How Do You Rekindle Your Love for Animal Crossing?

[danmokun]

I've been playing the Animal Crossing series since the Game Cube days. Every installment, I would play habitually for at least a year or so. After that, I would play now and then and once the new game in the series would come out, I would be back to playing it daily.

As I've gotten older, however, my tastes in video games have changed and I'm no longer enthralled with Animal Crossing as I once was. I enjoy a greater variety of games now that years ago, I didn't care for. Animal Crossing still has a special place in my heart and I do still find it fun.

I wanted to know, those of you who no longer enjoy Animal Crossing to the same extent that you did before, what do you do to maintain that flame alive? I found that Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is much more suitable to my lifestyle now than when it first came out and I like that I'm still able to enjoy that Animal Crossing charm without changing much of my habits or schedule. I would like to get back into Animal Crossing e+, so I'm curious what motives you live by or what changes you've made to keep yourself engaged with your favorite Animal Crossing game. Please share your ideas!

 

[erinz]

hi!! this is something i also have dealt with, so here is how i keep playing:

- interact with the community often! whether its here on the bell tree forums, or via tiktok youtube etc., it will probably make you stay interested in the game and might motivate you to play more!
- buying merchandise of the game! usually i dont have a lot of money to spend, but when i do i like to buy plushies, figures etc! whenever i buy something related to a game i havent played in a while, it tends to make me want to play again! (i recently got the isabelle build-a-bear and im back to playing again haha)
- dont force yourself to play constantly!
if i continue playing an old game that i used to play a lot, i try not to spend hours a day playing because after a while i tend to get bored easily!
- when playing get nice and cozy!
light some candles, put on your favourite pjs and listen to some music, whatever you'd like! it'll make you want to play more because you feel more relaxed when you do!
- dont force yourself!
its perfectly fine to not play a game but still watch and read about it! i used to love genshin impact, for example, but the game got too challenging for me so i stopped playing entirely... however, i still watched edits, read fanfiction etc. based on the game!

i hope this helps, and i hope you continue to enjoy animal crossing

 

[micat]

I wanted to know, those of you who no longer enjoy Animal Crossing to the same extent that you did before, what do you do to maintain that flame alive? I found that Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is much more suitable to my lifestyle now than when it first came out and I like that I'm still able to enjoy that Animal Crossing charm without changing much of my habits or schedule. I would like to get back into Animal Crossing e+, so I'm curious what motives you live by or what changes you've made to keep yourself engaged with your favorite Animal Crossing game. Please share your ideas!

Playing a new game or resetting one I already played worked for me. I lost interest with NH, I liked it but I didn’t feel like I had much to do after a while. I started playing Wild World though and I’ve been enjoying it a lot ^^ It’s nice having a simpler game

 

[Cowplant]

For me, I fell out of love because of general feelings of cynicism and negativity. I realized that I wasn't enjoying some of my favorite games because of it, so I've been working really hard on it.

1. Appreciating the little things. I realized that I could talk at length about why I hated certain game mechanics, but not about what I thought a game did really well. Now I try to think of things that really stand out to me and add to my enjoyment of the game, and naturally, this entails slowing down and observing what's going on, which adds to my next point:

2. Relax. Without even realizing it, I had kind of fallen into a routine of digging up fossils, talking to villagers, looking for special visitors, checking the stores, and so on. This made the games feel a lot more shallow and consequently a lot less enjoyable. Now I don't do any sort of routine unless I want to and I spend a lot more time bumbling around. Some days I feel like grinding out my fishing encyclopedia. Other days I feel like chopping down trees and making a new town flag. I think I had fallen into this mindset of always being productive, even when I relax, and it had really messed up my love for the series.

And, sort of related...

3. It's never gonna be the same. Over the years, as I've played more games and experienced more things, it's gotten harder to relate to that childish excitement and wonder I had at playing Animal Crossing. One day, when I was trying to remember why the original Animal Crossing had been so groundbreaking for me, I realized it was because it was the first game I played where I could make myself and actually be part of the world. Now I've played countless titles that allow you to do that, but it was a novel experience for me at the time. Realizing that weirdly made me enjoy the series more because I wasn't constantly wondering if I was missing something. Nah, I just grew up.

Anyways, Animal Crossing will always hold a special place in my heart, but what it means to me as a series and what I get out of it has definitely changed over the years.

 

[Shawna]

Restart/start fresh
For me, I do not like to continue a game file after a long hiatus. If you are fine with losing your progress, I recommend doing this. It can be very refreshing to replay through an AC game after being away for a long while.

Try obtain favorite villagers/dreamies
I do not know about you guys, but this is something that is major to me. Having my favorite villagers in my towns can make them more enjoyable to play in. I did play a little bit of GameCube, WildWorld, and City Folk last year in August, but I never really got back into them. I am honestly enjoying playing City Folk a lot more now that I have Apollo

My favorite villagers in the entire series are Rooney and Apollo, with the former being my #1 for a few years now, and the latter is who I feel especially attached to right now. Rooney has been my favorite for a few years straight now. However, I feel more attached to Apollo lately, since I can have him in all five mainline games and not just the two latest ones. Rooney didn't debut until New Leaf, so I cannot have him in its preceding games. However, I CAN have Apollo in them. <3333

I restarted until I got him in City Folk a few days ago, and I am working on doing the same for GameCube.
And once my Wild World game is lacking only a cranky, I will be doing the villager reset trick until I get him. At first, I was trying to reset my town, but I figured I would have better odds with the villager reset trick (as long as I make sure that the cranky is the last personality I'm lacking). There is also a chance I could reset for Apollo before I get my Snooty villager, but I am not counting on it.

My starters were:
- Peppy: Twiggy
- Lazy: Pudge
- Jock: Cody
I started the file not too long before midnight tonight, so I already got my first move in...
- Normal: Alice (at first it was Savannah, but I wanted to re-test out the villager reset trick to make sure I do it right)


People only talk about the villager reset trick in New Leaf (I do not even really hear it be talked about in New Horizons), so I didn't even know this was a thing in Wild World...until I discovered it by accident in 2015-2016...and I had Wild World since early 2012.

Something to note about the villager reset trick: You have to create a new resident for the first time you played since someone new moved in. Playing as an already existing one will not work. As mentioned, in this version, new villagers will move in at midnight, rather than the usual 6AM/5AM, so this is something to keep in mind. Luckily, I am a night owl, so it is very easy for me to be up at midnight.

Luckily, I didn't have to lose a dreamie upon finding out about this in Wild World, but it is very important to note: If you have a dreamie getting ready to move in and you are playing on a new resident file for the first time, DO NOT QUIT WITHOUT SAVING, this will cause another villager to move in instead.

Interact with the community
I know someone already said this point, but interacting with the community can help. Even during periods where I am on a hiatus, I still love to occasionally post on here. I would also try posting in the Animal Crossing related boards. Even if you are not motivated to play Animal Crossing at whatever given time, posting in Animal Crossing-related threads (and especially making your own threads) can help to establish some sort of connection between you and Animal Crossing. I've noticed you (the OP) have also replied to some of my posts, which I appreciate. Plus, it can help you get involved in the community. ^^

Watch Animal Crossing Let's Plays
A lot of the times, watching LPs will make me want to play the game, even if it may not help you long-term, it can be a start and of some help. ^^