The first thing you'll notice is that Nintendo has chosen to retain the distinctive graphical style of previous Animal Crossing games. The game looks little different than its predecessors, even with all the additional graphical power of the Wii, and actually borrows the style of curving its terrain into the horizon, as if you're walking on a spherical surface, directly from the DS version. Animal Crossing veterans will also notice that animalese is back as well, a form of computer-read text that's too garbled to understand, but sounds as if its based on real phonetics and plays as fast as the game's text scrolls meaning that players can speed through conversations.
However, Nintendo has taken the time to add some small tweaks to the formula. For example, though the limit of players who can share one town is still four, but they can finally have their own houses in separate locations across the map. The Wii Remote can be used to move your character around by clicking on a location, or to trigger actions by clicking directly on the character, but these functions can still be handled normally through traditional inputs. There's also a new interface: bringing up the menu actually raises a set of tabs on the bottom of the screen. Clicking on a tab will bring up that specific sub-menu to fill the rest of the screen, be it the character's inventory, their friends list, or a software keyboard.
I didn't get to try out the new Wii Speak accessory since the showroom floor was too loud for me to have said anything audible. Instead, I was treated to the wonderful stylings of Charles Martinet, coming in loud and clear with his best Mario and Luigi voices to go along with two other characters in the town, running around in masks of each plumber. Ostensibly, they were in another part of the building and using Nintendo Wi-Fi connection: I'd spotted Charles Martinet in the halls at E3 just the day before.
Instead, I could use a USB keyboard to chat back. I played at a particularly crowded time, so at first someone else played while I typed appropriate pleasantries on the keyboard, causing chat bubbles to pop up over the character's head, and then I got to play myself as someone else typed for me. There was a brief moment when I both typed and played, but doing two things at the same time turned out more novel than practical, especially since the wrist-strap prevented me from quickly dropping the Wii Remote. I was told by the attendants that even if I was not on the screen as the other characters, they were seeing my typed text. I was also told that players would need Friend Codes to use the Wii Speak accessory and visit each others' towns.
The truth is that Nintendo has chosen to do small updates to the game and do little to expand the play experience. Fans who already appreciate the core gameplay will enjoy the smattering of new additions, slightly expanded online, and easier chat options. However, others may wonder why Animal Crossing City Folk is shaping up to be a game that hasn’t really changed, even visually, from the basic style and gameplay of the very first title of the series which appeared on the Nintendo 64.
The game looks little different than its predecessors, even with all the additional graphical power of the Wii, and actually borrows the style of curving its terrain into the horizon, as if you're walking on a spherical surface, directly from the DS version.
I'll admit this: I tired quickly of Animal Crossing: Wild World on DS. Underwhelmton total.
playing this title exclusively from home how now seems restrictive to me.
The most common request I saw was something along the lines of: The ability to visit friends' towns even if they're not online.
How fucking stupid do you have to be to want something like this? Pretty fucking stupid is the answer. I can't actually see any advantages to this. If anyone wants to list some, go ahead.
How fucking stupid do you have to be to want something like this? Pretty fucking stupid is the answer. I can't actually see any advantages to this. If anyone wants to list some, go ahead.
You could always leave the gate closed so no one could get in, or leave a list of approved guests with the cops, or even get laws passed in your town to limit what outsiders can do without getting thrown out, possibly even with access tiers for different people depending on how much you trust them.
Oh and the MySims comparison? MySims is an Animal Crossing without a soul. One of the great things about Animal Crossing is the amount a personality all the animals have, MySims has none of this. It's generic, it's bland and it's boring.
