Animal Crossing: 15 Years Later

Animal Crossing hitting fifteen years is rather crazy to think about as I recall fondly sitting there while I was young to earn Bells or take part in holidays that would come around. That was of course on the original GameCube Animal Crossing as I enjoyed this full entry on that console which truly was one of my favorite earlier games. The family would sit there working to collect the many critters for display, harvesting the environment to make money and basically just to get rid of Tom Nook. With that original game we basically did everything you could from visiting the island to grabbing all the special collectibles.

It was an interesting game and I'm honestly just amazed nothing of the sort has graced a home console since whereas the portable releases continue to get better. New Leaf is just incredible in terms of content though even that released awhile back. Since then it's basically just been really weak little mini releases that don't bring the full charm and seriously Nintendo, give us a Nintendo Switch version. I actually mostly bought a WiiU on the hope that one would come out and at this point it's confusing as to why they haven't done a proper release for awhile. I should also mention the history of the series, the true original version of the game did release in 2001 as Dōbutsu no Mori for Japan on Nintendo 64 with Animal Crossing being the localized version of that title.

Animal Crossing: 15 Years Later
Any negatives aside, this series is just a gem from the various creatures that inhabit the towns you live in to the many activities one can do within that area. Everyone knows the sly attitude of crazy Nook that holds you basically hostage until you can pay him, or still have nightmares of the dark scary mole that harasses players for a very long time if you don't turn off the console properly. It's all part of the charm and I just love this type of game. Animal Crossing just feels so simple, yet complex in the adventures one can engage in while living in the town. The look of the series is also very distinct with a unique art style that really stands out and a certain charm to it all that keeps you going.

It's just a blast to fish or swing the net around to catch creatures or perhaps even shake a tree looking for Bells only to get bees. I loved being able to revisit the game constantly to see special calendar events and take part in the many festivities these townsfolk held. It made the game feel livelier and gave an extra purpose to what could be done if you came back at special times. For now the series is just sort of there having a couple special games that make the important moments and I look forward hoping for another full console release in the series as I feel it's about time for that to happen.

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Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner