Animal Crossing: City Folk

"Big expectations, huge letdown!"

I was a HUGE fan of the GC Animal Crossing and still play it now. There was SO much anticipation and hype for this game, I was immensely let down after a couple hours of game play. It wasn't just that there's no Island, that Kapp'n now drives a bus (I used to LOVE his sea chanties on the boat!), that you can't make 60,000 bells in a 1/2 hour of fishing, due to the incredibly LOW prices for most fish. Also, no CODES! I admit I loved those. But my disappointment with City Folk is due to many more things.

The animals' conversation has taken a nosedive! They used to come up with such whacked-out stuff, especially years into playing the GC version...as if it refreshed itself. Now, each one has about four basic lines. BORING! The answers to your letters are the same, and that's after you went to all the trouble of "typing" out a nice one with that horrible wand!

I was SO pumped up about the City but again, what a downer! There are so few shops and most of them are lame (The HRA headquarters, the Auction shop) or frustrating: Gracie's! Who has 120,000 Bells to plunk down for a TABLE? Shampoodle's is just as annoying as it was in Wild World, but at least you can change your hair and use the Mii after a terrible styling session.

I also miss Wendell's wallpapers and am annoyed that I must scrounge the town for old wallpaper and carpet just to get ONE item from Saharah.

Sure, there are some pluses, like getting to listen to the Animals talk to each other (but that was there in WW), new types of fish--good thing, because Nook pays so little for them!--the ability to take photos (my favorite option) and save them on an SD card. The balloons are MUCH easier to shoot down than in WW. But all in all, it's just "more of the same" or an "expansion pack" as some said, only with some of the BEST features now gone (again, the Island and the fountain, too!).

Don't get me wrong; playing this game IS fun, but I really doubt it will have the allure and staying power of the old GC game. Also, on that, I had FOUR towns, over time...and enjoyed experimenting with their layout, names and traveling between them. Now, I'd have to get another Wii to do that! No fair! I think City Folk will be a "flash in the pan", and do know a few people who have already tired of it. Most people are creatures who need instant gratification and this game offers little. I think it will be one of those ones people let sit after the novelty wears off, and only visit for festivals and special events, like the Harvest festival. Too bad...it had SUCH possibilities, almost NONE of them realized!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/08/08

Game Release: Animal Crossing: City Folk (US, 11/16/08)