Written by Jean
At the beginning of 2020, as the pandemic swept across the globe, everyone was forced to stay indoors, almost losing touch with reality. However, there was a game that swept the world, allowing people to rediscover the joy of life within the game. That game is the globally famous “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”
It’s a social simulation game with no precise main tasks, and new player tasks can be completed within a few hours. In the game’s early stages, players need to collect materials to create their own paradise. We can fish, catch bugs, and even invest in the stock market to earn money to buy clothes, furniture, and toys. We can also chat with the animals on the island and even visit players’ islands worldwide.
By gradually delving into this game, the central theme can be summarized in three words: Enjoy Your Life. The freedom in this version of Animal Crossing is considerably higher compared to other games, even compared to the previous version. Players can use the in-game pixel art feature to design their unique clothes, phone cases, wallpapers, and floorings and even hold personal art exhibitions on the island.
The details in Animal Crossing are so meticulous that it’s mind-blowing. For example, the movements of butterflies are just like real ones, and different types of fish have distinctive swimming behaviours, which is quite remarkable. Even the in-game language has been localized accordingly, optimizing the pitch and rhythm for other languages, giving people a feeling of both unfamiliarity and familiarity.
When you first open the game, you are greeted by two cute little raccoons, Timmy and Tommy, who lead you to their island. The trees on the island only have three branches; they are round and full, blooming with cherry blossoms in spring and covered with thick snow in winter. It’s complete and cute in all four seasons. From the shape of the trees, we can see that the art style of Animal Crossing can be summarized in two words — cute.
The characters players can control are somewhere between realistic and symbolic. Players can project their appearance and style onto the characters while leaving room for imagination. Therefore, player characters are a compromise, and Nintendo’s developers have managed this balance well, retaining elements that highlight individuality while discarding unnecessary details.
Earlier, it was mentioned that Animal Crossing provides a strong sense of immersion with great attention to detail, but compared to NPCs and plants, which seem more “abstract” and cartoonish, why is that? Developers tell us that insects and fish can be exhibited in museums and flaunted in hand, making them more realistic. In contrast, plants, grass, and furniture are more symbolic to provide players with ample room for imagination. These are the things players can unleash their creativity on!
Combined with the soothing and relaxing music and the healing and cute graphics, it has become a healing balm for the soul. The most important aspect of animal crossing is the “animals,” which come in various shapes and have different personalities, playing the role of your friends and community in the game. On my island, there’s the fitness enthusiast, the Barbie-like Tangy, the smooth-talking musician, K.K., the seemingly competent but secretly reads CEO novels, Marina, and the introverted but often sings in the square, Kiki.
While playing Animal Crossing, you will inevitably be healed by them. They will mercilessly laugh at you when you get stung by a bee and give you medicine; they will also quarrel with other animal villagers and ask you to help them apologize. Once, when I was collecting seashells on the beach to prepare for a fishing contest, Tangy ran over to chat with me, saying she was wearing the clothes I designed and that whoever designed such garments must be a genius! Another time, when I was feeling down, Kiki said to me:
“When people play MMORPG games, part of the reason is to enjoy its social attributes, but this kind of social interaction usually brings negative experiences, so are there single-player games with social attributes? Animal Crossing is such a game.”
The founder of Animal Crossing, Katsuya Eguchi, once shared that when he moved to Kyoto alone to work at Nintendo in his early years, leaving his family and friends, he felt very lonely. At that time, he found that helping a friend with a small favour, sending a small gift to family, and contributing to the small community would give him a sense of belonging.