If you want a story, I've got one for you. I'm still new to the game, but I think I may have figured out the reason people fall in love with Animal Crossing. Here's the lowdown:
I started playing a few days ago, had a lot of fun setting things up, met my fellow villagers and found myself really drawn to the look and personality of Benedict. He was by far the most interesting guy in my town (plus, his name is Benedict. Benedict!), so I focused on getting to know him. I gave him the nickname "Eggs". It's an obvious joke, but I like it. I sent him a letter with a gift and got invited to visit his home almost straight away. We had a good time and things were going well, until later that night I came to the conclusion that I just wasn't happy with my town layout. I wasn't far into the game so I figured I should fix things now before it's too late. I'd rather lose a day's worth of work than be unhappy for the rest of my Animal Crossing life. After a bit of contemplation and struggling with the idea of abandoning my new friend, I plucked up the courage and reset.
The next few hours were nightmarish. I was getting frustrated with small imperfections in every map Rover showed me and reset the game over 100 times (thanks for keeping track, Nintendo). If the beach was right, Re-Tail was too close to the cliff. If it had a diagonal bridge, I didn't get the secluded spot for my home that I wanted. On the few instances I found a great map, I was met by the most uninteresting group of villagers imaginable. So I kept resetting. Eventually I realized that if I couldn't accept a few rough edges, or even grow to appreciate them, I simply wasn't going to enjoy the game. Around ten hours after destroying my first town, I found a map I liked and told myself I'd just have to put up with whichever villagers I was given.
I was not impressed by the welcome party. I forced myself to keep playing, wondering the whole time how long it might take before these boring people decide to leave. Then I bumped into Carmen. She called me "nougat" and seemed almost as alienated as I was by the other residents of the town, like we were two outsiders facing a group we'd never truly be a part of. We'd only just met and already she had an endearing pet name for me. Somehow that felt special, as though she really wanted me to notice her. She was super casual, not too serious and sounded genuinely pleased that I'd joined the community. We connected instantly. I gave her a bug and she gave me a t-shirt. We were both different, and that was adorable. I had one friend and that's all I needed, but suddenly the other villagers didn't seem quite so disappointing any more. They're not exactly fascinating and some are a little mature for my taste, but all of their flaws just make Carmen seem so much more awesome by comparison. Without them being the way they are, I wouldn't have this special chemistry with the one person I can really identify with.
It's still early days, but I'm excited about what she'll be up to tomorrow. I'm going to write her a letter and find a nice gift to surprise her with. I hope she never leaves and maybe sometime in the future I'll get really lucky and find a plot set up for my old pal Benedict to move into. I'd really like them to meet. We'd make a great team.
I started playing a few days ago, had a lot of fun setting things up, met my fellow villagers and found myself really drawn to the look and personality of Benedict. He was by far the most interesting guy in my town (plus, his name is Benedict. Benedict!), so I focused on getting to know him. I gave him the nickname "Eggs". It's an obvious joke, but I like it. I sent him a letter with a gift and got invited to visit his home almost straight away. We had a good time and things were going well, until later that night I came to the conclusion that I just wasn't happy with my town layout. I wasn't far into the game so I figured I should fix things now before it's too late. I'd rather lose a day's worth of work than be unhappy for the rest of my Animal Crossing life. After a bit of contemplation and struggling with the idea of abandoning my new friend, I plucked up the courage and reset.
The next few hours were nightmarish. I was getting frustrated with small imperfections in every map Rover showed me and reset the game over 100 times (thanks for keeping track, Nintendo). If the beach was right, Re-Tail was too close to the cliff. If it had a diagonal bridge, I didn't get the secluded spot for my home that I wanted. On the few instances I found a great map, I was met by the most uninteresting group of villagers imaginable. So I kept resetting. Eventually I realized that if I couldn't accept a few rough edges, or even grow to appreciate them, I simply wasn't going to enjoy the game. Around ten hours after destroying my first town, I found a map I liked and told myself I'd just have to put up with whichever villagers I was given.
I was not impressed by the welcome party. I forced myself to keep playing, wondering the whole time how long it might take before these boring people decide to leave. Then I bumped into Carmen. She called me "nougat" and seemed almost as alienated as I was by the other residents of the town, like we were two outsiders facing a group we'd never truly be a part of. We'd only just met and already she had an endearing pet name for me. Somehow that felt special, as though she really wanted me to notice her. She was super casual, not too serious and sounded genuinely pleased that I'd joined the community. We connected instantly. I gave her a bug and she gave me a t-shirt. We were both different, and that was adorable. I had one friend and that's all I needed, but suddenly the other villagers didn't seem quite so disappointing any more. They're not exactly fascinating and some are a little mature for my taste, but all of their flaws just make Carmen seem so much more awesome by comparison. Without them being the way they are, I wouldn't have this special chemistry with the one person I can really identify with.
It's still early days, but I'm excited about what she'll be up to tomorrow. I'm going to write her a letter and find a nice gift to surprise her with. I hope she never leaves and maybe sometime in the future I'll get really lucky and find a plot set up for my old pal Benedict to move into. I'd really like them to meet. We'd make a great team.
Last edited: