on animal crossing
written 20190701, updated 20240520.
i love this game, and for all the mechanical improvements the later ones have brought, none has captured the same magic sense of moving somewhere new that the original did. i don’t think this is just nostalgia, either. aside from the sharp localisation, the simpler, more obstructive shape of the game worked in its favour.
the theme of animal crossing is moving to a new place, the things you have to adapt to, the things that make no sense, the neighbours who are friendly and the ones who want nothing to do with you. animal crossing has a reputation now for being cozy, bordering on saccharine, but the original version is so weird. tom nook gains his unscrupulous reputation from this game. booker the police dog tells you to stay alert when you’re out after dark, and there are wanted posters in the station. the after hours postal clerk is openly hostile to you. villagers are openly hostile to you. moles yell at you.
when i think about why i enjoy this game, the sharp dialogue for the villagers comes to mind. this is not just because i think that these bobble headed animals being rude is funny (although coming back to the localisation, they do say consistently funny, unexpected things); it’s also because this frames the way you as the player relate to the game world. it puts you in the position of being an ambiguous outsider not fully part of this town, but not completely on the outs, either.
see also
pretending animal crossing for the gamecube is a multiplayer game.