Animal Crossing lost its soul

I started getting into Animal Crossing with Wild World in 2009- a whole 4 years after its initial release. It was an impulse purchase, a whole 30€ off of its initial price. Little did I know, that game would be my addiction until New Leaf's release.

On the launch day of New Leaf, Wild World was mostly forgotten.

Years passed, I grew tired of New Leaf (my copy doesn't work now anyways), and New Horizons feels bland after 2 years of playing it. So, after over a decade of ignoring it, I booted up Wild World again.

Now, it obviously is inferior in many ways in comparison to New Horizons, and yet it feels like a breath of fresh air after years of not playing it. The controls aren't the best (they're serviceable, but I wish the B button wasn't used for both running and picking things up), running feels a bit off at times... but, God, I'm having so much more fun than on New Horizons.

Why is that? Well, we first need to look at Animal Crossing's original concept in order to understand what made the first few games so good.

In an interview about Animal Crossing (thank you shmuplations for the translation), Katsuya Eguchi, the creator of the series, said this:

According to Nookipedia, Eguchi also wanted to recreate the feeling of being alone in a new town away from family and friends, though the exact source for that has been lost to time.

In the first few entries in the series, the villagers can be outright mean to the player. It feels like an exaggeration of real life- not everyone is nice to you when you meet them. However, you can become friends with them if you do them favors and send them letters, and they will become kinder to you. In New Horizons, all the villagers are nice off the bat.

Letters are very fun in Animal Crossing: Wild World because, to my understanding, they are composed with two different parts that are picked at random. In New Horizons, there is little variety to the letters, since the two parts were replaced with a single topic. It makes the letters make more sense, yes, but at the cost of predictable messages and a lack of quirkiness that made the letters so enjoyable in Wild World. In New Horizons, there is no point to the letters, unless you want to send a friend something using the online features.

The predictability of New Horizons doesn't stop there though. For the first few days every player will experience things in more or less the same way, having two initial villagers with always the same personality types (jock and sisterly), doing things to get the upgraded Resident Services building as fast as possible. It's a tutorial that lasts days, unless you're time-travelling. Meanwhile, the tutorial in Wild World takes a few minutes.

I know I'm making it sound like I hate New Horizons. I don't. It's great in terms of decorating, as that's the main appeal of the game, and that was always one of my favorite aspects of the series. However, it feels bland when it comes to the social aspects of the game, which is the main appeal of the series. That's why so many Animal Crossing veterans dislike it, while new players love it.

I'm not against making the theme of each Animal Crossing game (the original being having to start over again in a new place) different in each iteration. However, players won't be able to get attached to particular villagers the same way they used to without the social aspect of the game, only liking them for their design (which will result in ridiculous fiascos such as the Raymond black market). The game's not fun if you don't attach yourself with the characters, that's the point of Animal Crossing.

So, if you're burned out from New Horizons, I suggest booting up the older games (ROMs or physical copies that you already own, as the games are quite expensive nowadays). Veterans already know why they're great, and new players will get to learn about the origins of the series and maybe to appreciate its roots.

As for me, I'll keep playing Wild World, maybe start a village on the original Animal Crossing as well. As for New Horizons... well, I'll keep it as a side project. I do love decorating, after all.