So, I've been a long standing fan of Nintendo's Animal Crossing franchise. And I've never quite understood why.
Yes, there is that reason, but it's not really enough to sell a game, let alone multiple games. I like to think I take games fairly seriously in terms of design and artistic merit, and I can't for the life of me figure out what's so appealing about Animal Crossing specifically.

The core of the gameplay focuses around repaying your mortgage to a tanuki. You befriend a bunch of number generators with cookie cutter personalities. You have several layers of catalogue completion quests that will at the very least take the better part of a year to complete. There's no overarching plot, there's very little in the way of challenge. All of this should add up to a boring unplayable mess.

This christmas I may have dropped a hint to my folks that I wouldn't mind *cough cough* if I got a 3DS this year. I'm 26 and I know this is kinda out of my age demographic but what can I say? Sometimes my inner child is a demanding little shit. And of course Animal Crossing: New Leaf was the first game I got for it.
Did you know this franchise even has a movie going for it too? You may wonder 'How do you make a movie based on a game in which nothing happens?' The answer? Have a movie in which nothing happens! I'm serious. 90 whole minutes of 100% fan service with 0 content and a lot of Japanese screaming noises. It's actually pretty hilarious just how mindless it is. I can only imagine what the uninitiated would make of it.

Maybe the thing that's so appealing about it is the idea of a blank slate. You know it's all made in innocence and the villagers have the same level of personality as an abacus, but you just can't help inserting your own stories (in my case usually of a fairly dirty or violent nature) into their virtual lives.
If you're a fan of the series or not, I highly recommend checking out Ruby Quest - a quest adventure that started on 4chan which served as the inspiration for other comics like Prequel and MSpaint adventures. It's a vaguely lovecraftian horror story featuring the cute critters of the Animal Crossing world that's actually one of the more scary things I've read.
Oh dear god. Nook, what HAPPENED to you? S-stay away! ;~;

How about it guys? Any fans out there with their say on what makes AC worth playing?

No matter who you are, check out Ruby Quest.

This said, I think you'd like the Harvest Moon series too.

*She loves ACNL* :3

Also like the real time stuff. Can experience winter when snowfall down here is so rare. =^.^=

1st, I'm 29 and own a 3ds, so fuck demographics. I bought it for myself though instead of asking for one from my parent... but that's a different discussion.

As for animal crossing, it's a life sim of sorts.
It's neither the first, nor the best.
If I were you, and I'm not, I'd give a try to Harvest Moon, it's had versions on pretty much every Nintendo and Playstation so far.
Or Rune Factory, a newer, fantasy/rpg setting version of the Harvest Moon franchise.

*Eagerly awaits AC 2015 for Wii-U

123easy said:
No matter who you are, check out Ruby Quest.

This said, I think you'd like the Harvest Moon series too.

hey can you list all the Harvest Moon games and for what system? the last one I played is on GBA lol

I have everything cept the wii version.
did you know each one has a statue of a tanooki with massive balls? Or a kid taking a piss, the original even had a painting with Sex in it...
Ah nintendo...trying to corrupt them young as possible. XD

furballs_dc said:
*Eagerly awaits AC 2015 for Wii-U

That's a long wait.
Go play another game, maybe Natsume's new game based around maintaining a shop, Hometown Story.

Halite said:
That's a long wait.
Go play another game, maybe Natsume's new game based around maintaining a shop, Hometown Story.

Waiting on Etrian Odyssey IV Legends of the Titan and Etrian Odyssey Untold The Millennium Girl to arrive from Amazon. :3

tfkcex said:
hey can you list all the Harvest Moon games and for what system? the last one I played is on GBA lol

Jesus, long list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Harvest_Moon_video_games
24 games, not including spin-offs and the new one planned for release at the end of February (preorder now, they usually include an adorable plush of an animal you can have on your farm, I have 5 of them, both dogs, a cow, a llama, and a buffalo.)
Edit: wait, that's JP release, it'll be another 6 months or so while they translate. Boo I got all excited.

Never got into Animal Crossing. Even as a kid.

The same way Nintendo gets you to play the same game over and over again (pokemon), the same way Call of Duty can sell the same game over and over again, by appealing to our base instincts of kill and collect. (this is my theory, I really have nothing to back it up besides trends and what not, call me out all you want, I don't really care...)

Okay, you've got your shooters, which satisfies a gamer for a little while with all the explosions and violence before it gets boring, but by that time, the next game in the series is out. It's kinda like heroin if you think about it, even more so when DLC is involved. It's not really about completing the game 100% as much as having fun doing it, without realizing how quickly the content passes, this is why multiplayer is so crucial for shooters, so that it can extend the life of the game.

Then you have the games where getting 100% is the main goal of the game, like pokemon where you "gotta catch em all", TWEWY with pins/clothing/food/noise, Super Mario with their stars, or basically every Nintendo game. Much of the time it is possible to beat the game without even getting 50% of what the game has to offer (see skyrim and its infinite supply of "find me shit" side quests), which both extends playtime and gives the player a clear objective as to what to do. Replay value of collect games tends to be higher because you now have a sort of "grocery list" to mark off to finally say that you've beaten the game.

As to specifically why the game is fun, probably because of the cute characters, I was literally bored as shit playing the first game on the gamecube, it was like the Sims but I couldn't set them on fire, where's the fun in that?

SirAntagonist said:
Never got into Animal Crossing. Even as a kid.

Mainly because I was too horrified of Mr.Resetti and the bee hives to play.

Mr.Resetti and Don is nice in ACNL at spots. Got both of their photos for my house. The bees... uh...

Moon_Moon said:
The same way Nintendo gets you to play the same game over and over again (pokemon), the same way Call of Duty can sell the same game over and over again, by appealing to our base instincts of kill and collect. (this is my theory, I really have nothing to back it up besides trends and what not, call me out all you want, I don't really care...)

Okay, you've got your shooters, which satisfies a gamer for a little while with all the explosions and violence before it gets boring, but by that time, the next game in the series is out. It's kinda like heroin if you think about it, even more so when DLC is involved. It's not really about completing the game 100% as much as having fun doing it, without realizing how quickly the content passes, this is why multiplayer is so crucial for shooters, so that it can extend the life of the game.

Then you have the games where getting 100% is the main goal of the game, like pokemon where you "gotta catch em all", TWEWY with pins/clothing/food/noise, Super Mario with their stars, or basically every Nintendo game. Much of the time it is possible to beat the game without even getting 50% of what the game has to offer (see skyrim and its infinite supply of "find me shit" side quests), which both extends playtime and gives the player a clear objective as to what to do. Replay value of collect games tends to be higher because you now have a sort of "grocery list" to mark off to finally say that you've beaten the game.

As to specifically why the game is fun, probably because of the cute characters, I was literally bored as shit playing the first game on the gamecube, it was like the Sims but I couldn't set them on fire, where's the fun in that?

Well, there's pitfall and tricky pit=tfall seeds. Oh Peewee... :3

Moon_Moon said:
The same way Nintendo gets you to play the same game over and over again (pokemon), the same way Call of Duty can sell the same game over and over again, by appealing to our base instincts of kill and collect. (this is my theory, I really have nothing to back it up besides trends and what not, call me out all you want, I don't really care...)

Okay, you've got your shooters, which satisfies a gamer for a little while with all the explosions and violence before it gets boring, but by that time, the next game in the series is out. It's kinda like heroin if you think about it, even more so when DLC is involved. It's not really about completing the game 100% as much as having fun doing it, without realizing how quickly the content passes, this is why multiplayer is so crucial for shooters, so that it can extend the life of the game.

Then you have the games where getting 100% is the main goal of the game, like pokemon where you "gotta catch em all", TWEWY with pins/clothing/food/noise, Super Mario with their stars, or basically every Nintendo game. Much of the time it is possible to beat the game without even getting 50% of what the game has to offer (see skyrim and its infinite supply of "find me shit" side quests), which both extends playtime and gives the player a clear objective as to what to do. Replay value of collect games tends to be higher because you now have a sort of "grocery list" to mark off to finally say that you've beaten the game.

As to specifically why the game is fun, probably because of the cute characters, I was literally bored as shit playing the first game on the gamecube, it was like the Sims but I couldn't set them on fire, where's the fun in that?

I actually would have to refute your point regarding shooters. The primary reason they take such a large market share is because of the demonstration of skill combined with multiplayer combined with visualizing the level of skill of the player. Basically, "here's the scoreboard, and I'm doing THIS well on it. Now, to do better." It's a highly competitive scene, and the popular ones that have videos and followers who watch have then people trying to emulate and surpass them. It's not just about EXPLOSIONS! and SHOOT STUFF UP! though those do count for something. ^_^

I would also actually say that 'collect' games have LESS replay value, as once you have collected any particular thing/quest/scenario once, further iterations have no reason to collect it again beyond requisite bonuses for your playstyle that playthrough, other than doing makework for yourself. Certainly the initial playthrough is much larger than that for most others (I'm at 300+ hours in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen for example, and I'm only on my second playthrough because I screwed up and started the ending scenario early, missing a sidequest I wanted to do) but I wouldn't call them readily replayable.

I like Animal Crossing because as much as I like games where I have to put in some work and stay alert to make it through, sometimes I just want to put everything on the back burner, stop thinking, and chill for a few hours. It's just something I can do passively that still feels like I'm playing a game (unlike, say, Beyond: Two Souls, which just feels like one big cutscene to me). Skyrim also fits the bill for me, which is why I still think it's "okay" (and even put up with the PS3 version's bullshit) despite feeling that Morrowind is overall a much better game.

Back on track though, my favorite AC game is still the Gamecube one. I like all the little extra bells and whistles that get put into each new game, but at the end of the day, it's still the same core game, just with extra little bits. And I don't really want to abandon everything that I put into my town just because an updated game came out. Also not a huge fan of the "rolling log world" that the newer games started doing. And it's not that I hate the Wii's motion controls in general, but it doesn't feel the least bit fluid or natural to constantly have to switch between pointing at the TV for menus and pointing the controller down at the floor so the HUD will go away when I'm walking.

And, maybe a bit too personal, but another reason I still like the series is because my family moved around a lot, especially when I was in middle school. I wasn't really able to make friends unless I was okay with having to uproot and never see them again a few months later. I hate to admit it, but since I didn't have a computer or any consistent internet access back then, this was about as close to a social life as I was able to get. And that's probably as far as I should elaborate, cause I bet nobody really wants to see me go on a pity parade. ^^;

Animal Crossing was created by someone who just moved across japan to work at nintendo and basically lost all his friends, he built the game to basically replace all his lost social interactions as he was slightly shy around new people (he still made new friends at Nintendo).
And that basically explains the biggest part of the attraction, humans are a very social species, up to the point where prolonged isolation can actively damage the psyche of people, by making the AC townsfolk lively, friendly and interactively they manage to reach exactly into that need for social interaction, something especially people without a big social life will likely enjoy.

NotMeNotYou said:
Animal Crossing was created by someone who just moved across japan to work at nintendo and basically lost all his friends, he built the game to basically replace all his lost social interactions as he was slightly shy around new people (he still made new friends at Nintendo).
And that basically explains the biggest part of the attraction, humans are a very social species, up to the point where prolonged isolation can actively damage the psyche of people, by making the AC townsfolk lively, friendly and interactively they manage to reach exactly into that need for social interaction, something especially people without a big social life will likely enjoy.

Agreed. Also an added note: It seems Japan has this as a very big problem for a huge source of its population. There is evene a story on a man marrying a girl from a dating sim. Its so bad Japan is blaming this as one of their reasons for a lower population even. I think it spreads when you go to Japan for some time, as there are so many dating sim type games and people who move there without anyone else find themselves so lonely they end up getting addicted to those games for quiet some time.

Now as for the reasons and thoughts I played Animal Crossing (on GameCube) is quiet simple... What other game has you playing a lonely wondering person who comes into town only to get indebted to a Mob-Boss who makes you work for him to pay off a huge loan of money which slowly increases (with every house upgrade). While you are doing everything to pay it off. Now thats a game.

Besides the animals are so cookie cutter you end up seeing them as something else, giving them their own personality and back stories. I loved to do this it seems.

Isnt living in a town of furries every furry's dream? I just wish I could be a cat in that game and not a human in that game with a funny hat.

As for what I did, I usually just hang out at night with KK Slider and listen to him play his music. It was really relaxing to play this game.

Side-note: I played the first Harvest Moon (on GameCube), however that game was at first relaxing turned very stressful as it became a chore to try to get enough money to pay for things and as each day went by in that game it became far far more depressing on how things never changed. It made me wish there was a "kill yourself" option, that game was far too slow and depressing after its charm wears off. Animal crossing on the other hand was much more relaxing and adorable :3

furballs_dc said:
Mr.Resetti and Don is nice in ACNL at spots. Got both of their photos for my house. The bees... uh...

Huh. I had the Gamecube version. Like, the first one ever made.

The bastard nearly gave me a heart attack the first time I forgot to save.

SirAntagonist said:
Huh. I had the Gamecube version. Like, the first one ever made.

The bastard nearly gave me a heart attack the first time I forgot to save.

You can get them in the 3DS one. Don't know about GC vers.

Actually, dating sims stem from a separate problem, that of working 60 hour work weeks and barely interacting with a family at home, combined with women coming out of their long dormancy as basically things to keep at home that care for it and now are actually seeing themselves as people who can chase their dreams just as much as anyone (I wish I was making that up); Further, more and more men are becoming disillusioned with Japanese women because they see them as being very bossy/domineering (And from everything I, and others who have been to Japan, have seen, yeah, the majority of them are).

Dating sims provide those men with a willing female who they can spend a little time with whenever they have a break or are off, that doesn't require more from them other than power and input along the game's parameters, who usually becomes docile and submissive after you have won her over- or at least has a docile and submissive side around the player character (aka the tsundere).

Re: Harvest Moon; I never had any problems with money. ._. And I always had time to do whatever else I needed to do in the day. So I dunno what you're talking about in that respect. Also don't get how you found it depressing. o.o; There were plenty of events that occured to alter interactions with various NPCs, basic though they were (It was, after all, a rather simple game).

123easy said:
Re: Harvest Moon; I never had any problems with money. ._. And I always had time to do whatever else I needed to do in the day. So I dunno what you're talking about in that respect. Also don't get how you found it depressing. o.o; There were plenty of events that occured to alter interactions with various NPCs, basic though they were (It was, after all, a rather simple game).

Let me try to explain in a bit more detail.

Here is a bit about why this game is depressing...
I played Harvest Moon, It was pretty alright however...after getting married and having a kid, I noticed there was a lack of change in the world. I had spent my days growing crops, taking care of my cows and horse and cutting grass. It was a bit dull so I focused on NPCS in the game. I got caught up in work (ingame), and one day decided to visit a NPC I enjoyed visiting and talking to....just to find out she died. (She was the one in the huge house on the hill). It was kinda a downer to hear that, so I focused on the lifes of other npcs however Ive noticed their lives where a bit dull and depressing, besides the short cut scenes (which also some where depressing). However the game its self you live the life of a dull farmer, your wife can even "leave you" and take the kid. Its depressing in many many more ways someone else can point out but these are a few for me.

This game is far far more depressing, but I think someone on the net already proved this point somewhere, so I'll stop here.

Now as for money, I sorta spent most of my money on farm upgrades and ended up with 0....so I spent most of my day picking flowers and other things across the map to sell just to afford simple seeds to grow things to get my cash back. Its happened a few times due to the cost of farm upgrades from having very little to begin with. I just couldnt get on a huge scale of farming to make much else.

Ahhhhhh, you tried playing the post-game. Yeaaaaahhhhhhh that'd explain it. Never play Post-Game HM. >_>;

As for the money aspect: Okay, I see. You did things back-asswards. You're supposed to not get the farm upgrades until you can afford them consistantly, so that way the produce you're farming is growing while you're out and about doing other functions the rest of the time, including going out and picking wild things to turn into quick cash. Eventually you'll have the appropriate levelled tools to do things very quickly, and you'll be moving on to other things in the day with plenty of time to spare, and during the winter, hitting up the Mine for tons of profit even with low end digging equipment.

123easy said:
Ahhhhhh, you tried playing the post-game. Yeaaaaahhhhhhh that'd explain it. Never play Post-Game HM. >_>;

What do you mean by "post-game"?

Depends on the specific game, but generally marriage and kid are the main story line.
Sometimes there's a seperate story line to deal with, and after that woukd be post game.

Side note, if you enjoyed it somewhat, I'd highly reccommend Rune Factory, less depressing, and there's dungeons to explore if you're bored of farming.
Generally a more well defined storyline as well.
3 and 4 are the best ones, but I enjoyed all versions.

Conker said:
What do you mean by "post-game"?

Well, HM games typically are only *meant* to be played until marriage. After that it generally goes to credits, then you have the option to continue playing after that. Apparently (I've never played that one that far before, sorry) the GC one actually includes the PC aging and then eventually dying. ._.; Normally HM games end at the end of the "Happy Farm Life" phase.

123easy said:
Well, HM games typically are only *meant* to be played until marriage.

...and who declared that?

123easy said:
After that it generally goes to credits, then you have the option to continue playing after that. Apparently (I've never played that one that far before, sorry) the GC one actually includes the PC aging and then eventually dying. ._.; Normally HM games end at the end of the "Happy Farm Life" phase.

Harvest moon - a wonderful life (on gamecube) doesnt end at marriage. The game without it only last the first season or so (which is really short). If you are not married by that time, then the game ends. However if you do get married you play out the years of your son growing up, along with other npcs going about their days, while 1 seemed to die, others go though tense somewhat sexual eye staring moments from afar ect. Also oddly enough...if you get your son a teddy bear... its alive and moves at night o.o that info aside...the game is rather short if you ignore the marriage thing. Besides as the years ingame go on your own char starts to age and depending on how you raised your kid decides how he goes on about his life.

So there is much more to the game, however I never personalty gotten that far as the game was rather depressing and got dull after awhile.

Conker said:
...and who declared that?

Harvest moon - a wonderful life (on gamecube) doesnt end at marriage. The game without it only last the first season or so (which is really short). If you are not married by that time, then the game ends. However if you do get married you play out the years of your son growing up, along with other npcs going about their days, while 1 seemed to die, others go though tense somewhat sexual eye staring moments from afar ect. Also oddly enough...if you get your son a teddy bear... its alive and moves at night o.o that info aside...the game is rather short if you ignore the marriage thing. Besides as the years ingame go on your own char starts to age and depending on how you raised your kid decides how he goes on about his life.

So there is much more to the game, however I never personalty gotten that far as the game was rather depressing and got dull after awhile.

That is somewhat unique to the GC one. Most of them you have a kid, and can keep playing but the kid doesn't grow up or anything.

Never played it, but I don't know if I could get into it. I'm big into classic FPS (and some other side stuff like Super Crate Box and Spelunky, etc) but I do play TF2 and CS:GO. I don't know.

Conker said:
...and who declared that?

Harvest moon - a wonderful life (on gamecube) doesnt end at marriage. The game without it only last the first season or so (which is really short). If you are not married by that time, then the game ends. However if you do get married you play out the years of your son growing up, along with other npcs going about their days, while 1 seemed to die, others go though tense somewhat sexual eye staring moments from afar ect. Also oddly enough...if you get your son a teddy bear... its alive and moves at night o.o that info aside...the game is rather short if you ignore the marriage thing. Besides as the years ingame go on your own char starts to age and depending on how you raised your kid decides how he goes on about his life.

So there is much more to the game, however I never personalty gotten that far as the game was rather depressing and got dull after awhile.

Yes, as I said, normally HM games, as in, in the entire series that started way back when on the SNES and is still going on today with handhelds, Marriage is the endpoint, and postgame is a dull boring attempt to pad the replayability by letting you keep playing without any changes in the world beyond the marriage and having a child that either remains eternally as an infant, or grows up into a toddler. The GC HM game, as I said and as you quoted, is quite unique in this respect. It is the single outlier in the 18 main series games, too, to do this, which is odd; Even Mineral Town, which had cross-compatibility with AWL didn't have that growing old bit. ._.; Or maybe I did play it, and just blanked it from my memory because it was too depressing? That's also possible... Either way. >_>;

I bought it and played it for about 45 minutes and turned it off. That was about a month ago.

I literally got in to Animal Crossing just in this last week when I bought New Leaf. I had tried playing it before, but never got in to it. The only explanation I have for why it's fun is that it's just such a simple game with a very subtle charm to it. Like, yeah the only real goal in the game is to pay your mortgage, but it's a long term goal that doesn't cause much worry. Yeah the townsfolk are really basic cut and paste personalities, but the game is immersive enough that you don't really notice. It doesn't have an overarching plot, but then again neither does real life. Animal Crossing IS a life sim, so it makes sense for it to lack plot; and the lack of challenge make it easy to just turn on the game and start playing. That's just my two cents, and maybe it's not worth as much seeing as I just started playing, but it's just one perspective that can be taken into consideration.

ippiki_ookami said:
I bought it and played it for about 45 minutes and turned it off. That was about a month ago.

I'm of the same standpoint when it comes to AC, myself. while I can get into and love Harvest Moon, AC was just a combination of traits I just found unenjoyable. The story of the mother who sent gifts and stuff to her son in AC every day because she couldn't be with him IRL and he didn't find out until after she passed away from cancer and some time had passed, though... that always will get me right in the heart.

For me AC is one big pile of things I dislike greatly, social interactions are bothersome in real life and having them artificialized in a digital game makes it just worse, like taking a blunt knife and then replacing the blade with a piece of plastic in the hopes it suddenly cuts better.
That just won't work.