Animal Crossing: City Folk

"The Spread Of City Folk"

After playing Animal Crossing : Wild World for three years, it's pretty exciting to see the new release of this fantastic game for the Wii. Maybe I think it's great because doing repetitive tasks isn't so boring to me, but anyway here's the review I feel everyone needs to read.

Controls-9/10
The Wii controls have been modified to fit this game, using the Wii remote you almost instantly become your person as you move into your town. Using the fishing rod by swinging the remote & jerking it back up to see the amazing Bitterling you caught is very satisfying. You can also thrust the Wii remote to use your handy-dandy shovel to dig up fossils for Blather's collection & gyroids to sound up your house. I didn't get to use the net as much, as it is winter, but like the other two, you can use the remote to feel apart of your town. If you're having a lazy day, you can take out your tools using the control pad on the Wii remote & can use tools with the A button. When you want to sell items to Tom Nook or take items to equip, you have to point to the screen no matter how lazy you're feeling.

Graphics-10/10
Like I said, after playing Wild World for 3 years, seeing the Wii graphics made a smile run across my face. The way the camera scrolls is the same as Wild World, which helps you memorize the town in a faster manner. The camera angle, compared to Wild World, is also focused on the person, which makes you feel really close to him/her. I felt more connected to my person as I would walk around town, denying all the requests of the animals for a new nickname. Seeing all of the old animals from Wild World in a crisp new detail brings life into this game.

Music-7/10
Playing the first Animal Crossing, I was always in love with the music. As a matter of fact, I believe almost everyone liked the Animal Crossing music better than Wild World's new perspective of music. I guess I was hoping there would either be new music for City Folk, or maybe a mixture from the original Animal Crossing. Despite that, City Folk was developed with the music from Wild World. The music from Totakeke (K.K.) sounds fresh, but I believe the music in The Roost coffee shop is one of the best in the game that was taken over from Wild World, bringing a relaxed mood into the busy life of City Folk. Don't get me wrong though, the music doesn't take away all of the charm from the game.


Gameplay & The City-10/10
I believe that everyone mistakes this part of the game. Because the game is called City Folk, everyone tends to focus the attention of the game on the actual City & says things like "The city could have been more expanded". No no no. City Folk was meant to have the same goal as the other Animal Crossing games have had : You move in to a new, slightly run-down town where you purchase a house, befriend the villagers, & improve your town by removing weeds, planting flowers & trees, & adding various things to the Town Museum. By slowly tending to your town & paying off your debt, more villagers will move in, & along the way, Tom Nook will expand his shop, which allows him to provide more goods for your house & surroundings. Not only is there the main Town where you reside at, but they added the city for more charm to City Folk. In the city, you can go to the Marquee, where Dr. Shrunk can teach you new emotions every week by paying 800 Bells (Bells is the currency) for each 'show', which is convenient for when you want to learn new emotions on the go instead of having to wait for him to show up on random dates in Wild World. Also, in case you couldn't stand having your room being evaluated, the Happy Room Academy is an optional thing for you to join in City Folk, with Lyle being the accountant. Next, probably an eye-shocker to everyone at first sight, is Grace Grace, the store that is all dedicated to the 'haute couture' from Gracie's designs. The furniture may be jaw-dropping expensive, along with the clothing costing a bit more than the designs from The Able Sisters, assumably once you get your town started & worked up, you'll be shopping at Gracie Grace like a regular customer. Another addition in the city is the Auction house, where you can put up items for sale & likewise purchase someone else's items. Ah, Shampoodle is back & ready to style up your hair for your dates! For 3,000 Bells, she'll style up your hair, which depends on how you correspond to her questions. Not only can you get a different hairstyle, but if you're a creative person, you can create an interesting Mii in the Mii Channel, & through Shampoodle, you can pay to have a 'mask' of one of your Mii's face, which can be put on your City Folk person. Best thing is, the first trial of receiving a Mii mask is free, & everything is better when it's free. Beside Shampoodle is Katrina the fortuneteller. For just 100 Bells, she will tell you the 'charm' of your town, which is a task that 'can only be completed by someone that comes from another town' for them to reap the reward, or, like her name implies, she'll tell your fortune from the 'alignment of the stars'. And as if this all wasn't enough, on occasions, different animals will visit your town, such as the shoe-shine guy. For 500 Bells, he will offer to, as his name implies, change the color of your shoes by the style of your person or by color. If he decides on a color shoe that you already have, he won't charge you Bells for the work. Now, as exciting as all of this may seem, you need to remember that the City is an additional add-on to City Folk: it wasn't meant to be the main focus of this Animal Crossing game.

Designing-8/10
The Able Sisters are well known for their creative designs of shirts, but also as a player, you are privileged to create your own designs. New to the spotlight, you are now able to design the shirt individually, what I mean by this is, you design the front of the shirt, the left sleeve, the right sleeve, & the back by yourself. I always loved to create many designs in the Able Sister's shop, but when City Folk rolled around, I looked with such disdain. You have to use the Wii remote to complete all of your designs, which means pointing at every little block you want to color. I always did intricate designs, so I figured maybe I could plug in a controller, or maybe some kind of cursor would pop up so I wouldn't have to point at every block. Unfortunately, for someone who takes designing so seriously, this was an upset, since you MUST point at every block individually. Holding the Wii remote & accidentally shifting it even the slightest bit in your hand will cause you to stream your set color across the palate, making designing one of the most frustrating things to do in City Folk.

Wi-Fi-9/10
Going over Wi-Fi has an advantage: you can talk to your friends! Yes, with Wi-Fi, you can visit a friend's town & check on his/her villagers, check the items in Tom Nook's shop, & check in to see how your friend decorates his/her house. If your lucky, your friend's town may have a different fruit than the one that grows in your town & you can take some to plant in your town to start maximizing your earned profits. Also, whether you buy it as a bundle or separately, while over Wi-Fi you can hook up the Wii Speak, a device that picks up what you say. The Wii-Speak is basically a microphone, & gives you a feeling of closeness with your friends, especially when you can receive feedback immediately about questions you may have or ways of decorating your house. If you don't have the Wii-Speak, you can plug in a computer keyboard into the back of your Wii & you can type with that to talk to your friend. The only thing with Wi-Fi: I keep saying 'friend'. You can't travel over Wi-Fi & connect with random people, instead, you have to register a person's friend code. I believe it was made that you had to register friend codes because you wouldn't want to end up going over Wi-Fi with some person that has an ax in his/her hands, ready to cut down all of your trees. In short, it's more so for safety reasons, & if both people have Wii-Speak, registering friend codes reassures that no language will be be said that may offend the person.

The Overall Score-9/10
Picking up City Folk is a must-do on your list of to-do. Personally, this game is the best out of the three Animal Crossing. There are many items to furnish your house with, unique villagers to befriend, & numerous combination of ways to customize your person. The game isn't perfect with few flaws, but with the fun gameplay, you'll mind will be whisked away for hours of amazing fun. How will you build your town?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/09

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