Animal Crossing! These days it is a series well known the world over thanks to the incredible popularity of the most recent game in the series, Animal Crossing New Horizons. Much like other fandoms I've covered in this blog, the fans all insist that actually, the most recent game in the series is the worst one yet. And given I quite enjoyed New Horizons, then surely I will enjoy earlier games even more!
Animal Crossing Wild World is the second in the series, and the first specifically for handheld. Wild World was the first to really blow up in popularity, with the first being a somewhat niche game on the sadly poorly selling GameCube. Since Wild World, the series continued to blow up, particularly the 3DS version. However, it really took off on Nintendo's drift machine.
When considering how to approach the "review" for this blog, I felt I could not give Wild World a fair shake if I only played it for an hour or two in one sitting. Instead, I decided I would play it once a day for a full week, which would give me a chance to meet a variety of villiagers, and participate in multiple events.
And so, let us delve into the diary of my villager Connell as they moved into the town of Kangaril*.
(*would have been my hometown of Kangarilla, but character limits will do what they do).
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Dear Diary,
Tomorrow I move into the small cove town of Kangaril! I'll be living by myself for the first time ever, as well as joining the terrifying world of home ownership. My taxi pickup is sorted, my bags are packed, and my mail has been forwarded. Early sleep tonight, tomorrow is going to be big!
Day 1
The taxi ride to Kangaril was quite eventful! The weather was absolutely disastrous, with rain so heavy I could not even see outside the windows. And yet despite this, the driver kept taking his concentration off the road to ask a lot of personal questions! Including asking where I was going, which was pretty concerning considering we'd already been driving for some time!
I guess luck was on my side though, as I arrived safely in Kangaril. I was directed by the local post office to the location of my new home, which I hurried over to check out! What had been promised to me as a fully furnished home was a small 2 story shack, furnished with a bed and a cardboard box. Not entirely what I had been expecting!
Leaving my house, I was introduced to Tom Nook, who I understood to be the local real estate manager.
To my shock, Nook didn't expect any payment for my new home, instead saddling me with a debt I could repay in my own time. However, what became quickly apparent is that the loan was not in any traditional monetary amount, but rather in a local currency, bells. Not only this, but Nook almost immediately had work for me to earn bells to repay him for this loan, making it feel closer to company scrip.
I'm not entirely sure what role Nook has in this town, but it's certainly broader than just selling houses. He runs the only shop in town, seems to have some hand in local governance, and runs a local gig economy of sorts. Nook had me delivering furniture, planting flowers, and testing the local community notice board.The town of Kangaril does actually have a Mayor too! A doddering old tortoise named Tortimer, who seems to have far less influence over the town than Nook does.
After completing the tasks I could, I explored the rest of the town. It's a quaint little place, with only three other villagers, living in a sparse cove dotted with trees and a small river lazily snaking around before going out to sea.
The three villagers were quite an experience. Rasher gave me the unprompted nickname "Swine", Rosie shared her dreams of being a famous singer, and Elmer wanted to have a discussion at 9pm about decorations that he thought exuded manliness. Not a conversation I expected to have with someone I had just met!
I did meet one other villager today, who might be the only sensible creature in town: Blathers the Owl.
Blathers has a goal of setting up a Museum in this small town, but currently has no exhibits! Quite the problem! I vowed to help out my new best friend if I could.
The town explored, and my tasks complete, I returned to my home to sleep.
Day 2
Day 2 began with yet more rain. I hope this isn't going to be
I was shocked to find that Nook had no further tasks for me to complete. I had been expecting that I would be able to rely on him for tasks to earn bells, instead, it's become apparent the only way now to pay off my debt is collect things to sell to Nook himself.
I still do not get what Nook's angle is here. I can collect nearly anything and Nook will happily buy it from me, but given all of these sales are in bells, perhaps that is obfuscating the value.
The town welcomed a new villager, Pierce. A quick conversation with him revealed he was very into hitting the gym, but little else. I am sure there is more to him, but for now he manages to steer every conversation towards "abs" and "gains".
In addition to a new person living in the town, an extremely shady character named Redd visited. However, he seemed very hesitant to talk to me, and first insisted I recite a password to enter his tent. I had absolultely no idea, but weirdly, Elmer knew it. I guess they know each other?
To my absolute astonishment, he had set up a temporary shop selling artwork, and not just any artwork: he was selling works that he assured me were genuine classics of painting and sculpture.
However, this meant that he is either selling forgeries, or he has stolen some of the greatest works of art in human history. I'm pretty sure an original Rembrandt is in a high security museum right now, not being hawked by a fox in a small coastal town. He didn't even seem to know what it was actually called, choosing to rename it from "The Night Watch" to "Amazing painting".
Regardless, he was selling his works of art for 3,920 bells, which I was able raise by selling random things I picked up from the ground to Nook.
This place is extremely weird.
Day 3
I hesitate to say this, but today was the weirdest day yet. All around town there was evidence of disturbed dirt, which looked like there was something buried underneath. Nook was selling a shovel, so after handing over enough of his bizzare currency, I trudged back to see what was buried.
And to my shock, it was a gyroid.
With no understanding of what this clay figure was, I did some quick research and was horrified! Gyroids are extremely similar in appearance to Haniwa, a small clay statue that historically has a purpose in funeral rituals. Furthermore, it's believed by many that the soul of the deceased would reside in the Haniwa. So why on earth were these haunted clay statues buried in the ground around town?
Taking my gyroids back to my home I had a sudden urge to touch them, which had the most bizarre effect: they started to dance. Not in a manner that would be considered rhythmic by any means, which made them even more unsettling.
I left my home to consider the implications. Is this town built on top of a funeral mound? Had the rain merely washed away enough dirt to reveal what was buried beneath, a haunted dancing statue?
As I pondered what this meant for my very understanding of mortality, I bumped into yet another villager who had moved in overnight, Mathilda.
Mathilda is perhaps more unnerving than the haunted clay statues. She's a red-eyed Kangaroo, with a smaller joey in her pouch that eerily mimicks her movements, as if it had no will of it's own.
That was enough for one day, and I hastily returned to my newly haunted home.
Day 4?
Last night was bizarre, but in a completely new way. I had extremely vivid dreams of being in a completely different world, where I fought a variety of fantastical creatures, all the while avoiding being caught in a world spanning war between 2 factions.
This clearly had a big impact on my waking day, as I recall very little after waking up* aside from buying a bug net from Nooks and briefly meeting the new villager, Nan. She seemed nice.
Day 5
Previously when I had strolled along the beach, I had noticed some large fish just under the surface. While I had no previous experience, Blathers mentioned wanting to add fish to his exhibit, and coincidentally, Nook is selling a fishing rod!
Handing over more hard-earned bells, I trudged down to the beach, but before I tried my first cast, I found something I didn't expect to exist outside of stories: a message in a bottle! After opening it up, however, I went from being a delightful discovery to a mildly horrifying one.
The message warned of an invisible man who was sneaking around the town committing crimes.
For the sake of my sanity, I chose to ignore this, and instead gave fishing a try.
Fishing was, unfortunately, extremely difficult! There were multiple occasions where I was sure I had hooked the big one only to reel in an empty line. Rather than relaxing, as I had come to believe it would be, I found fishing nothing more than an exercise in frustration and futility. I guess I should have waited before ordering my new hat
Dejected, I wandered around town looking for something to do that would be less frustrating. I was fortunate to meet the latest member to our community, Pinky. She seemed quite pleasant, and a short conversation with her immediately improved my mood.
My improved mood only lasted a short time, as there was a new visitor to the town, Gracie the Giraffe. I thought I should be polite and try having a conversation with her, but instead she immediately started criticizing my fashion sense, describing me as "boring". Gracie, I didn't ask!
However, as I stormed off, I bumped into Pierce, who requested assistance in picking out a new outfit, a task that I had just been informed I was woefully unprepared for! Regardless, I gave him the shirt Gracie has just given me out of pity, and he loved it! However, I can't decide if this means Gracie was wrong, or right, given she chose the shirt by giving it to me.
Day 6
For the first time since I moved here, today nobody else moved in to Kangaril. While this makes this still a very small town, had this continued at the same pace, things would have started to get a bit crowded!
There was another visitor to town though, Dr Shrunk travelling comedian. However, rather than setting up a stage and charging admission to a gig, he just stood around telling jokes.
The Axolotl comedian told me a "joke" about a 3 legged dog. Which was not only not funny, but after a few moments, had me baffled and concerned. Animals in this world are all bipedal, including dogs! So how could a dog actually have three legs by losing one? Or are there also quadrupedal animals here, and I just haven't seen them yet?
I decided to try to stop thinking about it with the distracting wonders of retail. Nooks had something new for sale, a butterfly net. And this reminded me that Blathers was also seeking insects for his museum!
Seeking the approval of one of the few animals on the island who has yet to insult me, I wandered around the woods until I spied a butterfly. And unlike my experience with fish, I managed to catch it on my first try!
Excitedly, I rushed to the museum to hand over my find. Surely this was a key step in winning Blathers over as my new best friend.
He absolutely hated it.
Day 7
Today was relatively uneventful, although there was a new visitor to town, a fast-talking Otter. I tried to strike up a conversation, but was immediately strongarmed into buying Insurance. However, not having the money on hand, was insulted as they stormed off. I'm not even sure what sort of Insurance he was trying to sell me! I do appreciate how quickly he gave up though, normally getting a salesperson to give up is an extremely difficult task!
Nooks store was closed for refurbishment, so I am excited to see what changes are in store.
Day 8
Apparently I did not properly go to sleep the previous night**, and so was greeted at the door by Mr Resetti, the mole who is clearly struggling with Anger Management issues.
After terrifying me by emerging from the ground in front of me, he yelled at me for a good two minutes about the proper methods of ending a day, something I was not aware I had any control over!
After the lecture from a pick-axe wielding mole, I headed over to Nooks to see if the upgrades had been completed. And unfortunately, the new Nooks had lost some of the cute corner shop charm and replaced it with a sleek super market.
The highlight of my day, was when Mathilda told me she has decided to move out. Perhaps I am being unfairly judgmental, but her Joey just creeped me out so much!
Day 9
This morning I woke excited about a Kangaril free of Mathilda. Unfortunately this was not the case, as she was still sticking around. She's like that person at a gathering who tells everyone they're leaving, and yet, 20 minutes later, they're still there. It's fine, you can go!
Pinky wanted to sell me an item site unseen. Given she had been nothing but pleasant to me, I decided to indulge her, and she sold me... literal garbage.
The town mayor was running a fishing tournament today, and I managed to turn up for the last few minutes. Despite my previous inability, I did manage to catch a few fish! To celebrate, I decided to have a short nap. However, after being jostled awake, I was accosted once more by the terrifying mole who yelled at me yesterday.***
After calming myself down, I went to Tortimer to see if my catch qualified me for a tournament prize, only to be told that he had no recollection of ever recieving any fish from myself.
I could not tell if this was senility, or if I was being gaslit.
And so I went to bed.
Day 10
Mathilda finally left today, but couldn't help but imply I was the reason she did. If I had that power, she'd have been out much sooner!
With her gone, a new animal moved in: Jitters, a bird who made his caffeine addiction prety much his entire personality.
I had hoped to pay off my loan by the end of the day, but unfortunately ended up falling 10,000 bells short. Which I don't think is a lot, but given the nature of the economy here, I can never be entirely sure!
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*I completely forgot to play Animal Crossing, as I was too preoccupied with the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC. It had its hooks in me! As a result I resorted to messing with the internal clock to quickly speed through my missed day before catching back up. As someone who was vehemently against time travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons, this makes me a big old hypocrite. The worst thing a person can be, apparently!
**My DS went flat before I could save.
***My dog knocked my 3DS off of my couch, causing the game cartridge to be ejected and flung across the room.
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OK, back to the actual blog:
After 10 days with Wild World, and comparing it to my experience with New Horizons, I do have a lot of thoughts. I can absolutely see where people are coming from who think that the game has more personality than New Horizons. The characters in Wild World have a bit more of an edge to them, in New Horizons they would never insult the player. The Grumpy character archetype definitely led to some hilarious moments.
However.
What I enjoyed most about New Horizons was how much freedom it gave the player to create the world. By the time I was done, I had an orchard, a basketball court, an arcade, a haunted forest, a mountain shrine, ruins, a botanic garden, and several vegetable gardens. Yes, I am bragging.
Wild World has much less of a focus on customization. I don't think this is necessarily a weakness per se, but more a demonstration of where the series decided to grow over the next 3 games.
Some other criticisms:
- There is much less to do per day after the first day. Nook gives you quite a few quests when you arrive, so you'd have the expectation that he'll have work for you every day. Unfortunately that is not the case, and feels like a big missed opportunity.
- The timing in the fishing mini game is absurdly tight.
- Items of the same type do not stack in the inventory, resulting in a lot more travelling back and forth to sell items to Nook.
- Insects appear very infrequently, making catching them far less common than in later games
I can definitely see what the appeal in this game was, but despite some small losses, I think overall Animal Crossing has moved in a better direction.
And now, a character review:
Rasher is a Grumpy pig who "affectionately" refers to me with the nickname "swine". He has a life goal of collecting fossils above all else, including finding a partner and settling down. I thought perhaps giving him one of the few I had would win him over. Instead he gave me a pittance and said I wasn't "quite as bad as he thought". Uh, thanks buddy, love you too.
10/10
Rosie is a delightful happy cat, and always likes to chat, since as she says, she likes to chat to herself so of course I should as well. An aspiring singer, and occasional speaker of words of wisdom.
But, she uh... has an animal skin carpet. WHO DID YOU TURN INTO A FLOOR RUNNER, ROSIE?
10/10
Elmer wanted to discuss manly decorations like flowers and lace at 9pm.
At some point he became so ill he believed he could understand the whispers of the bugs in the walls, and was disapointed to lose that when he was cured.
10/10
Creatine/10
ZIP IT/10
Pinky invited herself over to my house to evaluate my interior decorating skills. Her assessment: a fallout shelter or a cave. She also asked if I was a crazy person because my room was stuffed full of mismatched garbage.
Jitters absolutely looks like he never sleeps and is powered by a caffeine addiction. However, he's a gym junkie and rarely talks about anything other than working out. He also has very odd solution to pulled muscles: covering it in raw fish.
Jitters, I don't think that's going to work.
Both relatable and unrelatable simultaneously/10
OK, this took way too long. Fortunately, the next game, Sims 2 Pets for the Nintendo DS will surely inspire a much shorter blog.
Right?
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