Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City

[Ren of Heavens]

Eurogamer:

 

"In broadening Animal Crossing's borders, Nintendo has done nothing to add to its depth, and as such this is arguably still the best cutesy Japanese life-sim on the market and a solid buy for newcomers, but for series fans it's in no way a life worth reliving."

 

6/10

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=307152

[Serebii]

So people like Eurogamer say its the best Animal Crossing yet, but they still give it really low scores

 

I love journalism

[Tellyn]

I don't really agree, Nintendo already have tons of feedback from the game since the first one on N64, they could have acted in more ways than they have. It's a typical approach of iterating oh so slowly, Nintendo aren't the only company guilty of this.

 

The second point about the Tom Nook trail is awesome. I hope there are perhaps similar touches throughout the game.

 

Does anyone know if the fetch quests from the cube version have returned? Where people used to ask you to go fetch their gameboy or such like that they had lent? I feel its a feature that was missing from the DS version that should return...

 

Shigsy's new approach, which we've seen at E3 and in post-E3 interviews responding to the criticism Nintendo have received, suggests otherwise. He's acknowledged what gamers are asking from him, confirmed the next Zelda game and Pikmin 3 and said "leave it to me" when someone asked him about Galaxy 2. We won't see a new Animal Crossing until Nintendo's next console is out now, but I'm hoping it'll be truly different and special when it is out.

 

For now, I'm perfectly content with this. I own a US copy of Animal Crossing but haven't played it since it obviously doesn't work on my Wii, so I've only experienced the DS version. This means I've never experienced most of the stuff which was in the GC version - holidays for one. There's loads of other lovely tweaks such as the path thing which will probably hold my attention for a few years again.

[Ren of Heavens]

So people like Eurogamer say its the best Animal Crossing yet, but they still give it really low scores

 

I love journalism

 

Well, there's two ways of seeing it. Judging it as a standalone product by 2008 standards or as a lazy remake with nothing new to offer for fans of the series.

[Serebii]

Whenever you review something, you should always take it primarily as a seperate entity.

 

Of course you mention past games and whether its different, but the main focus should be on it on its own.

[Tellyn]

How it works is usually they mark it down for what it doesn't have. Most Wii games get bad reviews from mainstream sites because they expected DLC, online, multiplayer, and a load of other stuff when they can't just appreciate games as they are.

[GothicPlague]

There's loads of other lovely tweaks such as the path thing which will probably hold my attention for a few years again.

 

Paths will hold your attention for a few years?

[Indigo]

I don't think it's unreasonable to criticise a game for its lack of innovation. It would be silly to review it as if the other AC games didn't exist because we're talking about a full-budget title.

[darksnowman]

One thing that could save the game for me, does anyone know the answer.

 

The auction house. If I put something up for auction, does the whole world (or region), as in REAL people, bid on these items? Or is it "in game characters" only?

 

I was reading the Eurogamer review and noticed that it mentions that a "useful MMO-esque auction house rounds off the city's attractions." That points towards the auction house being an online feature, doesn't it?

[dazzybee]

Yeah, that'd be good; has an economy aspect which would be good fun.

 

Though I still wish you could SELL designs you make. That would encourage designers and add a real quality to the title; you could be infamous around the world on Animal Crossing! Oh well......NEXT time huh.....?

 

Okay. Disappointment aside. Hopefully there's a LOT we don't know about.

Lets list this things we would like to REALISTICALLY see in the game:

 

- I hear theres a theatre to watch shows. I would love it if there was a movie edit feature where you coudl use the animals and characters from your personal town, create a little scene with typed in dialgue and these are ths hows we see when we go to the theatre. Randomly selected from around the world, but we see the name of the person, their town etc.

 

- I would like our designs to be randomly sent to other peoples villages, and if they buy the designs, the money gets sent to us and we get told who bought them.

 

- The auction room sounds like it has amazing potential. Please don't limit it to friends only. OR.....once a month have a wordwide auction

 

- MUCH more of a farming side to the game, I love the trees, but its very simple and basic, after a week or two, you have the whole set and thats that. Lots more trees, lots more veg etc. On top of this I wouldn't mind seeing a cooking aspect to the game, create meals....but I think this is a bit much

 

- The comic store again holds great potential. It would be great if you could buy comics and trading cards and then obviously actually trade them with each other to try and get the whole set

 

- The ability to REALLY transform the town. Add remove buildings bridges, raise and lower land etc. Even if it took AGES of in game days, would be great.

 

- The multiplayer to have proper competitions. and loads more to do. Would it be that hard to create a little football pitch and have a game of footy? Or lots of sports? Would be amazing to have lots of minigame type things to do, and obviously play them in mulitplayer

 

- For the things you buy to be more interactive. Buy an arcade machine? Play it. Get a basketball ring on the outisde of your house, be able to go for shots in it etc etc.

 

 

What do you guys think?

 

How naive was I?

 

You know what else I would like? Little tiny things like. The buses to the CITY or FRIENDS TOWNS have a time table. So every half hour. And it cost money. Not much. 5 bells! But if you wanted to go in between these times you could get a taxi, which cost, say 50 bells. I think little things like this would be great; you can leave and move whenever you want, but playing to certain rules.

 

PS I seriously think I could come up with 100 tiny touches that would make Animal Crossing pure genius.....

[Tellyn]

Paths will hold your attention for a few years?

 

I can see you read my post in great detail.

[Hellfire]

I don't think it's unreasonable to criticise a game for its lack of innovation. It would be silly to review it as if the other AC games didn't exist because we're talking about a full-budget title.

Then most 360/PS3 games would never go beyond a 6 or 7. Multiple standards ftw.

lol

[spirited away]

http://www.eurogamer.net/scoring_policy.php

 

Some of you might find this interesting...

 

"Six - get your kicks?

A game scored six is 'good', and many of its audience will enjoy it, but approach with caution. It's not good enough to consider rushing out and buying without a fair bit of research first, but worth a rental if your curiosity demands it, and, depending on taste and tolerance of certain issues, it might be something you wouldn't be ashamed to have bought. Six isn't a disastrous score by any means - it's the first score on the way up to represent what we'd deem as a 'good' game, that had the potential to be great but was sufficiently flawed in crucial areas.

 

More specifically, games which are maybe very derivative (of others or themselves) and nowhere near as good as their rivals but still enjoyable on their own merits will regularly score sixes on Eurogamer. It's the score that shrugs, "Yeah, it's all right, but compared to X it's not technically as polished, the story's so-so, and it's not quite as much fun to play". It could be that it's a quick-fire, cash-in sequel, which is virtually a carbon copy of the previous game with new levels and yet costs just as much. This is something we're definitely not fond of seeing at EG, and although newcomers to the series may argue this doesn't apply to them, we'll try at least make this clear. But we don't review games in isolation; we review in the context of the series and how they measure up against their rivals. Maybe it's the sort of game with a great deal of promise that ended up being released prematurely, and is a little rough around the edges with camera and control issues, technical shortcomings, difficulty spikes that make certain sections harder than they probably should be. You get the picture. Considered by some people as rough diamonds, and will pick up a lot of affection from the more forgiving gamer, but definitely not for everyone."

[Tellyn]

Some of you might find this interesting...

 

I know Eurogamer's policy, my post was largely in general.

[Hellfire]

They aren't wrong in that regard, you can't ignore context, otherwise you would review every remake and re-release as a new game and you would review DS graphics compared to PS3 graphics (which sort of already happens). Thing is, it isn't applied equally.

[flameboy]

1up give it a C;

 

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3171329

 

In summary;

 

Ultimately, it comes down to this: Do you really wanna spend the time doing all of the things you already spent so much time on in Wild World? And do you want to do them in almost the exact same ways? City Folk just seems like a huge missed opportunity?either that, or a lazy cash-in on Nintendo's newfound casual audience. If it's the former, they ought to just call it Wii Mortgage Payments.

[Gentleben]

1up give it a C;

 

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3171329

 

In summary;

 

Yes I do. Roll on 5th December.

[Indigo]

Then most 360/PS3 games would never go beyond a 6 or 7. Multiple standards ftw.

lol

And I bet if you look at the averages most 360 and PS3 games don't get beyond a 7. As someone who's read Eurogamer for years I'd say that they are usually quite generous towards Nintendo's offerings.

[Hellfire]

And I bet if you look at the averages most 360 and PS3 games don't get beyond a 7. As someone who's read Eurogamer for years I'd say that they are usually quite generous towards Nintendo's offerings.

Thing is I'm not talking about most games I'm talking about lots of "killer apps" and "AAA" games. Not talking about any site in particular either

[Aalborg]

So this is Nintendo's main "killer game" for the holliday?? to quote mr. Slave

"jesus christ".. Played the GC version and the DS version and I don't want to remove more weed or catch more insects or fish.. or pay Tom Nook more bells... or get letters from mum with 10 bells.. ups.. should have put a spoiler warning up..

But hey.. hope they sell a lot to newcomers to the series. Im not "core" enough to get this one

[Helmsly]

Gamespot did an Animal Crossing marathon, playing the game for about an hour and a half. You can watch the whole thing here;

 

http://uk.gamespot.com/wii/strategy/animalcrossing/video/6201208/animal-crossing-city-folk-marathon

 

They use Wii speak later on and are joined by some people from Nintendo's treehouse online too.

[Superfleurs]

We won't see a new Animal Crossing until Nintendo's next console is out now, but I'm hoping it'll be truly different and special when it is out.

 

I own a US copy of Animal Crossing but haven't played it since it obviously doesn't work on my Wii, so I've only experienced the DS version.

 

I'm wishfully hoping that there will indeed be a new AC after the DSi comes out. I'm not feeling real enthused about AC for Wii at the moment, in spite of having a lot of WiFi friends.

 

The US copy of AC that you mention, are you referring to ACWW or AC:CF? This brings to mind another question. Will AC:CF work on our European Wii?

[Tellyn]

I'm wishfully hoping that there will indeed be a new AC after the DSi comes out. I'm not feeling real enthused about AC for Wii at the moment, in spite of having a lot of WiFi friends.

 

The US copy of AC that you mention, are you referring to ACWW or AC:CF? This brings to mind another question. Will AC:CF work on our European Wii?

 

Sorry I meant the GameCube version of Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing: City Folk won't work on PAL Wii consoles, you'll have to wait for Let's Go To The City which is out in a few weeks.

[ThePigMarcher]

Gamespot did an Animal Crossing marathon, playing the game for about an hour and a half. You can watch the whole thing here;

 

http://uk.gamespot.com/wii/strategy/animalcrossing/video/6201208/animal-crossing-city-folk-marathon

 

They use Wii speak later on and are joined by some people from Nintendo's treehouse online too.

 

Believe it or not , I have just watched the whole thing (yes , it's a quiet day in the life of thepigmarcher ).

 

Despite the glaring similarities and obvious lack of any noticeable improvements/innovations (which we all knew) just watching the thing has got me in the mood for some AC. Not much else worth buying on the Wii anyway so I may as well be picking this up afterall.

 

Hasn't persuaded me to stump up the extra for the Wiispeak though , although it did give a fairly decent impression.

[Goron_3]

Tbh, they could have pushed the game out more and been far more adventurous. That said, they've made this game for people who haven't played the previous games. I mean, be honest, if you'd NEVER played an Animal Crossing game before you would freakin' love this game and get past the old gameplay and poor graphics. For those who have played the previous games and don't like what they've done with this, tough, because this isn't a sequel like Wild Word was to the GC game (wild world was much better imo); this is a kind of 'jump aboard' game to all the new Wii owners out there.

 

I still think Nintendo underestimate this games online potential though. I wouldn't be surprised if they really pushed the boat out with the next game and make it rival PS3's home and make it fully online (if that makes sense).

 

Hopefully i'll have enough xmas cash left over to buy this..i mean, its either this or Far Cry 2 i think.