I guess I haven't spent enough time on it to be sucked into the meta void, but it's a fun little pick-up-and-play rpg game for when you're on the go (and I haven't spent a penny on it). Really fun quick battles, plenty of variance between challenge and really casual play. Manages to just barely get past my repulsion towards how the majority of these types of rpgs treat gender but it's on thin ice lol. I am very much enjoying the story even if the dialogue can be pretty stilted, the world they've made for it is fantastic and more often that not it really does give you that feeling of being on a grand adventure.

Much the same as my thoughts on the Gamecube version, but the features and additions in this really make it the definitive early Animal Crossing game, without question. I know the translation project has become more about decomp so we'll need to be (extremely) patient, but even the great work cuyler did in translating as much of the game as we have was greatly appreciated in helping me to see a fraction of this gem. Can't recommend this enough for enthusiasts, but the English Gamecube version will still do for newcomers.

Whew you can tell a mile off this was the first entry, I don't quite agree with any claims that this doesn't deserve an English translation because the US Gamecube version exists though (with its overall better features/gameplay) - plenty of unique, Japanese objects and outfits make it an interesting artifact in Animal Crossing (and gaming) history, tying it so heavily to its country of origin. I managed to play a great amount of this via the very unfinished translation floating round, and my main bone of contention (that isn't shared with subsequent versions) was the lack of a fast-forward feature for speech, and able sisters! Regardless, it deserves its place in gaming history for being one of the most charming features out, and breathing life into the casual life-sim genre.