Animal Crossing: City Folk Reviews

5 Comments

1. Lonestar fan says:

   September 26, 2010 at 9:30 pm

   Review by Lonestar fan for Animal Crossing: City Folk
   Rating:
   This game is totally addictive- I thought it looked pretty stupid when I saw commercials for it but it is a blast to play. HOWEVER, that being said, if you purchase this game be sure to do a good deal of research before beginning. There are a lot of things that you will not be made aware of until you are already well into the game and it feels like it is too late to start it over as you have built up an inventory, developed friendships with your neighbors, and paid off your house.

   First of all, there are several different town layouts. I did not know this and just took the first one offered to me. Apparently if you are not happy with this layout you can keep restarting until you get one you like, and there are some really nice town layouts out there, one that I especially wish I had gotten with two rivers and an island that seems much bigger than my town.

   Secondly, this is something that you are not really told in the instructions or in the manual– DO NOT RUN AROUND your town!! Doing so will wear your grass down until it is gone and you have large patches of brown dirt everywhere. Some people’s towns are practically desert wastelands. This is not just an aesthetic issue- it affects game play, as you need grass in order to catch certain bugs, to plant trees and flowers, and during the winter the snow ‘is’ the grass so where there is no grass there will be no snow. You need snow in order to make snowmen, for which you recieve snowman furniture that cannot be obtained any other way- it is not for sale, it can only be gotten by making the perfect snowman. If you have no snow, you cannot do this. And apparently making the snowman also kills the grass. This is a feature that was built into the game called “animal tracks.” It is supposed to work where after a couple of months the areas where your character is always walking, such as to Nook’s store or the museum or post office will eventually show trails. However, if you run, or if you log on multiple times a day, say to play different characters (which the game is designed to do- you have 4 houses and 4 potential characters and when families are playing they have to take turns logging on, yet the grass only regenerates a certain amount each day at 6 am, but each time you log on you counts as a day that you are putting wear and tear on your grass- therefore, your grass regrowth will be 3-5 times slower than its regeneration) and once it has been worn down you will see small dots where it is growing back but unfortunately one step on that ‘square’ and you will see that tiny bit of regrowth literally disappear under your feet. Nintendo’s answer to this is to plant trees and flowers in those areas as that is supposed to make the grass grow faster. The problem is, to plant them, and then in order to water the flowers and pick the weeds and harvest the fruit, you still have to step on the area and there goes your regrowth and you are back to square one. It is unfortunate that the game has this built in and that they made the grass growth so much slower than its degeneration, especially when playing multiple players or when playing via wifi and having people come to your town. The wifi option also causes the grass to degenerate more quickly. I don’t know why they would have it that way when the game was advertised as being pretty much for the wifi experience. I think possibly it might not be so much of an issue if you know about this from the start and are very careful with your grass. Unfortunately I had the game for 2 months, have been playing 2 characters and running around my town like hooligans before I realized that my grass was disappearing. There have been buttloads of complaints to Nintendo but they do not have any plans to try to fix the problem at this time. I have heard there are other ways to fix it, such as ‘hacking’ into your wii which can ruin your wii and void your warranty so I don’t recommend it, or time traveling, in which you log in, log out and travel forward to the next day (using your Wii clock and calendar, not the game clock and calendar) and logging in and out, and rinse and repeat. However you will find that you have significant weed growth, turnip prices will plummet, and your neighbors will move. So far I am not willing to do this as I have a few neighbors I have grown quite fond of, one in particular (my town grump).

   Anyway, aside from this issue it is really a fantastic game- when fishing you can actually feel the fish nibble and bite your line in the remote- its unreal! Hopefully Nintendo will eventually respond to this complaint with a patch or a release of a newer version of the game, but I am not holding my breath, as so far they seem to feel that the people who are complaining have already bought the game so they have no real motivation to fix it- at least that is what I feel from the responses they have given to people. They seem to insinuate it is your own fault by logging in more than once a day or playing via wifi and having people visit your town, even though that is how the game is designed to be played. That does not seem very cool to me. Again, its not just that it is an aesthetic issue but it does affect game play. And its kind of depressing having to feel paranoid about saving your grass- when animals ask you to play hide and go seek you don’t want to run for fear of causing further damage, and it kinda sucks the fun out of it.

   Anyway, I wanted to just make sure I put that out there so that other people who have yet to buy the game know in advance and can take measures to avoid losing too much grass by keeping to paths (some people even put down pathways although I have not figured out how they do this yet).

   You can always rent the game and play it for a few weeks to see what you think- just be sure to take screen shots at the beginning and then when you are ready to return the game to see how much difference there is. The problem is that its hard to really notice until there has been significant loss. It wasn’t until I went into the bug section of the museum and was marveling at how lush the grass was in there that I noticed how NOT lush it was in my town anymore!

   Aside from this issue, its an extremely fun game. It would be more fun if you could make more than one town, or could play more than one character at a time without each person having to have their own Wii station (such as with the Sims, where you can plug in up to 4 remotes and play 4 characters at once). But I could live with that if they would fix the grass issue. Heck, I would even gladly buy a new game if it came out with that issue resolved without complaint.

   Oh, one other thing when you are starting out– you have 4 houses and be SURE to check each one out before you make your decision and tell Nook you will take it. You CAN say no and check out the other houses and do not pay any attention to what the interior looks like as you will be changing all of that anyway. The location is the most important thing. And I would say you probably want to be near the beach or a bridge and nearby the major places such as Nook’s store, the museum, and post office to minimize the traveling your character has to do to get where he/she needs to go. Once you have picked a house you cannot change it- its permanent unless you restart the game.
2. Kristen L. Norfleet says:

   September 26, 2010 at 9:45 pm

   Review by Kristen L. Norfleet for Animal Crossing: City Folk
   Rating:
   I truly do live by reviews that people are kind enough to take the time to write. I have an 9 year old son and getting it right the first time is the name of the game. I have been saved many times by simply taking the time to sit down and read a review.

   I have come across a game that I just had to review. I can not tell you how wonderful this game is. I also have to say that simply renting this game provided my son an I something to bond over. I saw how much fun he was having and I decided to make my own character. This is a blast! We ended up sending mail and presents back and forth to each other and it has been so great.

   I woke up in the middle of the night not to long ago and just happen to go down and turn the game ion and ended up fishing in the moonlight. It was so peaceful.

   This is just a happy game. My son is normally drawn to war or fighting games. This is a nice break from that. There is nothing you as a parent will object to. I even bet you will want to play as much as your child. Enjoy and happy holidays!
   
3. Suzanne Amara says:

   September 26, 2010 at 10:27 pm

   Review by Suzanne Amara for Animal Crossing: City Folk
   Rating:
   Anyone who knows Animal Crossing knows it’s hard to really rate the game until you have played for a year or so, but I thought some people might like to hear some first impressions from a huge AC fan of the latest game!

   My BIG first impression—very little seems to have changed. This game seems like a real cross between the Gamecube version and the DS version, both of which used up many hours of my time! The setup of the city is a LOT like the Gamecube version. The town have the same feel,with lots of slopes and rivers and the same somewhat tiring to get around town plan. Tom Nook, the Able sisters, Pelly, all are there in stores that look about the same. Blathers is even MORE long winded, and it’s just as long a routine to get a fossil identified. It sounds like I’m complaining, but I’m not really, it’s the AC I know and love. You have to go through the same internship with Tom Nook,and do even the exact same tasks you always have,and the first payment on the house is even just the same amount!

   You DO get to pick your house, though,from four around town. You don’t share a house, and they aren’t all in a square. I picked a house on the beach, for easy fishing.

   I bought a shovel and a fishing rod. Shoveling up things is the same,fishing seems initially a little easier—and yes,my first fish was indeed a Sea Bass!

   The animals I visited all had furniture I recognized—modern black and white, cabin themes,etc. The animals were also about half ones I’ve had before, including Ruby, who I think has been in every town I’ve virtually lived in!

   A few things I did notice—the sound was noticably better. One resident, Reuben, had a scary sort of voice, and it was really echoey and cool. The tops for sale at Able’s and the designs on display were impressive—they looked a lot more detailed than previously.

   I know at some point I will be able to take a bus to the city—I haven’t yet—and I know as I go along I will find a lot more changes (I hope) but for now, I feel like I’m returning to a town I know well. I love Animal Crossing, and I will be happy even if there doesn’t turn out to be much new. If you love AC too, buy this. If you have never tried AC, you are in for a treat—BUY IT! If you didn’t like the first 2 versions but thought this one might be different—well….maybe wait and see!
4. nowann says:

   September 26, 2010 at 11:06 pm

   Review by nowann for Animal Crossing: City Folk
   Rating:
   I’ve invested a lot of time into playing Animal Crossing Wild World on the DS so was excited to hear we could transfer our Wild World characters to City Folk on the Wii. Somewhere deep down I was hoping I might be able to sneak in a few items from my old DS life. I suppose I should have known better. No way the developers would make it that easy – which is understandable. In a game such as this, there’s no point if it’s as easy as transporting 10 million bells from your old town right at the beginning. The whole point is to work your way up from nothing and enjoy the ride in doing so. I enjoy playing Animal Crossing as it is. However if you do plan on transferring your old characters from Wild World to City Folk, know this: the only thing that transfers with your old character is the catalog inventory info and your haircut. Of your catalog inventory, not everything transfers either. I had a complete catalog of all items purchasable from Nook. When I looked at my catalog with my character transferred to the City Folk town, some items were not included – though they are still in the game. E.g. I had the tuxedo in my catalog from Wild World. When I transferred to City Folk, the tuxedo was no longer listed in my catalog and I had to buy it again in City Folk from the “GracieGrace” boutique store where it is sold as a special item for 7600 bells.

   The clothes on your back, saved letters, saved patterns, money in the bank, items in storage and items you are holding all disappear.

   If you do transfer your character to the Wii from the DS, your character info on the DS is not deleted. You are able to continue playing your file on the DS – information is simply copied.

   You can “carry” your character via DS if you want to physically go to a friend’s house and upload your character to visit your friend’s Wii town. You cannot have your character from your Wii game visit your DS town.
5. TissueShoe says:

   September 26, 2010 at 11:58 pm

   Review by TissueShoe for Animal Crossing: City Folk
   Rating:
   Positive:
   
   + very bright, fun atmosphere
   
   + towns are big
   
   + graphics and frame rate are incredibly smooth
   
   + superb Wii controls that don’t overdo themselves
   
   + unique, quirky sense of humor
   
   + relaxing, fun music

   Negative:
   
   - the game is hardly even an update to Wild World
   
   - Nook’s store takes way too long to expand
   
   - the city is small and lacking anything that’s actually worth your time

   Animal Crossing: Wild World on the DS was a huge hit because it managed to be so and big and fun on such a small console. Three years down the road, we now have a third entry in the series that’s a great game by all means… there are just so few differences between it and its predecessors that it feels like a quick cash-in by Nintendo.

   City Folk starts the same as the other games, but this time you’re coming in by bus rather than train or cab. You name your town, answer a few questions, are introduced to a bit of the game’s shining, brilliant sense of personality and humor, and then you’re off. You start by working for Tom Nook, the raccoon owner of Nook’s Cranny, to pay off a bit of your mortgage on your new house, but once you finish a few jobs you’re on your own to do whatever you want.

   Animal Crossing’s towns have always been big, but this game somehow feels bigger than before. As far as activities you have fruit growing that you can sell to Nook for money, go fishing or catch bugs, participate in the fun little activities that go on around town, and more. The gameplay mechanics involved are incredibly simple but it still manage to be pretty enjoyable.

   One of the things that gives Animal Crossing such a huge appeal is its unique, charming personality and sense of humor. Talking to neighbors, which could be an extremely boring pastime, is spiced up with bits of quirky humor. Blathers (the museum owner) always makes a reference to how he’s the only worker there and how there’s nothing in the museum’s collection. Lyle, while annoying to talk to as he takes up a lot of your time, is actually pretty witty and funny. Every turn of a corner in City Folk will reveal yet another aspect of its fun personality and sense of humor.

   City Folk also has some nice music tracks. Whether you’re just walking around town or cruising through the city, the tunes are nice, relaxing, and very fitting to the environment. The sound effects are also pretty decent, retaining the game’s feel and not getting in the way. The only problem with the area of sound is that everything, including the music, is recycled from Wild World (except the music that plays in the city of course). This is kind of disappointing but I don’t know how much I wanted it to be all new in the first place.

   If you’ve ever played an Animal Crossing game before, you’ll probably have noticed by now that all this great stuff is exactly the same as it was back on the DS. Well, if you had that thought you are unfortunately quite correct. Despite being a great, solid game, City Folk features hardly anything new to the franchise. It’s still fun, it’s still packed with charm, but it’s all exactly the same as we’ve seen before. So now I’ll move on to the few things that are different about this game.

   Being a game on the Wii, new controls were a must. Thankfully Nintendo fully delivered here with some excellent, smooth, and convenient control schemes. You can use either the remote alone or with a nunchuk, but both control modes work very well. The nunchuk is basically for those who want to move with a control stick rather than by pointing your way on the screen, but even that feels surprisingly smooth and works very naturally. Pointing at an icon on the bottom of the screen, which is quick and convenient, can access any section of the game’s menu. The best part about the new controls, though, is using the remote’s control pad to equip items, which saves those precious few seconds every so often that previous games in the series wasted. There is also the option to swing the remote for fishing and catching bugs, which is pretty neat.

   The main difference in the game overall is probably the option to go to the city. Once you’re finished working for Nook you can hitch a ride on the bus any time to head off to the city. When you arrive, the first thing you will probably notice is just how small it is. There is simply one main courtyard with about five buildings to go into, none of which feature anything incredibly interesting. Almost all the shops and attractions feature characters from Wild World that only came around occasionally, but now you can see them any time you want. There is also an auction house, which is really the only worthwhile diversion in the city. Unfortunately bidding is only open here every once in a while.

   City Folk also features some decent, simple, and smooth graphics. The character models, while revealing little detail, are very smooth and lively. The colors used on the environments are pretty vibrant and make it look nice. The great graphics are complemented by an ever-consistent frame rate that never falters and almost makes the DS game feel choppy in comparison.

   Those three differences aside, you basically have a Wii version of Wild World. But despite the fact that there is so little change, it’s still a great game in itself. If you’ve already played an Animal Crossing game you’re better off leaving this one alone, but if you’ve never played a game in the series before then this is the perfect place to start because it’s truly the best Animal Crossing yet; the lack of change just earns it a lower score than its predecessors.

   Gamplay: 8.0
   
   Graphics: 8.5
   
   Sound: 9.0
   
   Value: 9.0

   FINAL SCORE: 8.0/10