Definition of comfort game. It was my first introduction to the series, and year after year I continually kept coming back to it up until New Horizons came out.

New Horizons adds a lot of QoL enhancements that makes the overall experience easier, but I hold so much more love for the structuring of New Leaf. The game never threw too much onto me like I feel New Horizons does - my town looked like shit, but I was happy and it felt like the game wanted to keep it that way.

The bond I grew with my villagers, the attachment I grew with growing my town and building my house up at my own pace - it's so cozy. In retrospect, it's almost sentimental - going back and thinking about the villager relationships I now don't have or specific tracks in the fantastic OST that I heard on repeat make me tear up.

It's one of my favorite games ever and its what made me fall in love with the series and formula. It's ok if the series continues down the road its on now with New Horizon, because as long as I'll still hold the memories from this game, then I'll be happy