Animal Crossing: An In-Depth Wealth of Constructive Criticism and Suggestions After Having Played New Leaf

This is not my first post about Animal Crossing, and it probably won’t be the last. You see, something sparks a fire in me about this game. The premise is so seductive. The idea of a game about collecting EVERYTHING sounds like so much fun. Build a house; live a new life. This intrigues me.

I enjoyed the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing. The DS version, called Wild World, was slightly more fun. The Wii version was so atrocious that I resold it (the only Wii game I ever traded in). Now, we have the 3DS version, called New Leaf.

The one big problem I have had with ALL of these games comes right after paying off my final loan. At that moment, I lose all interest, because I felt like I had nothing to work for. I thought New Leaf would be different, with the new public works projects, but it wasn’t. I think, in the case of this new game, it’s because the only way to make money efficiently is by selling beetles caught at the island. Doing the beetle routine every night gets old after a month. Each public works project was just another estimation of beetles I would have to catch to see an object that is already in all of my friend’s towns anyway. If there were more optimal and varied ways to make money, I might still be playing consistently.

As of this moment, it’s been three days since I’ve last checked in on my town. The only reason I’m considering looking at my town right now is because I’m afraid that all my black roses have wilted. “NOOOOO!” I said. In the middle of writing this paragraph, I checked. Eleven out of fourteen of my black roses are dead. I should have put them in my refrigerator storage unit. Man…

Should I buy Animal Crossing?

I will answer that question in the end. For now, I will ask another: Is Animal Crossing obsolete? Is there a better game with similar game mechanics?

Yes, Minecraft.

Hear me out. Minecraft has caused Animal Crossing to become obsolete.

Why?

On the surface, these two games seem like they are very different. However, that’s not the case. There’s no real purpose to Animal Crossing, and, you know what? There’s no real purpose to Minecraft.

They both put you out there with nothing in your pockets and no goals more intricate than simply: gather stuff. They both allow you to do as you wish. You can choose where you want to go and how you want to spend your time. You can move into a house, upgrade it, add stuff to it, and live out a virtual life.

But Minecraft does everything better. Hit the jump for the full article!