I'm probably gonna continue this for another month or so but really, I don't see my thoughts changing soon.

It's weird to say I was disappointed by this cause it's basically a "what you see is what you get" case, it's (technically due to the original release being on the N64) the first game in a series that has long since expanded (and seemingly in New Horizons' case, cut away from) its technical and mechanical outputs, and as obviously reflected on the rating I still like the game, but considering this has a pretty big cult following I was expecting more than something so... simple. Like yes, simple is good, simple is what makes this game stand out among later entries, but when I already feel like I've had my fill on what I could possibly do each hour or two session a day, that begs the question: What else does this do differently than the others?

Like sorry HardcoreACGamer2001, I don't think the square acre layout is all that different from the logroll in later entries, in fact I find it slightly more annoying to navigate the world. I don't think the villagers are as nasty as people say they are, it certainly IS a little more exaggerated like getting called a "freak mental case" out loud but for the most part my villagers were pretty normal, and the "meanness" aspect comes from you yourself not living up to their request... which is something later AC titles also do. I'm also annoyed it takes longer to get tools you need to DO anything important, there's no reason my chances of getting a fishing pole or an axe should be left up to chance despite having played this for almost a week and a half now, and the bell output feels so astonishingly stingy compared to later entries (which is saying something since Wild World, City Folk, and New Leaf also had its own issues with Bell obtainment) that I had to use a code be instantly handed 30k, something I have never done before. In fact, probably my most damning and extremely personal thought on this title, the fact I have such little to do and is more focused on me relaxing and having a good time, the thing people praise this game the most in comparison to later titles... actively made me more anxious and worried on what I could possibly do to keep my mind busy. It's the inverse of what's keeping me from playing New Horizons, instead of having too much to do for something I'm not particularly invested in, I have so little to do I can't get invested in things I already liked before.

Now granted, part of me is bitter that I grew up with the later games taking up a large part of my time, and seeing people go "nah that shit's for babies, this one's REALLY where it's at", so it's hard to finally sink a decent amount of time into this and not feel "oh it's more or less the same only it was before the franchise became a megahit and doesn't have a lot of Stuff to it". If you take it as its own thing then yea it does do things better that later entries either skimp out on, or lack completely.

For one thing, despite my comment on people exaggerating on villager nastiness, I do think they feel more distinct here. The personality mechanic is a thing, obviously, but here it does feel like they have Actual Characteristics to them that makes them stand out to the others. It was a genuine shock to write letters and then be replied back with "what the fuck are you saying?", even if I did so in a way that was funny. The only ones I felt were similar to each other were Maddie and Goldie, and even then the former's a little more... self-centered, I guess to put it, than the latter can be. I still largely think people exaggerate on villagers being more cookie-cutter later on - particularly in New Leaf since that's when the complaint became vocal - but I can at least say I get where people are coming from, it's been a while talking with numerous villagers I've never seen before grow on me really quickly, two of which becoming new favorites: Midge, who's sweetness is just infectious, and Boris, who's honestly just a riot with how aggressive he is.

The serenity of this is also just, impeccable, almost to a rather uncomfortable degree. I'm pretty sure this game was the first time I willingly went out of my way to get letters since it's pretty much a necessity this time around, even if I pretty much left letters to the Museum empty cause it's faster that way. I dunno if the OST will beat out NL for me, but it's a VERY close second regardless, especially with tracks like 1AM, and 2PM. I wish there was a wee bit more to at least do to keep sessions from feeling repetitive, but I understand that A) that'd ruin the appeal, and B) this is a port of the N64 original that didn't have much to begin with either (although that being said I do NOT know why they regulated shit to the e-reader and GBA, even if I have the means to get them thanks to emulation it's just, why?).

Again, it's really hard to express that much disappointment to this title since it's before the games really branched out and did a lot more, and it has such a strong following to this day for a reason, but I must've simply missed the boat on getting so enamored to this title due to having access to the newer titles instead, which in turn made me feel a little more burnt out. It's not like Wild World, which I feel is the middle ground between this game's aesthetics and calmness and later game's busy taskforce, nor is it like New Leaf, which had me mentally preparing tasks and what to do nearly daily when I got to it. I even have a hard time saying it's better than City Folk, as while this feels more distinct compared to CF's expansion-like status, I can at least say CF kept my attention more often. I wanna say it is the better game for the time being, but this might change later on. I know most of this has been me moaning about the game, so it getting something like a 3.5/5 is VERY curious to people, but like... it's Animal Crossing. Despite everything, it's a title I'm gonna have a goodass time with anyway and vibe away on.