I really liked the original Animal Crossing on the Gamecube. Having a cozy life to manage in a new neighbourhood, with little to no stress was something I had never experienced in a game before. So when they said they were bringing a sequel out for the DS, a portable system, I was very excited.
So the game came out and it ended up being exactly as I had expected, the Gamecube original but portable. This is both for better and for worse. Just to get this out of the way, the game does not have many significant updates to the gameplay loop. You still start your day, do tasks for the villagers, and hang out around the town. You can now make new flowers, or build your constellations in the sky, but these are just minor minigames to the core of this game.
This by itself would be a bad thing, if not for 2 major differences. Firstly, its portable nature allows you to access your town and play wherever you would like. Unlike the GameCube game, where it was required to set time aside for your town, the portability allows more flexibility with when and where to play. It makes the game a lot more inviting.
Secondly, and most importantly, is that this game was one of the first to include access to the Nintendo Wifi Connection system. To put it bluntly, You could do local and worldwide multiplayer with up to 4 friends who own this game. This was an absolute game changer and allowed for a level of creativity and silliness that Nintendo is known for. The number of memories I have playing this with some of my grade-school friends, adding pitfalls or playing tag, are truly countless.
Nowadays, you would be much better off with either New Leaf or New Horizons, as they are much more fleshed out and interesting. However, this game introduced some of the core features that would be vital in their success, and to me, that makes this such a pivotal game. At the very least, check out this game for what it has done for the franchise.
So the game came out and it ended up being exactly as I had expected, the Gamecube original but portable. This is both for better and for worse. Just to get this out of the way, the game does not have many significant updates to the gameplay loop. You still start your day, do tasks for the villagers, and hang out around the town. You can now make new flowers, or build your constellations in the sky, but these are just minor minigames to the core of this game.
This by itself would be a bad thing, if not for 2 major differences. Firstly, its portable nature allows you to access your town and play wherever you would like. Unlike the GameCube game, where it was required to set time aside for your town, the portability allows more flexibility with when and where to play. It makes the game a lot more inviting.
Secondly, and most importantly, is that this game was one of the first to include access to the Nintendo Wifi Connection system. To put it bluntly, You could do local and worldwide multiplayer with up to 4 friends who own this game. This was an absolute game changer and allowed for a level of creativity and silliness that Nintendo is known for. The number of memories I have playing this with some of my grade-school friends, adding pitfalls or playing tag, are truly countless.
Nowadays, you would be much better off with either New Leaf or New Horizons, as they are much more fleshed out and interesting. However, this game introduced some of the core features that would be vital in their success, and to me, that makes this such a pivotal game. At the very least, check out this game for what it has done for the franchise.