yesterday on february 13th i finally moved out of my mother's house. I have been suffering with severe ocd for about a year now, it got so bad that i couldnt leave the building. I have chemical burns up and down my thighs and my arms are permanently scarred from washing them so much. This is a big achievement for me, because i needed to leave for my health. but i really didnt want to. i miss my mother, i miss living in the woods. i miss the ivy growing on our neighbors house and the wombats that lived under our porch. Its really, really hard. so to ground myself, i decided to boot up my old new leaf file from 2016. i played this game on and off for years, and it was integral to my life..
the second i heard the title screen music everything just hit me like a truck. all the memories and feelings i has when playing this game, the person who i was, were still encapsulated within it. i remembered playing this on the bus ride home from school, and crying when Fuchsia left suddenly, and excitedly telling my mom about completely normal events that nonetheless felt wonderful to me. as i walked around my little town i just couldnt stop crying. villagers told me of dreams i used to have, my house was a wreck but well loved, it felt like home. every little thing about my life was preserved here in this game. it felt like i had a little piece of my childhood house in my pocket, in a way. what other kind of game can do that? i miss those days so much... i wish i could go back to the times before i was so sick...

Soundtrack, atmosphere and even immersion are pretty close to perfection in this game. Just listen to some of the hourly music on Youtube if you haven't already. I'll link some of my favorites here.

5 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mujlcP7TOg&t=3s
7 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LamNB1zr138
11 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD_6Qu3uOy0

The gameplay loop consists of classic Animal Crossing - you collect fruit from trees, catch bugs and fish and dig up an occasional fossil. The main 'goal' of the game is paying off your house's debt, but it shouldn't be treated as the main focus, because you'd usually play this game for other reasons than just to 'finish' it as fast as possible. I'm talking about a key part of the franchise here - the villagers and the interactions with them.

If you're coming from New Horizons, you're probably sick of your villagers repeating the same three lines every single day. Fortunately this is not the case in New Leaf. Villagers have a lot more variety in conversations and are not your biggest superfans at the beginning (as opposed to New Horizons). Of course the topics will be repeated every now and then - but that's because the game doesn't expect you to talk to someone a hundred times in a row and the devs didn't want to spend a lifetime working on dialogue for humanoid animals - which is understandable!

I mentioned the atmosphere in this game being especially good earlier. The emptiness and closed shops with calm songs in the nighttime are a direct contrast to the cheerful and lively atmosphere with peppy songs during the day. Both feel very different and it's hard to explain that feeling. It just feels right.

Decoration is a rather major aspect in this game too and it's obviously not as refined as in New Horizons, but you still have many options to design your town and home nonetheless. For the only time in an Animal Crossing game you take the role of a mayor and are allowed to build various sorts of infrastructure in your town - if you have the funds. You can't place furniture outside in this entry, but it's not a negative for me, as this feature wasn't added before either and is just a really good QoL improvement in New Horizons.

The upgradeable shops in the shopping district are a really cool concept and give you a feeling of progression. The more you play the game, the more stuff you'll be able to buy. This is done entirely without FOMO (fear of missing out) and allows you to play the game at your own pace.

Speaking of FOMO, the seasonal events like Halloween and Christmas are unmissable and repeated in a yearly cycle. If you would really like to attend those events despite not being there at the given day, you can go into the game's settings and set the day to whenever you want. I would not recommend time traveling as it messes with the intended slow pacing of the game, but feel free to adjust the date as you want if you want to experience more of the game in a shorter timespan.

Nothing comes to my mind here anymore, so thanks for reading and have a good day! :D

"It's good to live in the moment and not live in the past."

Nostialgia will often and mostly will blindside our views and opinions on the games that we play. For many, their most positive experiences in gaming would be reminiscing on times when they were younger, and one of my first every memories was me being given this cartridge of New Leaf after being stuck severely ill in hospital. Unlike most my first memories in gaming were the late DS to Wii era, where most families where brought back into gaming with its aged motion controls and outstanding "3D effects."

To say I wasn't completely addicted to my new devices would be an underestimate. Long gone were my chances of being a normal child and instead grew my passion for gaming and the medium surrounding it as a whole. For these games on these consoles, I am extremely thankful.

So what can I say about New Leaf? For Nintendo this was their 4th rodeo with the franchise, after the extreme commercial success of City Folk and Wild World that both outperformed the original by a shot, and the idea of a newer Animal Crossing with elements of both games together is a great idea considering the 3DS' portable way to be played in short/medium play sessions, making it a no brainer to release another one during the early days of the 3DS' life cycle. It is argued that this game made severe changes and improvements that, in future installments, sorta shaped the way that AC was going as a hole. The most known and important change of this game compared to the others was the player's role in the game itself.

I'm case you didn't know, New (leaf, haha) to New Leaf was the mayor role, the way that the Player can control certain parts about town and later on in the game, build new structures and facilities. Although early game is a slog as it requires you to grind until you unlock these features, it added an immense amount of replayability to the game itself as everyone's towns could be decorated an insane amount more. This has kinda been undermined by New Horizons and the ability to place furniture outside (which you can't here which sucked coming back to) but for the time this was huge. It was also Isabelle's first introduction into the series, being your secretary throughout the game, being crazy as she alongside Tom Nook has become one of the game's mascot and became a cultural icon.

Speaking about NPC's, we are introduced to a lot more characters and structures in this game. One thing I have to say bad about this game is that the villager's personalities start to blend together and you notice repeating dialogue throughout the game, which becomes hard to play towns for a long amount of time. Reese and her husband Cyrus are alpacas and run the Re-Tail shop, where you do most of selling and buying other villager's items as well as redecorating your items. This felt like a weird choice as you could've always sold your items at Nook's (although he now runs a different shop where he upgrades and decorates your houses now with ridiculous bills) but it's usually placed within your acres instead of the Main Street. Leif the Sloth runs a plant store and Dr Skunk the axolotl has a Club where music is played and he also teaches you emotions, I guess?

The last two mentioned earlier as well as other shops throughout the series are placed on the Main Street connected North of your town where by a small loading time connects you to all your shops. Some are unlocked with certain requirements and some like Nook's Cranny have upgrades that sell you more items and unique furniture, which really really helps in the long run.

Tortimer's Island is also there, I guess? The mayor from previous titles return as he owns a private island where you can play "Tours" (glorified minigames) for points which can be used to buy items. They're a really fun and nice distraction, but in my experience you're gonna be there most of the time to catch rare bugs and fish and making nice moola.

After around 3 years of release and ~1 year after the mixed release and reception of spin-off Happy Home Designer, the massive update to NL, titled "Welcome Amiibo" was released. Younger me still had no clue how updates worked so when the title screen changed I was ridiculously hyped. The game added mostly entirely new content (learn, New Horizons) and for me this was a peak of my life as I spent countless more hours discovering what the game has to offer. The update itself just added amiibo as well as other QOL, but this was my first time encountering a large scale update and DLC before in my life and changed my views on everything once again.

New Leaf faces issues that all of it's previous entries face before. Gameplay becomes tedious and relative, dialogue and dialogue all other the place. If you don't have a guide a lot of the unlockables are very hard to get as they don't tell you what to do most of the time and expect you to just find out yourself. Every issue you'd find in this game you'll probably find in all Animal Crossings (except breakable tools, a horrible decision in NH).

Some games that we once loved will age with time and sour. But New Leaf for me will forever be in my heart as the game that made me love gaming itself. This title has continued to age like wine and surpass the expectations surrounding it, and I hope it continues being an amazing experience for many years to come. Thank you New Leaf.

Unless if they port the GameCube one then idk shit I guess.

This is the most fully realized Animal Crossing that has currently been released. Pretty much every aspect of this one is in my eyes slightly more polished than its more contemporary sequel. I find the visuals slightly more stylized, the music just a tad catchier, and the content more plentiful. Over everything else, I want to highlight the multiplayer as a prime feature. New Leaf includes an area full of minigames to be played specifically with friends, and there are enough of them to actually kill some real time. I know my thoughts here have little substance, but it's hard to share my thoughts on a game so simple and charming.

honestly the best animal crossing game in my eyes, it was handled extremely well and has ACNH looking dull. everything i want to compliment this game on would be based in comparison to how much better it worked out than ACNH.
my favorite thing to do was go to tortimer island with friends and play minigames or catch bugs & fish together. the island was also nice for meeting up with random players instead of bringing them directly to your town.
lots of good things i could say about this game, i could see myself replaying it in the future.

club LOL, streetpass homes, multiplayer island minigames, villagers with developing personalities and personal arcs, secondhand shop, nook homes, the best soundtrack in the series, the amiibo update, the entire mall strip that grew and expanded along with your town

hundreds of hours. stuck with me throughout the worst years of my teenage life. spent multiple solitary holidays and lonely new years' with this. i never even paid off my house.

it doesn't feel the same going back to play it now. it's got its issues, but i'm tired of acting like Animal Crossing didn't peak here. i'm tired of lamenting the Animal Crossing I used to love and trying and failing to rekindle that with New Horizons. instead i'm going to forever cherish the time i had with it. it's now a time capsule to me, a reminder of some comfort that i always had during my worst years. i will always get emotional remembering my time with this game.

(4/9/24)
thank you for being there for me.

This was my first Animal Crossing game, and managed to keep me playing the same file from 2013 to 2019! (I have not been in possession of my 3DS in a couple years now)

That same file has lasted me from middle school, all the way into early college. No game series has struck a chord with me the same way Animal Crossing could. I could sing along with every hourly track, know half the dialogue, and have countless seasonal items due to playing the game for so long. Despite having countless hours on the same file (my first and only file on this game) I still manage to have some of my first villagers.

This game helped me with lonely nights, slow weekends, long distant relationships, and helped slow life down when things were going too fast. My file was not only molded perfectly to my liking, but aged and matured just like me over the years.

Thank you Animal Crossing for helping me settle down when life felt like it wasn't on my side. The game that will always be on your side when you're down on your luck.

I'm moving. I'm going through things. I'm scared.

I'm choosing what gets kept, what needs to go. I have so much to sell. I feel overwhelmed.

Today I gave away my Animal Crossing amiibo cards. I had a special binder I gave away, too. My friend and I, we couldn't help but paw through it.

Baabara was my first neighbor. Kevin was my first friend. I set his catchphrase to "bromeo," which pissed off my boyfriend to no end (and delighted me in equal measure.) I built a shrine of public works projects when Keaton left. I paid 17 million bells to a forum user for Eric. I wrote in my real world journal how much I wanted to cry when Annabelle left. She went to my sister's village - it wasn't the same.

The year I played Animal Crossing: New Leaf was the year I got and had depression the worst. I played 1,000+ hours of this game. I 100%'d it. There was not a square inch of my town that wasn't thoughtfully decorated. I had every piece of furniture, every holiday event item from every region, every piece of clothing. My house was immaculate, my museum a marvel. Places that I would legitimately enjoy spending time in. I stopped playing because I literally ran out of things to do.

I once spent 8 hours resetting my game because I was so particular about where Bianaca put her house and I refused to compromise. I didn't like the system of drawing my paths, so I covered them all with 4-leaf clover. I learned how to hack my 3DS because of this game. (Fuck you Isabelle, that bridge needs to be behind my house at an angle to get to the train station and like hell I care about your zoning laws. I OWN YOU!) Blue and gold roses, purple pansies, every square littered with opulences that made visitors describe my town of Merriam as a wonderland.

G3 B3 G4 G4 A4 G4(held) F4 E4 (rest) D4 E4 D4 C4

I spent so long writing that song and it still comes to mind so easily. (The first D4 is actually a wildcard in-game, but it’s a D4 when hummed correctly.) It worked so well as a chime entering a store. I remember how Pashmina always squeaked singing the first D4. It felt like such a wonderful anthem in so many ways for so many of its uses. I was always taken off guard when visiting another town with a different tune, and always felt so natural and at home whenever I came back to it.

Do you know how invested I was talking to that little hedgehog at the sewing machine until I became her friend? Knowing nothing about this franchise, not knowing that she was a series staple gimmick? I was ecstatic.

When Reese had a special on sharks I was at the island fishing sharks all day long.

The amount I loved these little animal critters is legitimately Fucked. Up.

Seriously.

It seemed so natural the stories that sprung up in my mind. Al and Ceaser were the weird gay couple that were ugly but happy. Cookie bullied Rhonda into moving, and then left herself when there was no one to control. Pashmina had her eye on Kevin, who only had his eye on the ball. Julian was the cool friend I didn't think I deserved to have, and Henry left because he felt the same way.

When they sang Happy Birthday to me I near bawled my eyes out. Because for as touching and heart-warming as it was to have these little spirits sharing love for me, spirits that I had loved so much, I was still, in the real world, alone and playing my 3DS on my birthday.

That's the real rub of the magic and terror of Animal Crossing. Magical because you feel real emotions. Terrifying because you can see the code. They're puppets. Dolls. Elaborate and adorable, but predictable - and you still love them all the same.

But they're kind. They're understanding. You can hurt their feelings, blow them off, mess up their yard - and they'll still write you letters when they live next door, give you presents, and stop by your house to see what you're up to. Maybe each individual interaction is annoying, or doesn't register as important. But in aggregate, those emotions stack up. Each time they give you that piece of fruit you were looking for. That rare piece of furniture that completes your set. Each time they change outfits into something so stupid or so cute that it sticks in your brain. You feel real little things. Imperfectly perfect little moments seeded in time enough to weave in with the passage of time in your real life.

When I had insomnia, Static stared at the moon with me. I remember naming my town at my sister's graduation party. I remember my parents watching the New Year's ball drop on the TV and then looking at the fireworks in Merriam. I remember sitting at the kitchen table when the town was covered in snow for the first time. I remember hunting for beetles at Tortimer Island while dying of summer heat at my uncle's place in Arizona.

I have memories. Good ones. Real places, real emotions of these happy little animal people. And yet these little animal people are not. fucking. real.

Somewhere on a back-up hard drive or a laptop I lost the charging cable to, I have the save data for the perfect date of Merriam. A day in May in a particular year. Where the hydrangeas are in bloom, and the weather is perfect, and everyone who is supposed to be there, is there.

Do you know how raw and cringe it is to talk about loving anything about this game? Like, if you don't understand the appeal of this series, GOOD. Be healthy. Have self-respect. Everyone over-shared about New Horizons because the pandemic ruined everyone's sense of shame. But loving this game is not good. It's not healthy.

At the same time.

That grammar is hiding a lot. Was loving this game healthy for me? No. But was I healthy? Would I have been healthy if I hadn’t been playing this game? Fuck no.

You need time to get invested in Animal Crossing. Real world time that you do not get back. Real world time that is, in fact, a valid currency for trying to make connections in the real world. The potential opportunity cost for getting "the most" out of Animal Crossing is wild.

I hated New Horizons because I could tell the villagers didn't want to be my friend. They wanted to be Instagram fodder. But maybe that is for the best. Because that recontextualizes the appeal of the game to being something that you show off to other humans. That the Animal Crossing aesthetic is there merely to facilitate a shared experience with other people of how you've played with your lego set.

I'm going to miss my friend. I'm putting my life into boxes. And now I get it, that once your life is in boxes, it's too late for anyone to change your mind, too late for your mind to even matter. You can't not go.

Going through those cards, reminiscing of which ones were my favorites, my sister's favorites, remembering the hours we spent cloning flowers - it made me realize how Animal Crossing gets its hooks in you. How the connection to the real world's time gets you invested, but there's no closure. You can always come back. Most of your villagers will still be there and know who you are. Your furniture will be just as you left it. So not playing means there's always the possibility of coming back, and things being a little different, but capable of being the same. But here, with these cards, I had a tangible thing to hold in my hands, in the real world. Unlocked memories. Recreating the paths I walked in that town for months. Something I could make peace with. Something I could give away. Something to pass off at the end of a season.

As I spoke with my friend, I let myself talk honestly about what these little dudes had meant to me for the first time aloud. Because I could trust him to understand what I had been going through. What it meant for me to be that invested. What I was really telling him with these silly nonsense stories. Because he had played New Horizons the same way. And he knew that when you can honestly describe how something made you feel, in a way that previously would have been so vulnerable, you've truly moved on. And I needed to know that I wasn't still the person who lost a year of his life and redirected it into Animal Crossing.

I had to take them back. He can keep the binder and Diva and the dozens of strangers who mean nothing to me. I needed to keep the cards of the villagers who were with me at the end. At the end of playing pretend. Of when I ran out of ways to play. I'm still missing Static and Zucker and Pierce.

Maybe there isn’t shame in using Animal Crossing for what it was. A bridge, a crutch, a reminder of what kindness and friendship looked like in a time where those were in short supply. Don’t we sometimes use real people the same way? Aren’t some real friendships just as shallow, but mean just as much? Few friendships last a lifetime, the same as few games are played forever.

I don't want to move. But I can't not move. I have to forgive myself for the people I used to be. I have to find grace in seeing what I learned from the experiences I would never wish on myself again. Including my ability to love Animal Crossing.