Video Game Series Review - Animal Crossing

I honestly don't know what to say about this franchise. Its one that most casual gamers (like my parents) would enjoy, but for hardcore gamers like myself, you'll no doubt get bored of it after a week or 2. But there should be something good about these games right? I mean, everyone loves them even if they lack any big things, but anyway, let's get to it:

Animal Crossing (footage review)

Originally released in Japan on N64 before getting ported to Gamecube for the rest of the world, we get the first game in the series. Now the games themselves don't really follow a plot as such and just let you do your own thing for the most part. As this is a socialising simulating game, the player is given the ability to create their own character based on the answers they give for the questions asked by a cat called Rover (and as all Nintendo games have little to no voice actors, all the characters in the games don't have voices but do make emotion sounds making it very obvious on what they are saying) at the beginning of the game. After that, you're basically allowed to do your own thing whether it be taking part in certain events that happen in the game or whatever else. The game runs in real time so it follows the Gamecube's clock and the environment and the sky will change accordingly. Not really much else to say here so overall, I would think it would keep you occupied for a long time, but don't expect to be on it every week because it may get boring doing the same stuff over and over again, so my suggestion would be to just play it, and the other games on special days like Halloween and Christmas, but for the rest of the time, it's not necessary as such. 7/10

Wild World (footage review)

This game has the same stuff as before, but with it being on a different console, is there anything extra? Well the customisation is at an all time high here where you can customise your character however you want which makes it less limiting than in the last game. The DS's touch pad is used for all sorts of things like observing your inventory and find the right items in that, as well as making some drawings and patterns as well. Also new to the series, is the ability to see both the ground and the sky, without going up and down unlike before and also online connectivity can be used here to visit other towns (which unfortunately, you have to use that horrible friend code system that Nintendo set up at the time) and receive gifts from Nintendo. Now this game does what only a handful of sequels do. Make the game better and it is better than the last game, but you do still have the same things as before, with the addition of the new stuff as well. 8/10

City Folk/Let's Go To The City

In my honest opinion, this has possibly the biggest improvement in the series so far. Has everything that was in the previous games, but has managed to make things a little bit bigger. Animal residents now go up to a maximum of 10, players can now have their own separate houses, the Wii Remote can help with using the players tools for all sorts of things, bells are used as the game's currency, Images made by the player can be merged into one which are known as Pro designs and a whole load of other things too. 2 of the biggest additions to the game include the use of the Wii Speak hardware and the ability to travel to the city and buy things from there and bring them back to your town. Overall, this is by far, the best game in the series so far. Sure you still do the same stuff as before, but as each game gets bigger than the last, it just gives you an excuse to play it more than you need to, which despite being addictive, is great. 9/10

New Leaf

Screw the last game, this one has the biggest improvement. It builds up from the last game in regards to socialism, online connectivity and so on. Unlike in previous games, this time around, you take on the role of being mayor of your town as well as being a villager. With this, you'll be able to be more creative than ever before with your house, your village and so on with many different customisation options made available to you, including the ability to change the trousers in addition to the other things on your character. You can also swim in the sea as well, do all things that a mayor would do and share your photos on Twitter and Tumblr. Overall, with a mix of old and new features thrown into this game, it makes this game worth your money. The graphics for the game look great (especially with it being a 3DS game), it's the biggest game so far, and I'm enjoying it a lot. 9/10

So as a whole, Animal Crossing is very addictive and can be considered, the king or queen of causal gaming. Yeah, it's that fun and relaxing. 9/10