Hey everyone!
I'm Lucas' older sister, Maia! Both Lucas and I are big fans of the Animal Crossing game series, but Lucas asked me if I wanted to write this game review because he knows I know a lot about the game. So, of course I said yes! 💕
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| Artwork. Source: Wikipedia |
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2013, 3DS)
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Overview
The latest instalment of the Animal Crossing game series, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has more new features than ever!
Aside from containing a lot of the same features from previous games (for example designing your own patterns, collecting fish/bugs/fossils/paintings, changing your hairstyle and colour) and a lot of characters from previous games (Tom Nook, Blathers, K.K. Slider, Sahara, Tortimer, etc.), AC:NL still manages to cram in even more new features than before! Deep sea diving, customising furniture, updating the town and being mayor of the whole town, to name a few!
An update released on November 2nd 2016, renaming the game to Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo gave us mayors even more features on the game, the main being the addition of a campsite where special characters drive up in caravans which we can have a peek in!
Aside from containing a lot of the same features from previous games (for example designing your own patterns, collecting fish/bugs/fossils/paintings, changing your hairstyle and colour) and a lot of characters from previous games (Tom Nook, Blathers, K.K. Slider, Sahara, Tortimer, etc.), AC:NL still manages to cram in even more new features than before! Deep sea diving, customising furniture, updating the town and being mayor of the whole town, to name a few!
An update released on November 2nd 2016, renaming the game to Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo gave us mayors even more features on the game, the main being the addition of a campsite where special characters drive up in caravans which we can have a peek in!
Story
The game begins with the character talking to Rover on the train to your town, where you get to choose the layout of the town and your appearance, based on your answers to questions, will be determined. |
| Me arriving for the first time in my town, Spectra! |
Upon arrival to your town, you will be met by your nighbours, and Isabelle. You then find out that they think you're their new mayor (???) but of course you just roll with it. You later learn how Isabelle is your secretary, and how you will need a house! Tom Nook now owns a home renovating store, Nook's Homes, and you get to choose where you want to build your home!
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| Your house will begin as a little yellow tent. |
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| Fit for a mermaid princess! |
You will also plant a tree as your first act as mayor, which grows with every day you spend playing the game!
Like the other games in the series, there is no detailed story line in AC:NL, as compared with games like the Legend of Zelda game series, however the addition of becoming mayor and the milestones to reach when playing mean you feel like you can carry on playing the game forever! (How else do you think I managed to play the game for over 500 hours in the first year? #sorrynotsorry)
I give the story a rating of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- I would love to know who the mayor was supposed to be! I would also love for there to be a bit more of a story to the game, such as interactions between special characters like in previous games, such as getting to know Sable (and hearing stories of the Able sisters as children), for example, but I feel the game still works greatly without these points!
Gameplay
I probably outlined a lot of the gameplay in the above paragraph, but on a day-to-day playing of New Leaf you would find yourself talking to villagers, visiting the shops, catching collectibles like fish and bugs, perhaps visiting the island (when invited by Tortimer not long after you start the game), tidying your town, and so on. You can complete tasks for villagers to boost your relationship with them, you can write letters to different people, start funding for public works projects in the town hall, and so on! Even the interactions with villagers can be so varied, you'll never feel like it gets really repeptitive. You will never have two exactly the same days when playing Animal Crossing New Leaf, which I guarantee!
There are different special events that occur each month, from Bug Offs in summer (bug-catching tournaments where you aim to catch big, rare and colourful bugs) to Fishing Tourneys in winter, where you can be given a trophy depending on how you rank in the competition!
I give the gameplay a rating of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - there are so many possibilities with how you choose to play the game, from customising clothing and furniture to taking part in events and exploring your town and talking to different people, I love it! There will never be two towns the same!
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| I won my first Bug Off! |
There are different special events that occur each month, from Bug Offs in summer (bug-catching tournaments where you aim to catch big, rare and colourful bugs) to Fishing Tourneys in winter, where you can be given a trophy depending on how you rank in the competition!
I give the gameplay a rating of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - there are so many possibilities with how you choose to play the game, from customising clothing and furniture to taking part in events and exploring your town and talking to different people, I love it! There will never be two towns the same!
Replay value
Animal Crossing: New Leaf isn't necessarily a "beatable" game, but you can certainly aspire to collect every fish, bug, fossil, painting, sculpture (even furniture if you're up for it!) and can make sure your house is getting a lot of points from the Happy Home Academy (the HHA are run by Lyle and Digby, who is Isabelle's younger brother, and you earn points for the coordination of the furniture in your house). By collecting every badge from Phineas, every piece of the golden tools, and every unlockable public works project, would you have truly "beaten" the game!
So, messages to take from this are 1. that you definitely won't be beating the game in under a week, even if you time travel, and 2. that the game is seemingly endless, enough for you to enjoy yourself when on the hunt for collectibles!
I give the replay value ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - no two towns will be exactly the same due to each day being different, so even if you reset you will not get the same town again!
Overall, I would definitely say that Animal Crossing New Leaf is a truly wonderful game, and definitely my favourite game ever! (Hence why Lucas knew I would love to write a review on it!) As such, it deserves five stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I recommend it to anyone who wants a laidback and easy-going game to play, who enjoys making friends with in-game characters and collecting all sorts of different items.
PS: Are you interested in visiting mine or Lucas' towns? If you have the Dream Suite on the Main Street, you can visit our dream towns by speaking to Luna and typing the codes below!
Maia - 6E00-0046-AB4A
Lucas - 6E00-000F-5B0C
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| Happy Birthday to me! |
I give the replay value ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - no two towns will be exactly the same due to each day being different, so even if you reset you will not get the same town again!
Overall, I would definitely say that Animal Crossing New Leaf is a truly wonderful game, and definitely my favourite game ever! (Hence why Lucas knew I would love to write a review on it!) As such, it deserves five stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I recommend it to anyone who wants a laidback and easy-going game to play, who enjoys making friends with in-game characters and collecting all sorts of different items.
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| This'll be you arriving at your new town! |
PS: Are you interested in visiting mine or Lucas' towns? If you have the Dream Suite on the Main Street, you can visit our dream towns by speaking to Luna and typing the codes below!
Maia - 6E00-0046-AB4A
Lucas - 6E00-000F-5B0C