If you could play as an animal...

[Ras]

If the next game let you play as an animal instead of as a human living amongst animals, is that something you would like? What animal would you be? Or, is it a horrible idea and AC should always be humans interacting with animals?

 

[eeveelovee]

As a cat lover I would obviously have to choose a cat! Lol! I would actually love if they created a game without ANY human characters at all! It would truly be ANIMAL Crossing

 

[Bui]

I'd almost certainly choose a cat character, since cats are my favorite Animal Crossing species. I've always thought it would be amazing if you could play as an animal character in the games!

 

[danmokun]

I imagine a gameplay that'd be cool is one where you freely scroll around the village and click on Animals or humans and from there, you take on "missions" or tasks as that animal. Playing a little bit of everyone there, not just as one animal.

But if I had to be a single animal, I'd maybe play as a horse or a bear. I don't have a favorite animal, but I would choose those because I think interacting with furniture and wearing certain clothing might look better with those body types. I also don't want to be some cute character, because I don't like my Animal Crossing character, whether human or animal, to be cute and adorable.

 

[Xara]

When I was a kid playing Wild World, I for some reason thought that if I paid off my home loan in full, I’d be able to play the game as an animal. I didn’t read anything online that suggested this, my kid brain just decided that this would happen all on its own. I even imagined what the list of animals I could choose to play as would look like in-game, lol. It was a no-brainer to me that I would choose to play as a cat if I could, and I imagined running around with the other cat villagers. I was so disappointed when I finally paid off my home loan in full and realized that I would only get to continue playing as a human.

Now that I’m older, I think playing as the only human amongst a bunch of animals is part of what makes Animal Crossing as unique as it is. That being said, I think it’d be cool if it was a choice in a future game, and you could choose whether you want to play as a human or an animal! I’d love to play as a deer, or even better, an axolotl!

 

[Goldi Locks]

I sometimes disguise myself as a bear. But the human inside me remains!

 

[Sbwoijwot]

I guess I wouldn't see anything wrong with a choice of species when playing. Skyrim has a similar thing from what i've played.
That being said though, I think players are humans to differentiate them from the non-playable animals, and since this has been a tradition since the first game I doubt Nintendo would implement the choice of species.
Either way, I am always going to pick human lol.

 

[Sheando]

I can see why others would like this, but I think that the human player character is part of the charm and uniqueness of Animal Crossing for me, and the game would actually lose something if it was just simulating an animal town, in my opinion. There's a kind of ethereality and mystery that comes with the human player character--why are you the only human around? How did you end up here? It's like being transported into a magical village of animals who wear clothes and run stores. With an animal player character it's no longer a portal fantasy--just the story of one animal among many, living a fantastical yet mundane animal life.

That said, if the next AC game offered me the opportunity to play as an anteater, I can't say I wouldn't be sorely tempted. Maybe a spinoff game in this vein would be fun?

 

[Sbwoijwot]

I can see why others would like this, but I think that the human player character is part of the charm and uniqueness of Animal Crossing for me, and the game would actually lose something if it was just simulating an animal town, in my opinion. There's a kind of ethereality and mystery that comes with the human player character--why are you the only human around? How did you end up here? It's like being transported into a magical village of animals who wear clothes and run stores. With an animal player character it's no longer a portal fantasy--just the story of one animal among many, living a fantastical yet mundane animal life.

That said, if the next AC game offered me the opportunity to play as an anteater, I can't say I wouldn't be sorely tempted. Maybe a spinoff game in this vein would be fun?

Being the only human in a town of animals does add a pinch of surrealism to the game. It fits it's appeal of escapism too.

 

[liliyoa]

Every "what animal would you be" question for me always ends up with the response "cat" lol
I cant think of a scenario where if I had to be an animal to be I wouldnt pick cat

 

[olliebugge]

i’d always wished this was an option - alongside the human option, of course!

if i could pick, i’d probably be a sheep, duck, or kangaroo!

 

[Cowplant]

That's not something I've ever wanted, personally. Some people further up have touched on this a little, but I've always enjoyed the whimsy and mystery that being the only human adds to the game. The experience of moving to a new town is made all the more real because of the otherness and strangeness of your animal neighbors. If you're all animals, well, then it's not as odd or different, is it

Also, I've seen a couple of people boot up one of the games for the first time and ask if they can pet their villagers and it's never not funny to me. I feel like if they could've chosen an animal it wouldn't have made them ask that question, so that's another strike for the idea lol.

 

[azurill]

I would like it as an option. I would pick a penguin, a dog or a duck . As they are my favorite villagers.

 

[MiniPocketWorld]

I don't foresee this happening, but if they did do it, I would probably still choose human. If I had to choose an animal I suppose a squirrel.

 

[seliph]

if i had to be an animal i would pick a cat or a bunny. or maybe a squirrel 'cause they're funnily tiny

 

[rocketspruggs]

I would love to play as a cow and join the cow and bull family!

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I wouldn’t be interested into playing as an animal as a protagonist in a life simulator. However, if there was a spin-off or mini-game with a different genre, I would be interested into playing as an animal character (like in Desert Island Escape).

 

[Snek]

I would choose the snake option
...
...
Ok, I'll choose an existing one. I'll choose alligator
It's close enough to a snake because its also a reptile.

 

[.: Meri :.]

I agree that playing a human is a big part of what gives Animal Crossing its whimsical feeling, but if I were to choose an animal to play as... I think I'd be torn between playing a sheep, deer, squirrel, or maybe a dog or goat! No real reason behind those choices beyond me thinking the base species models for them are cute and they're some of my favorite villager species.
The animal I actually relate to the most would probably be a rabbit, but to be honest I just don't like the way their ears look in AC ;u; So I don't think I'd play as one.

 

[Darkesque_]

I would probably play as an axolotl or dog, or if I could a snake lol. It’d be cool to slither around town lol