Animal Crossing

"An intriguing, never-ending game with a unique concept."

You should never judge a book by its cover. At first glance Animal Crossing may appear to look like a childish game that any adult would grow tired of after minutes of play. First impressions were overlooked by the consumers, however, and Animal Crossing got all the credit that was rightfully deserved.

For the person who is willing to give the game a go, you will find marvelous entertainment and a very interesting concept. Animal Crossing is the most different and strangely captivating game on Gamecube.

STORY

Only the beginning of the story will be the same for everyone. You are on your way to a new town and a friendly cat named Rover hooks you up with Tom Nook who lives in the town. Nook will allow you to live in one of the four available houses and then ask you to pay him back a loan. From there on, the story will break up into little tiny pieces, and you'll never find each and every one of them.

The story simply can't be rated. As soon as you take control of your character, the story is in your hands. Who you become friends or enemies with is your choice. Whoever leaves or joins your town depends on your ignorance and contributions. Unlike The Sims, this game has separate stories and tales for you to uncover yourself. You won't have the same old routine every day, things are going to change all the time, whether you're playing or not playing. It sounds like all of this should be in the gameplay section of the review, but with Animal Crossing the story is all ABOUT the gameplay.

GAMEPLAY 9/10

It's strange that a game has no requirements or goals but still manages to be crammed with so much gameplay that you'll never be able to experience it all. I could guarantee that only a few people have, and very few. This is because every single day could have something special that another day does not have. A simple piece of furniture, a special carpet, wall or visitor could be one of them, but you'll only ever know if you're there. This game runs in real-time. When it is 3:30pm on March 29th, 2004 it is 3:30pm on March 29th, 2004 in Animal Crossing. The built-in clock inside the Gamecube allows Animal Crossing to have this wonderful feature, and it is one of the most unique features ever.

The sun will rise of a morning. Shine over afternoon and set at night, in Animal Crossing. Even better is the fact that rainy days and storms also appear every now and then. Whether it is sunny, raining, a special event or a visitor is in town, usually the villagers will always have something to say about it. When you start the game you only have few villagers, who are actually animals. You are the only human in town, but the animals will accept you just as they accept each other. As you advance through the game, more villagers will join your town. A range of personalities are available, including snobby, rude males to sweet, loving females.

The amount of stories, news, tips and gossip the animals can tell you is so huge that you'll never hear every last thing. Sometimes what they say may depend on what is happening in town. When Halloween is near, the animals will talk about it often, just as they will with most events. On rainy days they will complain and on sunny days they will explain how they are happy with the weather. They will talk about the letters they have received, recent and future occurences, who they like and who they think is avoiding them and many, many other issues.

The animals will let you do jobs for them if they need something done. It may be taking something to someone, finding them a ball, finding a bug or finding an item for them. Whatever the case, they will always reward you with an item if you finish the job for them, and sometimes it is worth your while and other times you may wonder why you bothered in the first place. The item you get will sometimes depend on your relationship with the animal.

A challenge in this game is making sure your villagers don't leave town. You have to make sure you help them out and talk to them regulary to keep a healthy relationship between the both of you. When they do leave, they will send you a letter saying that they can't live in your town any longer. They only seldom tell you they want to leave before they do, so you never really have a chance to make sure they don't. If you were to go on a long holiday in real life and then play Animal Crossing once you get back, the animals will be wondering where you have been. If you proceed to not talk to them, they will leave. This proves to be a problem with the real-time setting, because you won't be able to play every day.

You have control over the well-being of your town. You can grow trees, grow fruit and make your house look dazzling so your town will show as more appealing to visitors. If you stop playing for a long time, weeds will grow through your town like peanut butter and you'll have to pick them all yourself, which is not pleasant. The local well will tell you how your town is doing. If more trees need to be grown or trash needs to be picked up, it will tell you. If you are consistent with keeping your town prosperous, then more animals will want to join your town.

At the beginning of the game, Tom Nook will give you a loan for the house he has offered. You are free to pay it off whenever you wish, though it is necessary if you want your house to become bigger. Four upgrades are available for your house, and as they come along, the debts will grow larger. To pay them off, you're going to need Bells, the currency in Animal Crossing.

Bells can be earned in many ways. You can buy a rod and catch fish from the river or beach. Different fish await in the water, from the most common carp to the rare stringfish. The season, time and weather will decide which fish are available, and the same plan occurs with the bugs you can catch with your net. You can buy a shovel and dig for fossils. Then you can sell them to Tom Nook for a large price. You can sell furniture, stationary, wallpaper, carpet, fish, bugs and other items to Tom Nook, and his price will change consequently.

Not only can you sell things to Tom Nook, but he also owns a store in your town where you can buy items too. The items will change everyday, and every time you purchase something expensive he will give you a raffle ticket for his end of month lottery. Nook's store is not the only basic building in your town. A lost and found department, clothing design store and post office are also fundamentals.

As big as the game is, it just wouldn't be as big without some friends or family to play with you, right? Four houses are available from Tom Nook, and another player can purchase one just as you can. You can play alternately and increase the fun factor of the game by sending letters, hiding items, stealing fruit from their trees or just co-operating to earn the best of items. It proves to be more fun than it seems.

If you have a GBA available, the amount of things to do increases even more. You can visit a nearby island and meet the inhabitant who lives on it. This islander, unlike the animals in your town, will never leave the island and will usually request furniture from you and talk about island life. After leaving the island, you can play a mini-game on your GBA where you can control the islander! Though enjoyable, it won't be after some time.

I've said a lot, but it isn't nearly enough. You really have to experience Animal Crossing first hand, unless you aren't a fan of games that have no goals or objectives. If not, then it is a must buy.

GRAPHICS 7/10

Now, you may think that this score is a little too high for a game that barely pushes the technology of the Gamecube, but the way the game is, the graphics just fit. The cute vision they give blends in with the gameplay impressively. If this was a realistic looking game, it simply wouldn't work out as well as it has.

At mid-afternoon, the sunshine makes everything bright and noticeable. At sunset, orange shades appear on the ground and on buildings, and it makes you feel like the sun really is setting in real life (well, even if it is). Overall, I have no objections against the graphics. They aren't perfect, but it's no matter to me. It's not what Animal Crossing is about.

SOUND 7/10

Cute, yet at the same time necessary. Just like the graphics, the somewhat childish music and crazy animal talking fits. Sound is apparent with almost every action you make, whether it is running along the grass or shaking a tree.

A complaint against the music, however. Every hour has a different tune, and eventually they become repetitive and perhaps a little annoying. It's nothing massive, but a larger variety would of been helpful.

LASTABILITY 9/10

So much is available for the taking, if you're excited enough to get it. The game should last at least a month before you grow tired of it, but you'll come back after a while and get interested in it again. The special events and change of seasons will make you want to come back and check out what has changed, who has left and who is still around in your town. The massive stock of things to do in Animal Crossing will last over a year.

BUY OR RENT?

Buy. No question about it. A week is simply not enough time to experience the true splendor of Animal Crossing. It's well worth your money.

OVERALL: 8.8/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/04