The New Animal Crossing is finally here!! And Brynne plays it WAY more than I do!! Haha yeah didn't quite expect that... AC New Horizons for the switch has been out a couple weeks now and I've finally 'finished' it as of yesterday morning, but honestly, we aint done here for QUITE a while! While the credits may have rolled for me, Animal Crossing is not really a game made to be finished in such a convenient or easy manner..
So the formula of previous Animal Crossing's is still very much here - you've got your home 'town' and you kinda just live there! There are lots of villagers to talk to and play with, bugs to catch, fossils to dig up, bugs to catch, fruit to grow, capitalist power structures to overthrow.. Tom Nook is back baby! The major difference with this game however is the beginning week or so - instead of moving to a full town and getting into the full swing of things, you start on a 'deserted' island with a couple of folks and slowly build up to the full 'Animal Crossing' experience as you progress along. Tom Nook essentially gives you 'quests' to complete each day - finding a few fish to get Blathers interested in moving, asking for building materials for his nephews' shop to expand, inviting new people to live there, etc. It all culminates in asking KK Slider to start a concert on your island, and when he does so the credits roll! That's more or less where I'm at, and then the game just kinda lets you do your thing. In a way I do appreciate the more 'structured' beginning as it teaches newcomers more of the game to get started with, and makes your beginning more directed so you don't feel so overwhelmed with what all is going on in the game. Though at the same time I do worry once it is all finished up - are you going to miss that directed gameplay? We'll see how people feel in a month!
I personally spent most of the time building my orchards, as I believe I always do in these games haha. My trees are so dense in some areas I can barely see anything! That's part of the fun for me, it gives me a 'check list' to accomplish each day along with finding fossils for my museum to expand it. I've been falling off the bug catching and fishing though as I've been trying to play other games as well. I do enjoy the 'collection' elements a lot, and that museum is STELLAR in this game, its like the fanciest damn museum I've ever seen! Blathers also now has a fear of all bugs (despite being an owl that.. eats bugs) that is hilarious every time you turn one into him. There's a very chill atmosphere of how much time you're given to do things, and I think that fits very well with the real time nature of it. The game doesn't really WANT you to pour your entire day into it (though Brynne certainly seems to enjoy that), it just wants you to visit from time to time!
There's a lot going on in the world right now with the Coronavirus and being everyone being shut in that gives this game a very special feeling - like everything out there is nuts but here? Everything is pretty chill and happy. The social features are kinda crap but you still can hang out with your friends here if you want - and show off all the cool decorating you've done! Animal Crossing didn't intend to be a balm in deeply troubled times, but somehow it seemed to fit right in help calm our troubled times, at least for a little while...
So the formula of previous Animal Crossing's is still very much here - you've got your home 'town' and you kinda just live there! There are lots of villagers to talk to and play with, bugs to catch, fossils to dig up, bugs to catch, fruit to grow, capitalist power structures to overthrow.. Tom Nook is back baby! The major difference with this game however is the beginning week or so - instead of moving to a full town and getting into the full swing of things, you start on a 'deserted' island with a couple of folks and slowly build up to the full 'Animal Crossing' experience as you progress along. Tom Nook essentially gives you 'quests' to complete each day - finding a few fish to get Blathers interested in moving, asking for building materials for his nephews' shop to expand, inviting new people to live there, etc. It all culminates in asking KK Slider to start a concert on your island, and when he does so the credits roll! That's more or less where I'm at, and then the game just kinda lets you do your thing. In a way I do appreciate the more 'structured' beginning as it teaches newcomers more of the game to get started with, and makes your beginning more directed so you don't feel so overwhelmed with what all is going on in the game. Though at the same time I do worry once it is all finished up - are you going to miss that directed gameplay? We'll see how people feel in a month!
I personally spent most of the time building my orchards, as I believe I always do in these games haha. My trees are so dense in some areas I can barely see anything! That's part of the fun for me, it gives me a 'check list' to accomplish each day along with finding fossils for my museum to expand it. I've been falling off the bug catching and fishing though as I've been trying to play other games as well. I do enjoy the 'collection' elements a lot, and that museum is STELLAR in this game, its like the fanciest damn museum I've ever seen! Blathers also now has a fear of all bugs (despite being an owl that.. eats bugs) that is hilarious every time you turn one into him. There's a very chill atmosphere of how much time you're given to do things, and I think that fits very well with the real time nature of it. The game doesn't really WANT you to pour your entire day into it (though Brynne certainly seems to enjoy that), it just wants you to visit from time to time!
There's a lot going on in the world right now with the Coronavirus and being everyone being shut in that gives this game a very special feeling - like everything out there is nuts but here? Everything is pretty chill and happy. The social features are kinda crap but you still can hang out with your friends here if you want - and show off all the cool decorating you've done! Animal Crossing didn't intend to be a balm in deeply troubled times, but somehow it seemed to fit right in help calm our troubled times, at least for a little while...