"It's a great game, but it still has flaws"

If you aren't familiar with the Animal Crossing game, well it's a game where your player lives his life among animals. You buy and upgrade your house, decorate it, interact with neighbors, plant flowers, catch fish...etc...When I heard there was a portable version coming to the DS, I knew I just had to get it. Though I really wasn't impressed.

Gameplay

Well there really isn't a set goal for this game. Though chances are you'll want to make a lot of money to upgrade your house and buy furniture. There are several ways to obtain money. Such as selling fish and bugs you catch, growing foreign fruit tree's, the stock market, and much more. Though making money may seem new and fun at first, but later on it gets very repetitive. Let's take fishing (one of the most common ways to make money) for an example. You get your rod, and you throw it near a fish until it bites, and believe me, sometimes it takes a lot of work to get the hook in the right spot as the fish as they move a lot. Anyways you wait until you see a little splash and you pull. Now repeat that for an hour or so. Now don't get me wrong, fishing isn't all that bad. It's a good feeling to catch a new fish, especially extremely rare one's such as the coelcanth. Though, catching new fish can only last so long...Though you get a chance to catch brand new fish once a new month starts. It really is the same thing for most ways to make money.

Well except for the stock market. The stock market is basically a turnip market, where you buy turnips from Joan and attempt to sell them at Nook's store for a profit. It's all luck, or well it used to be. Thanks to wifi, it's pretty much impossible not to make a profit. Late in the week there's dozens of people posting their turnip prices at 400-600+, and charging people to come. Though at that price it shouldn't be a problem. So if you want to avoid fishing, picking fruit...etc...then you should just start playing the stock market to make money, though you'll have to check the boards frequently.

Well what's there to do besides that? Well you can interact with your neighbors. Which once again, is exciting and new at first. Though after a while they start to repeat themselves. Though unlike it's predecessor, the villagers in AC:WW are much more interactive. For one thing, villagers will sometimes come to visit your house, you can tell them the time that they should come too. Though there really isn't much that they do in there. You can also give items upfront to villagers instead of having to send it to them in letters, which is a big convenience. The villagers will also ask for specific items, such as fossils. Another interesting feature, is the ability to eavesdrop on other animals conversations. They can be quite humorous and entertaining. Villagers will also sometimes run up to you to ask you something, or maybe even give you something. Also, like in the original Animal Crossing, villagers will sometimes ask you to run an errand for them, though unlike in the original, you can't ask animals for jobs. Errands can be quite annoying if the animal you're looking for has wandered away from home. The rewards aren't too good either for the most part. Villagers also get sick, which is very annoying as they don't do anything but mope around the house, unless you give them medicine for a few days. That's pretty much all you can do with the villagers.

Well besides that, there's still some other things you can do. Instead of selling fossils and fish and such, you can donate to the museum. There's also an observatory there where you can make constellations that can be seen in the night sky. There's also a cafe, but there's really not much to do here. Just buy some coffee, and that's it...K.K. Slider does play here too, but only on Saturdays. There's also the Abler sisters, just like in the original, you can make designs and have them put on display. You can also lay them out around town. Then there's the town hall, but chances are you'll mainly be visiting here to pay off your rent or mail letter. You can also do other stuff such as donate to a town for items, or put trash in the recycling bin.

Hmm, well besides that there's events to attend...Though most of them are recycled throughout the year, and some events really don't seem like events. For example, on "Yay Day" all you do is compliment your villagers, chances are you'll be done in less than ten minutes if you can find them fast enough. Though there are quite a few interesting events such as the flea market, where you can buy your neighbor's stuff, and they'll buy your stuff too. There's also the fishing and bug contests which can be pretty interesting too. There's also travelers to meet. Usually you can buy or obtain items from them through a some very different and interesting methods. They range from digging up UFO parts to buying rare items at the black market. Although, like events, they recycle every week.

Though possibly one of the best and most rewarding feature in ACWW, is decorating your house with furniture, fish, and maybe even clothing. You can decorate your house using a set of furniture, such as the modern set. Or you can be creative and decorate your house using mixed items. You can even decorate in an unconventional way such as making the first floor a giant chess board. It's even more rewarding than in the original, as now you can have people visit your house thanks to Wifi.

Online

Well, the only reason I still pop in this game every once in a while, is because of Wifi. The process of going to someone's town is kind of long, but it's bearable. Up to 4 people can be in a town at any time. The main reason to use wifi is to obtain items you need faster and easier and perhaps to sell your turnips. Besides that, there really isn't too much you can do at someone else's town. You can check out there house, the museum, and maybe even hang around to catch some new fish/bugs if they have there time set at a different month than yours. Sometimes, people also organize small "events" on the boards, so if you're lucky, you may be able to get in on it.

Though, the problem with wifi is, is that if you don't know the person, you'll have to watch there every move. So that if they do mess up something in the town, you will be able to disconnect. It can turn you into a paranoid gamer, but it's fairly rare to encounter someone like that, unless you regularly invite people to your town. Despite it's flaws, wifi is still an excellent addition to the game.

Graphics

The graphics of this game are similar to the originals. Though it isn't exactly the best I've seen on the DS. It's fairly colorful and bright, and I guess you can say it looks kind of cartoonish, but it fits this game perfectly. There really isn't too much to the game's graphics, but most people are happy with it.

Sound

The game's town music is simple and enjoyable, it's nothing spectacular, but it fits the game. K.K slider will also play some catchy music at the cafe in the museum. You can also here bug's buzzing when they are near you and other small sounds regarding your surroundings. The animals can be quite annoying, but you can always turn them off.

Overall

Animal Crossing: Wild World is a wonderful game that will keep you occupied for quite a while. Though after 2 weeks or so, you've already caught all the bugs and fish for the month, met all the travelers, and the villagers will start getting very repetitive. Though even after that, it's still a fun game to play every one in a while. Though after you've played it for a while, it's not going to be the kind of game you play for hours on end. Though it's still a great addition to any DS owner's collection.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/06