Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let it be known that between RPG grind-fests, oddball art games and the latest AAA titles, I enjoy an unhealthy amount of "Animal Crossing." The last portable incarnation, "Wild World", easily received hundreds of hours of my attention, and despite its myriad of problems, it remains one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had. But in 2013, many of the clunky interface issues and limited span of things to do simply will not fly in a modern game. That's why I'm greatly overjoyed that Nintendo has definitely improved the AC mechanics in as many ways possible without changing the core experience here. Make no mistake, "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" is more of the same, but delivered in the best possible way. There's not much by way of "story" here, as expected. Your custom character arrives at your custom town (the layout of which you can select at the beginning of the game) to discover that he/she is now the mayor of the town. After a brief rundown of basic game mechanics with your perky (read: adorable) secretary Isabelle, you're set loose in a town filled with talking, anthropomorphic animals. Over the course of real-world years, you're expected to expand local businesses, improve local agriculture, and turn your home into a sprawling mansion filled with rare items. If you've played an AC game, you know the drill. The conniving Tom Nook screws you over (he does it worse than ever here, but I won't spoil) at the beginning of the game, you pay off your debt to him, your house gets upgraded, rinse, repeat. All the while, you make friends, fish, water plants, hunt bugs and dig up fossils that can sold or donated to the museum. This time around, though, there's a flea market where you can set prices for items, and buy stuff from other townsfolk. The addition of the store adds an interesting element to the game, as you find yourself going back and forth between stores, seeing where you'll get the better deals. It's a nifty little mechanic that adds a new level of depth to the game. While this does seem like an old hat of a game on paper, it's all about the execution, which is where "New Leaf" truly excels. The controls are tighter than they've ever been, thanks to a completely retooled interface. Gone are the days of having to go into menus to dig out equipment; switching between nets, shovels, watering cans, etc, is now allocated to the D-Pad, making it much more convenient to do what you want, when you want to do it. Also welcome are little graphical changes, such as shimmering flowers to indicate you've watered them for the day, and birds that perch atop bulletin boards to indicate a new message. Little things like this help make the game more streamlined. Another great thing about the game are the enhanced internet capabilities. Visiting your friends' towns is back, of course, but the biggest draw here is the ability to mingle with players from around the world on a tropical island. You can see what their towns look like, among other things, which is a first for the franchise. Then there's the "Dream Suite", which lets you upload a "dream" of your town to the internet for other players to explore, and the Happy Home Showcase, which lets you see the homes of other players you've met via StreetPass. This is the most online entry in the franchise yet, and it's nice to see in Nintendo embracing internet play finally; it definitely bodes well for the upcoming "Smash Bros", after "Brawl" had such an abysmal online mode. This is also the best-looking AC yet, with beautiful textures that easily trump "City Folk". Water glistens and fluidly moves, characters have elaborate and varied animations, and every detail of the landscape is rendered with beautiful clarity. 3D helps to add an extra level of depth to the game, but other than that, it's actually one of the most unremarkable usages of the feature I've seen in a first-party 3DS title. On the audio front, we have an incredibly safe soundtrack. It's pretty and relaxing, and one of the best in the series, but it's definitely very similar to other entries, and it doesn't rock the boat in too many ways. In my opinion, it didn't need to, but a little more variety would have been nice. Nintendo has easily made the best "Animal Crossing" game yet here. There's more to do in this than in any previous entry, the controls are pitch-perfect, and the entire experience is absolutely beautiful, especially considering that it's a handheld title. That being said, not much has changed in the core gameplay and sound department, and while that won't bother the fanbase (myself included), it makes me start to wonder how long the venerable developer can keep doing the same thing repeatedly until it starts to get old. Until then, though, "New Leaf" is a really fun little game, and one that I expect to hold me over for not months, but years to come. Plot: 8 Gameplay: 8.75 Graphics: 9.5 Sound: 8.75 Overall: 8.75 Update (6/11/13): Because of the nature of this game, I'll throw up a new update every now and again if something of note pops up. Today, my game introduced the feature of public works projects and ordinances. The former allows you take requests to alter your town, then gather donations in order to complete them, and the latter lets you change the times of local stores to suit your playing time better. Also more fleshed-out is the island, at which you can eventually unlock a wetsuit that allows you to swim around (a series first.) I stand by my original score, but this is a most impressive development, and without a doubt makes it the best and most varied "Animal Crossing" yet. Update (7/7/13): It's been about a month, and things have gotten pretty interesting! A dance club opened up in town, payments for getting a house have steeply increased, and there are still new tools to unlock and creatures to catch. The added variety of deep-sea diving definitely helps. Furthermore, the adorable Isabelle gets a much more defined personality, as does Sable, who works at the clothing store. If you build your relationship with the latter, you'll unlock the ability to get new patterns via QR codes scanned in via 3DS Camera. Not only that, but you'll get cool backstory about the Able Sisters, which ties into past games. Still a solid 8.75 in my book!