# Anyone else miss the old days?



## Aronthaer (Apr 13, 2016)

Now don't get me wrong, I love the way I play Animal Crossing right now. Running a shop, plot resetting, TT'ing, dreamies, etc. But every once in a while, I keep thinking that Animal Crossing's not meant to be played this way.

I remember playing the original Animal Crossing back in 2002, When me, my siblings and my mother would fight over things in the shop and dump. My mom would always get mad at us because we never picked our weeds and she had to do it for us haha. I remember my brother making big money on the stalk market and he wouldn't give us any, filling his whole basement with 99,000 bell bags. I would always get upset and cry when a villager moved out, even the "ugly" ones, because I had fun with them and I knew I wouldn't see them again.

The thing is, thinking back to the old days has made me realize that how I'm playing now feels shallow and empty. I'm not going to stop doing any of these things, and I do enjoy my time playing New Leaf, but man, what I would give to go back to 2002 for a day or two.


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## toadsworthy (Apr 13, 2016)

I do miss having a ton of villagers in town and the favors they asked in GC was a lot more fun, but it got boring and repetitive too quickly. There is so much new stuff added and the villagers moving mechanic in GC was more frustrating to me than anything.

I will admit, I don't really catch bugs or fish like I used to.... its about cycling and stuff, but I hopefully will make a return to the good ol days soon. There is really nothing stopping you from playing like that except your own desire to personalize and play your own way, which is why I love how far the series has come


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## Jp_ (Apr 14, 2016)

Aww man, I would do anything to get rosie back :/


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## Dy1an (Apr 14, 2016)

never played the old ones


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## ChibiLion (Apr 14, 2016)

I know what you mean about the whole feeling like Animal Crossing shouldn't be played this way, I feel that way sometimes o-o I, myself wasn't so picky about my villagers at all and had fun no matter what... But, that was the little kid me ;__;

I do have fun playing ACNL and stuff though, don't get me wrong! No matter how I play it, I think I'll have fun either way xD as a kid, I had less standards though! (about villager appearances at least, I think Roscoe was my favorite back then! Alfonso was a little weird to me.)


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## Stil (Apr 15, 2016)

You are reflecting on the nostalgia of your childhood, not the game itself  the new experiences that you encounter as a kid will always seem magical. As I'm sure you already know, nothing will ever be the same as when you were a kid even if you try to replicate it. That horrible empty feeling is the feeling of growing up. It's sad but it will happen to all of us.      Or I could be totally wrong and it's just simply how you are playing the game now lol.


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## Vintage Viola (Apr 16, 2016)

Sometimes, lol I use to stay up late on school nights playing it on my old, big back TV. I never use to take care of my town, so I'd have weeds everywhere, use to fill my house with junk. To the point where I could hardly even get around. I remember I use to get upset whenever I couldn't catch a bug/fish (I sucked at it, took forever for me to get it down) and start throwing a mini tantrum (I was a huge baby). 

Me and my brother would fight over shop items and who's turn it was to pick the weeds once I let him make a villager. We'd blow our money on the stalk market and whoever got the most money back would share with the other. 'Twas our deal. Oh the good days~


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## Romaki (Apr 16, 2016)

Playing games as a kid was much more fun because you didn't think about nitpicking every little thing.


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## Stalfos (Apr 16, 2016)

I had a blast sharing a town with my brothers on the GC-version. We used to send garbage to each other. Ah, those were good times.

Although, New Leaf is an improvement over the GC-version in almost every way so I don't really miss it that much.


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## Qwerty111 (Apr 16, 2016)

True. AC is kinda more like a trading hub now, or at least on TBT!
Personally, I prefer catching fish and bugs, and filling up my museum. I remember hacking in a full museum on a R4 for Wild World. It was so cool that it was so big, and full and lively. I want to replicate that now.
I recently reset my town because I wasn't really satisfied with the way I played. I decorated my house fully quite quickly, and got almost all my dreamies. I just felt like I wasn't really playing the game, just buying stuff for it and putting it up for display.

Things in my new town are progressing slowly, and I don't really want to TT much. Maybe just to moving dates, and maybe just to experience certain events twice. (eg, weeding day. Then unlocking the pwps for it.) I feel like I'm getting much more out of the game. (Even though I've still got a wishlist, and I've got some of my favourite villagers. Hah!) I make money via the beetle farming on the island at night, and that's really relaxing sometimes, snooping around, hitting your net at the right time. The occasional fin sticking out of the water... It's bliss.

And now I have a better map too so I guess that's cool!


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## illuminati (Apr 18, 2016)

Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth, honestly. I always get that feeling too. Especially when I'm moving a villager out or cycling in my second town to get one of my dreamies so I can move it into my main one. It definitely feels superficial, sometimes. Maybe even, eh... vain? 

But I like New Leaf and I honestly love how pretty some of the towns look so eh, I guess I'll stick with it anyway. 

I always told myself that when summer finally roles around and all of my finals are done for then I'll finally buy myself that third copy and play with it without all that stuff but who knows how long that'll last. And it definitely won't be the same. 

I miss the mean cranky and snooty villagers! I remember that when Resetti would pop up when me and my brother played the gamecube version I would always cry because I was scared, haha. And I miss having to talk to the gyroid before you went to bed! That was great, ah.


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## pika62221 (May 3, 2016)

That's one of the reasons I refuse to do any of the stuff you mentioned. The only cheat I've ever done is used multiple towns to get the best stalk price, but not sure that's the same as cheating since if you have a lot of friends, you'd just sell whoever was the highest. :/ Anyway, yeah, it's all up to the way you play it, and you seem like you were more content when it wasn't as free to let you do that stuff, it's all up to you though, you can play however you want, so if you play it like you did the original like I do with all the games after, then you'll get that same feeling. Although it'll probably feel like the same game with a few extras added, but along the same lines so too does Mario Kart, because all it did was add new tracks, karts, characters, etc, but at its heart, it's still go kart racing, just like at its heart Animal Crossing is a text based communication, life simulator.


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## WAR X ILUSION (May 3, 2016)

I remember playing Animal Crossing: Wild World, with my cousin on her DS.
I used to be quite good at fishing; she was good at catching bugs.


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## VanillaChase (May 3, 2016)

Although I really started playing with New Leaf, I can relate to the feeling of innocence and simplicity when playing video games at a young age. I feel like I'm so technical and OCD about my gameplay now. It's not necessarily a bad thing, I just can't help but think sometimes that I'm missing the point.


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## sock (May 4, 2016)

Yes!! I never actually played GC (I was only 2 or 3 at the time of release), but I feel the exact same with WW. Now going back to playing that way seems a little bit of an anticlimax, so I've settled for a happy medium. I've decided to still play NL (it's by far my favourite in the series now), but not have any dreamies, run a shop or TT. Although I still play online with people & I wouldn't change that for the world. It might be sad, but some of the best times I have are playing with my NL friends! 

So far, it's been the best way to play NL. I take each day as it comes and I feel really relaxed about playing in my current town. I also try not to engage in too much competitive, perfect town, dreamie stuff, as I just end up getting upset with the particular-ness of it all. I don't care who moves in (as long as it isn't frogs or monkeys), and even ones I hate I try and 'get to know' them a little and I'm always upset when someone moves out. So I can still be 6, but 16 at the same time  I think the best way is to just get the balance right!


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## Mink777 (May 4, 2016)

A little.


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## Aquari (May 4, 2016)

lol same here, i started playing new leaf about 2 years ago, and when i first got the game id get up every single day at 7:00am just so i can play, i loved my villagers so much (especially bluebear) and when bluebear moved out i genuinely felt depressed about it, but now 2 years later, i see villagers as mere objects, i miss being a lowly skrub..... ;-;


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## Blue Cup (May 4, 2016)

Nope because I never allowed myself to get caught up in having the perfect village or a cast of "dreamies". Will be playing vanilla AC to the my last days.


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## Limon (May 5, 2016)

I was so excited when I got my first DS ( you know the blue and black one ) and my first game that I got on it was Wild World. I missed the days where I just had my uncle play it for me. He enjoyed playing it too and he was good at catching bugs/paying off the house loans, and I was good at catching sharks and special fish. What upsets me is that my cousin asked to borrow it ( he's older then me, out of high school ) and reset my town that had 8-ish years of work on it, I'm still peeved about that. I don't get what all of the fuss is about dreamies and perfect villages. So yeah, I do miss the old days.


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## Kapriznyy (May 5, 2016)

Aronthaer said:


> Now don't get me wrong, I love the way I play Animal Crossing right now. Running a shop, plot resetting, TT'ing, dreamies, etc. But every once in a while, I keep thinking that Animal Crossing's not meant to be played this way.
> 
> I remember playing the original Animal Crossing back in 2002, When me, my siblings and my mother would fight over things in the shop and dump. My mom would always get mad at us because we never picked our weeds and she had to do it for us haha. I remember my brother making big money on the stalk market and he wouldn't give us any, filling his whole basement with 99,000 bell bags. I would always get upset and cry when a villager moved out, even the "ugly" ones, because I had fun with them and I knew I wouldn't see them again.
> 
> The thing is, thinking back to the old days has made me realize that how I'm playing now feels shallow and empty. I'm not going to stop doing any of these things, and I do enjoy my time playing New Leaf, but man, what I would give to go back to 2002 for a day or two.



I miss this too, at times. When I let everything go randomly and just kept with the flow, instead of trying to manage every little aspect of the game. But when New Leaf places you in the position of Mayor and gives you tools to micro-manage so many things, from paths to PWPs, and there are forums like The Bell Tree and places on tumblr where villagers are traded, it's so difficult not to fall into all that. Back on Gamecube there wasn't any of that to worry about, and all of us were much younger, to boot, so the nostalgia factor probably gives us rose-colored glasses looking back on it.

Sometimes I wonder how long I would last, if these mechanics introduced in New Leaf were taken away in the next installment of the game. I wonder if I would be relieved to have less control, or if it would drive me crazy, because even in New Leaf I find myself wanting more of it (concerning where to place villagers and who to allow to move in or out, etc).

The old days were definitely special, but I'm not sure whether that's just because of the fond memories they created, or if the "playstyle" that went with the original game was the fun thing in and of itself...


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## Awesomeness1230 (May 8, 2016)

Ah. To be in 2007. Me, my sister and my aunt basically formed an AC group of our own. Me stealing all my aunt's hybrids to put on the ground and run over till they died, my sister expanding all her rooms to full size and then putting one piece of furniture in each room, my aunt filling her pockets with series and sets of every kind, filling up her pockets, throwing all her leftovers in a note in a bottle and wondering why they didn't come back to her. Goodness, I miss those hectic days.


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## Fleshy (May 9, 2016)

I agree with what you're saying. I definitley play a little differently than I used to when I played WW and CF. I don't see it as a bad thing though, I still really enjoy playing animal crossing. I don't think any of the things mentioned ruins gameplay, it's just a different way of playing.

I want to purchase a new copy of AC and use it to develop my town, get all my "dream villagers" ect. to see which way of playing is more enjoyable.


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## debinoresu (May 9, 2016)

yea, i miss playing the game youthfully with no care of my town layout or the villagers in my town and letting it freely cycle through whats meant to happen n the game lmao


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## cofffin (May 10, 2016)

i personally really love this metagame thats developed, if you could call it that lol. i think its great having more control over my town, and i don't feel like i've lost touch with my style of game play. i still love talking to villagers, running errands for them, planting flowers, etc. but tbh there are a lot of things i miss about the old games. 
i miss getting random letters from unknown senders, the old soundtrack, balloons having random items instead of junk from the balloon set, and i feel like villagers used to have more entertaining dialogue. personalities are toned down a lot now. i hope the next AC they release is more outrageous, random, and zany like the older games. it seems like its becoming more and more calm, which is a neat approach, i like HHD. i guess i just miss the feel of the old games a lot, especially wild world.
and if AC isnt gonna return to that aesthetic, i would really like to see the newer magicians quest games translated to english!


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## mitzi_crossing (May 14, 2016)

I recently brought out my gamecube and cracked out the original Animal Crossing. Playing it for the past few days has made me realize how simple yet because of that, how amazing it is. Dont get me wrong I love New Leaf to death but it brought me back to when I was playing the GC version as a kid. There were no "dreamies" or plot resetting. No online play or trading over wifi. Again, as muh as I love those additions now, things were definitely simpler back then.

Bring me back to 2002


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## Dorian (May 14, 2016)

My daughter was six when AC came out. I would sit up all night fishing while she and my husband slept so I could pay off my loans. She turns twenty tomorrow. And I still love playing. And yes, I too miss the good old days.


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## GuyWithThePie (May 17, 2016)

I remember the first time I discovered AC in 2012.


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## Rabirin (May 19, 2016)

I know what you mean. I kinda miss the simpler times where dreamies weren't everything, and although I had favourite villagers I didn't feel like I had to absolutely have them in town to enjoy myself there. Infact, I miss times when I didn't even have dreamies and now i'm obsessed with having the perfect town and I feel like everything needs to be perfect. I remember when villagers used to move in I never used to have such an issue with wherever they plotted, but now I feel like plot resetting is an absolute must. The town felt more alive that way y'know, but I mean if the game wasn't really intended for anyone to have dreamies or certain villagers they want to live in town I don't think they'd make it too easy to get them into town in the first place. Since all you have to do is invite them. But I agree I miss simpler times, but I just wouldn't be able to bear it if I let my villagers move wherever they liked. 

Although I have tried to play it how it's meant to be played in a way. I don't time travel and only sometimes I do if I feel like I really have to. I never time travel when I want somebody to move out, even if there's a villager on the VTP that i'm interested in. I don't neccessarily think NL was an upgrade on ACGC in every way since they both have their own charms. Especially with the amount of holidays there are in ACGC compared to new leaf.


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## yiffn7 (May 22, 2016)

my ac experience was better before i knew about tbt. there was a lot more excitement when you had 1mil bells, caught something rare or had a cool new villager move in


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## helloxcutiee (May 26, 2016)

I do. Times were a lot simple back then. I didn't have paths, I didn't care what villagers I got. etc.


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## leobloom (May 26, 2016)

I feel the same way. I actually reset my town recently because I wasn't happy with how -- for lack of a better word -- commercial it was starting to feel. Buying and selling villagers, having the ability to get pretty much anything you wanted really quickly...it just wasn't fun for me. Sometimes I wish I'd never even joined this site, lol


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## Melchoir (May 30, 2016)

I used to adore playing CF with my family. We had our town, Totton, for around 2 years and we used to play every day. We'd take it in turns and have 20 minutes each. It was so much fun!


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## GirlPolarBear (May 30, 2016)

I remember when I didn't care what my town looked like or the villagers too. But in New Leaf, your expected to have a perfect town with all these paths and flowers.


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