Now, THIS is relaxing!
I have nostalgia for this game and the series since it all started, but never fully "finished" these games nor got the full experience by paying off all my loans and stuff. But after the rough time I had with New Horizons, I just had to go back to these older games and see if I was just biased. I'm glad to say that, despite a few features that were eventually improved with quality-of-life stuff, the original Animal Crossing hasn't aged at all and it absolutely immaculate.
The transition from N64 to GameCube was such a magical time for Nintendo and their Japanese injection into video games, going alongside stuff like Doshin The Giant and Pikmin. Animal Crossing invites its players into a new world, filled with charming furniture (most even inspired by Japanese culture), cozy events, and the overall sense that your villagers are living, whether you're playing or not. This isn't a game that requires you to grind for resources or pressure you into working hard, but rather one that was designed as an escape; a second life from your own.
Sure some of your neighbors might be upset if you've been gone for too long, but none of that is really your problem. You're just another villager, catching fish or bugs at your leisure, helping others out by running errands for them, staying inside your home playing NES games, kick around a ball that you happen to find around town, whatever you wish. And of course, its vibrant color palette and wacky soundtrack both wrap everything together in a simply unique experience for its time, one that most games in the genre can't seem to replicate nowadays.
I have nostalgia for this game and the series since it all started, but never fully "finished" these games nor got the full experience by paying off all my loans and stuff. But after the rough time I had with New Horizons, I just had to go back to these older games and see if I was just biased. I'm glad to say that, despite a few features that were eventually improved with quality-of-life stuff, the original Animal Crossing hasn't aged at all and it absolutely immaculate.
The transition from N64 to GameCube was such a magical time for Nintendo and their Japanese injection into video games, going alongside stuff like Doshin The Giant and Pikmin. Animal Crossing invites its players into a new world, filled with charming furniture (most even inspired by Japanese culture), cozy events, and the overall sense that your villagers are living, whether you're playing or not. This isn't a game that requires you to grind for resources or pressure you into working hard, but rather one that was designed as an escape; a second life from your own.
Sure some of your neighbors might be upset if you've been gone for too long, but none of that is really your problem. You're just another villager, catching fish or bugs at your leisure, helping others out by running errands for them, staying inside your home playing NES games, kick around a ball that you happen to find around town, whatever you wish. And of course, its vibrant color palette and wacky soundtrack both wrap everything together in a simply unique experience for its time, one that most games in the genre can't seem to replicate nowadays.