Why Animal Crossing: New Leaf is EASILY the Best Game in the Series

[Music] animal crossing is a series that means a lot of things to a lot of people ever since its introduction back in 2001 this franchise has touched the hearts of millions of players growing in popularity and reputation with every new entry animal crossing has grown from being katsia iguchi's passion project for a dying system that nintendo was afraid to release worldwide to being one of their defining series one with incredible sales numbers and a highly passionate player base and the best thing about having such incredibly dedicated fans is that nearly every aspect of the series is enjoyed and appreciated there isn't a single animal crossing game that isn't beloved in some capacity except you if you were to ask a bunch of animal crossing fans what their favorite game in the series was you'd likely get quite a few different answers many adore animal crossing gamecube for establishing the formula that the series would follow for decades down the line as well as possessing a certain rough around the edge's charm that only a first game in a series truly nails wild worlds fans often praise the game's amazing personality it made the animals both special and regular feel truly alive and evolved the formula set in place by its predecessor introducing many more iconic characters and dropping a killer soundtrack to boot city folk is often considered to be the game that took the smallest step forward but even so its achievements shouldn't be understated its fanbase rightfully appreciates the streamlining of wild world's features improving the quality at nearly every turn and still throwing plenty of new features on the table and animal crossing new horizons possibly has the most dedicated player base of them all these fans are all about creativity and personalization they adore new horizons for opening the door to incredible feats of design something that previous games in the series only dip their toe into if there's one thing that all these players have in common it's the desire to mold their world as they see fit and achieve perfection all four of these games have millions of fans ready to praise their strengths at every turn heck even the spin-off games like pocket camp and happy home designer have massive communities of fans who will defend their honor whenever they get the chance i have enjoyed all of these games even the ones i'm more critical of have given me hundreds of great memories and dozens of hours of gameplay but there's one animal crossing game that stands above all the rest for me one that's provided me more hours of entertainment than every other game in the series combined one that exemplifies everything i love about these games and is easily one of my favorite pieces of media i've ever had the pleasure of enjoying and that game is what no i already said it wasn't you and that game is animal crossing new leaf as i've said what's gotta be hundreds of times before animal crossing new leaf is my favorite animal crossing game as much as i adore some of the other games in the series new leaf truly blows them all out of the water and as much as i can milk making individual videos about every single aspect of this game that i'm fond of of which there are many i ultimately decided that it would be a disservice to new leaf and my love for it to do so why make a dozen videos dissecting this game's genius when i could make one massive analysis of how near perfect it is and fully lay out all my thoughts about it plus you know when i get the 800th comment about how i only prefer new leaf to new horizons because i'm nostalgia blind it'd be nice to have something to link them to so without further ado let's finally talk about why animal crossing new leaf means so much to me and is in my opinion the best game in the series thus far [Music] before we get into discussing new leaf itself i think it's important to set the stage and get into the state of the animal crossing franchise prior to its release in 2005 nintendo released animal crossing wild world this game was highly praised and played a major part in getting animal crossing the popularity and fandom it has today selling over 11 million units more than five times the amount animal crossing gamecube did wild world told nintendo that this was a franchise with reach power and more than anything potential but unfortunately the ultra high praise for the series would soon hit a bit of a speed bump animal crossing city folk released in 2008 didn't have the same warm reception that wild world did it's certainly a highly praised game today one that i myself enjoy immensely and even prefer to wild world but back then it was met with the reasonable criticism of not changing enough fans were expecting animal crossing 3 but they were given wild world 2. despite being on the money printer that was the nintendo wii city folk only sold 4.3 million units most definitely not embarrassing but less than half of what wild world was able to accomplish three years prior at this point animal crossing was left in an era of uncertainty fans wondering if the series was going to become flat static whether their love for the games was going to fade further with every new entry and pause this was the position new leaf had to release in and i think it's extremely important to highlight this because i think there's a key difference between the animal crossing team when they're feeling comfortable and the animal crossing team when they're challenged please do not take this as me claiming that the animal crossing team doesn't try unless pushed or that they don't want to do hard work or anything because that is absolutely not the point i'm trying to make i have nothing but respect for these developers they've literally created some of my favorite products in the history of ever that being said just like any team criticism can often push them to go above and beyond what was expected of them the same thing can be said for nintendo itself let's look at the wii you probably have eight relatives that own a nintendo wii the thing was massively popular and nintendo's greatest success yet and they were absolutely riding the high on that w so what happened next the wii u their worst performing mainline system in history one that sold so poorly that many predicted it could mark the downfall of the company nintendo needed another victory or it could cost them everything and when hope was nearly lost out came the nintendo switch a system that was fresh creative inventive one that reminded people why they loved nintendo and its success surpassed even that of the wiis all because nintendo had no choice but to put out nothing short of their best possible effort if we look at the animal crossing series we can see a similar pattern when wild world was a massive hit the devs dropped city folk a quality game but one that just didn't take the series where fans wanted it to go and if i may be so bold there was a second instance of this complacency as well after the success of new leaf we got new horizons which updates aside launched as a very bare bones game i'm not saying that developers should be under stressful circumstances for us to receive better products since that's just objectively untrue and can create exceedingly hostile work environments what i am saying is that there's a clear distinction to be made between what these games look like following a popular entry and the sole solitary instance we have of an animal crossing game being released during a low point for the series because these developers listen the animal crossing team has always excelled at listening to fan feedback and nowhere can that be seen better than in the transition from city folk to new leaf in a panel discussing the development of animal crossing new leaf director ayaki ogoku had this to say unfortunately not everyone who bought animal crossing city folk was completely satisfied with the experience of course it's near impossible for every game to completely satisfy everyone who plays it but with animal crushing city folk it was clear that there were challenges the series had to overcome she then continues in order to find the solution we looked closely at series fatigue the first version of animal crossing was released in 2000 and we continued to drag and replant its roots with each version when animal crossing for the ds was launched it sold more than 10 times the number of units than the nintendo gamecube version so we assumed the flow of moving into a house having to pay a mortgage and working for tom nook that i mentioned previously had become part of the game's convention and mistakenly we assume that we should continue to utilize it my respect and adoration for the animal crossing team is on full display in miss kiyo goku's speech it's so rare to see a development team acknowledge their mistakes so openly and directly and devote themselves to improving going forward and that hunger for improvement is exactly what fueled animal crossing new leaf's incredible direction having been confronted with these challenges and looking forward into the development of animal crossing for nintendo 3ds the team and i decided to return to the roots of the game and rethink the conventions of animal crossing [Music] somehow we made it this far without actually talking about the game itself so thank you for bearing with me let's talk about animal crossing new leaf this review won't really be about me going through the game in order because you know it's animal crossing what order but the introduction does an excellent job at setting the tone and i think it's important to acknowledge like every animal crossing game new leaf begins on our journey to town our character is faceless nameless nothing in their possession but the desire to start fresh somewhere new and i've gotta say while i'm sure this is something that ninety percent of players couldn't care less about i think a train is the best possible vehicle for these games as much as i love wild world the taxi never really did it for me it always felt a little underwhelming as a method of travel in my opinion especially since the implication of every town-based animal crossing game is at least in my eyes that you're heading off to what's basically the middle of nowhere the bus in city folk is a minor improvement and is a lot cuter but felt similarly lacking to me new horizon seaplane is pretty much the only form of transportation that would have worked in that game so i can't give it too much criticism but it kinda lacks the modesty and warmth that i typically equate to travel in animal crossing but a train a train is perfect it's modest it's down to earth yet still holds a certain grandness to it in terms of scale like the journey you're on is one of importance it's also one of the only forms of transportation in these games in which it's feasible that simply staying on for long enough can bring you somewhere unfamiliar and unexpected all i'm saying is that there's a reason why trains were introduced as the primary method of transportation in animal crossing gamecube the empty train opening truly sets the tone for the inviting cozy atmosphere of the game you're about to delve into and if the train itself hints at the game's atmosphere this guy sets the tone for the people you'll end up meeting rover is the perfect introductory character for animal crossing some people love him some hate him but he fulfills his role perfectly he's friendly to a fault to the point where many find him creepy extremely inquisitive and overly confident the main takeaway here is that he's oozing personality this is a character that's in the game for like what two seconds and yet every player will remember him 2 5 10 years down the line that's how excellent this game's characters are though we'll get into that more extensively later the train is also where we get the appearance of our character assigned and this is one of my very few problems i have with the game take note of this because you'll probably be able to count them all on one hand i actually do really like the random face thing the game does where it tries to make your character match the responses you give to rover it's pretty cute and stands out as being original against the typical character creator what i don't like is that there's only a single skin tone one i mean come on this game was released in 2012. there's no reason or excuse for having the only way i can look kinda black being through tanning or dark magic especially since one of this game's goals was to give players substantially more customization options okay guys how do we get players to connect more with their characters in this game oh oh i know pants anyways that unfortunate overlook aside the rest of the tutorial phase continues to be wonderful upon exiting the train and walking out of the station the player is met with a group of four animals three of which are regular villagers and of course isabel in past animal crossing games no one waited for you to arrive in town once you got off the train or cab or bus it was up to you to look around and meet your neighbors i really liked that method of introduction but there's something so welcoming about immediately being greeted with friendly faces the moment you enter town especially since that previous way of meeting animals isn't lost completely there are still two residents to meet after the tutorial finishes but not only is this rapid welcome wholesome it's also necessary for the plot because through some kind of wacky political chicanery yup you're the mayor isabelle asks the mayor to follow her to town hall and this presents the opportunity to explore your new home for the first time sure you can run straight to town hall to get things going as fast as possible but even in doing so you're catching glimpses of the place you're going to be living in for the foreseeable future animal crossing tutorials really nail the gradual introduction to your town and new leaf is no different after getting to town hall and realizing that the mayor should probably maybe have somewhere to live isabel sends us to main street to meet with tom nook and get a place for ourselves just as getting to town hall worked as an introduction to the town getting to nook's homes works as an introduction to main street an exceedingly important area in this game and one that the player will visit constantly tom nook is a king as always and decides he has no qualms with allowing a person with no id or money to become his client and follows you back to town to find your dream house location this is where exploration is torn wide open the town isn't massive or anything but it's big enough to have plenty of potential living areas and tom nook encourages the player to search the whole town for the perfect spot this is where you really become acquainted with your town its assets its quirks maybe not your ideal layout but beautiful and inviting all the same you pick your spot and are greeted with this really gorgeous music that literally only plays once throughout the entire game [Music] tom sets up a nook's tent until you can afford a nook's home and leaves you to enjoy the scenery of your new town up until now you've been on a mission every time you enter town first to get to town hall then to find a place to live but now you truly get to breathe in the reality of your new life as you look around and appreciate your surroundings on your way back to town hall where isabel offers the cherry on top of it all the ceremony the new leaf ceremony is a defining moment in the entire animal crossing series the new horizons bonfire is cute working for tom nook has banger music but it all pales in comparison to this moment the full town assembled isabelle presents the player with a tiny sapling one that symbolically represents the town its residents and you with a simple button press the seed is both physically and metaphorically planted for the town's growth and you officially become the mayor [Music] the mayor is the tool that the animal crushing team used to execute their fresh ideas and push their new version of animal crossing forward it feels like such a natural evolution of the series formula without losing its heart which is a very difficult thing to achieve it strikes the exact balance that the team was going for while developing new leaf re-examining the very core of animal crossing and creating something new while still maintaining the charm and identity of the series but interestingly the concept of being the mayor wasn't thought up until the team was deep into development in a 2012 iwata asks interview mr iwada asked miss kiyogoku if the animal crossing team came up with the mayor idea early on to which she responded with no we actually added that quite a bit later for about the first year katie gucci-san nogamisan moroson we're talking in a small group and we were worried that if we said you can place all kinds of things around the town in the new animal crossing game then players would simply take that as it being a single element of the game and not see it as a big deal then during this process we were preparing to make a presentation to shigeru miyamoto-san and takashi tazuka-san and we started to wonder how we could possibly sum up the idea behind the new animal crossing in a single key word or concept and this ended up being the player's mayor yes i think it's indicative of new leaf's incredible direction that the game can be summed up with one central idea even if said idea wasn't thought of at the start of development wild world and city folk were both created upon the basis of throwing more content on top of what the series already had even city folk despite its name hardly revolved around the city it was just another location to visit an exceedingly charming one but not one that heavily altered the direction of the game or series but new leaf lives and breathes through the concept of mayor it's the center of everything in this game without the mayor there's no animal crossing new leaf it really shouldn't be shocking that the role of the player is so integral to a game but it's truly incredible how much being the mayor reinvigorates the franchise through being the mayor the player gains access to all the new tools of personalization and customization that developers added to new leaf features that might seem tame in a post new horizons world but were monumental at the time ordinances for instance are a really subtle but charming method of allowing players to differentiate their talents from others i mean i'm sure seventy percent of us always had it stuck to beautiful town but it was a nice feature nonetheless one that i'm glad was brought back in new horizons 2.0 update and speaking of new horizons something underrated and crucial about being the mayor in my opinion is that you never feel superior to your neighbors animal crossing has always been about a fish out of water experience but finding a loving community despite it all when katsuya gucci created animal forest he used his loneliness from moving away from his friends and family back in his hometown of chiba as inspiration for a connection based game growing from feeling out of place to feeling like every other resident is imperative to the core of animal crossing despite the player now being mayor new leaf doesn't lose this while yes you do have more power than the rest of the villagers it never feels that way you move into a pre-established town that's existed for many years the animals make their own decisions where they want their houses to be what kind of projects they'd like to see etc the very first thing you do as the mayor is talk to and do favors for your neighbors to raise your approval rating so that you can do actual mayoral things yes you're the mayor but you're also a resident these animals are your friends and equals you never feel above the community aspect that animal crossing was created for but in new horizons things are different as resident representative you have full control of well everything and the game won't let you forget it you wake up your friends at 2am to tear up their homes and drop them on the other side of the island a proposition they're incapable of declining animals can't leave your island unless you give them permission to do so these don't feel like neighbors they feel like subjects which is really sad to see because new leaf did such an excellent job of giving the player a new more powerful role without sacrificing the foundations of the franchise to do so also i'm sorry for the new horizons bashing that isn't the purpose of this video but just like mentioning how new leaf improved upon past animal crossing games it's important for me to touch on what it still has above the current animal crossing game this video isn't about why new leaf was incredible in 2013 it's about why it's incredible today and the contrast between resident representative and mayor aids in showing why that is as will other comparisons that i'll bring up later but enough about the player's role let's talk about the world they get to live in atmosphere in my opinion is the most important aspect of any animal crossing game it's what allows us to immerse ourselves in these worlds but presents the opportunity to live a separate life for hours upon hours upon hours if it weren't for the atmosphere these games provided this series would be a shell of what it is today a hollow imitation of something that could have been great like most games new leaf establishes its atmosphere in two key ways through its visuals and environments and its music and sound design let's talk about the former first after the release of new horizons i've seen a surprising amount of people claim that new leaf is not a pleasant game to look at that more than anything the thing stopping them from going back to the game after playing new horizons is the visual presentation and i've gotta say i disagree strongly there's no denying that new horizons looks much better than new leaf does just like objectively i mean we're comparing a 1080p game from 2020 to a 240p game from 2012. i should hope it looks substantially better but despite that i don't think new leaf looks unappealing at all far from it it's hard to really get a grasp of it without playing it for yourself so no fault of its own the footage in this video might not be doing the best job of proving my point but new leaf does an incredible job of using the 3ds's small screen to its fullest capacity everything is bright and colorful but not overly so it's very easy on the eyes despite the low pixel count nothing that looks rough or jagged it maintains a soft inviting look that's important to animal crossing i always thought the water specifically looked excellent and still do to this day and as you'd expect from the series the animations are just fantastic whether you're trying to catch a record-sized bass or going crazy on the money rock with your shovel everything looks really charming and well done the animals and critters are also extremely energetic it's always a delight when a new month rolls around and you come out of your house to see a new bug zooming around or scuttling across the floor admittedly the animals don't have as much outward personality as they do in new horizons keyword being outward but in conversation they're extremely expressive which helps them feel alive let's talk environments like any animal crossing game there's a single place that you're going to be spending 90 of your time in and that of course is your town or island and new horizons i guess and speaking of and warning this is nitpickery on the level of the train thing i actually really prefer towns to islands now at this point you're probably thinking protendo this is ridiculous they serve functionally the same purpose and the only reason you prefer towns is because you're nostalgia blind and biased and stupid and firstly well that's not very nice that kind of hurt my feelings but secondly i do think there's a key difference between islands and towns and that's surroundings in a town and of course we'll use new leafs for reference you're isolated like i said before the insinuation is that we've moved into the middle of nowhere some completely unfamiliar place you live among like 10 other people maybe double that if you count special characters in your own little community far from whatever you used to consider home however there's more to it than that it's not complete isolation look to the side of your town and you'll see cliffs blocking us from what other towns or cities or whatever else are on the other side there's a train that runs through the town a few times per hour meaning that people can visit at any given time with ease and that we're not far from the rest of the world ourselves and of course we have main street our own little shopping district just past the train tracks yes the town is isolated but it's still connected it depicts a warm cozy sort of separation from the hustle and bustle of the real world while still not detaching itself from it completely and entirely new horizons presents a different form of isolation one that feels more absolute you're surrounded by nothingness just water as far as the eye can see sure if you look closely you can see some landmasses in the far far distance and both you and a handful of visitors can fly to and from your island but for all intents and purposes you and your little community are alone this was of course done to fit with new horizons hardcore personalization aspect so i'm not even saying it was the wrong choice for the game i'm sure tons of people prefer islands to towns and they're completely justified in that but personally i'm more of a town guy they just create an atmosphere more akin to what i expect and love from animal crossing new leaf has my favorite town in the series it's very nicely sized big enough to fit all your neighbors public works projects and buildings but small enough to feel personal and familiar i love the long beaches that wrap around the corner offering excellent access to the ocean like i said earlier the cliffs train track and even the map itself looking like a small portion of a larger piece of land provide a very comforting closeness to the rest of the world while not sacrificing the warm escapist community this franchise was built upon i don't like to overuse words all that often because i feel like it ends up weakening my point but there's really only one word to describe the atmosphere that this game in its town provides it's cozy walking around your town and animal crossing new leaf is just cozy and comforting and beautiful it's relaxing to the nth degree and allows the player to escape into this world with incredible ease but despite how pleasant this game's visuals and environments are they pale in comparison to the phenomenal achievement that is how amazing new leaf sounds this game has excellent sound design in a game like animal crossing you have noises that the player is going to hear constantly thousands of times for hundreds of hours so it's crucial that they're well done and of course they always are i've owned this game for nearly a decade and i still never get tired of the sound of a fish's bite or a shaken tree and then of course you have the sounds that accentuate the incredible atmosphere already provided by the visuals the calming persistent hum of cicadas is one of the primary reasons why summer is my favorite season in animal crossing it's remarkable but that being said you all know what i meant when i say that this game sounds incredible there's one thing about new leaf that truly sets its atmosphere apart from other games in the series heck other games in general one thing that single-handedly carries the game's immersion and beauty on its back and that thing is the music this game's soundtrack is perfect it's it's just perfect i know that sounds like an insane exaggeration but really no other animal crossing soundtrack captures the essence of animal crossing quite like this one wild world and city folk come extremely close like they're right there but new leaf just barely edges them out i could talk about how amazing the music on main street is or how wonderfully the holiday music captures the spirit of the season and i will touch on those later but the main thing i wanted to focus on is the hourly music it cannot be understated how important the quality of the hourly soundtrack is to an animal crossing game this is music that will accompany you throughout the entirety of your life in this world music that you'll hear for hundreds of hours on a smaller scale these are tracks that will loop for an hour at a time and as such can make or break entire portions of the day depending on their caliber which is pretty major in a real time life sim i would literally turn off new horizons every time the clock struck 2 pm and overall the quality of the hourly soundtrack in my opinion made me want to play less i'm sorry last new horizons bashing moment for the next little bit i'll uh there i'll set a timer anyway so ost in an animal crossing game vastly important and new leaf just knocks it out of the park in the past i've described new leaf's hourly soundtrack as a story and i really don't think i can sum it up much better than that the music flawlessly tells the story of the day each track perfectly fitting the hour plays within going from hour to hour in new leaf is just like turning page after page in an excellent book each turn bringing something new to the table while building off of what came before the whole soundtrack is beautifully cohesive while remaining distinct with every song it's truly a musical marvel in gaming the instrumentation also stands out here piano is a perfect instrument to have at the forefront of an animal crossing soundtrack it makes the entire ost feel soft and inviting which of course replicates the feel of the game perfectly i also love how twinkly and almost magical the rain and snow variants are new leaf definitely has the most tame hourly music in the series you won't find tracks like gamecube 2am or new horizons 8am in this game and that's led many to call it dull or unexciting but i couldn't disagree more claiming that new leaf's music is dull flat out ignores its incredible range i'm not going to go over every track in the game because i would eventually like to move on from this very long atmosphere section but i'd like to highlight some of my favorite pieces in this game's hourly soundtrack new leafs 1am is possibly the most introspective track animal crossing has ever produced the piano does all the heavy lifting here letting your mind wander as this somber beautiful tune accompanies you while you walk through your town much later than you reasonably should be it's very much a thinking song and i appreciate that immensely [Music] many find 4 a.m to be creepy and really i think that's mainly because of ike personally i find it calming 4 am to me feels like the last stage of night time once the clock hits 5 the earliest early birds will begin to rise within the hour as too will the sun depending on the time of year but no one's up at 4 am the early risers are still in bed and the night owls have finally thrown in the towel it's pure isolation just you and the night sky i think your feelings about that dictate whether or not you find this track to be unnerving 8 am is the best possible start to the day you could ask for an animal crossing it's infectiously upbeat but not overly energetic to the point where it feels like it doesn't belong in the early morning unlike some games 5bm is considered to be the best animal crossing track ever by certain bossa biased individuals and though i disagree i can't even blame them this one just captures the core of animal crossing to a t it's smooth relaxing i can practically taste the sunset just from listening to it it doesn't taste very good but i can 11pm would almost be sad if it wasn't so beautiful it feels like the most emotional track in the ost to me and it's hard to explain why going by my earlier analogy i guess it's just the end of the story and endings can be hard and then there's my personal favorite animal crossing track of all time 7 p.m i've sat here for a long time while trying to think of ways to explain why this piece of music means so much to me or hits me so hard i really just don't know how this entire video is me trying to put words to feelings but i might leave this one be it almost feels too personal like trying to break down my love for it would somehow weaken it which sounds silly but i don't know that's what i'm going with [Music] [Music] every piece of hourly music in this game fits inconceivably perfectly it's truly a remarkable achievement new leaf's atmosphere is unparalleled by any other game on the market including other games in the series it's just so personal and gorgeous that it's almost hard to describe but as important as atmosphere is to this franchise it's probably not the first thing people think of when they think of animal crossing after all it's not literally part of the series name very surprisingly animals are a pretty important aspect of the animal crossing series they should really put that on the box or something the people that live around you are the lifeblood of these games without the animals animal crossing would be a lifeless hollow and most of all lonely experience the opposite of what it actually is as such it's incredibly important that they're done well and as you'd expect new leaf does not disappoint in this department animal crossing has two types of animals the regular villagers and the special characters both feel vastly different purposes but are equally important to the quality of the game let's go over the regular villagers first i'm gonna go ahead and say it no i don't think animal crossing new leaf has the best regular villagers in the series starting in this game there seemed to be an effort to tone down the animals especially the meaner ones like cranky villagers in my opinion things really peaked in wild world with gamecube not being far behind the animals in those games were so expressive with their dialogue there was so much personality crammed into every sentence and it really felt like you had to put in the work to get these people to warm up to you new leafs villagers are a little too friendly from the get-go for my liking but do not take that as me saying that this game's animals are bad because they're still a delight through well-written dialogue expressive animations and eye-catching character designs these villagers still come to life just as you'd hoped they would and like i said earlier it kind of helps that i don't feel like a god in control of their every move like in other games they live their lives just as you do content with going about their day not in service to whatever plan you have for them not to mention the fact that new leaf added 100 new animals to the series including two new species being deer and hamsters and two new personality types talk about leaving a lasting impact despite not being the best the series has to offer they still capture that feeling of community that these games were built upon and that's truly the most important thing here however new leaf's greatest strength with its animals lies in its special characters this is where the game truly takes things to the next level it is insane how many unique one-of-a-kind characters this game has in its roster there are over 50 special animals that the player can interact with in this game 50 and remarkably half of its cast aren't solely available in the roost like in new horizons no each and every one of them has their own distinct role i'm not sure if i can adequately convey just how alive this makes the game feel to someone who hasn't played new leaf before but if you have you know all of these characters are so well written and charming and make your town feel like a living breathing community even the most minor of characters are absurdly memorable rover like i said before is probably the best example of this a character you see once at the very beginning of your playthrough yet one that you'll never forget about or what about porter who simply sits in the train station every day and insults your face fan favorite all phineas does is come to your town on the weekend to award you badges and yet he has such a friendly warmth to him like an old man you see walking around your neighborhood every so often who waves to you whenever you meet these are animals with small roles yes but they all work together to add to the liveliness and realism of this ever moving world the game presents it feels like even the most minute characters couldn't be removed without people noticing which is why there was such an insane uproar when they were removed one game down the line sure you could replace all three postal pelicans with this mail stand but why would you do that it's like you're taking an animal crossing feature sucking out everything that made it an animal crossing feature the charm the love and care and leaving behind a lifeless husk jumping from minor character to major we also have to acknowledge that this game literally gave us the face of the series now i may not like isabelle as much as some other people do but i still think she's a delight especially in this game as the mayor's secretary she's friendly dedicated and adorably hard working i think it's impossible not to love her new leaf really understands that more than anything these are what animal crossing is about the animals no matter how many customization options you present no matter how much power you give the player in my opinion it's all inconsequential in comparison to well-executed enjoyable characters these are what make the games worth playing these are what make animal crossing animal crossing if i had to describe what animal crossing new leaf was about in one word i would say growth just like the sapling you planted the beginning the player grows with every second they play the game you grow your town your relationships with your friends your bank account everything in the game is in a constant state of moving forward every animal crossing game tries to capture this and some do it better than others but new leaf is the absolute best and i think that's all thanks to its phenomenal progression system life simulators don't usually have endings or at least not in the conventional sense there's no winning involved in the genre and as such the games need to provide something else to make players feel fulfilled and that thing is progress the mere act of achieving something that long seemed impossible is ridiculously rewarding and man does new leaf get that despite your mayor's status the game starts you off lower than any animal crossing game prior to it you don't even get a house right off the bat only a tent to sleep in and store a laughably small amount of items but starting off the player so modestly is exactly what makes the climb to the top so enjoyable despite the entire game being one long string of progress there's one area that's truly at the heart of it all main street main street makes this game if you remove this one location from new leaf it becomes half the game it is transforming main street from a tiny handful of stores into a bustling shopping center plays a major role in this game's progression system and it's perfectly executed each building has specific unlock or upgrade requirements that keep achieving these goals fresh and interesting some stores are simple to unlock like kicks solely requiring that you spend 8 000 bells at the able sisters and that it's been more than a week since you've created your town others are far more daunting however like the fortune shop requiring you get a fortune from katrina 20 times and on top of that paying 340 000 bells for the construction not to mention the knuckling store which has four different upgrades each of which has its own special conditions to be unlocked main street is built for longevity if there's any one element of new leaf that disproves the extremely silly idea that a game needs consistent updates to last for a long time it's this it's just so satisfying to see main street develop the beautiful music growing alongside the shopping district nearly each and every store upgrade or unlock brings a new character along with it meaning that with every step you take towards completing main street it gets livelier and livelier it all ties into the communal growth animal crossing thrives on and the best part is that none of these stores are useless or forgettable even years after fully finishing my original main street i still found myself consistently heading into every building all of them it's one of animal crossing's greatest achievements and i'm so sad it wasn't built upon in the following entry progressing throughout the year is equally as important to animal crossing as progressing the quality of your surroundings if not more so and new leaf keeps it interesting throughout the game's day-to-day is consistently compelling mostly thanks to the large amount of stores and buildings that are available most of which have reasons to visit them every day but just like in real life holidays provide festivities to look forward to throughout the entire year new leaf's versions of these events are nothing short of incredible it would be kinda redundant to go over each and every one since most of them are just the new horizons versions but better except for the harvest festival which is more or less the same but the two i want to bring special attention to are april fool's day and toy day toy day because it's the best holiday in animal crossing history and an example of how to create an engaging rewarding and perfect event and april fools because it literally doesn't exist afterward in new leaf blanca would visit your town on april 1st to cause some mischief which the player has to do their best to stop she enters village's homes and disguises herself as them becoming a perfect replica it's then up to you to use your knowledge of that villager to deduce which one is real and which one is the imposter this event is creative a lot of fun and makes great use of blanca's character it also provides an easy way to get your neighbor's pictures as beating blanca and proving that you do know your friends after all causes them to give you their portrait april fools day was both hilarious and useful and i really hope we see it again in animal crossing 6. toy day though toy day is just on another level in this game there's never been an animal crossing event with as much depth as new leaf toy day and i adore it for that while the holiday itself takes place on december 24th you participate in subtle ways throughout the entire month of december i love the way it parallels the holiday season in real life how the festivities are built up to throughout the month starting on december 1st two things will begin to happen the able sisters will start selling santa clothes and the villagers will begin to drop hints about what kind of gift they're hoping santa brings them on the special day this includes things like the color or the type of item it's up to you to keep track of these things throughout the month something a new leaf makes easy with its screenshot feature or if you were like 10 year old me allegedly scribbling into the 3ds notes app once toy day finally arrives jingle tasks you with delivering presents to your neighbors unlike new horizons these aren't random gifs but instead the very presents your animals had been describing to you all month it's your job to dress up as santa enter their homes and make them smile by delivering their most wanted item and this is just phenomenal as a christmas fanatic in real life i love seeing the spirit of the season captured so perfectly in animal crossing the build up is impeccable participation on the player's end is more required than ever before and you get to make your friends smile by giving them something they've always wanted nothing's better than that progressing throughout the year is always easy in new leaf even on duller days because i know toy day's waiting for me at the finish line interestingly this game's excellent multiplayer is also vaguely tied to progression tortoise island isn't unlocked until you pay off your first loan and the dream suite after being mayor for a little while and paying the construction fee one that can definitely be daunting early in the game i'm only really mentioning this because i didn't really know where to talk about multiplayer in this review so i'm going to slowly segue it into the middle of the progression segment i'll be quick i promise new leaf easily has the best multiplayer in an animal crossing game i usually try to make it super clear that everything i say is subjective but i feel like this is the closest thing to objectivity in this review even the most dedicated hardcore new horizons fans seem to agree sure you can double the players in that game but that just means double the people to do absolutely nothing with i don't know you can hit each other with nets i guess new leaf on the other hand has an entire new location dedicated entirely to multiplayer balloon hunting bug catching fossil finding whatever this is torment's island has an insane amount of variety when it comes to multiplayer fun and it's all extremely enjoyable and torture island itself man what a place i didn't talk about it in the atmosphere segment because i didn't want to get ahead of myself but truly nothing beats that soft guitar as you hunt for beatles late at night the muted rhythmic crash of waves adding a whole new layer to the song it's magical okay sidetrack aside back to progression the progression system in this game isn't just restricted to main street of course it spills out into the town in classic animal crossing fashion yup there's debt to pay your home is the most personal form of progression in the series and that holds true in new leaf it's intensely satisfying to go from a tent to a jaw-dropping mansion progression also plays a part in the role of mayor through public works projects and i gotta say it's not great most of the big public works projects i.e the buildings are completely fine to unlock because they meet some other external requirement and only exist as a pwp to make you pay for it that's fine the issue is with the ones that don't work like that most of the time you only gain access to a public works project if a villager suggests it at random i really like the idea of the animals aiding the mayor in presenting new potential projects for the town but it's just not frequent enough to not be an annoyance i had friends who didn't even know there was a police station in this game simply because their animals never brought it up cute concept not the best execution but speaking of public works projects that leads us nicely into the next segment [Music] okay okay let's talk about the elephant in the room not that one of all the major game elements i've mentioned thus far customization and design is the only one that's like objectively improved upon in new horizons really it's not even close that isn't to say that designing is bad in new leaf however because i don't think that's the case giving the player more control over the look of their town was one of the main goals the developers had that sparked the concept of being mayor public works projects despite the unlock issues are still an excellent method of customization that makes players towns distinct and memorable you've got all the necessities benches lampposts fountains the sphinx you name it you can even customize the town hall and train station to fit different themes which is something new horizons never featured people were able to make some incredible town layouts in new leaf despite not having the amount of power they do in new horizons point being i never felt overly restricted by the system in place but once new horizons added the ability to place literally any piece of furniture you want anywhere yeah new leaf's design is gonna look underwhelming by comparison but i gotta admit something i don't care now that we're this far into the video i think it's safe to admit this to you guys technically this video shouldn't be titled why animal crossing new leaf is the best game in the series it probably would have been more appropriate to make it why animal crossing new leaf is my favorite game in the series i mean sure it should be obvious that me claiming anything is the best is a subjective take on my part but favorite would still be more accurate simply because i don't know what kind of player you are this has been a long time coming i've often mentioned this offhandedly without ever fully elaborating here we go there are only two types of animal crossing players let me explain on one side we've got the designers these people are wildly creative and turn animal crossing into their own personal sandbox the most important thing to them is having the control to execute their perfect vision just as they've imagined it on the other side we've got people obsessed with the world let's call them immersives to them animal crossing is all about enjoying a second life they love conversing with their neighbors seeing new faces and fully immersing themselves into the world of the game and if you somehow couldn't tell from this video alone yeah i find myself right about here these two types of players aren't inherently opposites and i'm not saying that by being in one group you're restricted to solely things that are equated to that group i still enjoy designing i like customizing my game but these two factions of the animal crossing fan base often butt heads when it comes to what's best for the series when it was revealed that new horizons would prevent animals from moving out without the players okay designers jumped for joy knowing that their favorite looking neighbors would be there to stay until they decide to let them go i on the other hand as someone very much into the immersive aspects of the series thought it harmed the illusion of realism in the game feeling that friends moving away was a sad but important part of the franchise as it opened the door to meeting new friends down the line while designers praised new horizons developers for finally allowing them to place villager houses wherever they wanted i rolled my eyes at the idea that i didn't even have to get to know these people before gaining the ability to tear their homes up and move them across the island i started this video by saying that animal crossing means a lot of things to a lot of people and nowhere can that be seen better than in this divide between fans to some animal crossing is a creator's paradise an opportunity to use the game as a canvas and paint a masterpiece to others it's a living breathing world one to escape to and form connections in and the best thing is that neither of these interpretations are wrong as someone who thinks new horizons is the weakest game in the series and that new leaf is the best as you'd expect there's a certain argument that i've heard hundreds of times throughout my youtube career nostalgia blind you don't like new horizons because it's new you're not a kid anymore of course new horizons isn't going to resonate as strongly blah blah blah blah blah people often claim that i'm ignoring all of the improvements new horizons made to the series without even considering the fact that things they view as improvements aren't necessarily things that i view as improvements i like that new leaf has random elements that i have to work around i like that i don't have full control over everything it helps the world feel more believable and grounded which is the main thing i care about in an animal crossing game yes i think the game would be heavily improved with the addition of terraforming and town-wide customization just as new horizons has but at the end of the day i'm more than willing to sacrifice that for everything else new leaf gives me because that's the type of player i am i've gotten comments from long-time animal crossing fans saying that new horizons was a disappointment and that they've gone back to playing new leaf which they're enjoying vastly more i've also gotten comments from long time fans saying that new horizons improves the series so much that returning to new leaf is near impossible because they find it comparatively rough around the edges i've gotten comments from new players who say they've been convinced to pick up new leaf after new horizons wasn't the introduction to the series that they'd hoped for and i've gotten comments from new players who think that new horizons is a perfect game and have no desire to revisit the series past at all these are all valid there is no wrong interpretation of what animal crossing is supposed to be because what animal crossing is supposed to be is different for everybody all i know is that animal crossing new leaf is the best representation of what animal crossing means to me but man it's a shame new leaf never got some kind of update that appealed to both designers and immersives alike one that improved the game in every way and dropped an insane amount of content at once when people were hungry for it instead of spreading it thin across a bi-monthly schedule wouldn't that be something oh yeah [Music] on november 2nd 2016 the year when people were just starting to get tired of new leaf nintendo dropped an animal crossing direct fully detailing new leaf's upcoming major update welcome amiibo and when i say major i mean major this update added amiibo functionality a new location to your town being the campground a new form of currency to be used instead location alongside a new goal-based initiative system a new special character in harvey two returning special characters in wisp and lottie 50 returning animals who hadn't been seen since animal force e plus on the gamecube so for the vast majority of players new seven new splatoon and zelda based animals two new extremely fleshed out mini-games in desert island escape and animal crossing puzzle league a new house upgrade including the secret store room simplified interior customization integrating happy home designers drag and drop system 493 pieces of furniture quality of life updates including the ability to shake trees while holding tools and the ability to sell your home possessions and friends to tom nook to make a profit this is the last new horizons diss in the video i swear but that game's updates not only were they poorly paced but for the most part they just added things that were already expected from the series holidays arts swimming and diving dreaming the roost cap in nobody expected animal crossing five to be lacking these things so their additions felt more like setting things right rather than pushing the series forward but welcome amiibo was different they took a game widely considered to be near perfect a game people were still playing three years later and said guess what we're making it even better new leaf was already the animal crossing game least needing of additional content but they didn't care they chose to please every fan of the series the designers the immersives and raise the game to a level of quality that i'm genuinely not sure will be matched in the series future harvey quickly became one of my favorite animal crossing characters he fits right in and his campground is such a perfect conclusion to the town it's such a cozy little spot to relax in but also serves the functional purpose of allowing access to the rv park where special characters and amiibo villagers can be met and talked to not to mention harf's shop filled to the brim with new items the new mini games desert island escape and puzzle league are insanely fun and i've spent hours playing both the convenience of the happy home designer style customization and secret storage room can't be understated it makes things so much easier but also plays to my progression loving heart by requiring you to pay for an upgrade i don't know what else i can say about welcome amiibo that i haven't already it's a near-perfect addition to a near-perfect game that added dozens of hours of longevity to what was already an extremely dense packed life simulator it doesn't get better than this [Music] this was the hardest video i've ever had to make maybe the hardest thing i've ever had to create and i'm saying this before starting the editing process i'm sure we all have things we passionately adore yet when the time comes to express that love through words we struggle because really there are few pieces of media in this world that i love as much as i do animal crossing new leaf my history with this game is long and complex filled with memories of friends at school deleted towns you name it it's insane to me that going by its original release date new leaf turns 10 in just a few months and i think the fact that the game is going to be a decade old is what finally compelled me to talk about how much i love it and how connected i feel to it because really new leaf is more than just a game to me it's an experience one that pushes the boundaries of immersion in gaming a true marvel of its medium that transports the player into another world full of depth nuance and friendly faces a game that through the low points of its franchise serves as a reminder of what incredible feats animal crossing is capable of achieving animal crossing new leaf is a work of art one that surpassed and continues to surpass my expectations of the heights that video games can reach and there's nothing more comforting than knowing that no matter where i am no matter how old i get i can boot up this game and magically i'm home [Music] you

Channel: Protendo

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Id: 1tDg6K8lj2c

Length: 55min 35sec (3335 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 01 2022