Animal Crossing: New Leaf isn't your typical game, as you can probably already tell. The
entire experience revolves around living a leisurely life in a village full of anthropomorphic
animals, where your only goals are what you choose them to be.Pretty weird, right?
Really, New Leaf is barely a "game" at all. There are no mandatory objectives. You can't
beat it. And you certainly can't lose either. Everything just is.
And for that reason, this isn't going to be your typical review. Even though we've been
playing it for almost a month, there's still a lot we haven't seen. And that's because
the game actually plays out in real-time. So the village's stores open and close on
a regular schedule, different insects come out at varying times throughout the day, and
if you play in the evening, you can even catch the sunset. Hell, the seasons even change
and there are different holidays and activities throughout the year.
What I'm getting at is that just one month is a mere drop in the bucket for a game that
never officially ends. And while it's unlikely many will play it forever, I don't think I'm
anywhere close to my ending point. New Leaf is an experience that evolves by the day and
is meant to be played leisurely--it's not intended to be grinded through in order to
meet a deadline.
It's all about the long-haul, and I simply haven't experienced enough of it to give any
kind of final verdict. And for that reason, this review can and will only speak to my
first few weeks of the game and I won't be giving out a final score. At last, not right
now. But I do intend to revisit this review in the future with at least one more part
that will.
Okay, hopefully I haven't put you to sleep with my boring explanation--let's get to the
review!
Now New Leaf is far from my first Animal Crossing game. I was completely hooked on the GameCube
version back in 2003 for months, as it's real-time casual style of gameplay was something I had
never experienced before. And when the sequel, Wild World, came to the Nintendo DS, I found
myself hooked all over again...but only for a few weeks before I completely burned out
on what was largely an identical experience. And I skipped the Wii version almost entirely
because I simply had no interest in doing the exact same thing again.
But when Nintendo announced that they would actually be introducing some new elements
in New Leaf, such a the ability to be the town's mayor, it seemed like just the shot
in the arm that the series needed. And it had finally been long enough since my last
Animal Crossing experience that I was ready to jump back into the series.
And so how's the first few weeks of life been in my personal town of GXVilles?
I'd say pretty good!
There's just something about not having any goals to meet or deadlines to hit that make
living a second life in Animal Crossing so compelling. Where else can you go fishing,
bug hunting, and dig for fossils within just minutes of each other?
And then there's the level of freedom that empowers you to make all kinds of choices,
such as whether to donate the things you find to the criminally under-funded museum or sell
them off for money, which you can splurge on items for your house or help fund projects
around town.
And it's actually these projects that lend the game a potentially more structured-feel
than past Animal Crossing games--I mean, if you so choose to play way, that is. Because
you are mayor, there's a giant list of proposed projects that you can choose to actually build
in the town--one at a time. And this projects serve as carrots to keep you coming back for
more, as you watch your town grow and develop over time.
It really helps add to the addictive nature of the gameplay
Now as cool as this is, I should make it clear that most of these projects are mostly superficial
in nature and don't lend any real sense of change to your town. And this is perhaps the
most disappointing aspect of the game. Even though you are mayor, you really don't have
that much influence. And that's partly due to the inherent nature of the laidback gameplay--this
isn't SimCity, so there really isn't that much for you to influence.
But at least the changes you can make do certainly helps the town feel more your own, especially
compared to past games.
But even then, I can't help but wish the game went even further, because after visiting
several other player's towns using the online functionality, they still all sort of feel
the same. They all take resemble the same square-based layout, with most major landmarks,
like beaches, train stations, and the town center always being in the same place.
And speaking of online, I found the game's use of it to be fairly unremarkable. Yes,
you can now visit other random player's towns who you're friends with via the new Dream
Suite, but you can't interact with them in any permanent or meaningful way, which makes
the whole thing feel kind of hollow.
And basically the opposite of Animal Crossing's inherent social nature
But you can still interact with your friend's towns, as long as they're online at the same
time.
And believe it or not, the game is actually a step back from the previous Animal Crossing
games in that you can no longer send letters to other people's towns, which is just silly
in a game like this. Hell, even the GameCube version allows you to send presents to other
towns, and that game wasn't even online!
Really, in the year 2013, it's hard to not be disappointed when New Leaf offers little
new in terms of social interaction, and is actually a step back in some ways
I should mention that there is now an in-game instant-messaging system though, which you
can use to chat with friends who are online at the same time, but it just feels kind of
weird and tacked-on, as there's no contextual reason for why you're able to talk to someone
miles and miles away.
But despite my disappointment with the game's lack of ambition, I still am having a good
time. There's been enough new so far that it's kept me engaged longer than the DS version
did--and ther'es still plenty more for me to see. Although none of the individual activities
are really that fun, there's something oddly compelling about the world taken as a whole.
With that said, it hasn't come close to capturing the magic that I felt with the original GameCube
version so far, which was just such a unique and fresh experience
But if you haven't played any previous Animal Crossing games, you might very well experience
that same magical feeling I did all those years ago.
Though conversely, if you've tried playing a previous game in the series before and couldn't
get into it, I doubt there's anything here that'll change your mind.
And if you--like me--burned out on the series, this might just be the one that re-engages
you.
But remember, I'm only a few a few weeks--there's still a lot more for me to play, so I'll be
back with a more complete review in the future--maybe a whole year from now--who knows?
Thanks for watching and make sure to stay tuned to GameXplain.com for more reviews and
other things gaming too.