in the first place. I honestly missed the game, even the GameCube version. I loved the freedom, and the ability to do anything I wanted when I wanted. I could create different stories about this character that I played as I dressed her in designs I made. And that’s when I realized, this is the game that sparked my love of sandbox gaming.
For those of you who have forgotten, Animal Crossing allows the player to do anything from fishing, bug catching, and even shooting UFOs out of the sky. You can upgrade your house, interact with other residents (who are all animals), and invite your real life friends to come to your town. You can hit your neighbors with nets and buy paintings on the black market, watch an open mic performance every saturday, build a snowman in the winter. You’re living your life, but in a game. It’s as simple as it gets, but still entertaining.
Now, with all the freedom in the game, it would be hard to not enjoy it. And that is why all of the remakes of the game have been so successful. The newest version, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, will be released in June for us North Americans, and will be played on the 3DS. If it is anything like the others that date back to 2001, it will be a great game.
Related articles
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf has new ways to spend money (joystiq.com)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf Now Listed On US eShop For $35 (mynintendonews.com)
The Blog is a Lie 