Understanding this game's insane legacy on the medium and it's impact on the industry leaves a lot to live up to on a first playthrough. And while I can't say I fell in love with it like many others did, I have great respect for it and can see why it's so acclaimed.

Its narrative in today's landscape still feels fresh and innovative; I'm not a huge fan of the cast but Cloud and a few of the main dynamics were genuinely fantastic and showcased the game's true brilliance. Same could be said for the gorgeous landscapes and tracks accompanying them. It genuinely felt like a large scaled adventure playing before my eyes, but I could never get into the main materia system. The game already felt somewhat tedious and mundane to traverse, and putting in the effort to get the better materia through quests never felt worth it. Even at the times I felt like I was utilizing the system well, it never quite clicked and it's ultimately what held the game back for me from working, simply because of how that one factor impacted the rest of my journey.

Even if it didn't totally hit me the same it hit others, I completely understand the love for it and what I liked from the game was truly amazing. Even more eager to play Remake and see where it goes in terms of gameplay and story.

Quite possibly the most torn I've ever been on a video game before. The hype I had towards it before launch was indescribable, and all in all, I was disappointed. And it's taken me months upon months to truly figure out why. I can't say for certain that I've figured it out quite yet, but at the least, I can say it's still one of my favorite Switch games out there.

Frankly, it's a direction I don't want the series to take. I'm not the most creative type, and the open-ended focus on constant crafting of furniture and decoration just doesn't work with me as well. The first few months I was all over that mechanic, but now it makes any time I come back to the game feel so overwhelming and just not worth the hassle.

At the same time, I get that there's an audience that enjoys that, and I'm so happy about the cultural impact that the game has had on the entire country in the last year.

It's still Animal Crossing at its core, which is why I still love it. I love that eager sense of personal progression, and just simple tasks like talking to villagers and catching/selling bugs and fishes. The game is as gorgeous and polished as ever hearing making that aspect even better than before.

The level to HOW open things are just isn't for me though, and that's ok. I think I'll see myself continually returning less and less to this one and perhaps checking out more of the older games instead. The way the game is designed to bring you back doesn't appeal to me as much as it does to others really. I still have valued my experience tremendously over the last year and its one I'll cherish and never forget. I hope the future of the series does bring a good merge between this newer direction and the one we've gotten from the entire series though, so I have reason to get another long term investment out of the series like I did with New Leaf.

What I can speak on though is the disappointing lack of content updates from Nintendo. Lack of new QoL improvements, labeling holidays as "new content" and having very little else as of late to supplement that - it's just very disappointing, especially when its obvious the dev team really cares about the series.